| 'This was a direct attack on U.S. assets': Trump's aborted Iran strike draws criticism from Republicans Posted: 21 Jun 2019 12:14 PM PDT  Congressional Republicans were divided Friday following President Donald Trump's decision to abort a planned missile strike against Iran.
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| Georgia death row inmate becomes 1,500th person to be executed since US brought back death penalty Posted: 21 Jun 2019 01:08 PM PDT  The United States has executed the 1,500th person since the Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976, according to a database keeping track of executions.Marion Wilson Jr was killed by lethal injection at 9.52pm on Thursday at the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison in Jackson, Georgia after the US Supreme Court denied a stay of execution.The state's Department of Corrections confirmed his death. According to their press release, he was the 73rd person executed in Georgia since 1976, and the 51st put to death by lethal injection.Nationally, lethal injection counts for 1,323 of the 1,500 deaths, according to the Death Penalty Information Centre.In 1997, WIlson was convicted along Robert Earl Butts Jr in the March 1996 slaying of 24-year-old Donovan Corey Parks.Prosecutors said Parks, a stranger to the two men, was killed after agreeing to give the two men a ride outside a Walmart in rural Georgia.Butts was sentenced to death as well; his death by lethal injection was fulfilled last year.The state's Department of Corrections says Wilson was given a final statement and a prayer before the state administered deadly injection of pentobarbital."I ain't never took a life in my life," Wilson said.To his friends and family he added: "I love y'all forever. Death can't stop it. Can't nothing stop it."Outside the prison where Wilson's death was administered, protestors of the death penalty held signs that read "1,500 executions and counting. Abolish the death penalty."Around 2,500 prisoners currently face the death penalty in America. The largest numbers are in California (740), Florida (354), and Texas (228).
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| Fellow SEALs say chief shot girl and old man in Iraq Posted: 21 Jun 2019 07:50 PM PDT  Two Navy SEALs testified Friday that their platoon chief gunned down a young girl and an old man in Iraq in 2017 from his sniper's perch, though neither witnessed him pulling the trigger. The SEALs said shots came from the tower where Special Operations Chief Edward Gallagher was posted and they watched through their scopes as the civilians fell to the ground. Dalton Tolbert said he and another sniper were in a neighboring tower in Mosul on June 18, 2017, and had fired warnings shots to scatter civilians by the Tigris River because the Islamic State was operating in the area.
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| Russians hit out at Kremlin ban on flights to Georgia Posted: 22 Jun 2019 03:50 AM PDT  Russia's travel industryhit out Saturday at a decision by the Kremlin to suspend flights to Georgia as a politically motivated move that has little to do with safety concerns. President Vladimir Putin signed a decree banning Russian airlines from flying to Georgia from July 8 late Friday in response to anti-government rallies in the ex-Soviet neighbour. The outbreak of protests was sparked by a parliamentary address in Tbilisi by a Moscow lawmaker earlier this week.
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| These Brunch Cocktails Are What Your Mom Really Wants For Mother's Day Posted: 21 Jun 2019 01:11 PM PDT |
| China's Paramilitary Navy Just Sank a Philippine Fishing Boat (and the U.S. Said Nothing) Posted: 21 Jun 2019 08:00 PM PDT  As the media fixates on the U.S. response to the June 13 attacks on commercial shipping in the Gulf of Oman, simmering tensions more than 3,700 miles away in the South China Sea may soon come to a boil. On June 12, the Philippine government released a statement on the sinking of an anchored Philippine fishing boat, the FB Gem-ver 1, after it was rammed by a Chinese vessel in a blatant display of aggression in the South China Sea. Both of these events, in the context of an increasing prevalence of hybrid warfare and gray zone tactics in the maritime domain, constitute potential crises capable of disrupting the global economy and escalating into a military conflict. Combined, they form an impending maelstrom that would quickly strain U.S. military capacity and threaten its ability to uphold its security agreements with its allies. In this new security environment, the United States needs substantive reflection of its national security priorities juxtaposed to its standing security commitments.
