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2019-08-31 18:17:18

Politico

Police: 'Multiple gunshot victims' in Texas shootings

Police in Odessa, say one or possibly two suspects hijacked the postal vehicle and was firing at random, hitting multiple people.

Spencer Platt/Getty Images politics Police: 'Multiple gunshot victims' in Texas shootings ODESSA, Texas — Police say there are "multiple gunshot victims" in central Texas after one or more suspects opened fire. The Midland, Texas, Police Department said Saturday that one of the suspects is believed to be driving a gold-colored vehicle and has a rifle. Authorities in Odessa, Texas, say the other shooter is believed to be driving a U.S. Postal Service vehicle. Story Continued Below Police in Odessa, say one or possibly two suspects hijacked the postal vehicle and was firing at random, hitting multiple people. The University of Texas Permian Basin campus has gone into lock-down. There have been no reports of fatalities. The Texas Department of Public Safety has urged residents to avoid major highways in the area, including Interstate 20. President Donald Trump has been briefed on the shootings, CNN reported. Former El Paso lawmaker and Democratic presidential candidate Beto O'Rourke said in a statement: "Our hearts are with Midland, Odessa, and everyone in West Texas who has to endure this again. More information is forthcoming, but here's what we know: We need to end this epidemic." This article tagged under: Texas Shooting

Associated Press

www.politico.com

https://www.politico.com/story/2019/08/31/odessa-shooting-texas-midland-1479438

UNDEFINED

2019-08-31 18:19:05

CBS News

Manhunt underway after 1 killed and several others injured in Villeurbanne knife attack

Local police unions said it's too soon to know of any reason to suspect terror

French police are hunting for at least one suspect after a knife attack near Lyon that left one dead and several others injured. An official with the Lyon regional administration told The Associated Press that one suspected assailant was detained and at least one other suspect in the attack on Saturday was on the run. The official wouldn't give details and says the motive for the violence in the suburb of Villeurbanne is unknown. He says national security forces aren't involved in the search, which is being conducted by a few dozen local police officers and a helicopter. Local police unions said it's too soon to know of any reason to suspect terror. French police secure the area after one person was found dead and six others wounded in a suspected knife attack in Villeurbanne, near Lyon, central France, August 31, 2019. EMMANUEL FOUDROT / REUTERS France remains on high alert after Islamic extremist attacks in 2015 and 2016. The regional official couldn't be named because of French government policy.

www.cbsnews.com

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/villeurbanne-stabbing-manhunt-underway-after-1-killed-and-several-others-injured-in-knife-attack-2019-08-31/

CENTER

2019-08-31 18:19:31

Los Angeles Times

Parliament's suspension before Brexit is protested across Britain

An estimated 10,000 people gathered in central London to show determination to block a “no deal” Brexit.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s provocative decision to suspend the British Parliament for a time before the country’s deadline for leaving the European Union came under fire Saturday in London and other cities where protesters took to the streets. The demonstrations were called ahead of what is expected to be a pitched debate in Parliament this week as Johnson’s opponents scramble to try to pass legislation that would block him from carrying out Brexit on Oct. 31 without an approved withdrawal agreement. An estimated 10,000 people gathered in central London, while others protested in in Belfast, York and others cities to show determination to block a “no deal” Brexit. Protesters in London briefly blocked traffic on a downtown bridge and in Trafalgar Square. Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, who had urged his supporters to come out in large numbers, told thousands of people at a rally in Glasgow, Scotland, that the message to Johnson was simple: “No way. It’s our Parliament.” Advertisement Corbyn said Johnson, who became prime minister through a vote of Conservative Party members instead of a general election, does not have a mandate for shutting down Parliament or for leaving the EU without a deal in place. Many economists and academics think a no-deal Brexit would lead Britain into a prolonged recession. “It’s not on, and we’re not having it,” Corbyn said. Johnson’s decision to shutter Parliament for several weeks when a debate about Brexit plans had been expected galvanized angry crowds of protesters on Saturday. Brexit supporters gather during a rally in London on Saturday. (Alastair Grant / Associated Press) Advertisement Organizers said protests were held in more than 30 locations throughout England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. In London, they chanted: “Boris Johnson, shame on you.” Some carried signs saying: “Stop the Coup” in reference to what they say is a move that threatens democracy. The protests were organized by the anti-Brexit group Another Europe Is Possible and by Momentum, which is allied with the opposition Labour Party. The group is urging its membership to “occupy bridges and blockade roads.” In Exeter in western England, pharmacist Bridie Walton, 55, said she was attending the first demonstration of her life. “Nobody voted for a dictatorship,” she said, condemning Johnson’s suspension of Parliament. “These are the actions of a man who is afraid his arguments will not stand scrutiny.” Johnson’s plan is also being opposed by some in Parliament who plan to introduce legislation this week to try to prevent a disorderly departure from the European Union. Their task will be made more difficult if Johnson’s plan to shut Parliament for part of the time period before the Oct. 31 Brexit deadline is carried out. Johnson’s supporters may well be able to delay any proposed legislation from being enacted in time. Tactics could include introducing a variety of amendments that would have to be debated, or the use of filibusters to stall the process. Advertisement The shutdown of Parliament is also being challenged in three separate court cases scheduled to be heard next week. Former Prime Minister John Major has joined one of the lawsuits, raising the likelihood that he will argue in court that the current prime minister, a fellow member of the Conservative Party, is acting improperly by shutting Parliament. Johnson, who helped lead the successful Brexit referendum campaign, says his government is actively pursuing a new deal with EU leaders and claims opposition to his policy will make it harder to wring concessions from Europe.

The Associated Press Is An Independent;Not-For-Profit News Cooperative Headquartered In New York City.

www.latimes.com

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2019-08-31/brexit-parliament-suspension-protest

LEFT

2019-08-31 18:22:49

USA Today

Trump administration moves to expand electric bikes at national parks

Supporters of the change say it rightly gives the elderly and the physically disabled greater access to part of national parks they cannot reach now.

CLOSE Trade war with China causes price hikes, uncertainty for bike industry, which imports more than 90 percent of bikes and bike parts from China. (May 22) AP, AP WASHINGTON – A Trump administration plan to provide older and disabled citizens greater access to national parks by expanding the use of electric bikes is revving up criticism from nature advocates who say the policy threatens to disturb pristine trails and poses a safety hazard. The National Park Service (NPS) announced the change Friday, which would allow battery-powered e-bikes that can reach speeds of 28 miles per hour on the same park roads and trails that permit traditional bicycles. The motor may not be used to propel an e-bike without the rider also pedaling, except in locations open to public motor vehicle traffic, under the policy. “They make bicycle travel easier and more efficient, and they provide an option for people who want to ride a bicycle but might not otherwise do so because of physical fitness, age, disability, or convenience, especially at high altitudes or in hilly or strenuous terrain," said National Park Service Deputy Director P. Daniel Smith. The change has drawn criticism by park advocates and some trail enthusiasts who say the administration did not do enough to seek public input on a policy that could damage the park experience for many. Janice Goodwin rides her electric-assist bicycle on a paved road in Acadia National Park at Bar Harbor, Maine. E-bikes had been banned on bicycle paths in the park until the National Park Service announced Friday they would be allowed as well. (Photo: David Sharp/AP) “E-bikes have a place on national parks’ roads and motorized trails. But this announcement disregards well-established policies for how visitors can enjoyably and safely experience the backcountry in national parks," said Kristen Brengel, senior vice president at the National Parks Conservation Association. "For generations we’ve agreed that there are some places so special that they should be protected for visitors to enjoy away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life." Said Tyler Ray, director of policy and advocacy for the American Hiking Society: "Permitting e-bike use on trails that have been thoughtfully and specifically designated as non-motorized raises questions of safety and trail sustainability that must be considered." An e-bike is classified as a two- or three-wheeled cycle with fully operable pedals and an electric motor of less than 750 watts (1 h.p.) that provides propulsion assistance. Park Service officials note the policy is modeled after a number of states that already allow expanded use of electric bikes. Mounting backlog: Crumbling national parks: Congress looks to hike funds for repairs after years of neglect In making the announcement, the NPS touted the environmental effects of the new policy, saying the e-bikes can reduce greenhouse gas emissions when used as an alternative to cars and motorcycles and improve poor air quality at national parks by reducing traffic congestion. Park visitors posting in June (before the policy was announced) on the independent National Parks Traveler web site expressed mixed opinions on the expanded use of the electronic bikes. Some worried the low-humming devices will add congestion, noise and safety risks to normally quiet trails while others said national park trails should be more accessible to those who have physical handicaps. National monument: Medgar Evers home would become national monument under lands bill sent to Trump "Having an electric bike, I would love the opportunity to enjoy nature trails specific to e bikes," wrote Elizabeth Binnings, who describes herself as a disabled person with limited leg strength. "Obviously not all trails are smooth enough, but it would enhance my enjoyment of life to get out in nature, and isn't that the point of National parks." "There are plenty of places in most parks for those who are not 'physically able' to enjoy without getting on an e- bike," Alice Tharp posted on the blog. "What's next? Elevators to Angels Landing (at Zion National Park in Utah) for those who can't hike it, a tram ride (at Yosemite National Park in California) to get to the top of El Capitan? Read or Share this story: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2019/08/31/trump-administration-moves-expand-electric-bikes-national-parks/2177777001/

Ledyard King;Published P.M. Et Aug.

www.usatoday.com

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2019/08/31/trump-administration-moves-expand-electric-bikes-national-parks/2177777001/

CENTER

2019-08-31 18:25:07

BBC

Lancashire fracking: Cuadrilla apologises over tremors

Cuadrilla says it will repair any damaged caused by the 2.9 magnitude tremor.

Image copyright Cuadrilla/PA Image caption The 2.9 tremor was the largest recorded near the Cuadrilla's Preston New Road site Owners of the UK's only active shale gas site have apologised to residents after a tremor with a magnitude of 2.9 was recorded. Fracking was suspended indefinitely by regulators after the earthquake was recorded on Monday close to Cuadrilla's Preston New Road site near Blackpool. Fylde's Tory MP Mark Menzies demanded an end to fracking in the area after the tremor, saying it was "unsafe". Cuadrilla says it will repair any damage and wants to continue to frack. 'Continue our work' "We are sorry for any concern this has caused," the firm said in a statement on its website. "We are in the process of visiting local people who have raised concerns about minor damage to their property and will repair any damage that is assessed to have been caused by the seismic events." The firm said it was intent on continuing to explore for shale gas at the site "to establish a domestic energy supply that the UK really needs". It added: "The Bowland Shale as a whole could be a very important resource for Lancashire and the UK and we would like to continue with our work to prove this." However, it said operations would not resume "until both the regulator and ourselves are confident that the technical questions have been satisfactorily answered and the risk of a repeat occurrence had been properly mitigated". The firm said it was monitoring the wells daily and there was "no change to well integrity". Mr Menzies said the firm "cannot operate safely" within the government's traffic light regulations and has written to ministers and the regulator - the Oil and Gas Authority - demanding the "full cessation" of fracking operations in the Fylde. Campaign group Friends of the Earth, which says the process is harmful to the environment, is yet to comment on Cuadrilla's statement. The 2.9 tremor was stronger than those that forced Cuadrilla to suspend test fracking in 2011. It came two days after a tremor with a magnitude of 2.1 and a number of other smaller seismic events near the Little Plumpton site. Any tremor measuring 0.5 or above means fracking must be temporarily stopped while tests are carried out.

www.bbc.com

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-lancashire-49537971

UNDEFINED

2019-08-31 18:29:55

The Guardian

Lessons of the second world war are at risk of being forgotten, or even rewritten

As we mark the 80th anniversary of the start of the second world war, with liberal democracies again under siege, Britain should be leading the fight against extremism

Eighty years ago, the start of the second world war saw Nazi Germany invading Poland. Six years later, up to 85 million people were dead. I’m in Poland this weekend to commemorate the start of the bloodiest war in human history. An entire generation of brave men and women around the globe sacrificed everything to defeat the singular evil of Nazism and fascism. We should be proud of Britain’s role in winning the war, but also in helping to build the peace that followed. A whole generation – both here and around the world – were determined that never again must we repeat the horrors of the 1930s and 1940s. This laid the foundations in the years after 1945 for more than seven decades without another world war. And it is now to today’s generations – inheriting the better, safer world envisaged in 1945 – that future peace and prosperity is entrusted. With the numbers of those who remember that dark period dwindling by the day, fewer survive to tell their story and to warn current generations of the lessons from history. Worryingly, these warnings are increasingly pertinent. For the first time in more than 70 years, it seems the lessons of the second world war are genuinely at risk of being forgotten or, worse still, being rewritten. The EU and Nato, so instrumental in preventing another bloody world war, are facing unprecedented attacks – often from leaders of the very nations that helped create them. Support for democracy is at a record low across the western world, and the values that define liberal democracies are under siege – from the rule of law and the independence of the judiciary, to a free press and a vibrant civil society. Vulnerable, often minority, communities are being demonised and scapegoated for all society’s ills. And, in appalling new parallels with the horrors of the past, migrants, refugees, people of colour, LGBTQ+ and Jewish communities are bearing the brunt. This comes as a new wave of extremist far-right movements and political parties are winning power and influence at alarming speed – fuelled by Donald Trump, the global poster-boy for white nationalism. Politicians across Europe are following his example by seeking to exploit division to gain power – from Matteo Salvini in Italy to Marine Le Pen in France. I am not saying we are reliving the 1930s but the warning signs are there. If we act now we can ensure a different path Hungary’s Viktor Orbán has systematically destroyed the independence of both the judiciary and the press, institutions that are also under daily verbal attack from Trump and other far-right leaders around the world. The impact can also be seen in the UK, where the outsize influence of Nigel Farage and his Brexit party has pushed the Conservatives, under Boris Johnson, to become ever more rightwing, illiberal and intolerant. Just last week we saw the disdain Johnson has for parliament and our democracy. It is a privilege and an honour to be in Gdansk this weekend to attend the second world war commemoration, at the invitation of the city’s liberal mayor, Aleksandra Dulkiewicz. But Poland faces similar threats. The Law and Justice party (PiS), which governs nationally, has become increasingly far-right in recent years. It has allowed “LGBTQ+ free zones” to be declared in more than 30 towns and cities. The Polish government – at a time when antisemitism is on the rise – recently sought to make it a criminal offence, carrying jail time, to accuse the nation of complicity in Nazi war crimes. While I am not saying that we are reliving the 1930s or that another conflict is inevitable, alarm bells should be sounding. However, if we act now, we can ensure a different path is taken. Mainstream political parties on both left and centre-right have a crucial role to play and a huge responsibility to show genuine leadership. Both must reject, outright, the scapegoating of vulnerable communities for short-term political gain and rid our political dialogue of this divisiveness. Those spreading fake news in order to divide us must be challenged. And underlying causes of public discontent need tackling – a task that requires renewed global coordination to meet the economic, social and environmental challenges that are creating a breeding ground for the far right. This means recognising that economic inequalities between countries – made ever worse by the growing environmental catastrophe facing our planet – have contributed to the global migration crisis and cannot be tackled by any one country in isolation. It means tackling the frustrations of the growing numbers within western countries who have been left behind by globalisation, fuelling resentment. And, crucially, it means fighting against those trying to rewrite the darkest period in human history for their own political purposes. All this will require the UK to work more closely with other countries, not less. Instead of pursuing Brexit and poisoning our relations with the rest of the continent, we should be exercising our soft power and showing leadership in the fight against the far right. I’m proud to be mayor of the most outward-facing, international and tolerant city in the world, with strong links across Europe and the globe. But I also know that without the sacrifices of those from all continents who fought in the second world war, London’s history could have been very different. So we have a special responsibility to honour the memory of all those who sacrificed so much to protect us all those years ago – by defending the ideals they died for and ensuring the more peaceful and stable world they built lasts for generations to come.

Sadiq Khan

www.theguardian.com

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/aug/31/second-world-war-lessons-risk-being-forgotten-sadiq-khan

LEFT

2019-08-31 18:30:53

The Guardian

From Bodmin to Berlin, crowds vent their fury at Boris Johnson’s ‘coup’

Protesters ranged from students at the prime minister’s old Oxford college to retired teachers, children and activists

In Cambridge’s Market Square, a crowd of families, young people and silver-haired academics listened as Percy Bysshe Shelley’s The Masque of Anarchy was read out. Many joined in, from memory, making a collective appeal for non-violent resistance: “Rise, like lions after slumber... Ye are many – they are few.” There were moments of more garrulous protest too. During a speech criticising Boris Johnson, someone shouted: “Off with his head!” Brexit: thousands turn out for 'Stop the Coup' protests across UK – live Read more From Bodmin to Berlin, Bristol to Oxford, tens of thousands of people took to the streets in towns and cities across England, Scotland and Wales on Saturday to vent their fury at Johnson’s plan to suspend parliament. Around 1,200 people attended the rally in Cambridge, where they booed the prime minister and his adviser Dominic Cummings as though they were pantomime villains. Demonstrations more than 1,000-strong were seen in cities including Manchester, Newcastle and York, where a crowd carrying EU and Yorkshire flags convened outside the famous Bettys tea rooms. Others were held in Amsterdam’s Dam Square, outside the British embassy in Latvia’s capital Riga, and beside the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin. In the German capital one protester waved a banner that read: “The last time this happened, Cromwell discontinued the custom of kings wearing their heads on their shoulders.” The anger was particularly vocal in London. Outside Downing Street, demonstrators chanted “Shame on you”. Momentum, which backs Jeremy Corbyn, told its 40,000 members to “occupy bridges and blockade roads”. Within hours, a sizeable group had brought Trafalgar Square to a standstill by sitting in the road. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Anti-Brexit protesters in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin. Photograph: Axel Schmidt/Reuters Three retired teachers, Alan Costar, 65, Linda Abbott, 69, and Maureen Loney, 73, brandished an EU flag and placards reading “defend democracy” and “remain, reform, revolt”. Loney, who has a Slovakian son-in-law, said: “I feel that prorogation is cutting off our legs for any form of protest and the legs of parliament. I think that Boris Johnson is trying to hold Europe to ransom. “What they actually should be doing is someone with a brain needs to stand up and say: ‘Sorry folks, we actually got it wrong.’ It [leaving the EU] isn’t the best thing for the country, it never was.” Costar, who is half-German, added: “I have a dual-national grand-daughter and I’m here for her. She’s two-and-a-half.” In Bristol, a boisterous 5,000-strong procession marched through the city centre shouting: “What do we want? Democracy! When do we want it? Now!”, “Boris Johnson, shame on you” and “Hey, hey, ho, ho, Boris Johnson’s got to go”. Facebook Twitter Pinterest A Stop the Coup protest in George Square in Glasgow. Photograph: Ian Forsyth/Getty Images Many were old hands, who had been to lots of Remain protests. But others were taking to the streets for the first time. Will Roberts, 39, who was with his wife and two children, had preferred to let the democratic process take its course. “I was disappointed with the result but this is worse than Brexit itself. Hand on heart, this is really frightening. If you know a bit of history, you’ll know this is the thin end of the wedge.” Kevin Byrne, a retired teacher, said: “I’m 80 and this is the first time I’ve been on a demonstration. I’m feeling a bit hesitant but what is happening is appalling. It is against all the democratic principles I’ve been brought up with.” The prime minister’s old Oxford college, Balliol, was targeted. Surrounded by undergraduates, Lesley McKie, 55, said: “Being outside the very institution where he developed a political profile with students at the college today denouncing him sends a powerful message to Johnson and the others leading this coup.” McKie added: “I’m here today with my family. My teen daughters deserve to live in a democracy and we’re here to protest against the undemocratic actions of Boris Johnson and Dominic Cummings.” In Newcastle, Chris McHugh, from Gateshead, said he was attending to “protect democracy”. The 33-year-old, who works for the Labour MP Liz Twist, said: “The fact that thousands have taken to the streets of Newcastle today is so telling. People from all walks of life have come together … there’s a real sense of unity, whether you voted Leave or Remain, this is about protecting the very fabric of our democracy.” Facebook Twitter Pinterest Protesters outside Boris Johnson’s old college, Balliol in Oxford. Photograph: Lesley McKie/PA Protests were also held in Birmingham, Liverpool, Glasgow, Swansea, Leeds, and Aberdeen. Jeremy Corbyn addressed large crowds in Glasgow’s George Square, stating: “No way do you take us out without a deal – we will stop you and give the people their rights and their say to determine their future. “[We are] angered that the government and a prime minister elected by 93,000 members of the Tory party is trying to hijack the needs, aims and aspirations of 65 million people. Well, think on Boris, it’s not on and we’re not having it.” In Cambridge, Jasmina Makljenovic, who is British, was tearful as she said: “This is about my children and their future. Boris Johnson is dangerous. This is not how democracy should work. There are dictators everywhere in the world. How on earth do people think they got into power? This is how it happened: slowly and gradually. We are like boiled frogs. Slowly we are being cooked and our freedoms are being taken away.” Back in central London, as the protest continued into the late afternoon, demonstrators outside Downing Street became increasingly creative with their descriptions of the prime minister. Chants included: “Trump’s puppet, shame on you”, “Liar Johnson shame on you”, and “Fascist Johnson shame on you.” Facebook Twitter Pinterest Demonstrators let off flares in Cathedral Gardens in Manchester. Photograph: Anthony Devlin/Getty Images Diane Abbott, the shadow home secretary, spoke from a stage positioned near Downing Street, saying: “Let me tell you, before too long Jeremy Corbyn will be in 10 Downing Street and Boris will be gone.” Laura Parker, national coordinator of Momentum, told protesters: “This is our democracy and we will not let an unelected prime minister manage this power grab. He wants to shut the system down and hide … We know where you live, Mr Johnson.” Writing in today’s Observer, Michael Chessum, an organiser of the protests, said they were merely the start of a national fightback. “We are now witnessing the growth of a huge movement in defence of democracy. From Monday, we will be protesting every single day at 5.30pm all over the country. You can join us at stopthecoup.org.uk.” Further mass demonstrations, organised by the People’s Assembly Against Austerity, are planned to take placeon 3 Tuesday to coincide with MPs returning to Westminster from their summer break. The protests were triggered by Johnson’s decision to suspend parliament for up to five weeks before the 31 October Brexit deadline, which opponents say is designed to stop MPs preventing Britain leaving the EU without a deal.

Donna Ferguson;Simon Murphy;Mark Townsend;Tom Wall

www.theguardian.com

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/aug/31/bodmin-to-berlin-crowds-vent-fury-boris-johnson-coup

LEFT

2019-08-31 18:32:29

Breitbart

New York Teen Arrested for Allegedly Plotting ISIS-Inspired Attack

A Paskitani-born teenager was arrested Thursday in Queens, New York, for allegedly planning to carry out a knife and bomb attack for ISIS.

A Pakistani-born teenager was arrested Thursday in Queens, New York, for allegedly planning to carry out a knife and bomb attack for the Islamic State (ISIS), reports said. Awais Chudhary, 19, was arrested by FBI officals when he went to pick up a knife and other supplies from an Amazon locker, according to the Daily Mail. On Friday, documents released by authorities said Chudhary was planning to “carry out a lone wolf knife and bomb attack on the World’s Fair Marina for ISIS.” Reports said the teenager is being held without bail on a charge of attempting to provide material support for the designated foreign terrorist organization. “He allegedly communicated with undercover agents via text about his plan for a knife or bomb attack on various locations in New York City,” according to a CBS News report, “possibly including pedestrian bridges and the World’s Fair Marina in Queens, having scouted those locations earlier this month.” In a press release on Friday, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) said Chudhary, a naturalized U.S. citizen, had previously recorded video and taken photos of the Flushing Bay Promenade and the World’s Fair Marina in preparation for the attack. “The National Security Division, working with our partners, will remain vigilant in our efforts to identify, disrupt, and hold accountable those who would conduct a terrorist attack on our soil,” said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John C. Demers. “I want to thank the agents, analysts, and prosecutors who are responsible for this case and prevented this defendant from carrying out his deadly plans,” Demers concluded. New York Police Department Commissioner James O’Neill said in a statement that Chudhary had “accepted the call from ISIS” to kill New Yorkers and praised law enforcement officials for their work to thwart his plans. “He had carefully planned, conducted reconnaissance, picked a target, and was in the process of obtaining the weapon. All he has left to do was to strike,” O’Neill commented. “The FBI agents and NYPD detectives of the JTTF [Joint Terrorism Task Force] should be commended for the disruption of this plot. Their work almost certainly saved lives.” Prior to his arrest, Chudhary reportedly sent screenshots of a document titled “Islamic State” to an undercover agent. The document told readers what knives were “ideal” for stabbing and how to do it. “The charge in the complaint is an allegation, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. If convicted, Chudhary faces a maximum sentence of 20 years’ imprisonment,” the press release by the DOJ concluded.

Amy Furr

www.breitbart.com

https://www.breitbart.com/crime/2019/08/31/new-york-teen-arrested-for-allegedly-plotting-isis-inspired-attack/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+breitbart+%28Breitbart+News%29

RIGHT

2019-08-31 18:36:00

The Guardian

Rise of Donald Trump is ‘obscuring lessons of the second world war’, says Sadiq Khan

Mayor of London condemns US president as ‘poster boy for white nationalism’ and Boris Johnson as ‘ever more rightwing’Sadiq Khan: Lessons of the second world war are at risk of being forgotten, or even rewritten

Mayor of London condemns US president as ‘poster boy for white nationalism’ and Boris Johnson as ‘ever more rightwing’ The lessons of the second world war risk being forgotten because of the rise of “extreme” rightwing leaders such as Donald Trump and Boris Johnson, the mayor of London has said. Before events to mark the start of the conflict 80 years ago, when Germany invaded Poland on 1 September 1939, Sadiq Khan has branded Trump as “the global poster boy for white nationalism”, whose example is being followed by too many leaders across Europe, including Johnson. Writing in the Observer, Khan says Johnson and the Brexit party leader Nigel Farage are promoting similar far-right thinking in this country, and showing contempt for the European Union, which was established to prevent another world war after up to 85 million people died between 1939 and 1945. “The impact can also be seen in the UK, where the outsize influence of Nigel Farage and his Brexit party has pushed the Conservative party under Boris Johnson to become ever more rightwing and intolerant,” he says. Referring to Johnson’s decision last week to shut down parliament for five weeks before the 31 October Brexit deadline, Khan says: “Just last week we saw the disdain Boris Johnson has for parliament and our democracy.” The London mayor’s intervention is the latest in his extraordinary feud with the US president, whose language he compared to that of a “20th-century fascist” in the run-up to Trump’s state visit to the UK in June. Trump responded before landing in the UK on Air Force One with a vitriolic counter-tirade, accusing Khan of being a “stone-cold loser” who “by all accounts has done a terrible job as mayor of London [and] has been foolishly ‘nasty’ to the visiting president of the United States”. Trump also said the mayor should concentrate on tackling crime in London, rather than attacking the leader of the United States. Trump has regularly questioned the value of Nato and voiced strong support for Johnson’s determination that the UK should turn its back on the EU Khan, who this weekend is visiting Gdansk – where some of the first shots of the war were fired – and the Polish capital, Warsaw, adds: “While I am not saying that we are reliving the 1930s or that another conflict is inevitable, alarm bells should be sounding. However, if we act now we can ensure another path is taken.” He says Poland faces “similar threats” under the ruling rightwing Law and Justice party, which “has allowed ‘LGBTQ+ free zones’ to be declared in more than 30 towns and cities.” In a “particularly worrying development,” he says, “the Polish government – at a time when antisemitism is on the rise – recently sought to make it a criminal offence, carrying jail time, to accuse the nation of complicity in Nazi war crimes.” It’s un-British to roll out the red carpet for Donald Trump | Sadiq Khan Read more Trump has regularly questioned the value of Nato and voiced strong support for Johnson’s determination that the UK should turn its back on the EU, saying he believes the new UK leader will be a “great” prime minister who will chart the country on a new course of independence and economic success. The president had been due to attend an anniversary event in Warsaw this weekend to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the war’s outbreak, but cancelled last week, citing concerns over Hurricane Dorian, a category 4 storm that is barrelling towards Florida. Mike Pence, the vice-president, will attend in his place.

www.theguardian.com

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/aug/31/trump-johnson-forgotten-lessons-war-sadiq-khan-white-nationalism-rightwing

LEFT

2019-08-31 18:39:46

CBS News

Democratic debate 2019: DNC announces rules for October primary debates

The fourth Democratic presidential debate will be held October 15 in Ohio

The Democratic National Committee will hold its fourth primary debate on October 15 in Ohio. If more than 10 candidates qualify for the debate, there will be a second night on October 16. Campaigns will have until 11:59 p.m. ET on October 1 to meet donor and polling thresholds to qualify. The thresholds to qualify are the same as the thresholds for the September 12 debate, meaning that a candidate who did not qualify for the September debate could reach the polling and donor thresholds to qualify for the October debate. Candidates must receive 2% or more support in at least four polls, which may be national polls or polls in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada. Candidates also must receive donations from at least 130,000 unique donors, with 400 donors per state in at least 20 states. Several candidates who did not qualify for the September debate have complained that the qualifications were too stringent. Ten candidates have qualified for the September 12 debate. The debate will be hosted by ABC News in partnership with Univision, and moderated by ABC News Chief Anchor George Stephanopoulos, ABC News "World News Tonight" Anchor and Managing Editor David Muir, ABC News Correspondent Linsey Davis and Univision Anchor Jorge Ramos. Here are the candidates who qualified for the third debate, in the order they will appear on the debate stage: Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar New Jersey Senator Cory Booker South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders Former Vice President Joe Biden Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren California Senator Kamala Harris Andrew Yang Former Texas Congressman Beto O'Rourke Former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro At least two candidates were on the brink of qualifying for the third debate and have a good chance of meeting the thresholds for the fourth. Hawaii Representative Tulsi Gabbard and billionaire Tom Steyer have met the donor threshold but not the polling threshold.