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| Woman falls asleep on flight and wakes up in pitch dark on locked and empty plane Posted: 22 Jun 2019 08:09 AM PDT  A woman has claimed she was left alone in a dark and locked plane after falling asleep on a flight.Tiffani Adams took a 90-minute Air Canada flight from Quebec to Toronto on 9 June.Ms Adams fell asleep during the journey but woke up to find the aircraft empty, cleared and parked in Toronto.She had somehow been left inside the dark plane, which appeared to have been locked for the night."I fell asleep probably less than halfway through my short 1.5 hour flight," she said, in a message posted on Air Canada's Facebook page."I wake up around midnight (few hours after flight landed) freezing cold still strapped in my seat in complete darkness (I'm talking pitch black)."Ms Adams described her ordeal as "terrifying" and said she thought she was having a bad dream.The stranded passenger called a friend but her phone died around a minute into the call. Ms Adams then attempted to charge the phone but found that the plane's power had been switched off."I can't charge my phone to call for help I'm full on panicking [because] I want off this nightmare asap," she said."As someone with an anxiety disorder as is I can tell you how terrifying this was," she wrote"I think I'm having a bad dream bc like seriously how is this happening!!?"Ms Adams said she found a torch in the plane's cockpit and eventually made her way to the aircraft's main door.She eventually opened the door, only to find herself around 50 ft above ground and unable to negotiate the drop beneath her.The passenger said she sat with her legs dangling out of the aircraft while sending out distress signals with her torch.Ms Adams said she was unable to tell how much time had passed before she saw a man driving a luggage cart, who passed the plane.She said she flagged the startled airport employee down, saying he was "in shock" to see her. "He [asked] how the heck they left me on the plane," Ms Adams said, describing her rescue."I'm wondering the same."The man then accompanied Ms Adams to the airport building, where she was met by Air Canada representatives.Ms Adams said being forgotten on the plane had left her with recurring "night terrors".She said she struggled to sleep and would wake "anxious and afraid [she was] locked up someplace dark".An airline spokesperson confirmed the account and told The Independent that Air Canada was reviewing the incident and remained in contact with the passenger.
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| Trump Approved Iran Strikes Knowing Body Count Would Be High Posted: 21 Jun 2019 03:46 PM PDT  Alex WongPresident Donald Trump approved preparations for military strikes against Iran—fully aware that dozens or more Iranians might die as a result, two senior Trump administration officials and another source familiar with the situation tell The Daily Beast. To many observers, including some in his own administration, this appeared to be at odds with Trump's account of Thursday's deliberations; the president claimed that he abruptly halted the attack minutes before it was set to occur.In a series of tweets on Friday morning, the president stated that the U.S. military was "cocked and loaded" on Thursday night to hit Iran before he changed his mind, stating that "10 minutes before the strike" he stopped it after being informed by "a General" of the potential loss of 150 lives.The president's Friday tweets caused widespread confusion within Trumpworld, with some interpreting the tweets to mean that Trump wasn't told, or didn't ask, about a potential body count until minutes before the strikes would have taken place.But that wasn't the case, as The Washington Post first reported. Trump was initially briefed on Thursday for military options to retaliate against Iran for downing a U.S. surveillance drone. One of the things his advisers discussed with him was the potential for a high Iranian body count. With the possible death toll made clear, the president approved the preparations for striking Iran. "Yes, he was briefed on it earlier in the day," a senior administration official said.Inside the U.S.-Iran Drone War"The military has a standard in which the president is briefed on a potential strike—the battle damage assessment is included in that," added a former national security official involved in past briefings. "It's always part of the package. And that includes possible military and civilian casualties."White House spokespeople declined to comment on the record for this report. The Pentagon declined to comment.Later on Friday, Trump fed the confusion further, telling NBC News' Chuck Todd that he hadn't given a final approval to a military strike against Iran at all—even though he tweeted that the attack was 10 minutes out."I thought about it for a second and I said, you know what, they shot down an unmanned drone, plane, whatever you want to call it, and here we are sitting with a 150 dead people that would have taken place probably within a half an hour after I said go ahead," Trump said. "And I didn't like it…I didn't think it was proportionate."The series of events were the first indication that the president had seriously considered military strikes against Iran—a move he has for weeks publicly shied away from. Just Thursday, Trump walked back a tweet, in which he said Iran had made a "big mistake" for shooting down an unmanned American drone.House Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith (D-WA) attended a briefing with the president at the White House Thursday with other congressional leaders. "We talked in great depth about what they felt the appropriate response would be," Smith said. "The gist was, the president was really wrestling with it. On the one hand, certainly you want to hold Iran accountable for this; on the other hand, nobody wants this to spin out of control."Smith said he was concerned that the White House was not consulting enough people when it came to Iran."The meeting yesterday was incredibly helpful. It was the first one he's had. I'm chairman of the Armed Services Committee, was ranking member before that, two-plus years, it's the first time I've met with anyone at the White House," Smith said. "I wish the [national security council] had more discussions. I wish they met more frequently with leaders."It's unclear if the president is considering striking Iran at all in the near future. But two former Trump White House officials told The Daily Beast that they feared that if the president saw TV pundits knocking his decision to pull back—including those on his favorite channel Fox News—it would increase the likelihood the president would actually end up confronting Iran militarily, and soon. Trump hates being portrayed as "weak," these former officials added.Over the last several days the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a Washington, D.C. think tank known for its hawkish approach to Iran, wrote the White House and the State Department with guidance on how to handle the most recent attacks on tankers in the Gulf of Oman and the shooting down of an American drone. The message to the administration: Continue the so-called "maximum pressure" campaign, which includes crippling the Iranian economy through sanctions and cutting off Tehran's access to the financial markets. Administration officials told The Daily Beast Friday that they were preparing to continue implementing that effort by announcing a new round of sanctions on Tehran.Lawmakers on Capitol Hill were briefed this week on Iran not only by administration officials but also by former Obama administration officials, including Wendy Sherman, the lead American negotiator on the nuclear deal, who often keep in touch with the Iranians. Tucker Carlson Tells Trump in Private: No War With Iran"We need to unambiguously seek to de-escalate tensions with Iran," said Jarrett Blanc, a former Obama administration official in the State Department who worked on the Iran nuclear deal. "There's no justification in our national security interests to test Iran's willingness to absorb military confrontation with the US. We need to get ourselves out of this situation."Amid the ongoing tensions between Washington and Tehran, the Trump administration has sent some of its top officials to the Middle East and Europe to shore up support for not only its stated maximum pressure campaign against Iran, but also the forthcoming unveiling of the Middle East peace plan. The State Department's special representative for Iran, who testified in front of Congress about Iran earlier this week, is in the Middle East meeting with regional partners, including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain. —with additional reporting by Sam Brodey and Justin BaragonaRead more at The Daily Beast.Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast hereGet our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. 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| Court tosses black man's murder conviction over racial bias Posted: 21 Jun 2019 01:44 PM PDT  The Supreme Court on Friday threw out the murder conviction and death sentence for a black man in Mississippi because of a prosecutor's efforts to keep African Americans off the jury. The removal of black prospective jurors deprived inmate Curtis Flowers of a fair trial, the court said in a 7-2 decision written by Justice Brett Kavanaugh. The long record of Flowers' trials stretching back more than 20 years shows District Attorney Doug Evans' "relentless, determined effort to rid the jury of black individuals," with the goal of an all-white jury, Kavanaugh wrote.