Grace Segers;Grace Segers Is A Politics Reporter For Cbs News Digital.;Sarah Ewall-Wice

www.cbsnews.com

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/democratic-debate-2019-dnc-announces-rules-for-october-primary-debates/

CENTER

2019-08-31 18:43:42

Breitbart

Three Large Migrant Groups Apprehended Crossing Arizona Border

Tucson Sector Border Patrol agents apprehended three large groups of migrants after they illegally crossed the border near Sasabe, Arizona.

Tucson Sector Border Patrol agents apprehended three large groups of migrants after they illegally crossed the border near Sasabe, Arizona. Officials report human smugglers use the large groups of mostly Central American migrants to tie up Border Patrol agents while they smuggle drugs elsewhere along the border region. Earlier this week, Tucson Sector Border Patrol agents working east of Sasabe encountered three separate large groups of mostly Central American migrants, according to a statement obtained by Breitbart Texas from Tucson Sector Border Patrol officials. The groups consisted of 98, 66, and 78 migrants respectively. Officials report that human smugglers utilizing the strategy of large migrant family groups shifted from Lukeville to Sasabe of the summer. “During the months of April and May, multiple groups of several hundred people surrendered to Border Patrol agents near Quitobaquito Springs west of Lukeville. The last such group in the region was on May 28,” Tucson Sector officials stated. “Since the beginning of May, a total of nine groups over 50 persons have surrendered to agents in the more rugged and mountainous terrain east of Sasabe and south of Arivaca.” The Tucson Sector is seeing more single adult males crossing the border that some of the other sectors that see more migrant families and unaccompanied. Officials report nearly 70 percent of illegal border crossings are single adults whereas families and unaccompanied minors account for about 31 percent. During Fiscal Year 2019, Tucson Sector Border Patrol agents apprehended 37,267 single adult migrants, according to the July Southwest Border Migration Report. Family units account for only 12,870 and unaccompanied minors account for 4,373, In total, agents apprehended 54,510 migrants during the current fiscal year which will end on September 30.

Bob Price

www.breitbart.com

https://www.breitbart.com/border/2019/08/31/three-large-migrant-groups-apprehended-crossing-arizona-border/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+breitbart+%28Breitbart+News%29

RIGHT

2019-08-31 18:49:25

BBC

Syria war: US missile strike on 'al-Qaeda leaders' in Idlib

Some 40 people are said to have died in an attack on a jihadist camp in rebel-held Idlib province.

Image copyright AFP/Getty Images Image caption Idlib has been devastated by heavy shelling over the years (file image) The US says it has carried out an attack on leaders of a group it calls al-Qaeda in Syria, in the country's rebel-held Idlib province. US Central Command said the operation had targeted those "responsible for attacks threatening US citizens, our partners and innocent civilians". No details were given but other reports say some 40 people died in a missile strike on a jihadist training camp. It was hit just after Syrian government forces began a truce in Idlib. Initial reports indicated that calm had settled on the front lines after the Russian-backed unilateral ceasefire, which started at 06:00 (03:00 GMT). Turkish threat In a separate development, Turkey warned it would launch an operation to set up a "safe zone" in north-eastern Syria if talks with the US on the issue failed. "Within a few weeks if our soldiers do not start to actually control this area, there will be no other option left but to implement our own operation plans," Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said. Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption A young face destroyed by war: The impact of an airstrike one year on Ankara and Washington are at loggerheads odds over the future of the region where the US-backed Kurdish YPG militia has been fighting so-called Islamic State. Turkey considers the YPG a terrorist group. Earlier this month, the Kurdish-led authorities in north-eastern Syria reportedly began withdrawing from territory along the border with Turkey. What is happening in Idlib? Forces loyal to the government launched an aerial offensive aimed at re-taking the area late in April and ground forces have also been making advances in recent weeks. They have retaken key strategic locations, such as the town of Khan Sheikhoun - which had been held by rebels for five years. The UN has issued repeated warnings that the offensive is causing a humanitarian disaster - within a civil war that has already taken hundreds of thousands of lives and displaced millions. The war in Syria: five questions answered How did the war start? The country descended into war after President Bashar al-Assad's government used deadly force to crackdown on pro-democracy protesters, who took to the streets in March 2011 demanding political freedom. Who is fighting? That's complicated: President Assad's regime is fighting rebel groups ranging from pro-democracy groups to jihadist extremists, while a number of foreign powers are providing support to various sides. How many people have died? It is not known exactly, as death tolls vary according to the source, but it is estimated to stand at more than 500,000 dead or missing. How many refugees are there? More than 5.6 million people have fled Syria since 2011, with another 6.6 million internally displaced, according to the UN. What has happened to President Assad? His position looked tenuous at one point during the eight-year conflict, but thanks to international allies like Russia and Iran, President Assad has won back control of most of Syria, and has set his sights on Idlib.

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https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-49538528

UNDEFINED

2019-08-31 18:56:43

Politico

O'Rourke, Castro condemn fatal Texas mass shooting

"We need to end this epidemic." O'Rourke wrote.

Ethan Miller/Getty Images 2020 elections O'Rourke, Castro condemn fatal Texas mass shooting Democratic presidential candidates Beto O'Rourke and Julián Castro condemned a mass shooting in Odessa and Midland, Texas, on Saturday that left at least five people dead and 21 injured, according to Midland police. "Our hearts are with Midland, Odessa, and everyone in West Texas who has to endure this again. More information is forthcoming, but here's what we know: We need to end this epidemic," O'Rourke wrote. Story Continued Below "Heartbreaking news out of Odessa and Midland, Texas as police search for an active shooter at-large. Stay indoors and monitor news alerts and safety protocols," Castro wrote. The lone shooter was killed by police, the Associated Press reported. Initial reports from Midland police said there may have been one or more suspects who opened fire at random from a stolen postal vehicle. The University of Texas Permian Basic campus went into lockdown. The shooting comes four weeks after two mass shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio. The El Paso shooting is thought to have targeted Hispanics, leaving 22 people dead and dozens injured. Some 13 hours later in Dayton, nine people were killed and dozens were injured in a separate shooting in a popular nightlife district. After the El Paso shooting, O'Rourke left the campaign trail, returning to his hometown, which is just 300 miles from Midland. Castro is a former lawmaker from San Antonio. "Don’t know what the motivation is, do not yet know the firearms that were used or how they acquired them, but we do know this is fucked up," O'Rourke said in Fairfax Station, Virginia, during a rally for Dan Helmer, who is running for Virginia House 40th District. "We do know that this has to stop in this country. There is no reason that we have to accept this as our fortune, as our future, as our fate, yet functionally right now we have.” President Donald Trump tweeted: "Just briefed by Attorney General Barr about the shootings in Texas. FBI and Law Enforcement is fully engaged. More to follow." House Speaker Nancy Pelosi tweeted: "We are closely following the developing situation in Odessa & Midland, Texas. Our prayers are with all who have been impacted and the first responders working to save lives. #EndGunViolence #DoSomething." Texas Rep. Will Hurd tweeted: "WEST TEXAS: Please stay safe in Odessa and Midland as we monitor the situation and follow the Midland Police Department Facebook page for updates."

Christian Vasquez

www.politico.com

https://www.politico.com/story/2019/08/31/odessa-midland-mass-shooting-texas-1479439

UNDEFINED

2019-08-31 19:00:54

The Guardian

Ruth Davidson departs to focus on family. That decision is only hers to make

Critics on both right and left claim the Scottish Tory leader is hiding her true motives. That’s an insult to working mothers

She is not the first working mother to walk away from a dream job and sadly she won’t be the last. But few do it with the blunt candour of Ruth Davidson, the Scottish Tory leader who resigned last week. Since having her son, Finn, she said, the idea of disappearing on the campaign trail for weeks on end filled her with “dread”. Not for her the sugary euphemisms about putting family first; instead, she evokes the visceral, animal tug of anxiety at being too far away. Sometimes, too far means being in a different time zone, listening helplessly to your child cry down a phone line. Sometimes, even being in the same room isn’t quite close enough. Everyone has a different threshold, and it can easily change from day to day, but still, too far is too far, and you know it when you feel it. Yet even to say her decision is understandable is to enter a minefield. The question of whether parenthood changes the way we feel about work is so inflammatory for women – it’s only rarely asked of men, although fatherhood turns plenty of them inside out too – because the answer is so often weaponised against us. Reports of Davidson having lost some of her “fire and passion” since returning from maternity leave will have had some women shouting at the radio, even if it only reflects common gossip at Holyrood. What does that say about the rest of us, if a force of nature like Davidson is deemed to have lost her mojo to motherhood? The lazy belief that it’s only “natural” for women to shed their ambition along with the placenta is one of the single most pernicious obstacles to female success and it’s all the more maddening when used to obscure the real reasons some women quit after having children. Sideline and undermine a new mother thoroughly enough on her return and she may well get the message and leave. But who, exactly, has lacked commitment to whom here? Everyone is different, of course. The inconvenient truth is that some women genuinely don’t feel the same about work after babies, while others can’t wait to get back. But for many, ambition doesn’t die so much as evolve. Work comes to feel in some senses more important, not less. If you’re going to be away from the kids, to resist that fierce gravitational pull, then it had damn well better be worth it. Rather like being told you have months to live, motherhood doesn’t half focus the mind. Tolerance for adults behaving like toddlers in the office plummets once you have the real thing at home, while time takes on new significance when there’s suddenly never enough of it. And all the while, running through your mind like a rolling news headline, the nagging question: is this really worth peeling a howling child off my leg every morning? What exactly am I achieving here? The decision to go is often an expression not just of maternal love but of professional frustration and it isn’t always clear where one ends and the other begins. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Ruth Davidson announces her resignation as Scottish Conservative leader in Edinburgh on 29 August. Photograph: Neil Hanna/AFP/Getty Images On the left, those disappointed that she didn’t take a parting shot at Boris Johnson have accused Davidson of using motherhood as an excuse for what they’re sure must really be a politically motivated departure. On the right, she is praised for putting family first, as if what she called “the conflict I have felt over Brexit” had nothing to do with it. But whatever others seek to project on to it, Davidson’s resignation statement made clear that this is both political and personal; that she was struggling both with maternal guilt and with a political climate pushing pro-European (and, crucially, pro-unionist) Conservatives to breaking point. And I suspect one might not have loomed so large without the other. Had her brand of conservatism prevailed, the private sacrifice might have seemed worthwhile; if it hadn’t been for the baby, perhaps she might have stuck it out for longer. As Wendy Alexander, the former leader of Scottish Labour, put it: “The overwhelming family sacrifices required for serious party leadership only make sense when you harbour no doubts about the prevailing strategic direction.” Both the general election that almost everyone in Westminster now believes to be coming and the next Scottish election threaten to be ugly, with emotions running dangerously high; no place for anyone but the utterly single-minded, free of doubt and conflict. But that doesn’t make it easy to pack up and leave. Davidson almost certainly doesn’t need my advice, but having left a dream reporting job in Westminster almost 10 years ago in order to see more of my then tiny son, all I can say is that at first it will feel like both a liberation and a bereavement. I still remember days of trudging to playgroups in the rain, wondering what the hell I had done to my life, as well as the days when I wouldn’t have changed the decision for the world. But the latter soon outnumber the former and I suspect in the end Davidson won’t look back. (She might come back somehow, but that’s a different story. Children grow, family circumstances change, and so do political climates) The rest of us, meanwhile, would do well to accept that one woman’s choice is just that; hers and hers alone, not the standard by which all must be judged. Davidson has been operating for months at the extremes of professional pressure and since suffering from depression in her teens she has learned to beware pushing herself over the edge again. If she didn’t feel she could do this job and be the mother she wanted to be, that’s not to say another woman couldn’t manage it perfectly well, merely that she has done what was right for her. Only you can really tell when too far away is too far away and when it’s just close enough.

www.theguardian.com

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/aug/31/ruth-davidson-departs-to-focus-on-family-her-decision

LEFT

2019-08-31 19:01:10

USA Today

Ohio to host October presidential primary debate

The debate could stretch into two nights if more candidates meet the polling and fundraising qualifications before Oct. 1.

CLOSE A number of Democratic presidential candidates converged Wednesday night on the Iowa Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO Convention in Altoona, Iowa, near Des Moines. (Aug. 22) AP, AP The Democrats will hold their October presidential debate in Ohio, the state party announced Saturday. The debate will be held Oct. 15 and, if needed, Oct. 16, Ohio Democratic Party Chairman David Pepper said. The city is not being announced at this time, Pepper said. The large Democratic field narrowed to 20 candidates this week. Only 10 qualified for the Democratic National Committee's third primary debate, on Sept. 12 in Houston. Those 10 will qualify for the October debate in Ohio. If more candidates qualify by the Oct. 1 deadline, the debate could stretch into two nights. To qualify, candidates must get at least 2% in four state or national polls approved by the DNC and receive contributions from at least 130,000 donors among at least 20 states. Former President Barack Obama won Ohio twice. But Donald Trump won Ohio in 2016 by 8 points and Republicans swept all but one statewide partisan office in 2018, prompting politicos to debate whether Ohio has lost its perennial battleground state status. Candidates on stage during the National Anthem before the start of the first night of the Democratic presidential debates at the Fox Theatre in Detroit on July 30, 2019. (Photo: Ryan Garza, Detroit Free Press) Pepper, who has argued Ohio is very much in play, points to polls showing 43 percent approval for the president among Ohio voters and Trump's approval rating has slipped since January 2017. “As is happening across the nation, Democrats are energized, formerly Republican suburbs are trending blue and voters across the state are waking up to Donald Trump’s many broken promises," Pepper said in a news release. The following candidates will appear onstage in September and are also qualified for the Ohio debate: Former Vice President Joe Biden Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg Former HUD Secretary Julián Castro Sen. Kamala Harris of California Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota Former Rep. Beto O'Rourke of Texas Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts Andrew Yang, entrepreneur Read or Share this story: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2019/08/31/2020-election-ohio-host-october-presidential-primary-debate/2179888001/

Jackie Borchardt;Published P.M. Et Aug.

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https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2019/08/31/2020-election-ohio-host-october-presidential-primary-debate/2179888001/

CENTER

2019-08-31 19:01:19

Los Angeles Times

Justice Ginsburg reports she's 'very well' following cancer

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg reassures a book festival audience days after disclosing that she had radiation therapy for a tumor on her pancreas.

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg says she’s on her way to being “very well” following radiation treatment for cancer. The 86-year-old justice was speaking Saturday at the Library of Congress National Book Festival in Washington. The event came a little over a week after Ginsburg disclosed that she had completed three weeks of outpatient radiation therapy for a cancerous tumor on her pancreas. It was the fourth time since 1999 that Ginsburg has been treated for cancer. In announcing the news, the Supreme Court said in a statement that after the treatment there was “no evidence of disease elsewhere in the body.” Ginsburg was treated for colorectal cancer in 1999, pancreatic cancer in 2009 and had lung cancer surgery in December.

The Associated Press Is An Independent;Not-For-Profit News Cooperative Headquartered In New York City.

www.latimes.com

https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2019-08-31/justice-ruth-bader-ginsburg-cancer-treatment

LEFT

2019-08-31 19:05:37

Breitbart

China Claims Trade War Hinders Efforts to Control Carbon Emissions

Communist China claims its trade war with the United States is making it difficult to hit ambitious carbon emission reduction targets.

The Chinese Ministry of Ecology and Environment claimed on Friday that the trade war between the U.S. and China is making it difficult for the latter to hit carbon emissions targets, even though Chinese researchers claimed just two weeks ago they were well ahead of schedule on meeting their emissions goals. Although the world climate change movement reserves most of its criticism for the United States, China is the largest emitter of greenhouse gases, partly due to its heavy reliance on coal-fired power plants. Environmentalists bizarrely give China copious praise for setting ambitious carbon emissions goals even as China aggressively builds even more coal plants and exports them to other countries. The Chinese also persist in using illegal ozone-depleting refrigerants long ago banned in the countries constantly criticized by the climate change movement. On Friday, the Chinese Communist government took a stab at blaming the lack of progress towards its boastful 2030 goals on U.S. President Donald Trump, as reported by Reuters: Li Gao, head of the climate change office at the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, said on Friday the trade war had put China’s coal-reliant economy under heavy pressure. “External elements, such as the Sino-US trade war, have brought negative impacts and increasing uncertainties to the global economy, which has also made it more difficult for China to tackle climate change,” he said. China somehow managed to “raise hopes” among environmentalists that it would set even more ambitious targets for reducing carbon emissions in its next five-year economic plan, but Li explained those goals must regrettably be abandoned: “Don’t underestimate the determination and confidence of the Chinese government, but at the same time, don’t underestimate the difficulties China is facing,” he said. “China will not be able to meet the goal many years ahead of schedule and the process never goes easily or smoothly.” […] Li told reporters China was still “heavily reliant” on fossil fuels and it was difficult to make adjustments, especially with the economy slowing. “With the economy under downward pressure, the country has to take more measures to guarantee employment and the people’s livelihood,” he said. “Some of those measures may not fit our effort to tackle climate change.” Li also said China was still unable to meet a major requirement of the Paris climate agreement to compile a full annual carbon inventory that should be submitted to the United Nations, as the country lacked staff and resources. The last time Beijing was able to shake a few people loose to run a carbon inventory in 2014, its emissions had increased by over 50 percent in five years. This month Chinese academics were churning out papers claiming the Communist regime was well ahead of schedule on meeting its 2030 carbon caps. From an August 14 article by Harvard University posted at Phys.org: China, the world’s largest carbon emitter today, may be on track to meet its emission goals up to a decade early, according to a recent study on the cover of Nature Sustainability led by researchers from Nanjing University in Nanjing, China, and Harvard University. The research focuses the relationship between urban economic growth and CO2 emissions. Fifty cities in China account for about 35 percent of China’s total emissions and 51 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP). By examining the emissions from these cities from 2000 to 2016, the researchers found a close relationship between per capita emissions and per capita GDP. The team found that carbon emissions for most cities stop rising and then begin to decline when GDP reaches around US $ 21,000 per person. Using data on future population size and level of economic development from the World Bank, the researchers suggest that the nation’s total emissions could peak between 2021 and 2025 at 13-16 gigatonnes of CO2, well ahead of the 2030 commitment made by China under the U.N. Paris Climate Agreement. “While China has a very long way to go to reduce its carbon emissions commensurate with the climate crisis, this paper shows that it appears on track to meet its formal obligations under the Paris Agreement, which remains in force despite a planned withdrawal by the U.S.,” Harvard researchers declared, unaware that by the end of the month China would be claiming the trade war crippled its ability to keep those promises. Meanwhile, the United States continued to post remarkable sustained reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, without any significant problems reported from the trade war. The United States has, in fact, reduced carbon emissions more than any of the countries that remained in the Paris Agreement. The largest increases in carbon emissions have come from China.

John Hayward

www.breitbart.com

https://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2019/08/31/china-claims-trade-war-hinders-efforts-to-control-carbon-emissions/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+breitbart+%28Breitbart+News%29

RIGHT

2019-08-31 19:06:33

The Guardian

Leaks, rows and a sacking: how the secret shutdown plan unravelled

Anger erupted after the Observer first revealed news of parliament’s closure, an idea hatched in part by Boris Johnson’s closest adviser, Dominic Cummings

For much of August the plan to shut down parliament for five weeks was kept a very tight secret at the heart of government. For the few Whitehall officials who were made aware of it early on, however, it was not difficult to decipher whose fingerprints were all over it. It was clear to that small group that the bombshell idea had been hatched by Boris Johnson’s closest adviser, Dominic Cummings, and No 10’s director of legislative affairs, Nikki da Costa. Cummings has long been known at Westminster for his disdain for Whitehall and the way the entire system of British government works. He doesn’t mince his words or tolerate those he regards as fools. “If he meets resistance from ministers or officials he will just tell them to fuck off, whoever they are,” said one Whitehall source, who has worked with him. In 2016 Cummings ran the successful Vote Leave campaign to take the UK out of the EU, and was later held in contempt of parliament for failing to appear before a select committee investigating the spread of fake news during the Brexit referendum. Da Costa, on the other hand, is less well known and far less abrasive. She served under Theresa May for a time advising on parliamentary issues. As well being a Brexiter, Da Costa has a fascination with parliament and, say friends, believes in the need to strengthen the power of the executive in relation to parliament in order to get business done. Having found themselves thrown together in Johnson’s new team at No 10 in July, Cummings and Da Costa found common cause. “It was obvious that prorogation was the Cummings/Da Costa masterplan,” said an insider. Apart from the prime minister, who insisted repeatedly during his campaign for the Tory leadership that he was “not attracted” to the idea of proroguing parliament while never actually ruling it out, few even in the cabinet heard anything about what was being planned until a week ago. One who was kept in the loop was Michael Gove, who had employed Cummings as his special adviser when education secretary, and is now in charge of no-deal preparations. Gove spoke out strongly against prorogation during his failed leadership bid: “I think it would be wrong for many reasons. I think it would not be true to the best traditions of British democracy,” he said. But that was the past, and once moves were in train, Gove put up no resistance. Some time in mid to late August, however, the circle of those in the know had to widen. With the clock ticking towards parliament’s return on 3 September, advice on the legality of a five-week prorogration before a Queen’s speech on 14 October had to be sought. The attorney general, Geoffrey Cox, became formally involved, and was asked by the prime minister whether such a constitutionally momentous move was legally possible. Emails were exchanged between a wider group of government officials as the planning intensified. Cummings will have known that shutting down parliament when MPs wanted to debate urgent issues around Brexit would provoke uproar among Remainers and MPs who were against no deal. Cross-party groups of MPs spent the summer planning how to use parliamentary procedures and pass legislation to force Johnson to ask the EU for a further Brexit extension if he could not strike a deal within weeks. Some officials were so horrified when they heard about the plan that they felt they had to act. “There is a team of people in there who are determined to fight this,” the Observer was told 10 days ago. Last Friday an email between a Whitehall official and No 10 was leaked to this newspaper. It made clear that Johnson had approached Cox for advice on a five-week suspension from around 9 September to 14 October. Cox’s initial view, the correspondence made clear, was that it would probably be legal, unless various court actions being planned by Remainers to block prorogation were successful. Downing Street’s official response when asked about the leak was, at first, muted. “No 10 officials ask for legal and policy advice every day,” said a government source. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Dominic Cummings arrives at Downing Street. Photograph: James Veysey/Rex But when the Observer story broke last Saturday evening, as Johnson and his team were in Biarritz for the G7 summit preparing for meetings with US president Donald Trump and EU council president Donald Tusk the next day, Downing Street changed tack and tried to dismiss the story in a way that was to backfire spectacularly. Johnson’s press team issued a statement saying that “the claim that the government is considering proroguing parliament in September in order to stop MPs debating Brexit is entirely false”. It did not deny that the attorney general had been consulted about prorogation but its intent was clear: to create the impression that shutting down parliament was not going to happen. But less than 72 hours later more leaks were to follow from people inside the government machine to media organisations saying that the prime minister was to make an announcement about prorogation on Wednesday morning. After the BBC got wind of the new leaks, some senior staff were initially dubious that they were genuine, given No 10’s previous denials. When Johnson announced the exact same plan on which his team had poured buckets of cold water four days earlier, large sections of the media, as well as MPs and much of the country, were understandably furious. , as MPs from all the main opposition parties continued urgent talks on how to use their now far smaller window of parliamentary time (realistically just a few days before parliament is shut down early next week) to pass legislation to block no deal and force another Brexit extension, anger erupted on streets across the UK. Tens of thousands of people took part in almost 100 demonstrations, holding banners saying “stop the coup” and “save our democracy”. In London, crowds chanted outside the gates of Downing Street. The Labour MP Jess Phillips, who backs a second Brexit referendum, said: “It is vital that in this political emergency, we do not let anyone separate parliament from the people. In the House of Commons next week, I will proudly be voting with MPs of all parties to stop no deal from being forced on the people. And on the streets outside, in towns and cities across Britain, people will be protesting to defend our parliament and our most cherished democratic rights against an executive which is now out of control.” But it was not only on the streets that tempers were fraying and divisions deepening. Inside government it emerged that Cummings, angry at how Whitehall had been leaking like a sieve and desperate to halt the plans of anti-no deal MPs by imposing iron discipline, had taken it upon himself to summarily sack Sonia Khan, one of the chancellor of the exchequer Sajid Javid’s key advisers, on Thursday. Cummings suspected Khan had been talking to Philip Hammond, Javid’s predecessor as chancellor, for whom she used to work and who is now at the centre of the anti-no deal alliance of senior MPs. Cummings summoned Khan from the Treasury to No 10 on Thursday evening without telling the new chancellor and asked if she had been in contact with Hammond or any of his inner circle. She said she had not had any direct contact with Hammond since she had started working for Javid in July and had only met one of his former aides socially a fortnight before. Cummings then asked to see her two mobile phones, one used for work and the other for private calls. He saw she had spoken to the same friend and ex-colleague a week previously and immediately told Khan she was fired. He then left the office in No 10 and summoned an armed policeman to march Khan out of Downing Street. As she was escorted out other advisers looked on in amazement. A former government insider said a culture of fear had taken hold: “What Cummings is up to makes me sick. It is appalling. Sonia was very shaken. His behaviour makes Fi and Nick [Fiona Hill and Nick Timothy who ran No 10 with iron fists before being fired by Theresa May after the 2017 general election debacle] look collegiate.” Facebook Twitter Pinterest Parliamentary special adviser Sonia Khan. Photograph: Aaron Chown/PA On Friday Javid held an angry meeting with Johnson about the dismissal, demanding to know why he had not been informed and complaining that Cummings was out of control. Others inside government said Cummings was trying to establish a “reign of terror”. “It is simply outrageous. You can’t be sacked for phoning a friend,” said a source. Another insider said Cummings had been particularly “spooked” and angered by Tuesday’s leak about the prorogation announcement. The premature release of the plan meant a carefully organised schedule that involved telling the Queen of the prorogation at Balmoral the next day, had to be reorganised. The original plan had been for a group of privy counsellors – House of Commons leader Jacob Rees-Mogg, Lords leader Baroness Evans and government chief whip Mark Spencer – to travel to Scotland to meet the Queen at midday and then hold a cabinet conference call to tell ministers what was happening an hour later. But because news of the Balmoral meeting had leaked to the BBC and most of the cabinet knew nothing about the prorogation, the conference call was hastily brought forward, as ministers tried to work out what on earth was going on. Culture secretary Nicky Morgan had just 24 hours earlier gone on BBC Radio 4 to declare: “Downing Street have made it very clear that claims of any sort of prorogation in September are utterly false.” On Tuesday parliament returns after the summer break for what promises to be one of the most tempestuous weeks in its history. On Wednesday, Javid is due to announce his spending review, giving details of how the Johnson government’s ambitious plans for health, schools and the police will be funded. But the new chancellor has already had a furious bust-up with the new prime minister. Javid’s first big event risks being totally eclipsed by bitter rows over the prorogation, ploys to stop no deal, and the behaviour of Johnson’s closest aide. Just a few weeks ago, when he entered Downing Street, Johnson promised to deliver Brexit and then bring the country together. Instead he is being accused of trying to turn it into a dictatorship. Meanwhile Westminster and external forces are rallying against him. “We have defeated dictators in the past,” said shadow chancellor John McDonnell amid the din of angry protests in London yesterday, “and we will defeat this dictatorship under Johnson.” Timeline Saturday 24 August The Observer, right, breaks the story that Boris Johnson has sought legal advice on closing parliament for five weeks Tuesday 27 August Other media organisations begin to receive leaks that Johnson will make a statement on prorogation Wednesday 28 August Three privy counsellors, including Jacob Rees-Mogg, travel to Balmoral to tell the Queen of the prorogation plan. Cabinet ministers are informed by conference call Thursday 29 August Sonia Khan, adviser to Sajid Javid, is escorted from N0 10 by an armed police officer after being summarily sacked by Cummings. Javid has no prior knowledge of the sacking Friday 30 August Javid confronts Johnson in an angry meeting Saturday 31 August Javid says his relationship with Johnson is “fantastic”. Cross-party group of MPs steps up preparation for blocking no deal Tuesday 3 September Parliament returns Wednesday 4 September Javid’s first spending review, likely to be overshadowed by rows over prorogation, Brexit and Cummings Monday 9 Sept-14 Oct Parliament set to be dissolved until the Queen’s speech

www.theguardian.com

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/aug/31/leaks-rows-sacking-secret-shutdown-plan-boris-johnson-dominic-cummings

LEFT

2019-08-31 19:23:31

BBC

Domestice violence: Report say lovers wey go kill dia partners dey follow eight steps

British sabi pesin Dr Jane Mocton Smith say she chook eye come find say men wey don kill dia partner dey follow eight steps.