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| NRA sues ex-president Oliver North, saying he harmed the NRA Posted: 21 Jun 2019 05:19 AM PDT  The National Rifle Association has sued its former president, Oliver North, for what it called "conduct harmful to the NRA" as turmoil that was exposed publicly when North resigned two months ago continued Thursday when the organization also turned against its longtime chief lobbyist. The lawsuit filed Wednesday in New York sought a judge's declaration that the NRA isn't required to pay North's legal bills. North stepped down from the post in April after serving for a year.
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| What you need to know about canceling/re-booking trips to the Dominican Republic Posted: 21 Jun 2019 03:11 PM PDT  Following the deaths of several U.S. tourists in the Dominican Republic, many travelers who have already booked trips there are questioning whether it is a safe destination.
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| Wisconsin governor vetoes 'born alive' legislation and other abortion measures Posted: 21 Jun 2019 04:25 PM PDT  Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers vetoed four abortion bills Friday, a day after GOP lawmakers made a show in the Capitol of formally sending them to him.
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| Oh My God, the Marines Have a Laser Now Posted: 21 Jun 2019 06:00 PM PDT  Wow Brace yourselves: Marine grunts now have their hands on a drone-killing laser cannon.Marines are currently evaluating a Compact Laser Weapons System (CLaWS) as "the first ground-based laser approved by the Department of Defense for use by warfighters on the ground," Marine Corps Systems Command announced on Wednesday.Unlike the Army's vehicle-mounted directed energy system, the CLaWS is "not intended to be a standalone system," according to MARCORSYSCOM, but the prototype will "serve as a component to an overall system" designed for counter-drone operations downrange."This was all in response to a need for counter unmanned aerial systems to take down drones," Ground Based Air Defense (GBAD) program manager Don Kelley said in the MARCORSYSCOM release. "We're providing CLaWS to Marines as a rapid prototype for evaluation ... Depending on the results, CLaWS could become part of a larger capability set."
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| Former top U.S. diplomat deplores policy toward Iran 'untethered to any coherent strategy' Posted: 21 Jun 2019 10:05 AM PDT  President Trump seriously miscalculated when he scrapped the U.S.-Iran nuclear deal, embarking on a policy "untethered to any coherent strategy," according to a scathing assessment by William Burns, the former U.S. diplomat who negotiated the nuclear agreement. Burns said the move was certain to embolden hard-liners in Tehran and contribute to military tensions in a way that will backfire against the U.S. — which was already happening this week, as news broke that Iran had shot down an American military drone.
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| School will no longer be recognised as Catholic after refusing to fire gay teacher, church officials say Posted: 22 Jun 2019 11:50 AM PDT  A school that refused to fire a gay teacher as ordered by the Archdiocese of Indianapolis says it has been told by church officials that it will no longer be recognised as Catholic. But school leaders pledged to keep the institution's religious identification.The archdiocese announced in a statement that it would no longer recognise Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory School, an independently operated school, because it was not insisting that all employees "be supportive of all teachings of the Catholic Church," the Catholic News Agency reported. The church is against homosexual activity.A statement by the Reverend Brian G Paulson, who heads the Midwest Province of Jesuits, said the archdiocese told Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory School two years ago not to renew the contract of a teacher whose "marital status does not conform to church doctrine." He also said the decision, to be formalised in a church decree, would be appealed through a church process and would go as high as the Vatican "if necessary."Leaders of Brebeuf Jesuit posted an open letter to their community on the Indianapolis school's website saying the archdiocese had directly inserted itself into a school governance matter in an "unprecedented" way and that it would not do what Archbishop Charles Thompson had demanded.The letter said in part: "Specifically, Brebeuf Jesuit has respectfully declined the Archdiocese's insistence and directive that