Image copyright Getty Images Image example One young woman wey dey suffer from domestic violence for Asia stand near window for her house About 30,000 women all ova di world die for di hand of dia current or former partner for 2017. And now, one British criminologist tink say she fit done find out di formula so plenti oda women no go enta one chance. Dr Jane Monckton Smith say she find di pattern afta she study 372 domestic violence killings wey happun for UK. According to her, pesin wey dey like control relationship, fit show if dem fit kill dia partner for future. Dr Monckton Smith say more than 80% of pipo wey dia partners kill, na women and most of di time di partner na man. For her study, she chook eye inside cases for di Counting Dead Women website wia di woman bin get relationship with di pesin wey kill dem, and cases wey men kill dia male partners. Image copyright Tinker Di eight steps she discover inside almost all di 372 killings wey she study na: E get history before di relationship say na pesin wey dey abuse or close mark pipo. before di relationship say na pesin wey dey abuse or close mark pipo. Di romance quick-quick develop into serious relationship. into serious relationship. Di relationship go become too controlling, im too dey wan control . im too dey wan control Something go happun to t rigger or threaten di pesin control, for example, una break up or im become broke. or threaten di pesin control, for example, una break up or im become broke. Di pesin control tactics go begin increase, change everytime, today im go dey close mark you, tomorrow e go threaten to commit suicide. today im go dey close mark you, tomorrow e go threaten to commit suicide. Di pesin go change im mind here, either e go choose to move on or decide to commit murder as revenge. here, either e go choose to move on or decide to commit murder as revenge. Di pesin go begin plan, either e go buy weapons or begin dey find opportunity to gbab di victim wen e dey alone. either e go buy weapons or begin dey find opportunity to gbab di victim wen e dey alone. Murder: Dis na wen e go finally kill di partner, and e even fit kill di victim pikin dem join. Di doctor tok say di only time wey dis pattern no follow na wen di man neva get relationship before, so e no go get history. Dr Monckton Smith tell BBC say, "we don dey explain all dis kain killings before as 'crime of passion, something wey just happun and e no dey true." Image copyright Jane Monckton Smith Image example Dr Monckton Smith tok say she tink say her method go stop kill-kill Dr Monckton Smith don teach dis her model give lawyers, psychologists and police dem for UK and she dey hope say e go reach more victims.

www.bbc.com

https://www.bbc.com/pidgin/world-49500214

UNDEFINED

2019-08-31 19:26:51

HuffPost

1 Killed, 9 Injured In Knife Attack Near Lyon, France

Police arrested a 33-year-old Afghan citizen after the attack. Officials do not believe it is terrorism-related.

VILLEURBANNE, France (AP) — Police detained an Afghan man seeking asylum in France after one person was fatally stabbed and nine others injured Saturday outside a subway station near the city of Lyon, authorities said. The reason for the attack was unclear. The assailant was a 33-year-old Afghan citizen who had applied for asylum in France and was awaiting a response, according to a national police official. The attacker provided contradictory information to police, but that the attack did not appear to be terrorism-related, two French officials told The Associated Press. The victim who died was a 19-year-old man, and it was unclear if he knew the attacker, according to local police. Three of the injured are in critical condition, officials said. The subway station in the Lyon suburb of Villeurbanne was cordoned off, with police combing the area. A manhunt was initially launched for a second attacker but police later determined that the detained man was the main suspect, two officials said. Police are still looking for possible accomplices. The officials were not authorized to be publicly named because of French government policy. The national anti-terrorism prosecutor’s office has not been asked to participate in the investigation at this stage. An official with the Lyon regional administration said national security forces weren’t involved in the search, which includes a few dozen local police officers and a helicopter. France remains on high alert after several deadly Islamic extremist attacks in 2015 and 2016. Charlton reported from Paris.

www.huffpost.com

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/1-killed-9-injured-knife-attack-lyon-france_n_5d6ac7fde4b09bbc9ef000d4

LEFT

2019-08-31 19:29:52

The Guardian

Ruth Bader Ginsburg: 'I'm on the way to being very well' after cancer treatment

Thousands stand in line to see judge, who says she’ll be ready for supreme court’s new session in October, at book event in Washington

Ruth Bader Ginsburg: 'I'm on the way to being very well' after cancer treatment Ruth Bader Ginsburg has said she is on the mend following treatment for pancreatic cancer. “This audience can see. I am alive,” the supreme court justice said during an appearance at the Library of Congress National Book Festival in Washington. “And I’m on my way to being very well.” Ruth Bader Ginsburg is a hero to women. A future without her is a chilling prospect | Moira Donegan Read more According to CNN, the audience responded with “thunderous applause”. Four thousand people stood in line to see Ginsburg, according to the New York Times. The supreme court announced on 23 August that Ginsburg had finished a three-week course of radiation treatment for a tumor on her pancreas. Doctors said there were no signs the growth had spread. The procedure came in the wake of an operation last December, for lung cancer. It was the fourth time that Ginsburg, 86, has undergone cancer treatment. Ginsburg also said she would be prepared for the court session which begins in October. “We have more than a month yet to go,” CNN quoted her as saying. “I will be prepared when the time comes.” When Ginsburg was asked how she pressed on, she said: “I love my job. It’s the best and the hardest job that I have ever had. It’s kept me going through four cancer battles. “Instead of concentrating on my aches and pains, I just know that I have to read this set of briefs, go over the draft opinion.” Ginsburg is the oldest member of the court’s liberal wing. The court is divided on a 5-4 conservative majority following Donald Trump’s appointment of two conservatives. While Ginsburg has said she wants to remain on the bench as long as she can do the job, liberals and conservatives alike keep a close eye on her health. If she were to leave the bench during Trump’s presidency, the court would most likely be pointed right for decades. Ginsburg also said singer Jennifer Lopez and her fiance, the retired baseball player Alex Rodriguez, recently visited her. “J-Lo was especially interested in hearing if the justice had a secret to a happy marriage,” CNN said of Ginsburg’s description of the couple’s visit. Ginsburg has several more public appearances scheduled. There was such high demand for tickets to a scheduled North Little Rock, Arkansas event this Tuesday that it was moved to a sports venue that can hold approximately 18,000, the Times noted.

Victoria Bekiempis

www.theguardian.com

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/aug/31/ruth-bader-ginsburg-pancreatic-cancer-treatment

LEFT

2019-08-31 19:42:26

Los Angeles Times

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad uses Twitter to maintain a public persona

People closely associated with former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad say the ex-president manages his own Twitter account and writes his own tweets.

When former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad took to Twitter this week to pay tribute to Michael Jackson’s birthday, it didn’t come as a surprise to those who’ve kept up with the hardline conservative’s presence online. Since he started using the social media service in 2017, Ahmadinejad has tweeted about a variety of topics, including sports, music, violence and U.S. politics. His tone, which often appears positive and empathetic, contrasts his days as president from 2005 to 2013, during which he denied that the Holocaust happened and was accused of numerous human rights violations. From the bottom of my heart I thank everyone for the birthday wishes. Every birth is a beginning of a new world and universe. we should congratulate every single person on their birthday; since God congratulated himself on the creation of man. I wish everyone luck and prosperity pic.twitter.com/41HAsJt8QO — Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (@Ahmadinejad1956) October 28, 2018 People affiliated with Ahmadinejad say he runs his account — which has more than 103,000 followers — and that he asks for input only on rare occasions, generally picking whatever topics strike him as most interesting. Advertisement But some political observers contend that Ahmadinejad is trying to regain legitimacy after his falling out from Iran’s political scene and that social media exposure is one way of doing so. “Ahmadinejad’s Twitter account is part of his public diplomacy, especially his English Twitter account. He wants to expose the good and humane aspects of singers, artists, footballers and so on to the world and his fellow countrymen and women,” said Abdulreza Davari, editor in chief of an economic magazine and former advisor during Ahmadinejad’s administration. He added that Ahmadinejad has a team of technologically savvy computer experts who help him when, on the off occasion, Ahmadinejad runs into technical difficulties. It is unfortunate to hear about the shootings in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio. Is this the lifestyle and management the United States leadership wants to introduce to the world? #Merica — Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (@Ahmadinejad1956) August 5, 2019 Advertisement Other observers and analysts said Ahmadinejad is using Twitter to remain politically relevant, both inside Iran and internationally, despite having been shunned by both conservative and moderate factions within the government. Ahmadinejad’s political downfall began in 2011 when he refused to support Iran Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s reinstatement of the country’s intelligence chief. The former mayor of Tehran, who was once referred to as the protege of Khamenei, found himself enmeshed in a power struggle with the supreme leader and his conservative clerical allies until he left office in 2013. Since then, those who had rallied in support of Ahmadinejad, namely Khamenei’s conservative allies, came to regret their decision and have marginalized the former president and those who worked in his administration. When he reemerged three years later in an attempt to run for president for a third term, Khamenei told the former president that it was “not in the best interests of the country.” Nader Karimi Juni, an independent analyst based in Tehran and critic of the ex-president, said Ahmadinejad’s behavior on Twitter is an example of how he is trying to improve his reputation domestically and internationally. “Ahmadinejad himself knows that he and his cronies and close advisors will never be qualified to run for any high-ranking job as long as the current supreme leader is alive or old guards are in power,” Juni said. “He is trying to buy time so that if there’s any leadership change in the future, he and his cronies can come back to power.” Although Ahmadinejad’s motives for using Twitter may vary, many analysts and activists agree that it has helped the ex-president bypass media censorship in Iran. “He tweets about what he likes or dislikes in the world of sport, music and art and politics to prove that he himself is not hiding anything from his people,” said Ali Mataji, a media activist based in Tehran and an Ahmadinejad supporter. Critics say Ahmadinejad’s use of Twitter is ironic given that it was during his presidency in 2009 that Iranian authorities banned Facebook and Twitter, following the brutal crackdown on protesters in demonstrations known as the Green Revolution. Since then, the government has blocked thousands of websites as well as YouTube and the messaging app Telegram and have considered blocking Instagram. Advertisement Many Iranians have been able to access those sites by using VPNs, which allows users to mask their web browsing through an unblocked server. Access to those tools, however, has been difficult to come by because of economic sanctions imposed by the U.S. Ahmadinejad’s tweet Thursday about Jackson, who died in 2009, referenced the song Man in the Mirror, reading: “I’m starting with the man in the mirror I’m asking him to change his way” #HB #MJ Ahmadinejad isn’t the only Iranian politician leveraging the power of social media. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has a Twitter account as does Iranian President Hassan Rouhani. To his critics, Ahmadinejad’s efforts to reinvent himself are futile and stand little chance of working, though that does not mean he will stop his attempts to keep from being marginalized. “That is why he fights for maintaining his social , political and economic status,” Juni said, “so that he is not dropped in oblivion.” Special correspondent Ramin Mostaghim reported from Tehran and Times staff writer Etehad from Los Angeles.

Ramin Mostaghim Is A Special Correspondent.;Reporter Melissa Etehad Is An Iranian American Who Enjoys Writing About National;International Issues. She Received Her Master S In Journalism Columbia University;A Bachelor S In International Affairs Uc San Diego;Has Reported The Middle East;Europe. She Previously Worked At Al Jazeera English;The Washington Post S Foreign Desk;Where She Covered The Intersections Of Politics;Religion;Gender. She S A Native Farsi Speaker. On Her Free Time

www.latimes.com

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2019-08-31/iran-former-president-mahmoud-ahmadinejad-twitter-michael-jackson

LEFT

2019-08-31 19:45:55

The Guardian

Hong Kong: ‘Revolution is war, and no war is without bloodshed’

Anger is rising as the state crackdown intensifies, and protesters say they are prepared for confrontation and sacrifice

Anger is rising as the state crackdown intensifies, and protesters say they are prepared for confrontation and sacrifice Ryan Lee, a 27-year-old computer engineer, only started taking part in Hong Kong’s demonstrations in June. Since then, it has been a steep learning curve. He has tackled a police officer to the ground to rescue another protester, tossed teargas canisters back at the police and covered the gas grenades with the metal dishes commonly used in Hong Kong for steaming fish. Within weeks, Lee has transformed into a militant “fighter” – one of the black-clad protesters in full protective gear who have faced off week after week with police behind makeshift barricades. Saturday was no exception – when police in riot gear stormed a metro station and used batons to beat passengers. Play Video 1:27 Hong Kong police seen beating protesters in clash at metro station – video “The government’s hardline attitude is only catalysing the movement,” Lee said. “They might have arrested nearly 1,000 people, but there are just as many people in the frontline because they are constantly being replaced.” Since early June, Hong Kong has been embroiled in its worst political crisis in decades. The wave of protests, sparked by the controversial extradition bill under which individuals can be sent to mainland China for trial, has entered its 13th week. Over the past three months, the protests have become a broader and increasingly violent anti-government movement as the animosity between demonstrators and police reaches boiling point. Last weekend, Lee was among those who threw teargas canisters back at the police in a violent confrontation that lasted about 40 minutes before the crowds dispersed and water cannon arrived. He said the protesters’ determination to fight against the police as long as they could was “a show of our stance and our beliefs”. “When the police abuse their powers and face no consequences, a revolution is justified,” said Lee. “I accept revolution and bloodshed. Revolution is a war and no war is without violence … If our violence can bring about positive changes, I am willing to be involved.” Lee’s anger had already been fuelled by the government’s refusal to fully withdraw the suspended extradition bill, the police’s use of violence, and the government’s failure to set up an independent body to investigate police wrongdoing. But last week the arrests of a number of prominent pro-democracy figures – along with government hints that it was thinking about a draconian emergency law allowing it to make arrests and suppress communications – further enraged him. Some 900 people have been arrested since protests began. Given the threat of the new law, and the possibility of China mobilising the People’s Liberation Army, wasn’t Lee worried that the protesters’ current tactics might actually lead to their existing rights being eroded? “But there is no other way out: we’ll have to burn together,” he said. “In a war, ordinary people always end up sacrificing.” Rock Chan, a technician and former barman, shares the same outrage. He too has been on the frontline in recent protests, providing protective gear to fellow protesters and finding escape routes for them. “The police did nothing to the white-clad men with sticks but said our umbrellas were weapons,” said the 33-year-old, referring to an incident in July when masked men rushed into a metro station to attack civilians indiscriminately. (The authorities took no immediate action but did subsequently make some arrests.) Although the government had banned Saturday’s protests, has arrested pro-democracy figures and hinted at an emergency law, Chan said this would not dampen his resolve. “The more restrictions they impose on us, the stronger the pushback is,” he said. “I want to tell them that we will not back down and we’re not afraid.” Chan, who took part in the Umbrella movement in 2014, said he and others had learned from its mistakes. The 79-day protest, part of the Occupy movement, ended peacefully, after failing to pressurise the government into granting electoral reforms that would lessen mainland China’s influence. People left the occupied thoroughfare voluntarily on the day the site was cleared. Leaders of the movement have since been jailed. “The Umbrella movement was too peaceful. Having just a bunch of people sitting there didn’t pose any threat to the government,” Chan said. “We lost the battle completely. Now we have learned from our mistakes.” Facebook Twitter Pinterest Protesters running for cover from teargas during the demonstrations yesterday. Photograph: Vincent Yu/AP Both young men – who do not know each other and were interviewed separately by the Observer – believe a revolution is needed “to save Hong Kong”. Both risk being arrested and jailed for rioting, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years. But they both felt strongly that rights and freedoms, as well as Hong Kong’s way of life, had been eroded under Chinese rule – and that that was worth fighting for. “We need a revolution to start afresh, but unfortunately we’re under China,” Chan said. “My demand is actually very simple: I just want a real Hong Kong under a genuine ‘one country, two systems’ [principle].” Asked how they saw the current crisis ending, both men believed there would be a further escalation of violence in the coming months if the government continued to ignore protesters’ demands. Some suspect that China has set a deadline of 1 October – the 70th anniversary of the establishment of communist government – to end the chaos. “I see a wave of escalation [before then] – I think people will use all means to force the government to respond to our demands,” said Lee. Asked whether he was afraid of being arrested, Chan said he had lost sleep, but the wellbeing of Hong Kong mattered more to him. “It’s OK for me to be arrested,” he said, “but it’s not OK to lose our beloved Hong Kong.” * Names have been changed to protect interviewees’ identities

Verna Yu

www.theguardian.com

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/aug/31/hong-kong-revolution-no-war-is-without-bloodshed-protesters

LEFT

2019-08-31 19:48:18

BBC

Leah Sharibu still dey alive

Nigeria goment say Leah Sharibu, di school girl wey Boko Haram kidnap from Dapchi for Yobe state, still dey alive.

Image copyright TheCable Nigeria goment say Leah Sharibu, di school girl wey Boko Haram kidnap from di Government Girls Science and Technical Secondary School, Dapchi for Yobe state for February 2018 still dey alive. Senior Special Assistant to di Nigeria President, Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, say Buhari administration no go give up until she return safely. Sharibu join di more dan 100 school girls wey Boko Haram kidnap last year from Dapchi, di militants no gree release am, wen dem free di odas. Shehu tell tori pipo on Saturday for Abuja say : ''Instead of giving up, di goment dey arrange some tins to secure her release." Shehu bin dey respond to tok-tok on whether Leah Sharibu still dey okay. Im tell tori pipo say plenti of wetin tori dey tok about di girl no dey true. "We still dey yan with di kidnappers, ISWA, to secure di release of Leah Sharibu. ''Contrary to fake reports, she dey alive - our security agencies assure us-, and goment dey committed to her safe return, as well as all oda hostage dem. Shehu wey say make pipo exercise patience with di case, say di administration dey aware say di mata na sensitive one and any mistake fit make tins worse.

www.bbc.com

https://www.bbc.com/pidgin/49538296

UNDEFINED

2019-08-31 19:55:00

ABC News

Some of the most recent deadly US mass shootings

Get breaking national and world news, broadcast video coverage, and exclusive interviews. Find the top news online at ABC news.

A list of some of the deadliest mass shootings in the United States in the last two years: — Aug. 31, 2019: Five people were killed in West Texas in shootings in the area of Midland and Odessa. — Aug. 4, 2019: A gunman wearing body armor shot and killed nine people at a popular nightlife area in Dayton, Ohio. Police were patrolling the area and killed the suspect. — Aug. 3, 2019: A gunman opened fire at a shopping center in El Paso, Texas, killing 22 people and injuring more than two dozen. A suspect was taken into custody. — May 31, 2019: Longtime city worker DeWayne Craddock opened fire in a building that houses Virginia Beach government offices. He killed 12 people and wounded several others before he was gunned down by police. — Feb. 15, 2019: Gary Martin killed five co-workers at a manufacturing plant in Aurora, Illinois, during a disciplinary meeting where he was fired. He wounded one other employee and five of the first police officers to arrive at the suburban Chicago plant before he was killed during a shootout with police. — Nov. 7, 2018: Ian David Long killed 12 people at a country music bar in Thousand Oaks, California, before taking his own life. Long was a Marine combat veteran of the war in Afghanistan. — Oct. 27, 2018: Robert Bowers is accused of opening fire at Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, during Shabbat morning services, killing 11 and injuring others. It's the deadliest attack on Jews in the U.S. in history. — June 28, 2018: Jarrod Ramos shot through the windows of the Capital Gazette offices in Annapolis, Maryland, before turning the weapon on employees there, killing five at The Capital newspaper. Authorities say Ramos had sent threatening letters to the newspaper prior to the attack. — May 18, 2018: Dimitrios Pagourtzis began shooting during an art class at Santa Fe High School in Santa Fe, Texas. The 17-year-old killed eight students and two teachers and 13 others were wounded. Explosive were found at the school and off campus. — Feb. 14, 2018: Nikolas Cruz shot and killed 17 students and staff members at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. It surpassed Columbine High School as the deadliest shooting at a high school in U.S. history. — Nov. 5, 2017: Devin Patrick Kelley, who had been discharged from the Air Force after a conviction for domestic violence, used an AR-style firearm to shoot up a congregation at a small church in Sutherland Springs, Texas, killing more than two dozen. — Oct. 1, 2017: Stephen Paddock opened fire on an outdoor music festival on the Las Vegas Strip from the 32nd floor of a hotel-casino, killing 58 people and wounding more than 500. SWAT teams with explosives then stormed his room and found he had killed himself.

Abc News

abcnews.go.com

https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/recent-deadly-us-mass-shootings-65318265

CENTER

2019-08-31 19:55:03

Breitbart

818 Hotdogs Eaten Every Second from Memorial to Labor Day

The quintessential American holiday bookends are Memorial Day, kicking off the summer, and Labor Day, marking the back-to-work and school season.

The quintessential American holiday bookends are Memorial Day to kick off the summer and Labor Day to celebrate the American workers entering the back-to-work and school season. And the traditions and facts associated with them range from historic to fun. This includes the number of hotdogs consumed between the two holidays — 818 hotdogs every second. The personal finance website WalletHub gathered some of these statistics and fun facts in a recent report and survey: Labor Day in the 21st century is all about beaches, BBQs, ballgames and buying things. This year, for example, 25 percent of Americans plan to get out of town for Labor Day weekend. More than 102 million will enjoy a cookout. Thousands will pack college football stadiums. And the average Labor Day weekend shopper will spend $58 in the process, according to WalletHub’s survey. But it hasn’t always been that way. Labor Day’s roots can be traced back to the streets of 1880s New York City, where rival union leaders joined forces to protest the unfair labor practices that plagued industry at the time. This is not meant to take the wind from your sails as you enjoy one last dip in the summer sun. Rather, these Labor Day facts may help you cherish the holiday even more. Its place on the calendar is uniquely American – most other countries celebrate labor in May. And there’s ample reason for celebration, considering the industrial fatality rate has fallen by roughly 78 percent since the early 1900s. Here are some of the other facts, fun and not so fun, WalletHub uncovered, including its “2019 Labor Day by the Numbers”: The first Labor Day was held in 1882, when 10,000 workers gathered in New York City for a parade. Congress made Labor Day on the first Monday in September a federal holiday in 1894. The highest number of union workers was recorded as 36 percent in the 1950s, compared to 10.5 percent in 2018. Labor Day is Americans’ third favorite holiday behind Christmas/Chanukah and Memorial Day and ahead of Thanksgiving and the Fourth of July. There has been a 7.5 percent decrease in the national average price of gasoline since 2018. An estimated 45,300 serious injuries will occur from Labor Day weekend car accidents. An estimated 40.6 percent of Americans will barbecue on Labor Day weekend. The average American household will spend $2,373 on summer vacation in 2019. There are 163.4 million Americans 16 and older in the American workforce. Unemployment is at 3.7 percent as of July 2019, compared to 9.5 percent in 2009. The median American household income is $57,650. The average hourly wage for Americans on private, non-farm payrolls is $27.98. Ninety percent of full-time workers have health insurance. The largest number of Americans — 4.45 million — work in retail. The smallest number work in the personal care field — 2.21 million. The average number of vacation days taken in 2018 was 17.4. The report also found the American city with the hardest working people (Anchorage, Alaska) and the city with the laziest people (Detroit, Michigan). WalletHub compared 16 American cities based on the number of hours worked daily. Follow Penny Starr on Twitter.

Penny Starr

www.breitbart.com

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2019/08/31/holiday-facts-818-hotdogs-eaten-every-second-from-memorial-day-to-labor-day/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+breitbart+%28Breitbart+News%29

RIGHT

2019-08-31 19:59:42

The Guardian

Molotov cocktail thrown into US Citizenship and Immigration office

Woman, 35, arrested over attack in Oakland Park, Florida in which no one injured after fuse disconnects from bottle of gasoline

A woman threw a lit Molotov cocktail into the lobby of a US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) office in Oakland Park, Florida on Friday. No one was injured, according to a report sent to Trump administration officials and seen by the Associated Press. Revealed: man force-fed in Ice custody at risk due to 'substandard care' says doctor Read more The woman walked into the office on Friday afternoon and threw a bottle filled with gasoline. A lit fuse disconnected from the bottle and the device did not ignite, according to the report. Law enforcement officials believe the woman intended to cause harm but the incident was not related to other recent instances in which homeland security agencies were targeted. Earlier this month in San Antonio, Texas, at least one vehicle pulled up to a building that houses offices for US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or Ice, and a gunman fired shots through a window, FBI officials said. No one was injured. Another building used by Ice was also fired on. Ken Cuccinelli, acting director of the agency, which handles legal immigration, said in a tweet the incident was “another example of the use of violence in place of debate by those who oppose the proper application of our immigration laws”. Security officers handcuffed the woman and she was taken into custody by Federal Protective Service officers. Court documents said the incident was captured on video. The woman, Cellicia Hunt, was charged with maliciously attempting to damage or destroy a government building by fire, according to court records. The 35-year-old was expected to appear in federal court in Fort Lauderdale on Tuesday. She was being held without bail in a local jail on Saturday and it was not immediately clear if she had an attorney. No one was injured, though one person reported feeling ill from the smell of gasoline. The office was closed. Tears of relief: disabled migrant reunited with family after Trump-induced torment Read more The incident came amid federal investigators’ growing concerns about attacks on immigration agencies during a time of heightened emotion and scrutiny, as Donald Trump tries to move ahead with major changes and energize his base by delivering on campaign promises. Cuccinelli, who backs Trump’s hardline immigration policies, has presided over recent changes that have drawn criticism. One could deny green cards to many migrants who use Medicaid, food stamps, housing vouchers or other forms of public assistance. Cuccinelli has also defended changes to a long-standing agreement that governs how children cared for in government custody and how long they can be detained.