we dismiss a highly capable and qualified teacher due to the teacher being a spouse within a civilly-recognised same-sex marriage."The unidentified teacher was said by Mr Paulson to be "a valued employee" who does not teach religion. He wrote that Brebeuf Jesuit became aware through social media "that one of its teachers entered into a civil marriage with a person of the same sex."According to the Associated Press, a school operated by the archdiocese, Indianapolis Roncalli High School, has fired or suspended two guidance counsellors in the past year because they are in same-sex marriages.Brebeuf Jesuit's leaders who signed the open letter are the Reverend William Verbryke, the school president; W Patrick Bruen, chair of the school's Board of Trustees; and Daniel M Lechleiter, chair-elect of the trustees board. They promised in the letter that the school's mission would not change as a result of this conflict with the archdiocese."We understand that this news will likely spur a host of emotions, questions and even confusion in the days ahead. Please be assured, the Archdiocese's decision will not change the mission or operations of Brebeuf Jesuit."On Friday, the school's name was not on the archdiocese's list of Catholic schools in its region.The church says there are 68 Catholic schools - 57 elementary schools and 11 high schools - in the Archdiocese of Indianapolis, according to its website. Collectively, they enrolled some 23,200 students during the 2018-2019 school year.Most of those schools are operated by a school division within the archdiocese, which is headed by Superintendent Gina Kuntz Fleming, who did not return phone calls about Brebeuf Jesuit. While Brebeuf Jesuit is a Catholic school within the archdiocese, it is independently operated. The school has nearly 800 students in grades nine through 12.The school leaders' letter said that, while the archdiocese "may choose to no longer attend or participate in the school's Masses and formal functions, Brebeuf Jesuit is, and will always be, a Catholic Jesuit school."It also said church leaders assured them that "Jesuit priests may continue to serve at Brebeuf Jesuit and will retain their ability to celebrate the sacraments of the Catholic Church."The Washington Post
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| Mexico’s Other Border Is Rattled by Armed Crackdown Along River Posted: 22 Jun 2019 01:00 AM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- The rafts, made of plywood planks lashed to fat inner tubes, float back and forth all day, piloted by camareros who push poles deep into the riverbed to guide their vessels in a rough echo of Venetian gondoliers.The cargo depends on the direction. From Mexico to Guatemala, it's usually cans of cooking oil or bags of rice, cases of Corona and cartons of eggs. It's mostly people going the other way, many headed for the U.S. All of it, technically speaking, is illegal, but the customs and immigration officials on the international bridge never paid much mind, allowing the Suchiate River crossings to build into the cornerstone of a thriving economy in an impoverished region.The possible end to it all reared up last week, with the arrival of a few of the thousands of troops Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador is sending to the border. "The soldiers came with their M-16s and told us that they didn't want us to work," said a 31-year-old who goes by the nickname Rooster. He has been making a living with his raft for more than a decade. Like the hundreds of other camareros (Spanish for tubers, though the word can also mean waiters or stewards), Rooster can earn as much as $39 a day, decent money in Ciudad Hidalgo, a town of about 15,000 that spreads out from the river.The new show of force on the border is meant to stem the stream of migrants escaping violence and poverty in Central America, a move made to appease President Donald Trump after he threatened to impose tariffs on Mexican imports to punish the country for failing to control the masses trying to make their way to the U.S.But the ripple effects could be devastating in the state of Chiapas, the poorest in Mexico, and in the administrative district of San Marcos in southwestern Guatemala, where almost two-thirds of people live in poverty. A network of suppliers and couriers pedaling tricked-out tricycles on the Mexican side keeps the camareros stocked with products that are either unavailable or prohibitively expensive in Guatemala — Ace detergent, Nivea skin cream, Nescafe instant coffee, mayonnaise, PediaSure nutrition drinks, toilet paper, McCormick spices and on and on. Rafts have been known to ferry washing machines across.While the river trade has