Associated Press In Oakland Park

www.theguardian.com

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/aug/31/molotov-cocktail-uscis-us-citizenship-immigration-services-office

LEFT

2019-08-31 20:00:55

The Guardian

Final sovereignty on Brexit must rest with the people

In these critical weeks for democracy, we must resist the actions of a phoney populist cabal in Downing Street

We will do everything possible to stop a disastrous no deal for which this Conservative government has no mandate. This is a smash-and-grab raid on our democracy, to force through no deal, which is opposed by a majority of the public. Most people in Britain reject a Tory no-deal Brexit. Boris Johnson’s government wants to use no deal to create an offshore tax haven for the super-rich and sign a sweetheart deal with Donald Trump. No deal would destroy jobs, push up food prices and hand our public services and protections over to US corporations. And most of the public want nothing to do with this Trump-deal car-crash Brexit they are being driven towards. Johnson and fellow Conservatives who campaigned for Leave in 2016 promised people that they would get a deal. In 2017, Boris Johnson, then foreign secretary, proclaimed: “There is no plan for no deal because we are going to get a deal.” But clearly they haven’t got a deal. And now, running scared of being held to account for his reckless plans for a Trump-deal Brexit, Johnson has decided to shut down parliament to stop them doing so. But you don’t have to go back to 2017 to find our new prime minister flip-flopping and U-turning to suit whatever position he has adopted at the time. In late July he promised EU citizens he would legislate to protect their rights. Now we learn the home secretary will end freedom of movement on 1 November without any new immigration rules or protections in its place. Clearly, this is not a prime minister people can trust. Last week the Advertising Standards Agency banned a Home Office ad about EU citizens registering to stay because it was misleading. And the government registration app won’t be ready until the end of the year (months after the home secretary plans to scrap their rights). As the Spectator – the magazine Johnson once edited – warns: “There are worrying signs of sloppiness, even negligence, in the way the Home Office is handling all this.” We already know the kind of consequences such decisions can have. The hurt caused to the Windrush generation by the government’s hostile environment policy is now in danger of being repeated on an even bigger scale, with around 3 million EU citizens living in the UK. Every week I meet EU citizens who are stressed about their future in this country. Sadly, many are leaving – taking with them their skills and support from our NHS, social care and schools. The defence secretary, Ben Wallace, let the cat out of the bag when he told his French counterpart that parliament is being suspended because “we’ve suddenly found ourselves with no majority”. There is an obvious and practical solution when a government finds itself without a majority. It is not to undermine democracy. The solution is to let the people decide, and call a general election. This week could be the last chance to stop Johnson’s Tory government taking us over a no-deal cliff edge that will threaten jobs and our NHS, mean a restoration of the border in Ireland – threatening peace – and cause shortages of food and medical supplies from day one. Industry after industry is warning of the deeply damaging impact of a no-deal Brexit. During the summer I listened to the fears of farmers, car workers, NHS staff and many others across the country. And as Trump’s close ally, the Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro, lets the Amazon rainforest burn, it could not be clearer that we need to build stronger relations with other international allies in the global fight against the climate emergency. A different future is possible, and real change can be delivered for every community, nation and region of our country The threat of a no-deal crash is creating an atmosphere of fear and uncertainty. But I am determined to ensure Labour brings people together by giving hope and confidence that a different future is possible, and real change can be delivered for every community, nation and region of our country. There is a rapidly growing movement of people determined to stop no deal. Last week spontaneous protests sprung up around the country. People are angry that those who claimed we would “take back control” are now keeping control for themselves – with the aim of handing it over to Donald Trump and US corporate giants in a race-to-the-bottom free market trade deal. This weekend, Labour MPs have been joining more protests across the country. People are determined that they will not allow a phoney populist cabal in Downing Street, in hock to the vested interests of the richest, to deny them their democratic voice. It is the people, not an unelected prime minister, who should determine our country’s future. A general election is the democratic way forward. And in that election Labour will give the people the chance to take back control and have the final say in a public vote, with credible options for both sides, including the option to Remain. In the maelstrom of the coming days and weeks, we need to remember that sovereignty doesn’t rest in Downing Street, or even in parliament, but with the people. Jeremy Corbyn is leader of the Labour party

Jeremy Corbyn

www.theguardian.com

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/aug/31/final-sovereignty-on-brexit-must-rest-with-the-people--jeremy-corbyn

LEFT

2019-08-31 20:05:33

Fox News

'America is sick of this': Democrats renew call for tighter gun laws after West Texas shootings

Democratic lawmakers and presidential candidates renewed their calls for tougher gun legislation after 24 people were shot, five of them fatally, during a series of shootings in West Texas.

Democratic lawmakers and presidential candidates renewed their calls for tougher gun legislation after 24 people were shot, five of them fatally, during a series of shootings in West Texas. Democratic presidential candidate Beto O'Rourke was one of the first to react, calling mass shootings an "epidemic." TRAFFIC STOP SETS OFF SHOOTING RAMPAGE IN WEST TEXAS THAT LEAVES 24 SHOT, 5 DEAD "Our hearts are with Midland, Odessa, and everyone in West Texas who has to endure this again. More information is forthcoming, but here's what we know: We need to end this epidemic," O'Rourke said on Twitter. Earlier this month the former Texas congressman suspended his campaign after 22 people were killed and 24 others were wounded at a Walmart in El Paso, a city he once represented in Congress. Hours before Saturday's shooting, O'Rourke tweeted: "We need to buy back every single assault weapon." Democratic frontrunner Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts also weighed in, calling on Congress to "act now." "I'm heartsick for the victims of this latest mass shooting in Odessa and Midland. We shouldn't have to live with this near daily fear and horror," Warren tweeted. "We've already lost far too many to gun violence—Congress must act now." Warren later called out Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Twitter, writing: "Time’s up, @SenateMajLdr. Let’s vote on gun safety legislation NOW. Every day you wait, more tragedies happen. Do something, Senator McConnell. America is done waiting for you." Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., echoed Warren's call, tweeting that McConnell should bring a House bill calling for universal background checks to a vote "the week Congress returns." Sen. Kamala Harris also called for action, saying: "I'm sick of this. America is sick of this." Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang called the shootings "horrific" and said "we must do all we can to curb the scourge of gun violence." Julian Castro, the former mayor of San Antonio, called the event "heartbreaking" while House Speaker Nancy Pelosi offered her "prayers." Jaime Harrison, a Democratic U.S. Senate candidate from South Carolina, told elected officials to "lead or get the hell out of the way." "While we don't yet know the specific circumstances of the active shooting situation in Odessa, we do know that this is an EPIDEMIC in our country! To our elected officials I say: either lead or get the hell out of the way," Harrison tweeted. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Victor Garcia

www.foxnews.com

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/democrats-react-to-mass-shooting-in-west-texas

RIGHT

2019-08-31 20:06:51

Slate

He didn’t want to see anything “difficult.”

Trump's people had asked to close down the museum for a private visit on the holiday celebrating Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

President Donald Trump, joined by Dr. Ben Carson and his wife Candy, visit the Ben Carson exhibit as they tour the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History & Culture on February 21, 2017 in Washington, D.C. Pool/Getty Images President Donald Trump is the kind of man who manages to make even a visit to a museum about African American history about him. When he went to the National Museum of African American History and Culture in 2017, Trump seemed particularly transfixed by an exhibit that explored the role the Dutch played in the slave trade. That made Lonnie G. Bunch III, who was the museum’s founding director, optimistic that the president was interested in what he was seeing. Trump quickly proved him wrong. “The president paused in front of the exhibit that discussed the role of the Dutch in the slave trade,” Bunch, who is the newly appointed Smithsonian secretary, writes in his upcoming memoir, according to the Washington Post. “As he pondered the label I felt that maybe he was paying attention to the work of the museum. He quickly proved me wrong. As he turned from the display he said to me, ‘You know, they love me in the Netherlands.’ All I could say was let’s continue walking.” Bunch was already feeling a bit frustrated with the visit considering that the then-incoming president wanted to visit the museum on the holiday commemorating Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and asked that the museum be closed. Bunch thought the whole proposition was ridiculous. “The notion that we could shut out visitors on the first King holiday since the opening of the museum was not something I could accept,” Bunch writes. So they agreed on another day. But before Trump arrived, his aides had a message for Bunch. They told him Trump “was in a foul mood and that he did not want to see anything ‘difficult,’ ” Bunch writes. The founding director of the museum didn’t much care. “It was not my job to make the rough edges of history smooth, even for the president,” he writes in A Fool’s Errand: Creating the National Museum of African American History and Culture in the Age of Bush, Obama and Trump

Daniel Politi

slate.com

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2019/08/trump-visit-african-american-history-museum-didnt-want-anything-difficult.html?via=rss

LEFT

2019-08-31 20:21:00

The Guardian

PM ‘must launch urgent inquiry into Dominic Cummings’s reign of terror’

Ex-civil service chiefs join critics of Boris Johnson’s aide as protests against ‘coup’ spread across Britain

Senior politicians, a former cabinet secretary and an ex-head of the home civil service have called for a top-level inquiry into how Boris Johnson’s closest aide, Dominic Cummings, was able to sack an adviser to Sajid Javid, the chancellor of the exchequer, without Javid’s knowledge and then order an armed police officer to escort her out of Downing Street in front of staff. A former senior Metropolitan police officer, former Chief Superintendent Dal Babu, also said the episode should be subject to urgent twin investigations by the cabinet secretary, Mark Sedwill, and Scotland Yard. The demands for inquiries into the sacking last Thursday of Sonia Khan, the 27-year-old Treasury special adviser, came amid heightened tension at Westminster over Johnson’s decision to suspend parliament for five weeks. Final sovereignty on Brexit must rest with the people Read more The suspension, planned by Cummings for several weeks, was partly designed to limit the time MPs will have to block a no-deal Brexit. Saturday’s demonstrations against the shutting down of parliament featured protesters across the country chanting “stop the coup” and “save our democracy”. Cummings is understood to have concluded that Khan had been dishonest about her recent contacts with her ex-boss, the anti-no deal former chancellor Philip Hammond, and one of his ex-aides – accusations that Khan strongly denies. Having summoned her to No 10 on Thursday evening to question her, Cummings took her two phones, one used for private calls and one for work, and fired her after seeing she had talked to an ex-aide to Hammond last week. Cummings then went outside No 10 and asked an armed officer to enter the building and escort Khan off the premises. Friends of Khan said she was deeply upset by the episode and was considering what action to take next. They accused Cummings of establishing a “reign of terror” at the heart of government. Hammond is heavily involved in attempts by a cross-party group of MPs to prevent a no-deal Brexit by passing legislation when MPs return to Westminster this week. They hope a new law can be passed mandating Johnson to ask the EU for a further extension to the UK’s membership if the prime minister cannot strike a deal soon. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Dominic Cummings arriving at Downing Street on 30 August. Photograph: James Veysey/Rex On Saturday Hammond condemned “staggeringly hypocritical” plans to withdraw the whip from Conservative MPs if they vote against the government’s policy on Brexit. In a tweet, he said: “If true, this would be staggeringly hypocritical: 8 members of the current cabinet have defied the party whip this year. I want to honour our 2017 manifesto which promised a ‘smooth and orderly’ exit and a ‘deep and special partnership’ with the EU. Not an undemocratic No Deal.” On Friday, Javid confronted Johnson in a heated meeting and demanded an explanation into how the volatile Cummings had dismissed one of his staff without telling him beforehand. Former attorney general Dominic Grieve told the Observer that if the accounts of the sacking, not denied by Downing Street, were true, it was an outrageous abuse of power by Cummings and inappropriate of the police to have got involved. “If the facts are correct Mr Cummings’s behaviour in inviting the police into what at most could only have been an employment issue is deeply troubling. It was wrong of the police to get involved.” He said the prime minister needed to explain why “ordinary principles of fair behaviour have broken down in his office, and hold an inquiry by the cabinet secretary”. Yvette Cooper, the Labour chair of the House of Commons home affairs select committee, said: “Government advisers must not abuse their power by drawing the police into heavy- handed political stunts. This needs to be reviewed by the cabinet secretary and the Metropolitan police straight away.” Former cabinet secretary Lord Turnbull said it was up to No 10 to explain under what authority Cummings had been working when he dismissed a fellow special adviser and why he thought he had the right to ask an armed officer to march her out of Downing Street. “Getting one of the armed police to escort an adviser out of Downing Street is deeply offensive and is part of Cummings’s mantle of fear,” he said. The former head of the home civil service, Lord Kerslake, also called for an urgent inquiry by the cabinet secretary. Before parliament’s return on Tuesday, when MPs from all opposition parties will try to block a no-deal Brexit, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn on Saturday accused Johnson of mounting a “smash and grab raid on our democracy” to force through no-deal Brexit. Writing in the Observer Corbyn said Johnson “is running scared of being held to account” and calls for a general election in which Labour would commit to another Brexit referendum. “A general election is the democratic way forward. And in that election Labour will give the people the chance to take back control and have the final say in a public vote, with credible options for both sides, including the option to remain.” Dal Babu who served in the Met for 30 years said that police officers should not have been asked to march Khan out of Downing Street. “It’s a shocking abuse of armed officers, it’s appalling. The police should be asking questions of Cummings, asking questions of the prime minister around an abuse of process. At a time when we should be proud of having BAME women at the heart of government this sends out a very wrong signal of how people are valued. “I would expect the cabinet secretary Mark Sedwill to conduct an inquiry and I would expect the police to conduct an inquiry about individuals in No 10 utilising police officers in a very inappropriate way.”

Mark Townsend

www.theguardian.com

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/aug/31/boris-johnson-must-launch-inquiry-dominic-cummings-reign-of-terror

LEFT

2019-08-31 20:28:42

Slate

North Carolina’s Climate Change Blind Spots Make Dorian More Dangerous

North Carolina politicians have allowed climate change denial to dictate their decision-making.

A truck drives through deep flood water in Rhems, North Carolina, caused by Hurricane Florence in 2018. ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/Getty Images This story was originally published by Mother Jones and has been republished here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. Puerto Rico has escaped the worst of Hurricane Dorian. And it looks like Florida might, too: On Saturday morning, the storm again shifted paths, and it appears likely to skirt Florida’s eastern coast instead of making a direct hit. That doesn’t mean the danger is over for Florida, and it does put the rest of the southeastern coast, especially Georgia and the Carolinas, in harm’s way sometime next week. South Carolina has already declared a state of emergency. Worse still is if the Category 4 storm makes landfall in vulnerable areas still recovering from last year’s Hurricane Florence. The stakes have grown much higher when a hurricane threatens to hit the coast. There are a lot of reasons for this. As I explained two years ago, “Some are psychological, others are practical, and many are self-inflicted.” Climate change is part of the problem, with warmer temperatures fueling deadlier, wetter storms. Rising sea levels increase the chances of coastal flooding. But it’s also the blind spots that North Carolina politicians have developed on climate change. While seas are rising, these lawmakers have encouraged building in low-lying areas, and in some cases discouraged state law from reflecting scientific realities. The Carolinas are flanked by low-lying narrow barrier islands that have seen housing and tourist development during the past few decades “in places where it probably should not have been,” according to the Associated Press. Much of that development has been subsidized by a federal flood insurance program that shelled out $1.5 billion to cover flood claims in two dozen coastal counties even before Hurricane Florence struck. Last year, when Florence made landfall as a Category 1 hurricane, it dealt the region $24 billion in damages and 53 deaths. The floodwaters breached hog lagoons and coal ash pits and threatened Superfund sites. Unwise development isn’t the only problem. As in Florida, North Carolina politicians have also allowed climate change denial to dictate their decision-making. In 2010, a panel of scientists advising the North Carolina Coastal Resources Commission, which guides the state’s coastal development, issued a report projecting 39 inches of sea-level rise by the end of the century. The report triggered political backlash from developers and the Republican-controlled legislature, which preferred that the commission rely only on historical data. The state ended up passing a law requiring a broader range of projections to dilute findings that sea level rise would accelerate. Newer research has found that the sea level is rising even faster along the southeastern coast than global averages. Instead of considering the best science out there, the governor-appointed commission ultimately limited the science panel’s projections to 30 years into the future. North Carolina’s Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper, elected in 2017, has begun to loosen these restrictions on how development plans incorporate the latest science. Last year, a month after Florence struck, Cooper issued an executive order to create an interagency climate change council. In late September, the Coastal Resources Commission will look at updating the 30-year limit placed on the science advisory panel as it prepares a five-year update to its 2015 report, according to the News and Observer. Future Tense is a partnership of Slate, New America, and Arizona State University that examines emerging technologies, public policy, and society.

Rebecca Leber

slate.com

https://slate.com/technology/2019/08/hurricane-dorian-north-carolina-climate-change-sea-level.html?via=rss

LEFT

2019-08-31 20:38:01

CBS News

Thousands protest against British Prime Minister Boris Johnson suspending Parliament

An estimated 10,000 people gathered in central London, while others protested in in Belfast, York and others cities in support of blocking a "no deal" Brexit

Prime Minister Boris Johnson's provocative decision to suspend the British Parliament for a time before the country's deadline for leaving the European Union came under fire Saturday in London and other cities where protesters took to the streets. Parts of central London were brought to a standstill, as people chanted "Boris Johnson, shame on you," BBC News reports. The demonstrations were called ahead of what is expected to be a pitched debate in Parliament this week as Johnson's opponents scramble to try to pass legislation that would block him from carrying out Brexit on October 31 without an approved withdrawal agreement. An estimated 10,000 people gathered in central London, while others protested in in Belfast, York and others cities to show determination to block a "no deal" Brexit. Protesters in London briefly blocked traffic on a downtown bridge and in Trafalgar Square. Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, who had urged his supporters to come out in large numbers, told thousands of people at a rally in Glasgow, Scotland that the message to Johnson was simple: "No way. It's our Parliament." Demonstrators block the entrance to Whitehall during an anti-Brexit protest in London, Britain August 31, 2019. KEVIN COOMBS / REUTERS Corbyn said Johnson, who became prime minister through a vote of Conservative Party members instead of a general election, does not have a mandate for shutting down Parliament or for leaving the EU without a deal in place. Many economists and academics think a no-deal Brexit would lead Britain into a prolonged recession. "It's not on and we're not having it," Corbyn said. Johnson's decision to shutter Parliament for several weeks when a debate about Brexit plans had been expected galvanized angry crowds of protesters on Saturday. There was also a small group of counter-protesters, marching in support of Johnson, in Westminster, London. Organizers said protests were held in more than 30 locations throughout England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. In London, they chanted: "Boris Johnson, shame on you." Some carried signs saying: "Stop the Coup" in reference to what they say is a move that threatens democracy. The protests were organized by the anti-Brexit group Another Europe Is Possible and by Momentum, which is allied with the opposition Labour Party. The group is urging its membership to "occupy bridges and blockade roads." Johnson's plan is also being opposed by some in Parliament who plan to introduce legislation this week to try to prevent a disorderly departure from the European Union. Anti-Brexit demonstrators protest in Whitehall on August 31, 2019 in London, England. Left-wing group Momentum and the People's Assembly are coordinating a series of "Stop The Coup" protests across the UK aimed at Boris Johnson and the UK government proroguing Parliament. Chris Furlong / Getty Images Their task will be made more difficult if Johnson's plan to shut Parliament for part of the time period before the October 31 Brexit deadline is carried out. Johnson's supporters may well be able to delay any proposed legislation from being enacted in time. Tactics could include introducing a variety of amendments that would have to be debated, or the use of filibusters to stall the process. The shutdown of Parliament is also being challenged in three separate court cases scheduled to be heard next week. Former Prime Minister John Major has joined one of the lawsuits, raising the likelihood that he will argue in court that the current prime minister, a fellow member of the Conservative Party, is acting improperly by shutting Parliament. Johnson, who helped lead the successful Brexit referendum campaign, says his government is actively pursuing a new deal with EU leaders and claims opposition to his policy will make it harder to wring concessions from Europe.

www.cbsnews.com

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/protests-in-london-today-thousands-protest-against-boris-johnson-suspending-parliament-2019-08-31/

CENTER

2019-08-31 20:40:55

CBS News

Arizona State University investigating detainment of 9 Chinese students by Customs and Border Patrol

"CBP has given ASU no information on what has transpired," university spokesman Jerry Gonzalez

A group of Arizona State University students from China were flying back to the school for the fall semester when they were detained at Los Angeles International Airport by Customs and Border Protection. The university is seeking answers as to why the nine students were ultimately sent home, CBS Phoenix affiliate KPHO reports. It's unclear when the students were detained at LAX, though ASU sent letters addressed to the Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Department of State dated August 29. In the letters, ASU president Michael M. Crow references an incident reported by The Washington Post involving an incoming Harvard freshmen being detained after landing in Boston and subsequently having his visa revoked. He was then sent back to Lebanon. Crow detailed four questions he wanted answer by both agencies, including what encompasses the "standard procedures" of screening international students as well as "a summary of the number and circumstances for denials for entry into the U.S." In a statement, ASU confirmed the students were detained but said that "CBP has given ASU no information on what has transpired." "Moreover, in cases of academic integrity, the only institution capable of determining such a violation is the academic institution in which students are enrolled. Customs and Border Protection is in no position to make such a finding," ASU spokesperson Jerry Gonzalez said. The university told KPHO it had "engaged with all levels of federal government over the last week" but had yet to receive a response. A spokesperson told CBS News that one of the students was close to graduating and that some of the students will continue their education online. ASU says it has remained in touch with all nine students.

www.cbsnews.com

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/detained-immigrants-arizona-state-university-investigating-detainment-of-9-chinese-students-by-cbp/

CENTER

2019-08-31 20:42:02

USA Today

Polish people admire Americans, not necessarily Trump

For Polish people who held suspicions of the American president, Trump further fueled their skepticism when he canceled a two-day trip to Poland.

CLOSE Vice President Mike Pence will go to Poland in place of President Donald Trump as Hurricane Dorian heads its way towards Florida. USA TODAY WARSAW, Poland – Jacek Szemplinski, like many of his countrymen, has a soft spot in his heart for Americans. He sees them as straight-talkers and practical people who use simple words to express big ideas. But the Polish businessman has a more complicated view of President Donald Trump, who he regards as “a strong man” and “a fighter” but who he also fears is playing a dangerous game by waging a trade war with China. “I have doubts about him,” Szemplinski said, pausing during a stroll through a downtown park in the Polish capital Saturday morning. For Polish people who already harbored suspicions of the American president, Trump further fueled their skepticism when he announced abruptly Thursday that he was canceling a two-day trip to Poland so he could remain in the United States and monitor Hurricane Dorian, which is barreling toward the East Coast. In his place, Trump is sending Vice President Mike Pence, who will attend services commemorating the 80th anniversary of the start of World War II and attend a series of meetings on Sunday and Monday, including a bilateral discussion with Polish President Andrzej Duda. Trump and Poland: Donald Trump canceling Poland trip as Hurricane Dorian barrels toward Florida Polish President Andrzej Duda greets President Trump during Trump's first visit to the country in 2017. Trump canceled a two-day trip to Poland this weekend and is sending Vice President Mike Pence in his place. (Photo: SAUL LOEB, AFP/Getty Images) Szemplinski and other Poles don’t buy Trump’s explanation for pulling out of the trip. “I don’t know what he’s going to do about the storm,” said Antoni Kwiatkowski, a music student who questioned Trump’s rationale for staying home. “I don’t believe this storm is the real reason” for Trump canceling, Szemplinski agreed. “I think Trump doesn’t like somebody. I don’t know who. But he doesn’t like somebody.” Polish businessman Jacek Szemplinski likes Americans but has doubts about President Donald Trump (Photo: Michael Collins/USA TODAY) Though they may not always agree with the American president, the Polish people historically have held a sincere fondness for Americans and a deep respect for the presidency itself. “Poland has been for a long time one of the most pro-American countries in Europe, if not the world,” said Daniel Fried, who served as U.S. ambassador to Poland for more than two years under former President Bill Clinton. More: France's Emmanuel Macron hopes to set up meeting between Donald Trump and Iran in 'coming weeks' “The Polish people have looked at the United States as their benefactor, their ally,” Fried said. “And they think, with some basis, that the United States is one of the early sponsors of their regaining their independence in 1918.” Last summer, an outdoor photo exhibit in downtown Warsaw paid tribute to former President Woodrow Wilson and American diplomat Edward Mandell House – a close Wilson adviser known as “Colonel House,” even though he had no military background – for embracing and facilitating the cause of Polish independence. “Nobody remembers that in the United States, outside of people who know the history,” Fried said. But, “the Poles have never forgotten.” The U.S.-Polish relationship goes back even further and can be traced to the American Revolution, when Polish Colonel Casimir Pulaski fought the British alongside George Washington, said Heather Conley, an expert on European affairs at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “Our country is enriched by a strong Polish-American community, and we see Poland’s return to independence and American support for the Solidarity movement as a shared success,” Conley said. “They are a strong ally and partner to the U.S. In other words, this relationship transcends any one particular U.S. president.” Trump at G-7: Behind-the-scenes discord rattles G-7 summit despite Donald Trump's claim that all is well In this Tuesday, March 24, 2015, photo, a man holding a U.S. flag walks past a U.S. Army Stryker armored vehicle from the 3rd Squadron of the 2nd Cavalry Regiment, during their stop to meet local residents on the Kosciuszko Market Square in Bialystok, Poland. (Photo: Alik Keplicz, AP) Poland’s nationalist, right-wing government has embraced Trump and welcomed him enthusiastically during his first trip to Warsaw in 2017. The ruling party shares the president's hard-line views on immigration and, like Trump, has often found itself in conflict with the rest of the European Union. For his part, Trump has been eager to strengthen ties with the Polish government, which is looking to spend billions of dollars to buy F-35 jets and other weaponry from the United States as it seeks the establishment of a permanent U.S. military base in Poland. During Pence’s visit to Warsaw, the two countries also are expected to sign a deal calling for them to work together to improve the security of Poland’s 5G telecommunications system as the Trump administration tries to counter the influence of the Chinese telecommunications company Huawei. Madeleine Westerhout: Trump warns aide Madeleine Westerhout has a 'fully enforceable confidentiality agreement' But the Polish government’s affinity for the American leader isn’t necessarily shared by the Polish people, who, like the rest of Europe, are curious about, yet divided over, his presidency. “Donald Trump – he’s very crazy,” said Michal Capucino, a restaurant worker biking in the shadow of the Palace of Culture and Science, a gigantic tower that Joseph Stalin considered his gift to the Polish people, who now regard it as a symbol of Soviet domination. Kwiatkowski, the music student, said he dislikes Trump’s “extreme politics” and “ultra-dominating behavior.” But Weronika Harutivnian, a bakery worker visiting relatives in Warsaw, said Trump has “a strong hand” and knows how to solve problems. “People say he’s not a good president, but to me, he’s very good and he knows what to do,” she said. For many Poles, “he makes us want to go to America,” she said. 'Dreams and windmills': On climate, Trump says he won't lose nation's wealth to 'dreams and windmills' Read or Share this story: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2019/08/31/pence-poland-polish-people-admire-americans-not-necessarily-trump/2152727001/

Michael Collins;Published P.M. Et Aug.

www.usatoday.com

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2019/08/31/pence-poland-polish-people-admire-americans-not-necessarily-trump/2152727001/

CENTER

2019-08-31 20:53:21

BBC

Philip Hammond: Deselecting Tory MPs over Brexit 'hypocritical'

The former chancellor was responding to a report saying Conservative Brexit rebels could be sacked.

Image caption The former chancellor has described a no-deal Brexit as anti-democratic It would be "staggeringly hypocritical" for the government to sack Conservative MPs who rebel over its Brexit plans, former chancellor Philip Hammond says. It comes after the Sun reported No 10 would stop any Tory MP who votes to block a no-deal Brexit from standing for the party in a general election. Government sources haven't denied this. But Mr Hammond said eight current cabinet members had themselves defied the party whip this year by voting against Theresa May's Brexit deal. Mr Hammond tweeted that he wanted to honour the party's 2017 manifesto promise for a "smooth and orderly" exit and a "deep and special partnership" with the EU and "not an undemocratic No Deal". Another senior Conservative MP, who is likely to back moves to prevent a no-deal Brexit next week, said they would be "disappointed" if it appeared that the government was "threatening" colleagues. They added that Downing Street looked like it was "spoiling for a fight." Government sources told the BBC that Prime Minister Boris Johnson wanted all MPs to "recognise their duty" and "give him their support" to get the UK out of the EU by 31 October 3. A government spokesperson said: "All options for party management are under consideration, but first and foremost the PM hopes MPs will deliver on the referendum result and back him on Parliament." Analysis By Jessica Parker, political correspondent Whether Boris Johnson's government would really go so far as to throw rebellious MPs out of the party isn't yet certain. But the fact that today's reports aren't being denied is yet another indication that Downing Street is, it appears, doing its best to dissuade wavering Conservatives from supporting legislation designed to block a no-deal Brexit. Mr Johnson believes that taking that outcome off the table will weaken his hand in trying to get a new agreement. However, some MPs take the view that this administration is being deliberately provocative, perhaps with the aim of being able to create that "People versus parliament" narrative in the event of a general election. Mr Hammond's intervention came after his successor, Sajid Javid, backed Mr Johnson's decision to suspend Parliament. Despite insisting during the Tory leadership campaign that he thought proroguing Parliament was a bad idea, Mr Javid has now defended the plan. He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "It is quite usual this time of year, Parliament goes into what's called a conference recess and it doesn't usually sit for some time in September and early October. "It's right because we are focusing on the people's priorities." Thousands of people took to the streets across the UK to protest the suspension on Saturday. Demonstrations were held in central London, near Downing Street, and in Manchester, Leeds, York and Belfast.

www.bbc.com

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-49539327

UNDEFINED

2019-08-31 21:02:01

Breitbart

I'm Alive and 'on My Way to Being Very Well' After Cancer Scares

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg gave a public health update at the National Book Festival in Washington D.C. Saturday.