existed for generations, it exploded over the past five years as the Mexican peso lost one third of its value against the Guatemalan Quetzal. There are no official statistics on the value of the commerce, but according to locals it's the biggest, and almost only, business around."This industry maintains the tricycles, the raft operators, the taxis, buses, everyone lives off of this. What happens if it's gone?" said Bertha Alicia Fuentes, 71, who has been running a supply store in Ciudad Hidalgo for four decades, selling mostly yogurt and milk for river-export to Guatemala. "Forget it. Everyone would be poor." She shook her head and lifted her hands in exasperation. "The merchandise needs to continue to flow."AMLO has acknowledged that there are 68 points on Mexico's 700-mile frontier with Guatemala and Belize that aren't well policed and has promised to secure them. Maximiliano Reyes, undersecretary of foreign relations for Latin America and the Caribbean, said on a recent trip to the area that the Suchiate rafts "are one of the primary points of irregular immigration" and that they are "something we'll need to be looking at." Francisco Garduno, the new head of the national migration agency, went further and said the raft traffic would be stopped.Rooster, who declined to give his name for fear of reprisal, said he understands what the president and troops are up against. "The soldiers are workers, just like us, and they need to do their duty," he said, leaning against a crate of beer in the shade of a tarp. And "AMLO did what he had to do," under pressure from Trump.What the policy makers in Mexico City might not comprehend, though, is what a diligently patrolled border with Guatemala would really mean, Rooster said. "This town and Tapachula would be bankrupt. The majority of the people who buy here are Guatemalans."Stores in nearby Tapachula, a city of more than 300,000 that's the largest near the southern border, could be hurt. They include Walmart, Sam's Club and Chedraui, all popular with Guatemalans who can afford to raft over — the 5-minute trip usually costs about $2 — to stock up.Mexico's frontier with Guatemala has been porous or even undefined for centuries, and Rooster is a typical free-flowing resident of the region. He is Guatemalan but lives on the Mexican side. His parents took him to the U.S. when he was 4 and he grew up in California, where his mother still lives. He said he joined a gang as a teenager, was arrested on drug-possession charges and deported when he was 20.He switches seamlessly between English and Spanish. He is married to a Mexican and they have a 9-year-old son. His wife voted for AMLO; she religiously watches broadcasts of the president's daily news conferences. They approve of his proposals to pay higher pensions to the elderly and give more scholarships to students. Like many expert observers, they don't have confidence that his troops-to-the-border strategy will work.Enrique Vidal Olascoaga, a lawyer at the Fray Matias Human Rights Center in Tapachula, said he sees just downsides. "The only thing that a militarization of the border is going to do is make the crossing of people more dangerous and expensive."Maynor Guillen, a skinny 19-year-old from Honduras who had just come over the river, said the lawyer is right: Guillen was making his second attempt to reach the U.S. and has no intention of giving up. "I've read that they're going to send more soldiers to keep us from crossing," he said, standing outside outside the Tapachula office of the Mexican Commission for Refugee Aid. "But I'm not afraid."There's concern in Guatemala too, even though the river trade hurts businesses there and the government collects no taxes on the contraband that's floated over. If the rafts were grounded, "there would be consequences," said Paulo de Leon, the economic director for Central American Business Intelligence, an analysis firm in Guatemala City. So many people depend on the Suchiate economy, he said, that there might be a "blood bath" if the river crossing was actually closed.Rooster said he has hopes for a peaceful solution. "But if they're forceful with us," he said, "we will need to be forceful as well." \--With assistance from Michael McDonald.To contact the author of this story: Eric Martin in Mexico City at emartin21@bloomberg.netTo contact the editor responsible for this story: Anne Reifenberg at areifenberg@bloomberg.net, David PapadopoulosFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Cocaine haul from ship grows, arrests now stand at 6 Posted: 21 Jun 2019 10:23 AM PDT  Federal authorities say they've seized more than 35,000 pounds, or 15,876 kilograms, of cocaine from a ship at a Philadelphia port.