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg gave a public health update at the National Book Festival in Washington D.C. Saturday amid recent reports that she was treated for pancreatic cancer, telling the crowd that she is alive and “on my way to being very well” following her latest cancer treatment. The 86-year-old justice reportedly started radiation therapy at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City earlier this month – August 5 – but told the crowd that she is well on her way to health. “As this audience can see I am alive… and I’m on my way to being very well,” she told the crowd, adding that she loves her job and that it “keeps me going”: "This audience can see I am alive. And I am on my way to being very well." Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg speaks at 2019 Library of Congress National Book Festival. pic.twitter.com/Q98rfpFnaO — The Hill (@thehill) August 31, 2019 According to the court’s statement, “there is no evidence of disease elsewhere in the body.” “Justice Ginsburg will continue to have periodic blood tests and scans. No further treatment is needed at this time,” the statement added: JUST IN: Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg underwent 3 weeks of radiation treatment this summer after the discovery a cancerous tumor on her pancreas. Full statement below (h/t @JanCBS) pic.twitter.com/t7kDQghHVZ — Ed O'Keefe (@edokeefe) August 23, 2019 “For one thing, I love my job,” Ginsburg told the excited crowd on Saturday. “It’s the best and the hardest job I’ve ever had. It has kept me going through four cancer bouts. Instead of concentrating on my aches and pains, I just know that I have to read this set of briefs.” Ginsburg has struggled with her health in recent years. As Breitbart News detailed: Ginsburg, the liberal face of the Supreme Court, has fought cancer on and off for roughly two decades. She underwent a procedure to remove malignant nodules from her left lung on December 21st of last year. The cancerous growths were discovered while receiving treatment for a fall in her office. Ginsburg missed the court’s oral arguments for several days in February, participating in cases using transcripts — a first in the justice’s 25-year tenure on the bench. Ginsburg has experienced several health issues in recent years. The justice underwent cancer surgeries in 1999 and 2009 and broke her ribs in at least two separate occasions. In 2014, Ginsburg had a stent inserted into her heart. Carla Hayden, the librarian of Congress, indicated that she wanted to introduce Ginsburg as “the Beyoncé of jurisprudence,” but Ginsburg reportedly said she preferred “the J. Lo of jurisprudence”: What an honor to welcome Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg to the @librarycongress #NatBookFest! pic.twitter.com/1IRX8ecuMo — Carla Hayden (@LibnOfCongress) August 31, 2019 Just WOW! More than 4,000 people to see Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg at the @librarycongress #NatBookFest. Some lined up at 4am. Thank you!!! pic.twitter.com/NR5Rd0Fjqt — Carla Hayden (@LibnOfCongress) August 31, 2019 The Supreme Court’s next term will begin October 7, and Ginsburg said she will “be ready when the time comes.”

Hannah Bleau

www.breitbart.com

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2019/08/31/ruth-bader-ginsburg-im-alive-and-on-my-way-to-being-very-well-after-cancer-scares/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+breitbart+%28Breitbart+News%29

RIGHT

2019-08-31 21:10:48

BBC

Channel migrants: Sixty six people found in small boats

A number of small boats carrying migrants towards the Kent coast were intercepted after searches.

Image copyright Stephen Ray Image caption Eight men were detained by police after landing on the Kent coast Sixty six men woman and children have been found in one day crossing the English Channel in small boats heading for the Kent coast. One of the four boats was carrying 27 adults and eight children, said the Home Office. Another boat reached Kingsdown, Kent. Eight men were passed to immigration officers after being held by police. In addition to the 66, a dinghy with 13 men was returned to Calais after being spotted by a French navy helicopter. A Home Office spokesperson said: "We are working closely at all levels with the French authorities to tackle this dangerous and illegal activity." Image copyright Premar Manche Image caption A French navy helicopter spotted 13 men in a dinghy off the coast of Calais at about 04:30 BST Home Secretary Priti Patel met her French counterpart Christophe Castaner in Paris on Thursday to discuss a joint response to the rise in crossings. They agreed to develop an "enhanced action plan" to stop vessels leaving the French coast. In the early hours of Saturday the French authorities alerted the Border Force to a boat carrying 16 migrants towards the UK. The six men, five women and five children on board were taken to Dover. One woman needed hospital treatment. Another boat carrying seven people was later intercepted in mid Channel. Those on board were also taken to Dover. The migrants have told immigration officials their nationalities are Iranian, Iraqi, Afghan, Syrian, Kuwaiti and Lebanese. Police said on Thursday the body of a migrant who fell from a boat off the coast of Ramsgate on 9 August has been found, while the body of an Iraqi migrant, who is believed to have drowned while trying to swim to the UK, was found at a wind farm off the coast of Belgium on 23 August. A note on terminology: The BBC uses the term migrant to refer to all people on the move who have yet to complete the legal process of claiming asylum. This group includes people fleeing war-torn countries, who are likely to be granted refugee status, as well as people who are seeking jobs and better lives, who governments are likely to rule are economic migrants.

www.bbc.com

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-kent-49539293

UNDEFINED

2019-08-31 21:21:57

Breitbart

Sanders Campaign Calls for Retraction Over WaPo's Fact Check

Sen. Bernie Sanders' (I-VT) campaign hit back against the Jeff Bezos-owned Washington Post in the latest edition of the "Bern Notice."

Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I-VT) campaign blasted the Jeff Bezos-owned Washington Post in the latest edition of the “Bern Notice,” demanding the outlet retract its “inaccurate” fact check on Sanders’ claim that “500,000 Americans will go bankrupt this year from medical bills.” Sanders made the claim during an appearance on CNN’s State of the Union last week, but the Washington Post concluded that his claim was based on a “flawed statistic.” The Sanders campaign took issue with the analysis and wrote a letter to Washington Post editor Marty Baron, demanding a “full retraction” and arguing that Sanders correctly quoted the study from the American Journal of Public Health, which is “not the National Enquirer”: Senator Sanders accurately cited a statistic that was published in this distinguished public health journal. In what world does this merit one so-called “pinocchio” let alone three? Further, this “three pinocchio” rating isn’t just falsely attacking the veracity of Senator Sanders and misleading the public on one of the most serious problems facing the American people. It is also tarnishing the reputation of the author of the editorial who went to great lengths to have it reviewed by his peers, who believes “your false claim” has “besmirched” his “reputation as a scholar,” and who is also demanding a retraction. “Unfortunately, this latest Fact Checker article is part of a much broader pattern of bias against Senator Sanders,” Sanders’ Senior Adviser Warren Gunnels continued, listing off the campaign’s well-documented list of grievances against the outlet. The letter continued: The Washington Post says it adheres to the highest journalistic standards of objectivity, fairness and accuracy If that is the case, why does the Post’s editorial leadership allow the Fact Checker to regularly, baselessly disparage Senator Sanders with smears that are demonstrably inaccurate? And why has the Post’s editorial leadership not corrected or retracted these smears when they are proven false? We hope that you will address the Fact Checker’s inappropriate coverage of Senator Sanders — first by immediately retracting this most recent piece, and then by committing the newspaper to covering Senator Sanders in a fair, professional and ethical manner that finally starts honoring the most basic standards of accuracy. We look forward to hearing your immediate response to this request. According to the Post’s analysis, Sanders used a statistic that is far too general. While individuals may list medical bills as a contributing factor for filing for bankruptcy, it does not necessarily mean that the medical bills were the driving force behind the final decision to do so. As the Post reported: The Sanders campaign told us he was citing a statistic from a public health journal. Critics say the study he’s citing casts too wide a net because it counts anyone who mentioned medical bills or illness among their reasons for declaring bankruptcy, not just those who said it was the main reason or a big piece. Bankruptcies typically involve multiple causes, and in some cases, medical bills may be a small piece of the pie. Sanders glosses over those nuances, stating that health-care costs drove people to bankruptcy in all 500,000 cases. The study he’s citing doesn’t establish that. The study Sanders cited included individuals who said that medical expenses played “somewhat” into their decision to file for bankruptcy. It does not, however, specifically indicate that the mounting medical bills were the sole reason. “Sanders’s claim works only by erasing this ambiguity and taking ‘somewhat’ to mean ‘mostly,'” the Post assessed. The Post also cited a 2018 study published by the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), which examined patients in California. It found that “medical bankruptcies represented 4 percent of all bankruptcies,” calling Sanders’ claim of 500,000 into question: “Based on our estimate of 4 percent of bankruptcy filings per year and the approximately 800,000 bankruptcy filings per year, our number would be much closer to something on the order of 30,000-50,000 bankruptcies caused by a hospitalization,” one of the co-authors of the NEJM study, economist Raymond Kluender of Harvard Business School, wrote in an email. However, the Sanders campaigns stuck to its guns, telling the Post, “Medical debt caused by the greed of pharmaceutical and insurance corporations is crippling millions of Americans, and it’s clear that 500,000 is the bare minimum number of bankruptcy filings caused by medical debt each year.” While David U. Himmelstein, who led the AJPH study, said Sanders accurately cited the study’s findings, the Post concluded that Sanders’ assessment was a “classic case of cherry-picking a number from a scientific study and twisting it to make a political point” and gave his statement Three Pinocchios. Sanders’ letter follows his vow to erase $81 billion in medical debt:

Hannah Bleau

www.breitbart.com

https://www.breitbart.com/2020-election/2019/08/31/sanders-campaign-blasts-washington-post-demands-retraction-for-inaccurate-fact-check/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+breitbart+%28Breitbart+News%29

RIGHT

2019-08-31 21:23:00

ABC News

Massacre in Odessa, Texas, leaves total of at least 35 people killed in mass shootings in August

At least 35 were killed in mass shootings in El Paso, Dayton and Odessa, Texas.

A Walmart in El Paso, a bar scene in Dayton, Ohio, and just hours ago, a chaotic scene on Texas roadways. Those were the scenes of mass shootings in the United States, claiming at least 35 lives and injuring dozens others -- and all happened in the span of just one month. On Saturday afternoon, on the last day of August, a gunman shot 25 people, killing four of them, during a shooting spree in Odessa, Texas, according to authorities. Dustin Fawcett via AP Authorities killed the suspect after he shot a police officer, hijacked a mail truck, and shot at “random people," police said. The identify of the suspect has not been released. On Aug. 4, 22 people died and dozens more were injured at an El Paso, Texas, Walmart filled with weekend shoppers, including parents and children buying back-to-school items. The suspect was identified as Patrick Crusius, 21, of Allen, Texas. Mario Tama/Getty Images, FILE Cruius, who authorities said was allegedly targeting Hispanics, is being charged with capital murder. Less than 15 hours after the El Paso massacre, a mass shooting in Dayton, Ohio, took the lives of nine people and injured 27. John Minchillo/AP, FILE The suspect, 24-year-old Connor Betts, was shot dead by police at the scene. The entire mass shooting only lasted 32 seconds. Before the shooting in Odessa, there were at least 18 mass shootings in the U.S. in 2019. The FBI doesn't have an official definition of a mass shooting, but defines a mass killing as an incident in which three or more people, not including the suspect, are killed. Various groups and watchdog organizations keep their own lists, often using different criteria for what qualifies as a mass shooting. In late July, three people were killed at a festival in California. Their victims' ages were 6, 13 and 25. ABC News' Emily Shapiro and Meghan Keneally contributed to this report.

Abc News

abcnews.go.com

https://abcnews.go.com/US/massacre-odessa-texas-leaves-total-35-people-killed/story?id=65318097

CENTER

2019-08-31 21:43:00

NBC News

5 dead, 21 injured after motorist opens fire in Odessa, Texas

The suspect in a shooting Saturday in Odessa, Texas, was fatally shot after he killed 5 and injured 21 as he fired randomly while driving, authorities said.

5 dead, 21 injured after motorist opens fire in Odessa, Texas "The suspect continued shooting at innocent civilians all over Odessa," police said.

Dennis Romero;Dennis Romero Writes For Nbc News;Is Based In Los Angeles.;Andrew Blankstein;Andrew Blankstein Is An Investigative Reporter For Nbc News. He Covers The Western United States;Specializing In Crime;Courts;Homeland Security.;Tom Winter;Tom Winter Is A New York-Based Correspondent Covering Crime

www.nbcnews.com

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/multiple-people-injured-roaming-shooter-odessa-texas-police-say-n1048656?cid=public-rss_20190902

CENTER

2019-08-31 21:43:00

NBC News

5 dead, 21 injured by shooter in Odessa, Texas, police say

A shooter was fatally shot, Odessa authorities said. Among the injured was a state trooper and two police officers, authorities said.

5 dead, 21 injured by shooter in Odessa, Texas, police say Random shootings were reported in the Odessa area, and one shooter carjacked a U.S. Postal Service truck, police said.

Dennis Romero;Dennis Romero Writes For Nbc News;Is Based In Los Angeles.;Andrew Blankstein;Andrew Blankstein Is An Investigative Reporter For Nbc News. He Covers The Western United States;Specializing In Crime;Courts;Homeland Security.;Tom Winter;Tom Winter Is A New York-Based Correspondent Covering Crime

www.nbcnews.com

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/multiple-people-injured-roaming-shooter-odessa-texas-police-say-n1048656?cid=public-rss_20190901

CENTER

2019-08-31 21:43:59

HuffPost

Multiple Injured In Shootings In Western Texas

At least 20 people were reportedly injured in the cities of Odessa and Midland.

A suspected shooter was shot and killed at the Cinergy movie theater, according to a statement released by police in Midland, Texas, on Saturday evening. “It has been confirmed that the active shooter was shot and killed at the Cinergy in Odessa,” Midland police around 5:30 p.m. local time. “There is no active shooter at this time. All agencies are investigating reports of possible suspects.” About an hour previously, a police spokesperson in the neighboring town of Odessa told HuffPost that shootings had been taking place “literally all around town.” “We’re just telling everyone to stay in their house right now,” she said. At least 20 people were injured, Midland Mayor Jerry Morales said in an interview with CNN. During the police response, a Midland officer and a state Department of Public Safety officer were also shot. The Midland Memorial Hospital received six patients from the shooting, three who were in critical condition and three who were stable, a hospital spokesperson told HuffPost. While reporting on the shooting, CB7 news anchors were forced to evacuate their studio located at Music City Mall in Odessa as police searched the area. Details of the rampage remain unclear: Midland and Odessa police had said there were multiple suspects; that one had hijacked a U.S. Postal Service truck; and that there was a shooter at a local Home Depot. The University of Texas of the Permian Basin, located in Odessa, was placed on lockdown as police searched for the suspects. President Donald Trump said he was briefed about the shootings and said the FBI was “fully engaged” in the situation. Democratic presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke, a Texas native, tweeted his support to the people of Midland and Odessa. Four weeks earlier, O’Rourke took a break from his campaign to return to his hometown of El Paso after a deadly mass shooting there left 22 dead. Our hearts are with Midland, Odessa, and everyone in West Texas who has to endure this again. More information is forthcoming, but here's what we know: We need to end this epidemic. https://t.co/ytWLcg7y20 — Beto O'Rourke (@BetoORourke) August 31, 2019 This story is developing. Check back for updates. Hilary Hanson and Kimberley Richards contributed to this report.

Reporter

www.huffpost.com

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/odessa-shooting-texas-injuries_n_5d6ae71fe4b09bbc9ef00f20

LEFT

2019-08-31 21:51:46

CNN

1 dead, at least 10 wounded in shootings in Odessa, Texas, police say

There is an active shooting situation going on in the area between the cities of Midland and Odessa, Texas, according to Devin Sanchez, a spokesman for the City of Odessa.

(CNN) There is an active shooting situation going on in the area between the cities of Midland and Odessa, Texas, according to Devin Sanchez, a spokesman for the City of Odessa. There are 10 confirmed injuries, possibly up to 20 injured, Sanchez said. There is one person confirmed dead, he said. One of those shot is a law enforcement officer, but it is unclear if the officer is injured or dead, Sanchez said. Sanchez said there is a person in a gold Toyota driving around shopping centers and shooting people from his vehicle. The area is near 32nd and 191, on the east side of Odessa. Midland Police Department put on their Facebook page, "We believe there are two shooters in two separate vehicles. One suspect is believed to be at the Cinergy in Midland and the other is believed to be driving on Loop 250 in Midland. The two vehicles in question are: gold/white small Toyota truck and a USPS Postal Van. Please stay away from these areas and stay indoors." Sanchez says authorities are urging people to stay indoors. Read More

www.cnn.com

https://www.cnn.com/2019/08/31/us/odessa-texas-active-shooter/index.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fcnn_latest+%28RSS%3A+CNN+-+Most+Recent%29

UNDEFINED

2019-08-31 21:55:39

The Guardian

Texas police say two gunmen at large after shooting at Odessa Home Depot

Midland police department posts statement to Facebook saying public should stay away from area and stay in homes

Texas police say two gunmen at large after shooting at Odessa Home Depot Police in Midland, Texas said on Saturday two gunmen were at large after a reported shooting at a branch of the Home Depot hardware store in Odessa. Local and national media reported the Texas Department of Public Safety said several people including an officer had been shot. The University of Texas of the Permian Basin was on lockdown. In a first post on its Facebook page on Saturday afternoon, the Midland police department noted reports of “an active shooter” at the Home Depot in Odessa and said: “For the safety of the public and law enforcement please stay away from the area and stay in your homes. We will update will more information as soon as possible.” In an update, the department posted: “We believe there are two shooters in two separate vehicles. One suspect is believed to be at the Cinergy in Midland and the other is believed to be driving on Loop 250 in Midland.” The Cinergy in Midland is a multiplex cinema. The police statement added: “The two vehicles in question are: gold/white small Toyota truck and a USPS Postal Van. Please stay away from these areas and stay indoors.” The White House said Donald Trump had been briefed. The president, who was monitoring the approach of Hurricane Dorian on Saturday, flew to his golf club in Virginia earlier, from the Maryland retreat at Camp David. More follows…

Martin Pengelly

www.theguardian.com

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/aug/31/midland-texas-shooting-odessa-home-depot

LEFT

2019-08-31 21:55:48

Breitbart

3 Officers Reportedly Shot in Midland-Odessa Shooting Incidents

Local media outlets in the report multiple shooting victims in an active shooter situation in the Midland-Odessa region of West Texas.

Local media outlets report multiple shooting victims in an active shooter situation in the Midland-Odessa region of West Texas. UPDATE 5:35 p.m.: YourBasin.com reports three Midland police officers may have been shot. The conditions of the officers have not been reported. UPDATE 5:30 p.m.: NBC News reports one person dead and many injured in the Midland-Odessa shooting. BREAKING: At least 1 dead and many injured in Odessa-Midland shooting attack, an Odessa city official tells @NBCNews. https://t.co/USvJus1pYQ It’s still unclear if there is more than 1 shooter — there may be, but unclear. — Micah Grimes (@MicahGrimes) August 31, 2019 ORIGINAL STORY FOLLOWS: Media outlets in the Midland-Odessa region report that as many as two shooters in two separate incidents may have shot as many as 20 people. The City of Odessa reports 20 injuries in connection to one of the alleged shootings, CBS7 reports. The local news outlet reports one suspect may be in custody at Cinergy of Midland. The local CBS affiliate reports that Midland, Texas, officials believe there are two shooters who are firing from multiple vehicles. Police are looking for a gold/white small Toyota truck and a USPS Postal Van. A second suspect is believed to be at the Cinergy in Midland, officials stated. Midland officials also report that a Texas Department of Public Safety trooper may have been shot in the westbound lanes of I-20. The suspect allegedly shot several people after shooting the trooper, the local CBS station reports. One of the shootings may be connected to the alleged hijacking of a U.S. Mail truck, YourBasin.com reports. The mail truck was last seen in Odessa, Texas , near 38th and Walnut Streets. Officials at the University of Texas Permian Basin campus placed the campus on lockdown, KWTX/KOSA reports. DPS officials urge the public to stay clear of I-20 in Odessa, Midland, and Big Spring as police search for a suspect who shot multiple people including an officer, CBS7 reported.

Bob Price;Lana Shadwick

www.breitbart.com

https://www.breitbart.com/border/2019/08/31/multiple-people-shot-in-west-texas-active-shooter-incident/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+breitbart+%28Breitbart+News%29

RIGHT

2019-08-31 21:57:43

USA Today

Police looking for two suspects

Authorities are searching for two active shooters in Odessa, Texas, according to local police. The shooters may be in two separate vehicles.

CLOSE Breaking news (Photo: USA TODAY) Two people were killed and up to 20 people were injured in a shooting Saturday in Odessa, Texas, according to Mayor Jerry Morales, reported the New York Times. Authorities are searching for two active shooters, according to local police. Police believe the shooters are traveling in two separate vehicles: one is a small Toyota truck and the other is a USPS Postal van. Police are urging residents of the Midland-Odessa metro area to stay indoors, as there have been multiple reported locations. "For the safety of the public and law enforcement please stay away from the area and stay in your homes," the Midland Police Department said on Twitter. The nearby University of Texas Permian Basin is on lockdown. Falcons: law enforcement in Midland and Odessa are working to locate and contain a shooter. Please stay in your dorm or office and do not open your doors. There were initial reports that the suspect was in east odessa. We will post here as soon as the situation is under control — UT Permian Basin (@utpb) August 31, 2019 According to the Associated Press, the White House has been briefed on the situation. New York Police Department's Chief of Counterterrorism James R. Waters said on Twitter that he is monitoring the active shooter reports in Texas closely. Read or Share this story: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/08/31/police-search-active-shooters-midland-odessa-texas/2181462001/

Olivia Sanchez;Published P.M. Et Aug.

www.usatoday.com

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/08/31/police-search-active-shooters-midland-odessa-texas/2181462001/?utm_source=feedblitz&utm_medium=FeedBlitzRss&utm_campaign=indystar/todaystopstories

CENTER

2019-08-31 22:00:22

Reuters

After Dorian takes a turn, central Florida city breathes sigh of relief

After a frantic week in preparation for Hurricane Dorian, residents of Fort Pierce, Florida breathed a bit easier on Saturday when forecasters said the state's central Atlantic Coast may dodge a direct hit from the monster storm.

(Reuters) - After a frantic week in preparation for Hurricane Dorian, residents of Fort Pierce, Florida breathed a bit easier on Saturday when forecasters said the state’s central Atlantic Coast may dodge a direct hit from the monster storm. Radar from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration NOAA-42 WP-3D Orion aircraft shows the eye of Hurricane Dorian during a reconnaissance mission over the Atlantic Ocean, August 30, 2019 in this handout image obtained from social media. LCDR Robert Mitchell/NOAA/Handout via REUTERS The city, about 60 miles (96 km) north of West Palm Beach, has retained a small-town charm from its roots as a pioneer settlement in the 1800s. Locals shudder to remember the devastation of recent hurricanes that ripped the roofs of residences and flooded the downtown district. With meteorologists warning that a similar scenario was likely with Dorian, Fort Pierce residents spent recent days boarding up buildings and depleting stores of generators, food and water. But Saturday’s forecast predicting that Dorian might veer north and offshore came as a welcome surprise. “It’s a huge sense of relief,” said David BuShea, a managing partner at Sailfish Brewing Company in downtown Fort Pierce. BuShea, who called his clientele “extremely loyal and extremely local,” said the brewery decided not to use filtered water to brew beer on Friday and instead welcomed the community to come and fill up jugs in preparation for the storm. “You can’t ever discount the preparations,” he said. “At this point you’re not going to go take your shutters down.” By Saturday, Dorian was churning through the Atlantic as a menacing Category 4 storm with sustained winds of 150 miles per hour. But after repeated warnings that the hurricane could slam the central Atlantic Coast of Florida, possibly on early on Tuesday, the National Hurricane Center on Saturday detected a “notable change” in the storm’s trajectory, with the latest forecasts showing the eye could veer north and stay out at sea. Even so, the hurricane’s track remained unpredictable, as Dorian is still far from the mainland United States and moving at fewer than 10 mph (16 kph). Forecasters cautioned that the storm still posed a threat to millions of people, as well as holiday attractions such as Walt Disney World, the NASA launchpads along the Space Coast, and even President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach. Rick Modine, a 60-year-old whose family traces its roots in Fort Pierce back to the 1800s, did not want to take any chances. He spent much of last week moving his cattle to higher ground at a ranch just west of the city, making sure the cows were safe before tending to his house. “For the past few days, we’ve been moving the cows to higher ground because they can’t go 24 hours without lying down, and they won’t put their heads under water to eat grass,” Modine said. ‘IT’S GONE. THE MARINA IS GONE.’ Fort Pierce, home to 50,000 people, a bustling marina and an idyllic Main Street, enjoyed decades without impact from major hurricanes, which gave residents a false sense of security. Then came 2004. Hurricanes Charley, Frances and Jeanne blasted Fort Pierce within two months, causing so much infrastructure damage that large swaths of the city were covered in blue tarps for a year afterwards, said former Fort Pierce Mayor Bob Benton. “I will never forget my son, Kori, yelling on the phone the morning after Frances passed. ‘It’s gone. It’s gone. The marina is gone,’” said Benton, who is 62, in a phone interview. Haunting memories of 2004 stirred panic in Fort Pierce locals when Dorian began its slow approach. “I’ve never seen people take a storm as seriously as they have taken this one,” said Linda Nunn, 58, a Fort Pierce native. “People went nuts as soon as they heard it might be Cat 4. You don’t usually see that five or six days before the storm is supposed to hit.” The NHC on Saturday warned that Florida residents should remain on alert, as the east coast is still in the storm path’s cone of uncertainty. Mayor Linda Hudson of Fort Pierce urged the same caution, with the memories of power outages and blue tarps in 2004 still fresh in her mind. “I’m still very concerned because we are going to get something, so people need to really remain diligent,” she said.

Gabriella Borter;Min Read

www.reuters.com

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-storm-dorian-fort-pierce/after-dorian-takes-a-turn-central-florida-city-breathes-sigh-of-relief-idUSKCN1VL0ST?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29

CENTER

2019-08-31 22:01:02

The Guardian

How the fight over brumbies is making the NSW Liberals and Nationals go feral

The powerful moderate faction of the Liberals and the Nationals were already at odds on many environmental issues

The powerful moderate faction of the Liberals and the Nationals were already at odds on many environmental issues How the fight over brumbies is making the NSW Liberals and Nationals go feral Environmentalists say unchecked numbers of wild brumbies are wreaking havoc in the Kosciuszko national park. They are also cutting a swathe through the Coalition. The New South Wales Nationals leader, John Barilaro, clashed with the Liberal environment minister, Matt Kean, at the conclusion of a bizarre debate in the NSW parliament on 22 August. The topic was a petition on the brumbies, in which Kean openly contradicted Barilaro, who was the driving force behind the greater protection of brumbies in NSW. And it came when the powerful moderate faction of the Liberals and the Nationals were already at odds on a range of environmental issues from management of brumbies to water rights, land clearing, logging in national parks, protection of native grasslands and more. The battle over brumbies: how NSW's invasive species became heritage horses Read more The trigger for the brumbies contretemps was the tabling by Labor of a 10,000- signature petition from the Reclaim Kosci group calling for the repeal of the Wild Horses Heritage Act, which was championed by Barilaro on behalf of the local tourism industry in his seat of Monaro. Labor is angling to get the numbers to repeal it. Captured on video, Barilaro can be seen gesticulating at the public gallery, where a group of the petitioners were seated. “You want to give me the finger, sir?” he says. “Do not disrespect the people of Monaro – the communities, the generations who have a connection to that park. You cannot do that. You cannot disrespect democracy at a local level and somehow think that people who live in inner‑city Sydney have every right to democracy and to dictate to the people of the region what is good or what is bad for them.” Play Video 2:45 'You want to give me the finger?' NSW parliament's bizarre debate about brumbies – video He went on to argue forcefully in favour of his new approach, which gives a community management committee the loudest say in brumby management, over the voices of scientists and the National Parks and Wildlife Service. By the time the next Labor speaker had finished, Kean had arrived in the chamber to give an unscheduled contribution. “One of the biggest threats to our national parks is feral pests: feral cats, feral dogs, feral rabbits and, let us call them for what they are, not brumbies, feral horses,” he said. “When it comes to the Kosciuszko national park, my first act as environment minister was to go to that park to see the impact of feral horses on the park. I saw for myself firsthand one of the most beautiful natural environments anywhere in the world, and the devastating impact that the number of horses is having on that environment.” Kean went on to say there would be a community management committee and a scientific committee – noting that that was not a requirement of the act. The science would be informed by an audit of how many horses were actually in the park, he added. As the bells rang for the vote, the two ministers could be seen sitting facing away from each other. An Office of Environment and Heritage 2016 draft plan recommended cutting the park’s then 6,000 to 8,000 horses to 600 over 20 years because of the damage the hard-hoofed animals do to alpine environments and waterways. But more than a year after the new regime came in, there is no management committee, no scientific committee and no survey of numbers of horses in the Kosciuszko national park – at least none made public. A spokesman for Barilaro said the committee was expected to be announced soon, once it went to cabinet. There now appear to be plans for two committees, even though the legislation refers only to one. But the delays in appointing a committee have had consequences. Brumby numbers usually increase at between 13% to 20% a year, though the drought may have slowed their breeding. Culls have been halted for two seasons with National Parks and Wildlife Services personnel fearing the new act could open them up to legal action if any measures were taken ahead of the committee agreeing. Even the Australian Brumby Alliance says the failure to remove any brumbies is “a worry”. The ABA president, Jill Pickering, told newspaper the Land in January that the pause could play into the hands of people who wanted brumbies totally removed from the park. “I have written several letters asking that the committee process can start so we can start managing the population, but have received no reply,” Pickering said at the time. Brumby lobby and conservationists urge NSW to reduce horrific collisions Read more Meanwhile Labor is angling to get the brumby bill repealed. Labor’s shadow environment minister, Penny Sharpe, has introduced a bill, but plans to bring it to a vote stalled last week after Labor found itself short on the numbers in the upper house. The Shooters, Fishers and Farmers party says it will back repeal with Helen Dalton from the seat of Murray speaking in favour during the petition debate, noting the damage wild horses do to waterways that feed into the Murray. One Nation is opposing it and the Animal Justice party is said to be still on the fence. Former National Parks officer Kim De Govrik, now an organiser in the Public Sector Union, said: “If you don’t control vertebrate pests, ie wild foxes, rabbits goats, pigs and horses, then you compromise the habitat of your native fauna, and that puts them on a path to extinction. It’s a simple as that.” Labor is now working to convince the Animal Justice party that culling or removing wild horse populations from Kosciuszko is a lesser evil than allowing them to devastate the park.

Anne Davies

www.theguardian.com

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/sep/01/how-the-fight-over-brumbies-is-making-the-nsw-liberals-and-nationals-go-feral

LEFT

2019-08-31 22:01:04

The Guardian

One Holocaust descendant's fight for justice: 'They stole not just our land, but my family's history'

Melbourne doctor Ann Drillich is fighting the might of the Catholic church over family land in Poland, where antisemitism and populism are on the rise

Melbourne doctor Ann Drillich is fighting the might of the Catholic church over family land in Poland, where antisemitism and populism are on the rise One Holocaust descendant's fight for justice: 'They stole not just our land, but my family's history' One Holocaust descendant's fight for justice: 'They stole not just our land, but my family's history' Melbourne doctor Ann Drillich, the daughter of Polish Holocaust survivors, is a rare kind of Jew who owns a Catholic church. The brick structure, Our Lady of the Scapular, stands on Drillich’s ancestral property in the medieval town of Tarnów, near Kraków. Her late mother, Blanka Drillich née Goldman, inherited the land at the end of the second world war. Aged 18, Blanka was the sole living heir to the Goldman estate, all others perished in the town’s ghetto: she found her mother shot dead in her bed. But Drillich has never been inside her church. “I tried to enter it once,” she recalls. “It was locked.” The reason: in 1987, with the help of a trusted friend of the Drillichs, the Catholic church in Poland effectively stole the land and built the house of worship on the site. The Drillichs didn’t know. Ann Drillich only learned of the theft in 2010 when, as heir, she ordered a public records search about her family’s estate. “At first it took a while to settle in, the shock of the betrayal,” she says. “And the idea that behind the injustice is a church. “My mother’s family was one of the most prominent in town. It was like they had stolen not just our land, but my family’s history.” And so after the shock settled, she sued. “How could I not?” she asks. So began an expensive, traumatic and escalating battle that pitched this meticulous woman with a scientific sensibility against a powerful religious institution. The church appealed. Stalled. Obstructed. Counter-sued. The Polish courts, meanwhile, delivered justice to Drillich, again and again. And yet again, in a final ruling in 2016 when three district court judges found the church had acted in “bad faith” when it acquired the “abandoned” land. That should have been where the story ends, with Drillich, a lecturer to medical students, finally clearing the fortress of legal documents from the suburban home she shares with her family and two needy miniature schnauzers. Getting closure on a draining saga that’s stirred up traumatic memories from a childhood blighted by the legacy of the second world war. But in Poland, closure, whether legal or historical, is hard to come by, and now, on the eve of the 80th anniversary of the Nazi invasion of Poland, Drillich is facing an extraordinary legal challenge in a case that testifies to the nation’s populist zeitgeist under the ironically-named Law and Justice party, and its fraught relationship with the past. *** The Goldmans’ roots in Tarnów stretched back centuries. Before the war, their sprawling estate in Gumniska Street boasted a tile factory, extensive gardens and a neo-Gothic villa. While the latter, taken by the state in 1985, now houses a public registry and is officially named “the Wedding Palace”, the building is still known colloquially as “Goldmanowka”, Goldman House, after its former owners. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Photographs of Ann Drillich’s mother Blanka Drillich nee Goldman, and her great grandfather Izak Goldman (back image) who left the estate to Blanka after the second world war. Photograph: Christopher Hopkins/The Guardian In 1941, the Nazis forced Blanka Goldman, her grandfather, aunt and parents into the ghetto. Within months all were murdered, except Blanka. Blanka told of “Polish thugs” rampaging through laneways, leading Nazis to Jews. But many Poles resisted the Nazis and saved Jews. Among them, the Drillichs’ friends, the Poetschkes. Catholics with German roots, the Poetschkes had been renting part of the Goldman estate. Their son Jerzy was especially fond of Dr Drillich’s fair-haired mother Blanka, whose beauty had the advantage of not appearing Semitic. Blanka escaped the ghetto. For the rest of the war the Poetschkes hid her in the basement and attic of Goldman house while they lived upstairs. It was a poignant display of bravery: had the Nazis discovered the Poetschkes’ subterfuge they would surely have been executed. In the 1990s, thanks to Drillich’s family, Jerzy was honoured as a “Righteous Pole”, a gentile who risked his life to save Jews. His name is listed on the honour roll at Warsaw’s POLIN: Museum of the History of Polish Jews. Yet in the complex duality of Polish-Jewish relations, Jerzy’s saving Blanka’s life did not stop him conspiring with the church to steal her family’s property. “My father said Jerzy’s betrayal was one of the biggest disappointments of his life,” Drillich says. Tarnów’s 25,000 Jews accounted for almost half the town’s pre-war population. After liberation only about 700 returned — and according to the US Holocaust Memorial Museum virtually all of them soon left after encountering lingering antisemitism. Such was the case with Blanka. Three years after inheriting her estate, she left Poland, married Henryk Drillich, also a survivor from Tarnów and later settled in Australia. She left the Poetschkes to administer the estate under her power of attorney. In following decades, the communist authorities confiscated much of the land. The more painful travesty was to come. In 1986 the Diocese Curia in Tarnów, through Bishop Piotr Bednarczyk, wrote to Henryk offering to buy the estate of Blanka, by then deceased. The parties haggled over terms without striking a final agreement. Yet that same October, on the advice of parish lawyers, Jerzy successfully applied to Tarnów’s Regional Court to gain ownership of the “abandoned” land through adverse possession. Asked for the address of Blanka Goldman, he testified “unknown”. He’d sent a condolence card on her death 13 years earlier. He donated half the 8,500 square metres to the church, sold the other half and pocketed the money. It was only in the 1990s that he resumed contact with the Drillichs. When in 1993 Henryk visited Tarnów for the first time since the war, Jerzy showed him round the old estate. He said nothing about the plots that went to the church. He has since died. *** After what seemed like the final legal victory for Drillich in 2016, the church concocted new proceedings about these already-adjudicated matters and dialled up the tone. In November 2017, the parish wrote to the district prosecutor’s office in Tarnów alleging — without evidence — that Drillich, her notaries and lawyers had used “forged” documents to “unlawfully swindle compensation from the church”. Says Drillich’s lawyer, Tomasz Krawczyk: “It’s really the most outrageous legal obstruction I’ve seen in my 15-year legal career. And the whole time they were working on the minister of justice to bring the appeal.” In May, minister Zbigniew Ziobro — also, conveniently, the prosecutor general — enlisted in the church’s crusade by petitioning the politically-dependable supreme court judges in the Orwellian-sounding Chamber of Extraordinary Control and Public Affairs to overturn the earlier rulings in Drillich’s favour. Under controversial 2017 reforms the prosecutor general can bring an “extraordinary appeal” to annul virtually any court ruling over the past 20 years. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Ann Drillich’s documents, who is in a legal battle in Poland over her inherited family estate, papers and research material including images of the church in question (bottom right) and the ‘wedding house’. Photograph: Christopher Hopkins/The Guardian The Polish president, Andrzej Duda, said the remedy, “allows the natural legal order to be restored in accordance with the principle of social justice”. The European Union sees judicial independence undermined. “What you have to ask is why on earth would a relatively inconsequential case in a provincial town like this one be so important for the Polish government?” says Wojciech Sadurski, a law professor at the Universities of Sydney and Warsaw, and author of Poland’s Constitutional Breakdown. He notes the minister’s grounds for bringing the appeal relate to narrow questions of law, “too trivial and technical, it seems to me, to qualify as a matter of ‘social justice’. So the answer is the case is important for the church — and the politicians need the support of the church to stay in power. I think it’s as simple as that.” Sadurski can himself testify to the prevailing enthusiasm for politically-motivated law suits; he’s fighting a criminal case and two civil suits for defamation for tweets critical of the ruling party and neutered public broadcaster. To be fair, his is a non-exclusive club. Free speech is a fragile thing in contemporary Poland. And that’s especially true when the talk is about its wartime past. Accusing “the Polish nation” of complicity in the Holocaust and other Nazi atrocities attracts civil penalties — and that was a backdown from the government under pressure from the US and Israel. The original 2018 law sought to jail offenders. Six million Poles were murdered during World War II, three million of them Jews — nearly half of all the Jews killed in the Holocaust. Scholars see in the laws an attempt to whitewash the role of Poles in the Jewish genocide and substitute a nationalist fairytale in which victims cannot also be perpetrators. Ironically, that proposition is most powerfully and unwittingly debunked in the speech — conspicuously free — of nationalists themselves. In the same month the justice minister intervened in Drillich’s case, thousands of nativists rallied in Warsaw against a US law requiring that Congress be informed about the progress of countries including Poland on restitution of Jewish assets seized during the second world war and its aftermath. The ruling party, says Holocaust historian Jan Grabowski, of the University of Ottawa in Canada “has created a wave of fear, paranoia and anger about the so-called Jewish threat. “Drillich’s is a very intriguing and interesting case that can have much larger ramifications than its immediate vicinity. It is part and parcel of a larger campaign to elevate the myth, the fantasy, of national innocence.” By meddling in Drillich’s case, Grabowski says, the government “can kill several birds with one stone”. France 24 reported protestors wearing T-shirts reading “death to the enemies of the fatherland”. One man wore a shirt saying, “I will not apologise for Jedwabne” — a massacre of Jews by their Polish neighbours in 1941 under the German occupation. Polish nationalists argue that Poland, which did not capitulate to the Nazis — a fact many Holocaust scholars agree should be better known — has not been adequately compensated by Germany. In short, restitution is a loaded issue; one the government is keen to weaponise. Enter Drillich. Through Drillich’s case, says Grabowski, the Holocaust historian, “the government wants to prove to the Polish nationalist electorate that the Jews are coming back to claim their properties.” Drillich, meanwhile, pleads her cause near and far. She’s lobbied foreign minister Marise Payne (who said the government wouldn’t intervene in a private legal matter) and treasurer Josh Frydenberg, himself a descendent of Holocaust survivors, to take up her case with Polish authorities. Through intermediaries, she’s asked senior Catholics in Australia to intervene with their counterparts in Poland. (“It’s a matter of canon law,” was one perfunctory response.) Facebook Twitter Pinterest Ann Drillich, who is in a legal battle in Poland over her inherited family estate. Photograph: Christopher Hopkins/The Guardian In July she wrote to the Vatican’s representative in Poland, Archbishop Salvatore Pennacchio: “My family has been defamed in the Polish media and subjected to antisemitic abuse on social media, which includes tropes such as ‘blood suckers and non-believers’,” Drillich wrote. “This year in his denunciation of antisemitism, Pope Francis stated that antisemitism in all its forms is ‘completely contrary to Christian principles and every vision worthy of the human person’. “What does it mean that faithful parishioners pray on my stolen land and that I receive abuse?” This week she’s pinning her hopes on the extra scrutiny that will fall on Poland as world leaders prepare to descend on Warsaw for the 1 September commemoration. The question of what she’d do if she won her claim seems almost incidental. “If I won, I’d want an apology, I’d want compensation and genuine reconciliation. I would not be looking to demolish the church.” If she had her time again, would she still pursue justice, given she’s clocked up roughly $100,000 in legal fees? Given everything? Drillich hesitates only briefly. “The very night my mother’s grandfather was evicted (from the estate) by the Germans he slept on the balcony. He was 80-something. It was November. You can imagine how freezing it was.” As for Blanka, freedom and a new life in Australia, did not bring lasting peace. “My mother had this real spark. Then she developed depression and I watched her go silent.” In a tragic, distorted echo of what Blanka encountered during the war, when Drillich was 13 she came home from school one day to find her mother had killed herself. “The Holocaust destroyed my family. I know how much the property meant to my mother. How brave she was to reclaim it after the war.” She returns to the original question. “How could I not?”

Julie Szego

www.theguardian.com

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/aug/31/one-holocaust-descendants-fight-for-justice-they-stole-not-just-our-land-but-my-familys-history

LEFT

2019-08-31 22:01:06

The Guardian

‘Nothing has changed’: why Queensland’s protest battle has raised Joh Bjelke-Petersen's ghost

Authorities are using populist tactics to subdue escalating protests and civil disobedience

Sam Watson didn’t expect to be here again, protesting for the right to protest peacefully in Queensland, where street demonstrations were once made illegal and brutally suppressed. “There was this terrible, almost overwhelming terror that we were going to be bashed by the police, and we were,” remembers Watson, an Indigenous Australian activist who marched out of King George Square and into a bank of uniformed police, five men deep, in Brisbane in October 1977. “It was a very different environment, the degree of brutality and this terrible feeling of absolute fear. Everything has changed, but then nothing has changed at all.” In the past month authorities in Queensland, for the first time since the era of the repressive premier Joh Bjelke-Petersen, have sought to subdue a series of escalating protests and civil disobedience. They have used populist tactics from that rarely lamented period – describing protesters as “extremists” based on unsubstantiated claims, and citing concerns about traffic disruption as a means to silence dissent. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Environmental protesters on Charlotte Street in Brisbane on Wednesday. Photograph: Jono Searle/AAP The climate protest group Extinction Rebellion has struck a nerve in Queensland, home to the world’s most controversial coal project, and where the Labor government has pivoted in favour of the coal industry in a bid to win back blue-collar support after a shock federal election result. Ongoing civil disobedience by climate activists, and the government’s response to propose new laws banning “locking” devices and broaden police powers, has raised concern about basic civil liberties not seen in Queensland since the 1970s. On Wednesday morning, about 150 people demonstrated to defend the right to protest. The LNP-led Brisbane city council unsuccessfully went to court in an attempt to shut it down. Of course, few who lived through the police-led violence of the Bjelke-Petersen era would suggest that current events bear a direct comparison. But what rankles now is the apparent failure to respect those lash scars on Queensland’s history; the battles fought by a generation of activists and civil libertarians, derided then as a fringe movement in a deeply conservative state. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Former Queensland premier Joh Bjelke-Petersen declared: ‘The day of political street march is over.’ Photograph: Getty Images “It wasn’t only the police and the terrible violence, but the way in which the broader community just accepted what was happening in the streets,” Watson says. “They walked the path with Joh, and by their inaction they totally endorsed what Joh and his police were doing. “There were clear political rewards for that style of extremist conservative politics. That has carried through now. [The Queensland government] is just rushing at a breakneck speed back to the populist side of politics, which gives people on the left nowhere to turn.” Protesting for the right to protest “The day of political street march is over,” Bjelke-Petersen proclaimed in September 1977. “Anybody who holds a street march, spontaneous or otherwise, will know they’re acting illegally. Don’t bother applying for a march permit. You won’t get one. That’s government policy now.” The “right to protest” marches that followed were among the most significant public demonstrations held in Australia. More than 2000 people were arrested at 26 separate protests, 418 on one afternoon in October, as they attempted to defy the ban by walking out of King George Square. Many of those involved had protested against the Springbok rugby tour in 1971, when Bjelke-Petersen declared a state of emergency, striking a secret deal to turn a blind eye to police brutality. The protest march ban brought together activists from disparate causes – Indigenous rights, women’s rights, peaceniks, environmentalists. Their collective anger and energy became momentum on the streets. Jenny Gow, then a journalist filing for the newspaper Nation Review, photographed many of the arrests at the October rally. “To say the police were out in force was an absolute understatement,” Gow says. “It seemed like they were trying to invite activism, to invite defiance. But the outbreak of civil disobedience was part of a broader trend towards change and that era seemed like a sudden release of a lot of pressures. It was the real start of a mood for change in the Joh era that culminated in the demise of the Bjelke-Petersen government.” In Gow’s archive is a black-and-white photograph of three lawyers, waiting for clients to be released after the largest October, 1977 protest. One is Wayne Goss, who would become Queensland premier in 1989. Another is Terry O’Gorman, who has remained a champion of civil liberties. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Queensland police during Wednesday’s march in Brisbane. Photograph: Jono Searle/AAP “Bjelke-Petersen used the concept of violence to sell [the street protest ban],” O’Gorman says. “His justification at the time was that there were violent protests. There were not. That then led to numerous arrests, including … for people walking around the block protesting about the fact you couldn’t protest”. O’Gorman says the current situation is the first serious test of Queensland’s peaceful assembly act, introduced in 1992 and a key reform designed to drag the state out of the Bjelke-Petersen era. He says the Brisbane city council’s recent court challenge to a protest – on the grounds it would cause traffic disorder – was the first time any local authority had applied to block a protest march under the law. “There is language now emerging … that I’ve described as forked-tongue criticisms of protesters,” he said. O’Gorman said the Brisbane lord mayor, Adrian Schrinner, had engaged in “a cynical attempt to exploit public criticism about the disruptive effect of recent protest actions, a cynical beating of the law and order drum”. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Lawyers Terry O’Gorman, left, and Wayne Goss, centre, waiting for clients to be released from Brisbane watch house. Photograph: Jenny Gow. He said the premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, in claiming without producing evidence that protesters were setting booby traps and intending to harm emergency services workers, was deploying “a typical politician’s tactic or ruse to conjure up spectres or concerns about violence”. Popular support for those sorts of political measures has been fuelled by newspaper columns dehumanising Extinction Rebellion protesters and calling for the sort of crackdown that occurred under Bjelke-Petersen. Bjelke-Petersen's justification at the time was that there were violent protests. There were not. Terry O'Gorman In 1977, a month after the landmark October protests, the National-Liberal Coalition government was comfortably re-elected in conservative Queensland. Bjelke-Petersen was in power for another decade, one marked by police raids on abortion clinics and orders to tear condom machines from walls at the University of Queensland. His tenure was cemented by a weak Labor opposition and a gerrymander that gave disproportionate influence to rural voters. Civil disobedience, for a while at least, changed nothing. And then things changed. The Fitzgerald inquiry and its 1989 report built upon work by journalists to expose graft and misconduct among police and politicians. Slowly, some light had made its way into the Sunshine State. ‘Destined to repeat history’ Julianne Schultz, in her 2008 Griffith Review essay Disruptive Influences, recounted the Bjelke-Petersen era from a unique vantage point in history, as a cohort of Queenslanders shaped by the tumult of the 1970s and 1980s settled into high office. “The past is not a foreign country, but the source of psychological strength and scars,” Schultz wrote. “Australia’s new political leaders are a product of a time and place that was uniquely volatile. Facebook Twitter Pinterest As global politics has embraced a shift towards populism, Queensland has moved again to crack down on protesters. Photograph: Jono Searle/AAP “The lessons learned during those years – about the importance of civil rights and political institutions, about the way to imagine, make and effect change, the extraordinary importance of education, the power of the media, the capacity of public opinion to shift and the importance of treating people decently despite political differences – have had an impact on a generation of people who are now moving into the prime of their lives.” A decade on, as global politics has embraced a shift towards populism and as Queensland moves again to crack down on protesters, the radicals and civil libertarians of the 1970s, who became the leaders of a generation, have moved on. Their institutional memories appear to have gone with them. “Those that were alive and politically active, among the 400 ordinary people who were arrested in one afternoon, many of them are dead or so old they no longer take part in the political process,” O’Gorman says. “When you forget history or conveniently airbrush it out, then you’re destined to repeat history.”

Ben Smee

www.theguardian.com

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/sep/01/nothing-has-changed-why-queenslands-protest-battle-has-raised-joh-bjelke-petersens-ghost

LEFT

2019-08-31 22:01:07

The Guardian

Allan Fels: Australia’s consumer crusader on going public about his private life

Living with a daughter with schizophrenia and understanding the devastating effects on families, the former consumer watchdog talks about mental health reform

Living with a daughter with schizophrenia and understanding the devastating effects on families, the former consumer watchdog talks about mental health reform For someone Paul Keating once described as a “media nymphomaniac”, Allan Fels is a reticent memoirist, revealing as little as possible about himself, preferring instead to deflect attention to questions of public interest. Many will remember that whenever Fels appeared on TV to rap a corporate miscreant over the knuckles he had the morose demeanour of a Dickensian undertaker. True, he was rarely there to deliver good news. As the nation’s corporate watchdog, his role as chairman of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission gave him little to smile about, whether dealing with the criminal behaviour of 7-Eleven and the exploitation of migrant workers or navigating the fraught landscape of the taxi industry, both cases he revisits in his book Tough Customer. The cover features a grim-looking Fels brandishing two petrol pumps like pistols, as if he were an urban cowboy. It is a little lame and dorky, but the image nevertheless suggests he does have a sense of humour (he admits to a fondness for weak jokes – illustrated by his suggestion that his “sleepy manner” may have been an advantage when he had a job as a student selling pyjamas). For many years, Fels’s sombre facade concealed an additional private source of anxiety and sorrow. Eventually, after many years of secrecy, he revealed the shadow over his personal life in an episode of Australian Story in 2002, talking openly about his daughter Isabella’s struggle with schizophrenia. NDIS rollout targets in doubt because of lack of resourcing, Allan Fels says Read more “I hid her illness for a long time because I was always in the firing line and thought that it might be used against me,” he said. “People will resort to attacks on character and family and make public disputes personal in the heat of controversy.” In a life punctuated with difficult decisions, Fels writes that “the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do was consent to my mentally ill daughter undergoing electroconvulsive therapy”. Sharing the issue on television had a positive outcome: many other families in a similar situation got in contact, leading him to establish the Haven Foundation, offering long-term housing and daily support for socially and financially disadvantaged people living with mental illness. It is probably his proudest achievement and one he remains actively committed to. “This is my cause now,” he says , as if taking a vow. Retirement does not mean an end to the crusading which he describes as “my natural tendency”. On the contrary, it means more time to focus on advocacy for those who need it. First diagnosed at the age of 25, Isabella is the eldest of Fels’s two daughters. During her childhood, she exhibited eccentric behaviour. As an infant, she ate cigarette butts; at school she found it hard to form close friendships and was subject to ridicule. ‘“As a teenager, she saw psychologists, to no avail,” says Fels, speaking on a bad line from the Salzburg festival where he is indulging his love of Mozart. His mother was a music teacher and taught him the piano, although he no longer plays. Perhaps opera provides Fels, who describes himself as “unemotional”, with a dose of heightened feelings at a safe remove. “The voices and delusions began in her 20s but she was never dangerous,” he says in his characteristically rasping voice, as if he were hoarse from shouting, which he never does, having been born to calm parents and inheriting a placid nature from his father. Asked if his own life has ever been at risk, whether he has ever been threatened by anyone as a result of his often heated public crusades, he becomes briskly evasive. “I don’t want to talk about that,” which inevitably invites speculation that the answer must be yes. Fels got his strong sense of right and wrong from his parents, particularly his father. “He was a very upright citizen who emphasised the importance of ethical behaviour … He inculcated me with a sense of the need to be honest and useful in the public sphere.” Those values were reinforced by Fels’s education by the Jesuits. He contemplated the priesthood briefly, but his parents were determined he would go to university. There he discovered other voices in philosophy and economics and became active in student politics. “And then almost by accident I found myself the president of the Nedlands branch of the Liberal party,” he says. He remained a member of the party for three years until a scholarship took him overseas to study in the US where he met Isabel, a Spanish academic, his wife of 46 years. The couple had two daughters, Isabella and Teresa. Only later was it discovered that there was a history of mental illness in Isabel’s family. “It wasn’t a family secret, but we only found out after Isabella was born. Back in those days no one thought about genetics,” Fels says. Like Fels, Isabel was deeply religious. “That was a bond between us. But she was also my opposite, more fiery and passionate. She was also very supportive of my career and created an oasis for me.” Isabel died four years ago of pancreatic cancer. His daughters are a regular source of company. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Cover of Tough Customer by Allan Fels. Photograph: Penguin Random House He never rejoined the Liberal party: “Once I became involved in regulation it was important to be neutral and independent. And besides, regulators can be as powerful as MPs.” Today there is no party he would consider membership of, he says, but his faith has remained a constant source of comfort and guidance: “And my own parish in South Yarra has had a very strong social commitment to mental health and refugee housing.” Although he is encouraged that attitudes to mental health have shifted, if he had to write a report card on Australia’s approach his assessment would be “could do better”. “As far as as the public goes, there’s been a vast improvement in sympathy for mild mental health issues such as depression, but not for more severe conditions. And while it’s true the media give the issue more time and attention, the reporting of incidents where mental illness is involved in a crime needs to improve. “The current approach creates the impression that anyone with an illness is potentially violent. There needs to be more context, which invariably reveals that the perpetrator has not been treated. “Government needs to make it a high priority not just in health but across portfolios including housing, justice, emergency services and the NDIS. I see a parallel with aged care, but my worry is that mental health is even lower down the pile. We need more MPs to understand how devastating it is for families. Politicians think there are not many votes in it. And the trouble is that the mental health lobby is not very effective. They are quite divided by competing interests, and fighting over crumbs.” As well as being a director of MIND, the organisation that provides psychosocial services to support mental health, he will continue to champion the rollout of the Haven Foundation’s residential model nationally: “There are currently two in Victoria and we have secured funding for another seven. It’s a very scaleable model.” One gets the impression that remaining busy is imperative for Fels, not because he fears relevance deprivation syndrome, as Keating’s remark implied, but because of the moral compass he has spent a lifetime living by. Even on holiday his reading material of choice has a somewhat worthy quality to it: “I’m still pursuing self-improvement.” Tough Customer by Allan Fels (MUP) is published on 2 September

Caroline Baum

www.theguardian.com

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/sep/01/allan-fels-australias-consumer-crusader-on-going-public-about-his-private-life

LEFT

2019-08-31 22:01:08

The Guardian

Fears Australia being turned ‘into a prison’ after surge in electronic monitoring of offenders

Number of offenders placed on wrist or ankle trackers climbs but there is still no consensus on whether they work

Number of offenders placed on wrist or ankle trackers climbs but there is still no consensus on whether they work The use of electronic monitoring to track offenders has increased by 150% since 2016, while researchers express concerns that technology is “turning the community into a prison”. Used as a condition of bail, parole or as part of a suspended prison sentence, electronic monitoring – using wrist or ankle bracelets that can track everything from location to blood alcohol levels – has been hailed by state governments and corrective services as a more effective way to manage growing prison populations. But as the number of offenders placed on electronic monitoring devices grows, there is still no consensus on whether they work. In June, after a gunman in Darwin killed four people while wearing a GPS bracelet, the NT police chief ordered a review into offenders tracked by electronic monitoring as a condition of their parole. Sex offender cult leader William Kamm forced to wear electronic monitoring Read more Data collected by Dr Marietta Martinovic, an expert in electronic monitoring at RMIT University in Melbourne puts the total number of offenders being electronically monitored at 2,500 – a 150% increase in the past three years. NSW Corrections reported 157 offenders subject to some form of electronic surveillance since September last year, when new sentencing reforms made it easier for courts to add conditions like electronic monitoring to corrections orders. The most recent NSW budget has set aside $2m towards a new GPS monitoring system that would track high-risk offenders. In Queensland more than 700 people have been fitted with electronic monitors since they began tracking parolees in 2017. A total of 59 were for sexual offences, but more than 300 people are being monitored for non-violent crimes. Victoria has promised to roll out electronic monitoring for offenders as young as 16. In the Northern Territory, more than $4m was set aside in 2016 for the expansion of their electronic monitoring program in an attempt to reduce the growing rate of juvenile detention. “There is certainly merit in looking for alternatives to incarceration,” president of the Criminal Lawyers Association of the Northern Territory (CLANT), Marty Aust said. “We want to see as many people who can be released on parole, released on parole.” But Aust said the important issue is what – and who – monitoring is used for. “If a youth offender was subject to electronic monitoring because police wanted to use it as a tool for investigating offences they think they will commit in the future, obviously, one would question the legitimacy of electronic monitoring for that person in the first place,” Aust said. Others are concerned that the use of tracking devices is a way to widen the net of law enforcement that disproportionately targets Indigenous Australians. “Because supervision orders and electronic monitoring are viewed as softer sentences than incarceration, the harms associated with them are often invisible,” Associate Professor in law at Sydney’s UTS, Thalia Anthony, said. Anthony says there is nothing to show that prison populations will drop with an increased use of electronic monitoring. “In fact, it is quite the opposite,” Anthony said. “You are creating an exceptional set of norms which one population has to live by and the other does not.’’ Researchers at UNSW are similarly concerned that electronic monitoring turns the “whole community into a prison”. The founder of the police accountability project at the University of NSW, Tamar Hopkins, said there is no evidence that electronic monitoring reduces reoffending or provides a safe and suitable alternative to incarceration. “There is an incredible stigma around the actual wearing of the bracelet,” Hopkins said. “It may make the offender feel as if they are police property and have a dramatic impact on their emotional and mental wellbeing. “It can lead to a broad range of social harms. If the person wearing the device feels as if they are being monitored, they will drastically change their social interaction.” They may feel the need to avoid friends and family because “they do not want them to ‘be known to police’ and cause stops on the street’’. “The social isolation that comes with being electronically monitored can lead to enhanced feelings of PTSD and potential suicide risk,” Hopkins said. In 2011, Indigenous man JLG died while being electronically monitored as part of his home detention. The conditions of his bail subjected JLG to random drug tests to identify alcohol or marijuana use which violated his bail restrictions. His partner at the time told an inquest into his death that JLG began to inhale butane in an effort to conceal his substance abuse which he feared would lead to his reincarceration. The abuse of solvents was not listed as a risk on his bail notes despite it being known on his health records. There have been at least three other occasions in which an offender died while being electronically monitored. Inquests into their deaths revealed they feared the repercussions that would come with violating their bail provisions. Experts and prison advocates also worry about the kinds of data that GPS monitoring allows corrective services to collect on an offender. “They can basically create a heat map of people’s comings and goings,” Hopkins said. “People feel as if they will just never be free.”