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| US, Taliban to hold more talks on ending war Posted: 22 Jun 2019 11:18 AM PDT  The United States and the Taliban will open fresh negotiations next week, the US negotiator said Saturday, as he voiced hope for progress in ending America's longest war. Zalmay Khalilzad, the US special representative on Afghanistan, said the two sides would start their seventh round of talks on June 29. "Based on my recent visits to Afghanistan and Qatar, I believe all sides want rapid progress," Khalilzad wrote on Twitter.
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| Photos of the 2020 Peugeot 2008 SUV Posted: 21 Jun 2019 08:46 AM PDT |
| How the B-2 Bomber Could Destroy Iran In a War Posted: 21 Jun 2019 01:59 AM PDT  The need to penetrate advanced air-defense networks in the post–Cold War era led to B-2s acquiring a conventional strike capability. The bomber can carry up to sixteen Joint Directed Attack Munition (JDAM) satellite-guided 2,000 pound bombs. In the past it has also carried CBU-87 Combined Effects Munitions and CBU-90 Gator mine dispensers, but submunition-dispensing munitions are being phased out in U.S. inventories. The bomber also carries the AGM-154 Joint Standoff Weapon, a glide bomb with a range of up to fifty miles and a GPS-based guidance system. For standoff attacks, the Spirit can carry the AGM-158 Joint Air Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM) and the new, longer-range JASSM-ER (extended range). Finally, the B-2 can carry two 30,000 pound twenty foot long Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP) bombs for attacking hardened targets, one per weapons bay.The B-2 Spirit is one of three strategic heavy bombers in U.S. Air Force service. Originally conceived to infiltrate the Soviet air-defense network and attack targets with nuclear weapons, over the decades its mission has grown to include conventional precision attack. The B-2 is the most advanced bomber in U.S. service, and the only one of three types that still carries nuclear gravity bombs.(This first appeared in 2017.)
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| On Iran, Trump talks loudly and carries a big stick — but doesn't use it Posted: 21 Jun 2019 03:06 PM PDT  Donald Trump's public life and presidency have been characterized by a pattern of ambivalence toward U.S. military action.
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| E. Coli scare leads to multi-state recall of brownie mix Posted: 21 Jun 2019 06:09 PM PDT  With the weekend upon us it might seem like a lovely time to make yourself a tasty treat. If you've got a box of brownie mix in your pantry -- and you happen to live in Alabama, Iowa, Ohio, Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Minnesota, New York, or South Carolina -- you might want to think again.The FDA just posted a new product recall bulletin for cookie and brownie mixes sold in those states, and the risks of accidentally consuming the tainted product could be high. The flour used in the various mixes may be contaminated with E. Coli.According to the recall notice, the flour used in mixes carrying the brand names Brand Castle, Sister's Gourmet, and In The Mix comes from supplier ADM Million Co., and that's where the trouble originated.> The product is being recalled because an ingredient supplier, ADM Milling Co., has issued a recall for the flour used in these products due to E. coli contamination found in a single lot code of H&R Flour at their Buffalo production plant.The full list of UPCs and lot numbers are available in the FDA's bulletin, so if you think you might have a jar of this mix sitting in a cupboard it would be wise to check.E. Coli is a group of bacteria that can cause some pretty serious issues if ingested. Strains of the bacteria can produce a variety of symptoms including cramping, vomiting, and diarrhea.The company says that it hasn't received any complaints of illness over the consumption of its products, but it's issuing the recall out of an abundance of caution. The company is offering refunds to anyone who purchased the recalled mix, and a phone number and email address are provided on the recall notice.
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| Colorado shooter says he targeted kids over gender taunts Posted: 20 Jun 2019 10:09 PM PDT  A high school student charged in a classmate's death during a Colorado school shooting told police that he planned the attack for weeks and intended to target classmates who repeatedly mocked his gender identity. Written summaries of police interviews with the two suspected shooters portray 16-year-old Alec McKinney as the leader of the attack, enlisting 18-year-old Devon Erickson in the plan to kill the students who bullied McKinney, who identifies as male. Both teenagers told police that they broke into a gun safe at one of the teenager's homes before walking into the STEM School Highlands Ranch on the afternoon of May 7 with a guitar case and a backpack concealing four guns.