Miles Herbert

www.theguardian.com

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/sep/01/fears-australia-being-turned-into-a-prison-after-surge-in-electronic-monitoring-of-offenders

LEFT

2019-08-31 22:01:08

The Guardian

Suppression and secrecy: how Australia's government put a boot on journalism's throat

News publishers find it less risky, and maybe more profitable, if stories about abuse of power are shunted in favour of trivia

News organisations have been slow to respond to the tide of legislation that progressively and surely threatens their ability to report the affairs of state. Indeed, some media outlets have a history of cheering on the rampant growth of national security laws, as though the mantra of government was more important than their ability to unearth the truth. There was an eerie sense of a police state when images emerged of the AFP entering the ABC in Sydney and demanding access to the corporation’s files on sensitive news reports. Only days earlier the police had been rifling through the Canberra home of News Corp journalist Annika Smethurst. It prompted a heightened concern about the cankered state in which the “free press” finds itself. Dutton says AFP must take extra steps before launching raids on the media Read more Calls for a special independent inquiry into how security laws impinge on a free press were headed off by the government to the parliamentary joint committee on intelligence and security. The reporting date is 17 October. The inquiry could well overlap with work under way by the Senate environment and communications references committee looking into “the adequacy of commonwealth laws and frameworks covering the disclosure and reporting of sensitive and classified information”. The most significant laws that have an adverse impact on journalism and how it functions can be divided into those that block access to information; those that criminalise dealing with and publishing information about the state; and those that enable the state to track and monitor the work of journalists. What we find is a maze of enactments, dizzying in their complexity and uncertainty. The definition of national security is unsettled, the defences few and in most instances worthless, while the penalties for transgression are severe. To better understand the enormity of what is at stake it is important to drill into these laws and identify the pitfalls facing a “free press”, which in an ideal world is supposed to be as vital a component of a liberal democracy as parliamentary elections, an independent judiciary and a professional public service. Stuff that is off limits to the media Where, in a criminal or civil trial, issues arise relating to national security information, the National Security information (Criminal And Civil Proceedings) Act 2004 asks the courts to go into cloak and dagger mode. The government can address the court about how it should deal with any national security information before it. This hearing itself must be in camera and, after the parties are heard, the court may make an order to hear the case in closed session and it only need publish its reasons to the parties and the attorney general. Witnesses can be compelled to silence or excluded from proceedings and evidence suppressed. Reporting these cases is an impossibility. All offences under the act carry two-year jail terms. We’re seeing an example of this suppression and secrecy playing out now in the commonwealth’s case against Bernard Collaery, a Canberra lawyer accused of leaking information about the Australian’s government clandestine and illegal bugging of the Timor-Leste ministerial offices. The government wants Collaery’s trial held behind closed doors on grounds of “national security”. Asio warns 'hostile actors' could exploit journalist public interest exemptions Read more The Asio Act also makes it illegal to disclose information about secret Asio business, or “special intelligence operations” (SIOs). This extends to Asio engaging in illegal activities or intimidation. It is not always clear to a journalist whether Asio has classified an operation as “special”, so reporting on something without knowing its ramifications poses a high risk. To make things ever riskier, defendants are required to disprove their guilt. Much of the national security regime illustrates a pleonastic overkill, whereby the same offences are punishable under separate pieces of legislation. An offence under the “special intelligence operation” provision of the Asio Act might just as conceivably be an offence under the more recent provisions of the criminal code dealing with “secret information”. The prosecutors might be able to have two bites of the cherry for reporters who delve into the affairs of the secret intelligence organisation. Danger zones for reporters In the middle of last year the criminal code part 5.6 created new crimes for government insiders, eg whistleblowers, who reveal things the regime regards as secret. It also criminalises journalists, who publish things insiders have told them. The legislative enterprise was to clamp down hard on leaking from inside the tent to those outside. It is a direct assault on public interest journalism, which is heavily dependant on secret sources for stories about the manner in which political power is exercised or abused. There is a broad palette of information that potentially attracts criminal sanctions. Penalties range from two to seven years’ imprisonment for basic offences, or up to 10 years for aggravated offences. We have seen stories suppressed on application by the government where court cases involve foreign political leaders. The Securency bribery case was one such, where reporting had earlier been subject to a super injunction because the government wanted to prevent diplomatic embarrassment. Journalists and others, such as human rights organisations and bloggers, can fall foul of provisions that apply where information is obtained from a commonwealth employee or former employee. Only classified or top secret information is relevant in these circumstances, or information which, if communicated, would endanger Australian security, harm public health and safety, or interfere with preventing, investigating or prosecuting a federal crime. The penalty for publishing is five years and two years for “dealing” with secret information. Even for journalists to receive a letter containing classified information, without the contents being known before the envelope is opened, may be sufficient to form the basis of a case against the news gatherers. There’s a defence for those engaged in the business of news media who believed publishing or dealing with the information was in the public interest. A judge’s view of what is in the public interest is often at variance with those media defendants. The defence applies not just to journalists, but to editorial support staff working under their direction. It does not, however, apply to whistleblowers, and apparently not to independent citizen journalists or others, such as human rights activists, who are not in the “business” of news. There are other, narrower defences, like prior publication, or reporting maladministration to a relevant investigatory body. Espionage In Australia, you can be a spy by strict liability. And you can get up to 20 years’ jail for your troubles. That’s the effect of amendments to the criminal code in relation to espionage passed in June last year. They were introduced by the attorney general, Christian Porter, as part of a suite of espionage-busting, foreign-influence fighting, national security-fetishising reforms. Facebook Twitter Pinterest The government wants the trial of Bernard Collaery, pictured, held behind closed doors on grounds of ‘national security’. Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian The new laws criminalise making information available to “foreign principals”, meaning foreign governments, political parties, terrorist groups and international organisations. The offences range over information related to national security – or indeed any information or classified information – that has been dealt with so that it ends up in the hands of a “foreign principal” and harms Australia’s security. The penalties range from life in prison to 20 years. For journalists there are dangers lurking not far from the surface. The United Nations, or an agency of the United Nations, or Al Jazeera, which is controlled by a foreign power, could all conceivably be in receipt of information from a journalist as part of the process of research and gathering news. Witness K and the 'outrageous' spy scandal that failed to shame Australia Read more As we have seen in the cases of Witness K and Collaery, a broad view is taken by prosecutors as to what constitutes harm to Australia’s security. A finding of guilt is not dependant on national security actually being harmed and the potential offender does not need to have a specific foreign principal in mind. The only defence for a media defendant is prior publication – that someone else had already published the information and that there was a reasonable belief that republication would not harm Australian security. Slim pickings indeed. Snooping on journalists There are a number of quite recent measures that enhance the power of the state to monitor the work of journalists and media organisations – the metadata provisions and the anti-encryption provisions among them. Under the Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Amendment Act 2015, a Brandis-era enactment from 2015, telcos are required to hang on to citizens’ metadata for two years after its creation. Security agencies, including the AFP, Asio and state police, can access this data for law enforcement purposes. The list of accessing agencies is long and disturbing. The fourth estate gets a fig leaf’s worth of protection: where the object of accessing journalists’ metadata is to identify sources the enforcement agency must apply for a special warrant. Asio can read anyone’s metadata, so long as it is relevant to the agency’s functions. Asio can read anyone’s metadata, so long as it is relevant to the agency’s functions, while other security organisations can do so for three reasons: to enforce the criminal law, to locate missing persons, or to enforce a law with a pecuniary penalty. There’s plenty of journalism that would be covered by those categories – stories about missing children; corporate fraud; abuses in the provision of human services, such as health and education; political and/or administrative mismanagement; corruption; and domestic violence – in fact, all the important stories and a large proportion of the content of the daily media. The warrants are warrants in name only and the alleged protection for journalists and their sources is non-existent with the process routinely abused. The Commonwealth Ombudsman recently revealed that a journalist’s data had been illegally obtained in Western Australia and in the ACT it emerged that between March 11 and October 2015 the ACT police unlawfully accessed citizens’ metadata 3,365 times. Citizen journalists, casual commentators and human rights organisations are not afforded the screen of these faux-warrants. Once issued, warrants remain secret and disclosing their existence is a crime punishable with two years’ jail. Applications can be heard by a range of officials, depending on the situation: federal magistrates, administrative appeals tribunal members, even the attorney general himself. The relevant authority must be satisfied the warrant is in the “public interest”. Recently, it was revealed that 78% of interception warrants under other provisions in the TIA Act were signed off, not by judges, but by members of the AAT, the most rampantly stacked federal quasi-judicial body. In a flurry of pre-election fear-mongering, parliament late last year also passed the Telecommunications and Other Legislation Amendment (Assistance and Access) Act, another range of measures that directly assaults the journalistic process, which frequently uses encrypted communications to protect sources. The legislation requires telcos to help Australian security agencies hack into users’ encrypted data. It also extended covert search warrants under a string of commonwealth acts, whereby the constabulary can lawfully snoop on blissfully unaware subjects. The AFP, Asio, the ASD and state police can either request or force telcos to hack their customers. The laws only apply where the relevant agencies are investigating a crime punishable by three or more years’ jail, ie an enormous number of crimes. The installation of malware on to suspects’ devices, or removing encryption, is also a possible byproduct of the legislation. Police can apply for a “covert computer access” warrant. If granted, this warrant never has to be served, and agencies can hack a computer without anyone knowing. This legislation has the potential to take the state deeper into the newsrooms of the nation, to vet or thwart journalism. Finally … We could go on with other recent developments. For instance, the Criminal Code Amendment (Sharing of Abhorrent Violent Material) Act, 2019, applies if media organisations “host” on their websites “violent, abhorrent material”. Spy agency Asio makes submission to press freedom inquiry – but keeps it secret Read more In practice this could include audio or images of terrorist attacks, although journalists may have a rather vague “public interest” defence. If the defence fails, the penalties are steep: for natural persons it’s three years’ prison or $2.1m, or both, and, for a corporation, it’s a fine of $10.5m or 10% of turnover, whichever is greater. Turnover includes global takings. The legislation joins the ranks of those measures whose effect is to chill journalists and their sources. There is a vast and untidy array of laws to enforce state secrecy and security. They hang over the heads of news rooms with uncertainty as to whether a particular law applies, what limited defences are available and whether toothbrushes should be at the ready. In the process of creating a hyperventilating regime of secrecy and security, the state has put a hobnailed boot on the throat of journalism. News publishers find it less risky, and maybe more profitable, if stories about abuse of power are shunted in favour of how to cook a mushroom omelette. • Richard Ackland publishes the law journals Justinian and Gazette of Law and Journalism. He is a Gold Walkley winner and a former host of Media Watch and Radio National’s Late Night Live. With research by Janek Drevikovsky

Richard Ackland

www.theguardian.com

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/sep/01/suppression-and-secrecy-how-australias-government-put-a-boot-on-journalisms-throat

LEFT

2019-08-31 22:01:09

The Guardian

ABS's shameful distortion of the truth shows why good journalists see beyond the spin

The ABS downplaying the reality of growing inequality in a press release confirms that good journalism is more important than ever

In a world of misinformation, spin and lies, good journalism is more vital than ever, and this week revealed just how important it remains for journalists to look past the spin and let the facts and data lead the way. This week, my colleague Paul Karp broke a rather stunning story that when the Bureau of Statistics released the two-year survey of household incomes and wealth in July it had changed references to wealth inequality in its media release in order to craft a “good media story”. In effect the ABS media releases sought to downplay the reality of growing inequality. ABS drops reference to worsening wealth inequality to craft a 'good story' Read more Such a move saw it ignore the data in its own release and instead push an angle that was more in keeping with the government’s political agenda. The government has long been seeking to downplay the issue of inequality. This week the finance minister, Mathias Cormann, told the Sydney Institute that “Labor in more recent years explicitly committed itself to the flawed socialist pursuit of equality of outcomes – falsely asserting that Australia had a major and growing inequality problem”. Except, as the ABS survey showed, this is not a false assertion at all. And yet despite the survey data showing there had been an increase in inequality, the headline of the media release was “Inequality stable since 2013–14”. The media release did note that “the data published today also showed there was a marginal increase in wealth inequality in 2017–18 and that wealth continues to be less equally distributed between households than income amongst Australians.” Basically the ABS was unable to keep to the spin throughout its own media release. Unlike other government departments the ABS is actually independent – it needs to be to ensure the public believes the data is not being tainted by political hands. There is no evidence at all this has occurred, and yet this smoothing of the message in the media release is not something that does the ABS any credit. The faith in institutions is under attack from all quarters – those institutions should not be giving their critics free kicks. But the story also highlighted the importance of good journalism. This survey was unusual in that, as it was a special release with a massive amount of data and nothing that can actually affect markets (given the figures relate to a survey from over a year ago), some journalists (including myself) were given an embargoed copy. This gave us time to write up stories that would give readers a good sense of what was contained in the data. I must admit when the stories went up as soon as the embargo was lifted I was slightly surprised to see a few media outlets suggest that we are now apparently a nation of millionaires. I had a bit of a cold chill run down my spine as I worried I had missed an obvious point, because at no stage when I was going through all the spreadsheets did a figure like that jump out at me. And then I realised why this was the lead – the ABS had also put out another media release – with its own headline: “Average household wealth tops $1 million”. So I guess it was not surprising that the Australian reported that “Australia a nation of millionaires for the first time in history”, or the AFR went with “Aussie householders are millionaires, on average”. The West Australian ran with “Australian household wealth cracks $1m mark for first time”, stating that “you certainly might not feel like one, you may not even think you know one and you can’t believe it’s possible among all the economic doom and gloom, but the statistics don’t lie — for the first time, Australia is a nation of millionaires.” Well statistics might not lie but they can be misleading. When I was looking at the figures in the spreadsheets I didn’t bother with the $1m average figure because it was rather meaningless. The same table that showed the $1m average household wealth figure also showed that only the top 30% of households held this level of wealth, and the median household wealth was $558,900. Now I might not be the greatest statistician in the world, but I don’t think 30% of households equals “a nation”. Instead my own report opened with this: “The latest two-year survey of household incomes and wealth from the Australian Bureau of Statistics has revealed that over the past two years inequality has increased. The wealthiest 25% of Australians have increased their income by nearly double that of median income households, while the wealth holdings of the poorest 20% of households has actually declined”. The reason is I had looked at the data and not bothered to even read the media releases. I usually don’t read them. For me the data is the story and I am more than capable of finding it without a press officer trying to lead me to it. Sometimes I’ll have a look after I have written my story just to check I have not missed an obvious point. And this is where the good reporting comes to the fore. In my opinion we actually have some excellent economics reporters in this country. We are a bit of a nerdy club – those few people in press rooms who like numbers and even know how to find our way around an Excel spreadsheet. If not recession for Australia, certainly a turn for the worse | Greg Jericho Read more The household income and wealth report saw the best journalists rise to the occasion. The ABC’s Michael Janda and Stephen Long and Nine’s Shane Wright and Eryk Bagshaw saw through the spin and reported on the growing level of inequality. I like to think my own work was also good, (I certainly had more graphs than anyone else!) But the whole affair highlights the importance of good journalism at a time when the plethora of news and noise can lead to an easy regurgitation of media releases and a comment from officials or ministers who merely confirm what they want you to think and report. For me the data and the facts are always the story, and the news this week only confirms that you should put your trust in journalists and media organisations who think the same. • Greg Jericho writes on economics for Guardian Australia

Greg Jericho

www.theguardian.com

https://www.theguardian.com/business/grogonomics/2019/sep/01/abss-shameful-distortion-of-the-truth-shows-why-good-journalists-see-beyond-the-spin

LEFT

2019-08-31 22:01:14

Breitbart

Flashback–Watch: Democrat John Bel Edwards Threatened to Cancel College Football

John Bel Edwards threatened to cancel college football if the state legislature did not pass a budget raising taxes on Louisianans.

The Louisiana Republican Party released an ad Friday, reminding voters that Louisiana Democrat Gov. John Bel Edwards threatened to cancel college football if the state legislature did not pass a budget raising taxes on Louisianans. As the Louisiana gubernatorial election and Louisiana college football start to heat up, the Louisiana Republican Party released a new ad Friday, reminding voters that Edwards once threatened to cancel college football if state Republican lawmakers did not raise taxes. In a televised address in 2016, Edwards said that if the state Republican lawmakers did not approve his budget raising taxes, “you can say farewell to college football.” Louisiana GOP Communications Director Jason Harbison said in a statement Friday that Edwards continues to hope that voters will forget his “temper tantrum” as they head toward the ballot box this fall. “Last year, John Bel Edwards was threatening to kick seniors out of nursing homes and cancel college football if he didn’t get to raise taxes,” Harbison said. Since Edwards threatened to cancel college football in 2016, he announced in August that he would require state taxpayer funds to upgrade the New Orleans Saints Superdome stadium. Breitbart News reported: This week, Edwards, a Democrat, announced plans to support the gift of $93 million in state taxpayers funds and the issuance of $210 million in state-guaranteed bonds as part of a $450 million plan to upgrade the Superdome, home to the Saints football and other major sporting events, and cement an agreement that would keep the NFL’s New Orleans Saints in the city for another 30 years. “Now he is hoping we forgot about his temper tantrum. The people of Louisiana remember his childish threats. This fall, we fire John Bel Edwards,” Harbinson added.

Sean Moran

www.breitbart.com

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2019/08/31/flashback-watch-democrat-john-bel-edwards-threatened-to-cancel-college-football/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+breitbart+%28Breitbart+News%29

RIGHT

2019-08-31 22:11:57

Slate

Trump Golfs and Tweets After Canceling Poland Trip to Keep Track of Hurricane Dorian

The president traveled to one of his golf properties from Camp David.

President Donald Trump speaks to the media before boarding Marine One to depart from the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, D.C. for Camp David in Maryland on August 30, 2019. MANDEL NGAN/Getty Images President Donald Trump said he didn’t want to travel to Poland with Hurricane Dorian looming. So he made a last-minute decision to cancel the trip and send Vice President Mike Pence in his place. But it seems the president had other things on his mind Saturday, when Trump spent a lot of time tweeting and even traveled to his golf club in Northern Virginia for part of the day. On Saturday morning, Trump left Camp David on Marine One to travel to the Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, Virginia. It’s not as if the president had to leave Camp David if he had a sudden hankering for golf. But it seems the single golf hole with multiple tees at the presidential retreat wasn’t good enough for Trump and he wanted to go to one of his 18-hole courses. In the middle of everything, the president also spent a lot of time on Twitter. Several of those tweets were directly related to Dorian, but lots of others weren’t, including a message about his recently departed assistant Madeleine Westerhout. He also had time to complain about media coverage and praise Sean Hannity while also blasting Democrats and former intelligence officials and implying Americans should thank him for lower gas prices over Labor Day weekend. White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham said Trump has been receiving hourly briefings on Hurricane Dorian and he “participated in several phone calls.” Pence will take Trump’s place at events in Poland on Sunday and Monday to mark the 80th anniversary of the start of World War II. Dorian is now expected to make landfall sometime around Wednesday night and Thursday morning.

Daniel Politi

slate.com

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2019/08/trump-golfs-tweets-canceling-poland-trip-hurricane-dorian.html?via=rss

LEFT

2019-08-31 22:15:33

Chicago Tribune

Police: ‘Multiple gunshot victims’ in two Texas cities, search ongoing for at least one suspect in hijacked mail truck

Police say there are "multiple gunshot victims" in central Texas after one or more suspects opened fire.

The Midland, Texas, Police Department said Saturday that one of the suspects is believed to be driving a gold-colored vehicle and has a rifle. Authorities in Odessa, Texas, say the other shooter is believed to be driving a U.S. Postal Service vehicle.

www.chicagotribune.com

https://www.chicagotribune.com/nation-world/ct-nw-odessa-midland-texas-shootings-20190831-yv63x6hbgnahlcluwuaympkzzi-story.html

UNDEFINED

2019-08-31 22:15:48

BBC

Assam NRC: People queue to check they are on list

The list effectively strips about 1.9 million people in the state of their citizenship.

Video People have been queuing across the Indian state of Assam to check if their name is on the National Register of Citizens. India has published the final version of a list which effectively strips about 1.9 million people in the north-eastern state of their citizenship. Families have been required to provide documentation to show their lineage, with those who cannot prove their citizenship deemed illegal foreigners. India says the process is needed to identify illegal Bangladeshi migrants. The BBC's South Asia correspondent Rajini Vaidyanathan has been to the village of Katajhar to meet some of the people who say they are at risk.

www.bbc.com

https://www.bbc.com/news/av/uk-49539805/assam-nrc-people-queue-to-check-they-are-on-list

UNDEFINED

2019-08-31 22:19:01

CNN

Shooter targets people at shopping centers in West Texas

View the latest news and breaking news today for U.S., world, weather, entertainment, politics and health at CNN.com.

Democratic presidential candidate Beto O'Rourke condemned the West Texas shooting via a statement on Twitter Saturday: Democratic candidate Julián Castro also released a series of tweets saying "We have to be more honest with ourselves. This is going to happen again. And again." Sen. Elizabeth Warren called out Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. Former vice president Joe Biden said "we must end this epidemic." Sen. Kamala Harris said in a series of tweets she's "sick of this" and that "Our children deserve a future without multiple mass shootings in one month." Sen. Cory Booker said he'd take "executive action to reduce gun violence" beginning his first day in the White House. Sen. Michael Bennet tweeted "West Texas has had enough heartbreak." New York Mayor Bill de Blasio tweeted the cyle of mass shootings and waiting on the news cycle must end. Montana Gov. Steve Bullock said the shooting in Alabama that left 10 injured and the West Texas shooting were "not normal." Candidate John Delaney tweeted "people deserve to be safe driving down the highway, going to church, going to school, everywhere." Sen. Amy Klobuchar said the playbook of broken promises and meetings needs to end. Candidates Pete Buttigieg, Wayne Messam, Tim Ryan, Joe Sestak, Tom Steyer and Andrew Yang also released statements on Twitter.

Cnn'S Matthew Hilk;Josh Campbell;Cnn'S Laura Ly;Cnn'S Carma Hassan

edition.cnn.com

https://edition.cnn.com/us/live-news/odessa-shooting/index.html

UNDEFINED

2019-08-31 22:19:01

CNN

Texas school district says a student was killed

The Ector County Independent School District tweeted Saturday that one of its students was killed in Saturday's shooting. The school district is based in Odessa, Texas

The Ector County Independent School District tweeted Saturday that one of its students was killed in Saturday's shooting. The school district is based in Odessa, Texas "ECISD counselors as well as counselors from the region are preparing to help our staff, our students," the district tweeted.

Cnn'S Matthew Hilk;Josh Campbell;Cnn'S Laura Ly;Cnn'S Carma Hassan

www.cnn.com

https://www.cnn.com/us/live-news/odessa-shooting/h_a8ccd7f7b3186b68ac78ffc66daf80e3?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fcnn_topstories+%28RSS%3A+CNN+-+Top+Stories%29

UNDEFINED

2019-08-31 22:19:01

CNN

Shooter targets people at shopping centers in West Texas

View the latest news and breaking news today for U.S., world, weather, entertainment, politics and health at CNN.com.

At least five people are dead and 21 are injured after the Midland-Odessa shootings, according to Odessa Police Chief Michael Gerke. He said three law enforcement officers were injured -- from the Department of Public Safety (DPS), Midland Police Department and Odessa Police Department.

Cnn'S Alisha Ebrahimji;Cnn'S Amanda Watts;Cnn'S Tammy Kupperman;Cnn'S Matthew Hilk

www.cnn.com

https://www.cnn.com/us/live-news/odessa-shooting/index.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fcnn_latest+%28RSS%3A+CNN+-+Most+Recent%29

UNDEFINED

2019-08-31 22:40:50

Los Angeles Times

Fresno cheerleader's blackface video raises ghosts of racist past

A Fresno high school cheerleader's blackface video with a racial slur could leads to a recall election and possible protests. The city has spent the summer talking about racism, white privilege and its painful past.

It took two 15-year-old cheerleaders, two viral videos, a racial slur and a school board member on a tear to force this Central Valley city to confront its painful past — one of discrimination that some say has shaped the place for more than a century. This very big, very small town spent its summer vacation talking about racism and white privilege, about youthful mistakes and righteous punishment, about elusive justice and enduring pain. With the school year now underway, the question is what happens next. The white girl whose behavior is at the heart of Fresno’s current racial debate remains on the cheer squad. The black girl who blew the whistle has been pulled out of school by her fearful mother. And the Bullard Knights’ Friday football games — events that bring residents together — promise to be marked by protests and heightened security. Advertisement The incident that ignited the civic soul searching was “horrifically racist and inappropriate,” Fresno Unified School District Superintendent Bob Nelson said in a recent interview. “It is also a 15-year-old. That has been the crux of the issue. How do you respond to that?” The turmoil began on a Thursday in late May, as Bullard High School’s fall junior varsity cheerleader tryouts neared . Two freshmen girls — one white, the other mixed race — were hanging out near campus and shot a short video. In it the white girl, her face painted black, waggled her head and declared: “Who said I can’t say n - - - a?” Her friend posted it on Snapchat to a circle of classmates and fellow cheerleaders. Not long after the video lit up phones around Bullard, word of a second one came to light. Recorded several weeks earlier on campus, it showed the same girl surrounded by friends. She is laughing and smiling. They egg her on to say the N-word. She resists briefly, then appears to happily comply. Advertisement At a news conference during the last week of school, Nelson called the videos and their aftermath “a very public and jarring issue of racial strife.” Fresno Unified School District Supt. Robert Nelson called the videos and their aftermath “a very public and jarring issue of racial strife.” (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times) Then he connected the dots between Fresno circa 2019 and the city of a century or so earlier. “Our community has wrestled with issues of racism and racial tension for decades,” he said. “If you track that history, our community actually began with redlining of various racial groups to restricted parts of the city. And, obviously, that painful legacy still haunts us. The “truth of the matter,” Nelson said, “is that systemic racism in our community is so universal that it’s almost become normalized.” That legacy dates to the days when the Central Pacific Railroad was under construction. Fresno Station was completed in 1872, the same year the city was founded. Two years later, when Fresno became the county seat, one-third of its residents were Chinese. In between those two civic markers, Fresno’s white citizens voted “not to sell, rent, or lease any land east of the railroad tracks to Chinese,” Ramon D. Chacon, a Santa Clara University professor, wrote in Southern California Quarterly. The railroad “agreed to cooperate with the white citizenry and sold to the Chinese only those lands west of the tracks.” In the 1930s, the federal government started drawing color-coded maps that rated neighborhoods across the United States on their creditworthiness. Green neighborhoods where whites lived got mortgages. Red and yellow neighborhoods where blacks and Latinos lived didn’t. Advertisement The practice created an economic wall between east and west, white and minority, affluent and poor Fresno. When Highway 99 was built in the 1950s, creating yet another barrier between haves and have-nots, segregation was cemented in. Bullard High School is located in an affluent Fresno neighborhood. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times) The demographics of Bullard High, located in an affluent Fresno neighborhood near a tony outdoor shopping mall, have changed dramatically over the years. In the 2018-19 school year, the student body was 53.3% Latino, 26.2% white, 10.4% black and 5.8% Asian, according to the California Department of Education. Twenty years earlier, white students were in the Bullard majority, at 61.1%, while Latinos made up 19.5%, with blacks at 9.9% and Asians 7.2%. A’mya Wilson, 15, had set her heart on Bullard and the cheer squad when she was in elementary school. She got her wish, but it didn’t last long. On that Thursday afternoon in late May, A’mya was at school with other girls from the freshman squad, getting ready for a cheer clinic. That’s when the Snapchat story showed up on several of their phones. Some of the girls who received the video were white, others black. Everyone in the group saw it. “I felt like, ‘How could you do that?’ ” said Wilson, who is black. “We were all shocked. We didn’t get upset at first. We watched it one time and thought we heard it wrong. So we watched it a second time.” Advertisement When she got home, A’mya said, she felt troubled and talked to her mother about what had happened. The next day, A’mya reported the video to a vice principal, who she said was “was very hurt about it.” “She’s African American herself,” A’mya said. “She took our written statements. She said she hoped it would get handled in the right way. And then we just went back to class.” Cheerleader tryouts were that Saturday, A’mya said. The girl who painted her face black and the one who posted the video made the team. A’mya did not. The next week, she said, she was called into the office to talk about the incident with another vice principal. And then she started getting “all these random messages” from friends of the two girls involved. “They said I was wrong for reporting it, and I should have kept my mouth shut,” A’mya said. There was a meeting with Nelson. And then another with students who had seen or received the video and their parents. The superintendent said “they were going to handle the issue, and they would make a policy about this, and the girls would get consequences,” A’mya said. “But he couldn’t tell us the consequences.” Then on May 31, community activist Stacy Williams posted the videos on her Facebook page. A local teacher had sent them her way. The post elicited hundreds of angry responses. Nelson posted a lengthy message on his own Facebook page, writing that “our community is grappling with a jarring incident of racial insensitivity that in a matter of a few hours tonight, has spiraled. I am reaching out tonight to ask our community to join with me in rising above the ignorance, hatred and angry rhetoric that has evolved on social media.” Days later, the superintendent convened the news conference. He said “appropriate disciplinary procedures” had been taken, but federal, state and local law prohibited him from outlining them. A’mya spoke, and so did Williams and other community activists. When the cheerleader who painted her face and her parents heard Nelson link the videos to Fresno’s past, they were hurt and angry, they told The Times in their first public comments. “Personally, I did not think anyone at Bullard was a racist,” the girl said. “I thought, honestly, that we were all happy together. ... [Nelson] adopted this false narrative that I’m a racist and this was an act of racism, after he knew all the parts of the story, that I’m not a racist. “Yes, I messed up,” she continued. “Yes, I made a mistake. But you don’t have to define a person by their mistake. You don’t have to define me as a racist because I made a mistake.” The cheerleader and her parents would not discuss the details of what they prefer to call “consequences,” rather than “punishment.” Neither the school district nor The Times is naming the girl or her family because she is a minor. But much of Fresno knows who she is. When Williams posted the videos on Facebook, she exhorted readers to help uncover the girl’s identity and then revealed her name. The result, the girl’s father said, was that “threats of rape, torture and death ensued on social media. ... We had law enforcement parking in front of our home every evening. ... Our minds raced from, ‘Do we have to move out of state? Do we change our name?’” The 15-year-old says that, over the course of three days, she had painted her face various colors as a joke, that she didn’t know the significance of blackface, that the same friend who posted the video had given her permission to use the N-word, that to her it meant “friends,” that the word could be heard all over campus. The girl’s parents considered removing her from the cheer squad, but decided against it. She met with members of the school district’s intervention and prevention team. The district employees urged her and her friend to begin meeting with groups at school in an effort at “restorative justice.” The first meeting was with the JV cheer team. “So we taught what blackface meant, and how offensive it is and how wrong it is to do,” the girl said. “We also taught them what we’ve learned from this situation and told them that we’re sorry and we’re hoping to move forward from this and bring education and change.” The meeting went well, she said. “The JV girls forgave us.” But, she said, the varsity cheer team did not show up for their meeting. Fresno Unified trustee Terry Slatic told the cheerleader squad that the case has been taken care of. (Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times) That’s when Terry Slatic, the school board member who represents Bullard’s district, got involved. His daughter Regan had been a Bullard cheerleader. On July 10, he texted Nelson that he was going to the high school to speak with the squad. In a recording of the meeting — which has been reported in the media — Slatic tells the cheerleaders that the blackface matter “has been adjudicated. It’s been judged. It’s been disciplined. It’s been taken care of at the school. It’s been taken care of at the district. Apparently, it hasn’t been taken care of in this room.” He tells them that if they or their parents talk about the incident, they will not go to cheer camp. If anyone talks about the incident at cheer camp, he says, she will be sidelined for the duration of camp. If it comes up a second time, “all of varsity will be sitting for the rest of camp.” “Let’s go over it again,” he continues. “Anybody can leave the team right now. ... The games stop now. Pass this on to your parents.” The school board called a special meeting a week later to address Slatic’s behavior. Tearful cheerleaders and angry parents demanded he resign. Fellow board members excoriated him. On Aug. 7, the board voted unanimously to censure Slatic, demanding that he attend anger management classes and be escorted whenever he is on a campus. A varsity cheerleader has filed for a restraining order against him; a hearing is scheduled for October. An effort to recall him from the school board is in full swing. To Slatic, the problem with Fresno Unified goes far beyond a 15-year-old in blackface saying the N-word. He believes that the school district is out of control and has failed in its duty to prepare students for life ahead, that “we’re giving diplomas to kids with a sixth-grade education after 12 years,” he said in an interview. You can hear the N-word everywhere you go, he said. “Is it a problem nationwide? Absolutely.” he said “Is it a problem unique to Bullard or Fresno? That’s the silliest thing I’ve ever heard.” Cheerleader Ashley Cummings doesn’t buy it, and she told him so at the special school board meeting. The girl in blackface spouting the N-word “was the wound,” said the 14-year-old African American girl. “And you put salt in the wound.”

Staff Writer;Maria L. La Ganga Is A Metro Reporter For The Los Angeles Times. She Joined The Times In As An Academic Intern;Splitting Her Time Between The Former Metro Section;National Dragster;The Official Publication Of The National Hot Rod Assn. She Has Served As Seattle Bureau Chief;San Francisco Bureau Chief;Edited In The Business Section;Pitched In On Six Presidential Elections;Five For The Times;One For The Guardian. La Ganga Left The Times In

www.latimes.com

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2019-08-31/fresno-racism-slur-blackface-election

LEFT

2019-08-31 22:58:21

The Guardian

Five dead and 21 injured in Texas shooting, police say

Midland police say gunman dead and ‘there is no active shooter’, amid confusion over multi-injury shooting

Police in Texas said five people were dead and 21 injured in a shooting on Saturday afternoon near Midland and Odessa. The gunman was killed by law enforcement after being chased to a parking lot at an entertainment complex. It was the second mass shooting in Texas this month. On 3 August a gunman killed 22 people and injured 24 at a Walmart in El Paso. Texas governor Greg Abbott said: “The first lady and I are heartbroken over this senseless and cowardly attack, and we offer our unwavering support to the victims, their families, and all the people of Midland and Odessa.” A Midland police spokesman said the shooting began after a traffic stop. In a brief televised press conference, the officer said there remained “a very fluid, confusing situation” and did not divulge details of the suspect or those killed and wounded. The mayor of Midland, Jerry Morales, told CNN the injuries were not necessarily all from gunshots. One Midland police officer and one state law enforcement official were in surgery for non-life-threatening injuries, he said. Earlier, there were reports from both the Midland and Odessa police departments that there were two suspects in the shooting, which Midland police originally said began at a Home Depot store in Odessa. A spokeswoman for Home Depot said in an email to the Guardian: “There was not a shooting in our store in Odessa (or Midland).” The police spokesman said he could not confirm there was not a second suspect. Mayor Morales said: “We are hoping this is just one shooter and we have contained him.” According to Morales, the shooter was pulled over and “that’s when he took off and started shooting randomly”. Morales added: “I do not know anything about the person or what the motive was.” The suspect was shot and killed in the parking lot of the Cinergy complex, the mayor said, adding that it was located between Odessa and Midland. Midland and Odessa are in the western part of Texas, about 20 miles apart. Cinergy is a cinema and entertainment chain. The Midland police department first announced reports of “an active shooter” in Odessa and advised people to stay off the roads. On Facebook, the department added: “We believe there are two shooters in two separate vehicles. One suspect is believed to be at the Cinergy in Midland and the other is believed to be driving on Loop 250 in Midland.” The department added: “The two vehicles in question are: gold/white small Toyota truck and a USPS Postal Van. Please stay away from these areas and stay indoors.” Odessa police said a suspect “hijacked a US mail carrier truck” and added: “Subject (possibly 2) is currently driving around Odessa shooting at random people. At this time there are multiple gunshot victims.” Odessa police added: “The suspect just hijacked a US mail carrier truck and was last seen in the area of 38th and Walnut. Everyone is encouraged to get off the road and use extreme caution! All law enforcement is currently searching for the suspect and more information will be released as soon as it becomes available.” Amid the confusion, the University of Texas of the Permian Basin was on lockdown. The White House said Donald Trump had been briefed. The president, monitoring the approach of Hurricane Dorian, flew to his golf club in Virginia earlier from the Maryland retreat at Camp David. Early on Saturday evening, he tweeted: “Just briefed by Attorney General Barr about the shootings in Texas. FBI and Law Enforcement is fully engaged. More to follow.” The former San Antonio mayor Julián Castro, a candidate for the Democratic nomination to run against Trump, said on Twitter: “Heartbreaking news out of Odessa and Midland, Texas as police search for an active shooter at-large. Stay indoors and monitor news alerts and safety protocols.”

Martin Pengelly;Victoria Bekiempis

www.theguardian.com

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/aug/31/midland-texas-shooting-odessa

LEFT

2019-08-31 23:07:11

Chicago Tribune

Park Ridge surveys residents on support, opposition to marijuana businesses

A new, online survey will give Park Ridge residents an opportunity to share their level of support or opposition to recreational marijuana businesses operating within the city.

The Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act legalizes the use of marijuana by adults 21 years old and over, but sets limits on the amount that can be possessed and where it can be used. Home cultivation is limited to medical marijuana patients, according to the law.

Jennifer Johnson

www.chicagotribune.com

https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/park-ridge/ct-prh-marijuana-survey-tl-0905-20190831-qbfa5d5zt5fqzlqxnetxnyhqeq-story.html

UNDEFINED

2019-08-31 23:10:19

Slate

Gunmen in West Texas leave multiple gunshot victims.

Authorities believe initial reports of a second gunman may have been mistaken.

Crime scene tape is seen after a mass shooting at Santa Fe High School May 18, 2018 in Santa Fe, Texas. BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/Getty Images Multiple people were shot Saturday afternoon in West Texas and at least five people were killed and 21 others injured. The story is still developing and there is some conflicting information but it seems at least one of the dead was one of the suspected gunmen. Authorities also believe that initial reports of a second gunman may have been mistaken. “The active shooter was shot and killed at the Cinergy in Odessa,” Midland police said on Facebook. “There is no active shooter at this time. All agencies are investigating reports of possible suspects.” The gunman was a white male in his mid-30s. After initial reports claimed the shooting started at a Home Depot in Odessa, authorities are now saying it all began at a traffic stop. The suspect shot the trooper who pulled him over and fled. He proceeded to shoot multiple people before stealing a U.S. Post Office truck. Earlier, the Midland and Odessa police departments warned on Facebook about as many as two shooters in two separate vehicles, including a U.S. Post Office truck. The Odessa Police Department warned on Facebook about possibly two suspects “currently driving around Odessa shooting at random people.” *This is a breaking news story and has been updated with more information since it was first published.

Daniel Politi

slate.com

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2019/08/midland-odessa-shootings-gunmen-west-texas-multiple-gunshot-victims.html?via=rss

LEFT

2019-08-31 23:10:19

Slate

Gunmen in West Texas leave multiple gunshot victims.

The gunman went on a shooting rampage after a traffic stop.

Police cars and tape block off a crime scene outside the Cinergy Odessa movie theater where a gunman was shot and killed on August 31, 2019 in Odessa, Texas. Cengiz Yar/Getty Images A traffic stop in West Texas sparked a shooting rampage in which the gunman killed at least seven people and injured 22 others. The white male in his 30s never stopped his car completely before he shot at the Texas troopers who pulled him over for failing to signal a left turn. He then proceeded to go on a drive-by mass shooting in rampage in the cities of Midland and Odessa on Saturday afternoon. At one point the man hijacked a postal truck and continued randomly firing on civilians. Police shot and killed the gunman in the parking lot of a movie theater outside Odessa. Police identified the gunman as Seth Aaron Ator, a 36-year-old from Odessa who had been arrested in 2001 for a misdemeanor offense. Authorities still haven’t said where he obtained the AR-style weapon used in the attack but the misdemeanor offense would not have prevented him from legally buying guns in Texas. Ator is believed to have acted alone and authorities don’t believe he had ties to domestic or international terrorist groups. “There are no definitive answers as to motive or reasons at this point, but we are fairly certain that the subject did act alone,” Odessa Police Chief Michael Gerke said at a news conference. Police had initially said five people were confirmed dead but updated the death toll to seven, not including the shooter, on Sunday. Among the injured were three law enforcement officers and a 17-month-old girl. Seven victims are in critical condition and two are in serious but stable condition. Although the gunman was known to police, authorities have not identified him or offered any kind of a motive for the shootings. Initial reports claimed there was a second gunman, but authorities later said they believed those were mistaken and a result of the confusion that resulted when the shooter switched vehicles. Early reports also mistakenly claimed the shooting started at a Home Depot in Odessa. During the chaotic moments after the shooting spree began, the Odessa Police Department warned on Facebook about possibly two suspects “currently driving around Odessa shooting at random people.” This is a breaking news story and has been updated with more information since it was first published.

Daniel Politi

slate.com

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2019/08/midland-odessa-shootings-gunman-west-texas-multiple-gunshot-victims.html?via=rss

LEFT

2019-08-31 23:11:18

BBC

Newspaper headlines: 'Brexit endgame' and Johnson warning for rebels

A crucial week for the PM's Brexit plans is the focus for many of Sunday's front pages.

Image caption "Brexit endgame" declares the Sunday Telegraph, as Boris Johnson considers ousting Tory rebels who undermine his attempts to secure a new deal with Brussels and EU's chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, vows that he will not ditch the backstop. Mr Barnier, in a column for the paper, says the controversial insurance plan for the Irish border represents the "maximum flexibility" that Brussels can offer.

Bbc News

www.bbc.com

https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-the-papers-49539695

UNDEFINED

2019-08-31 23:13:42

CBS News

Missile strike targets jihadists in shellshocked Syrian province

More than 3 million people live in this corner of Syria and after eight years of civil war, many have nowhere left to run

Idlib, Syria — A U.S. missile strike on Saturday reportedly killed at least 40 jihadists. The attack is said to have targeted a meeting of jihadist leaders in the province of Idlib. More than 3 million people live in this corner of Syria and after eight years of civil war, many have nowhere left to run. In this dank bunker, CBS News found children hiding from the insanity above. People walk next to fire, debris and a damaged truck after a deadly airstrike, said to be in Maarat al-Numan, Idlib province, Syria August 28, 2019. Picture taken August 28, 2019. Handout via REUTERS / SYRIA CIVIL DEFENCE One family dug out this cave by hand, an air shelter underneath their own home. When there are Syrian regime or Russian jets and helicopters in the air, the children come down here and take shelter. Toddlers, clutching their teddy bears, taking cover from the bombs of their own government. Parts of Idlib are now eerily quiet, like the town of Maarat al Numan, abandoned by tens of thousands of its residents after airstrikes targeted a busy market last month. Fifty were killed, by some reports. The Derwish family, who farm olives and cherries on the outskirts of town, have hung on, but now they've packed a few possessions and are heading to a camp. They told us their children are terrified by the bombing raids. When asked if the kids understood the war, Jeama said, "They're kids. They see the jets and the bombs, but they don't understand."

Holly Williams

www.cbsnews.com

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/idlib-syria-missile-strike-targets-jihadists-today-2019-08-31/

CENTER

2019-08-31 23:30:04

CBS News

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg reports she's "very well" following cancer treatment

Ginsburg recently completed radiation therapy for a cancerous tumor on her pancreas

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said Saturday she's "alive" and on her way to being "very well" following radiation treatment for cancer. Ginsburg, 86, made the comments at the Library of Congress National Book Festival in Washington. The event came a little over a week after Ginsburg disclosed that she had completed three weeks of outpatient radiation therapy for a cancerous tumor on her pancreas and is now disease-free. CBS News medical contributor Dr. David Agus, a cancer specialist, said radiation "is not a standard treatment for pancreatic tumors," but may be used "in someone who's very elderly and can't tolerate aggressive surgery or chemotherapy." After treatment targeting the lesion, Agus said, "the hope is it won't recur, although there is a significant chance at some point it will." Agus also said in a statement that the tumor had been treated "definitively" means it was treated "with the hope that they could cure it." He added, "The problem with pancreatic tumors most of the time is that there are cells elsewhere that we just can't visualize. So it's very difficult to cure them, even if you target them." It is the fourth time over the past two decades that Ginsburg has been treated for cancer. She had colorectal cancer in 1999, pancreatic cancer in 2009 and lung cancer surgery in December. Both liberals and conservatives watch the health of Ginsburg, who is the court's oldest justice, closely. It's understood the Supreme Court could shift to the right if Republican President Donald Trump were to gain the ability to nominate someone to replace Ginsburg. Ginsburg, whose latest book, "In My Own Words," came out in 2016, spoke to an audience of more than 4,000 at Washington's convention center on Saturday. Near the beginning of her hour-long talk with NPR reporter Nina Totenberg, Ginsburg's health came up: "Let me ask you a question that everyone here wants to ask," Totenberg said, "which is: How are you feeling? Why are you here instead of resting up for the term? And are you planning on staying in your current job?" "How am I feeling? Well, first, this audience can see that I am alive," Ginsburg said to applause and cheers. Ginsburg said that she was "on my way" to being "very well." As for her work on the Supreme Court, which is on its summer break and begins hearing arguments again October 7, Ginsburg said she will "be prepared when the time comes." Ginsburg, who was appointed by Democratic President Bill Clinton in 1993, did not directly answer how long she plans to stay on the court. Earlier this summer, however, she reported a conversation she had with former Justice John Paul Stevens, who retired from the court in 2010 at age 90. Ginsburg said she told Stevens: "My dream is to remain on the court as long as you did." Stevens responded: "Stay longer." He died in July at age 99. Ginsburg said Saturday that she loves her job. "It's the best and the hardest job I've ever had," she said. "It has kept me going through four cancer bouts. Instead of concentrating on my aches and pains, I just know that I have to read this set of briefs, go over the draft opinion. So I have to somehow surmount whatever is going on in my body and concentrate on the court's work." Ginsburg's appearance Saturday was not her first following her most recent cancer announcement. Earlier this week she spoke at an event at the University at Buffalo, where she also accepted an honorary degree. At the time, she talked only briefly about her most recent cancer scare, saying she wanted to keep her promise to attend the event despite "three weeks of daily radiation."

www.cbsnews.com

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/justice-ruth-bader-ginsburg-reports-shes-very-well-following-cancer-treatment-remarks-today-2019-08-31/

CENTER

2019-08-31 23:47:08

Breitbart

Beto Pushes Gun Control Rhetoric Before Midland, Odessa Facts Known

"Beto" O'Rourke turned to gun control rhetoric Saturday before the details of the shooting incidents in Midland/Odessa, Texas, were known.

Democrat presidential hopeful Robert Francis “Beto” O’Rourke turned to gun control rhetoric Saturday before the details of the shooting incidents in Midland/Odessa, Texas, were known. Breitbart News reported that multiple people were injured in shooting incidents in West Texas’s Midland-Odessa region. The Odessa Police Chief, Michael Gerka, said the incident began when a State Trooper pulled over a gold Honda around 3:17 pm. The driver allegedly shot the trooper then drove off, shooting at people and creating multiple crime scenes. The gunman allegedly stole a mail truck and drove to a movie theater, where he was killed by police. But prior to Chief Gerka’s press conference, and therefore prior to any details on the number of innocents wounded, type of firearm used, motive behind the shootings, etc., O’Rourke tweeted about the “epidemic” of gun violence: Our hearts are with Midland, Odessa, and everyone in West Texas who has to endure this again. More information is forthcoming, but here's what we know: We need to end this epidemic. https://t.co/ytWLcg7y20 — Beto O'Rourke (@BetoORourke) August 31, 2019 On August 19, 2019, Breitbart News reported that O’Rourke went to an Arkansas gun show, then denounced the sales of AR-15s. On August 24, 2019, Breitbart News reported O’Rourke saying, “America has more guns than human beings.” He followed that statement with a call for government-mandated buybacks of certain firearms. AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at [email protected]. Sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.

Awr Hawkins

www.breitbart.com

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2019/08/31/beto-pushes-gun-control-rhetoric-before-midland-odessa-facts-known/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+breitbart+%28Breitbart+News%29

RIGHT

2019-08-31 23:49:26

Fox News

Harry Kazianis: World War II started exactly 80 years ago - Is World War III on the way?

On Sept. 1, 1939 Nazi Germany invaded Poland. Britain and France came to Poland’s defense, and suddenly World War II was underway. million. Could there be a World War III?

The deadliest conflict in human history began exactly 80 years ago. On Sept. 1, 1939, Nazi Germany invaded Poland. Britain and France came to Poland’s defense, and suddenly World War II was underway. Estimates of civilian and military deaths in the war go as high as 85 million. Could there be a World War III? While there have been many wars since World War II ended in 1945, the major powers have never launched all-out war against each other since then. Leaders know if they ever turned to nuclear weapons, the nightmarish death toll would make World War II look like a minor skirmish. VICTOR DAVIS HANSON: LIES, BETRAYAL AND INCREDIBLE SURPRISES MARKED START OF WORLD WAR II 80 YEARS AGO But no one can predict the future or say that World War III would be impossible. Regional wars and crises have the potential to explode, with actions and unanticipated reactions leading events to spin out of control. There are a number of global hotspots today. China now seems determined to try to dominate Asia and create its own sphere of influence, while subjugating its own citizens to tyrannical rule, as we see with its efforts to crush demonstrators fighting for more freedom in Hong Kong. Russian President Vladimir Putin has mourned the breakup of the old Soviet Union. He has rebuilt Russia’s armed forces and started and stopped frozen conflicts in Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia – all formerly part of the Soviet Union. With NATO and Russian forces now probing each other’s air and naval spaces on a daily basis – and with both sides now likely arming with dangerous missile platforms that were once banned under an expired treaty – we don’t know what could happen if things get out of control. The anniversary of the start of World War II should remind us of the sacrifices and heroism of the Greatest Generation. And it should serve as a reminder to leaders of all nations that the world remains a very dangerous place, where a spark can turn into a deadly conflagration in an instant. Of course, we can’t forget about North Korea. President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un have held three historic meetings. But the North has not wound down its nuclear weapons and missile programs, and has now even gone back to testing short-range missiles. Kim has threatened by the end of the year to embrace a “new way” that could mean a return to nuclear weapons or intercontinental ballistic missile testing, setting the stage for another round of rising tensions on the Korean Peninsula. Unfortunately, the possibility of armed conflict involving the U.S. has not dissipated. In fact, in the years to come, I would argue there are three specific flashpoints that must be watched carefully in order to ensure that World War III never becomes a reality. Cyberspace: World War III could very well begin in a domain that never existed during World War II. No treaties or international bodies police the conduct of nations on the Internet. So cyberspace has become like a 21 century Wild West frontier town, with no rules to keep the gunslingers from battling it out for supremacy. In cyberspace hackers are working to steal intelligence, intellectual property and military technology. This could escalate into attacks that would disable a nation’s power grid, plunging it into darkness for weeks or even months, or other actions that would cause catastrophic damage. We should never discount the possibility that a rogue nation or terrorist group could go too far or make a tragic mistake, accidentally employing a cyberweapon that leads to the death of innocent civilians or severe damage to the global economy. That could cause the accidental or intended target to strike back with military force. In that case, the stage could be set for the very first cyberwar in history that could draw in nations from around the globe with terrible consequences in the physical world. A U.S.-China Trade War Becomes a Shooting War: Imagine if the world’s two largest economies – worth around $32 trillion combined – started shooting at each other. Think that’s impossible? History tells us it’s entirely possible, and the spark could be today’s current trade war. China has already declared its economic performance a “core interest” – meaning that Beijing would fight to ensure its continued success. If the U.S.-China trade war escalates to the point that Chinese leaders believe a recession is imminent, Beijing could gamble that a show of military force is necessary. In that case, China could take an aggressive action in the South China Sea, demand to take control of Taiwan, or even an attack critical commercial Earth-orbiting satellites vital to our economy and military. A U.S. counter-response – with China retaliating – could spark a war in Asia that would surely draw in most U.S. allies in the region and launch a global crisis of epic proportions. A Korea Crisis: Imagine a situation where the current trend lines continue. Kim Jong Un could decide to break his verbal promise to President Trump and test the ultimate weapon – an ICBM with a fully developed warhead that drops down into the atmosphere and survives reentry. CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR OPINION NEWSLETTER A test like this would prove once and for all that not only do Kim’s missiles have the range, but they can now deliver a nuclear payload to the United States. The stage would be set for a showdown, perhaps prompting President Trump to order an attack and end Kim’s weapons of mass destruction programs once and for all. Should the U.S. and North Korea plunge into a nuclear conflict, millions of people could be killed, as I wrote about previously in a Fox News op-ed. Other regional conflicts around the world could, of course, escalate out of control as well. That’s because global peace is a fragile commodity. One wrong move could start a chain reaction that – in the worst-case scenario – could culminate in the chain reaction of nuclear bombs. Some people who lived through the horrible war that began exactly 80 years ago are still alive today. The rest of us have parents, grandparents or great-grandparents who lived through those terrible days or who died in World War II. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP The anniversary of the start of World War II should remind us of the sacrifices and heroism of the Greatest Generation. And it should serve as a reminder to leaders of all nations that the world remains a very dangerous place, where a spark can turn into a deadly conflagration in an instant. Let us hope and pray that World War III remains just a nightmare that never becomes a reality, and that future generations do not have to mark the anniversary of the start of such a conflict. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE BY HARRY KAZIANIS

Harry J. Kazianis

www.foxnews.com

https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/harry-kazianis-world-war-ii-started-exactly-80-years-ago-is-world-war-iii-on-the-way

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