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| Jessa Duggar had an unexpected home birth on her couch Posted: 21 Jun 2019 12:12 PM PDT  Jessa (Duggar) and Ben Seewald revealed on TLC's "Counting On" that the birth of their baby girl Ivy Jane didn't go exactly according to plan.
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| Conservative U.S. justices draw criticism by overruling precedent again Posted: 21 Jun 2019 09:38 AM PDT  For the second time in six weeks, the U.S. Supreme Court's conservative majority on Friday overruled a decades-old legal precedent set by the court, this time involving property rights, raising alarm bells among its liberal members. The ruling, written by Chief Justice John Roberts, overruled a 1985 Supreme Court decision that had forced property owners facing a government-led takeover of land for public purposes to seek compensation under state law before bringing a claim in federal court. The ruling comes amid rising concern among abortion rights advocates and Democratic politicians over whether the court may overrule Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 Supreme Court ruling that legalized abortion nationwide.
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| Would You Pay This Much For A Corvette Body? Posted: 22 Jun 2019 05:52 AM PDT  This isn't exactly a budget-friendly deal... Quite a few people love the look of a classic Chevy Corvette Stingray, and why not? The iconic lines are like nothing you find on any other vehicle around, making it a real standout even among other classics. While that's certainly true, you might be wondering why this 1966 Chevrolet Corvette convertible body is so pricey.At $18,000 for a body that not long has the original Rally Red paint, it's understandable why anyone would question the sanity in paying so much. All you get is the body, doors, hinges, rear exhaust valance, convertible decklid, bird cage, and windshield frame, plus the glass. Nothing from the black vinyl interior, drivetrain, chassis, etc. comes along, meaning you need to source the rest.Consider this: you could easily spend upwards of $125,000 or more for a clean, low-mileage 1966 Chevrolet Corvette Convertible. That's not exactly a low price, because quite a few people love the look of the C2, especially when it comes topless. Even higher-mileage examples tend to go for somewhere between $80,000 and $100,000 or more, with prices constantly climbing.It's not like GM is making any more of these classic bodies. While you might have your heart set on a complete Stingray, this body offers up all kinds of possibilities. It works for restoring a car with serious body damage, including rust. Alternatively, you could use that impeccable styling for a potent restomod project, making for a unique creation. Add a compatible chassis, whatever motor you desire, plus a great interior for something which turns heads and breaks necks.When you start to realize just how much a 1966 'Vette sells for these days, and consider that they're going to keep going up in value, suddenly this body seems like a much better deal than before. Classic Corvettes are definitely hot items, making it a solid idea to snatch up whatever you can when possible.
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| Why India’s Hypersonic Missile Could Trigger A Nuclear War Posted: 21 Jun 2019 10:00 AM PDT  India's test of a hypersonic missile signifies more than the advance of Indian weapons technology.It also is one step closer to triggering a nuclear war with Pakistan.Ironically, the first launch of the Hypersonic Technology Demonstrator Vehicle, or HSTDV, was a failure. The HSTDV, which is shaped almost like a sailing ship, is supposed to be a testbed for developing future hypersonic weapons such as cruise missiles. It is launched atop an Agni 1, an Indian ballistic missile."The vehicle was test launched using the Agni 1 missile platform that was to take it up to a predetermined altitude where scramjet technology—the ability to fly at speeds in excess of Mach 6 while using atmospheric oxygen as oxidizer—had to be validated with separation of the platform and a short flight at high altitude," according to India's Economic Times."Sources said that while the missile on which the platform was mounted successfully took off from the range, the test could not be completed to demonstrate the vehicle at hypersonic speed as the Agni 1 did not reach the desired altitude for the test. Scientists are looking at the technical reasons behind this and are studying all available data."
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| Trump: We Were ‘Cocked & Loaded’ Before I Scuttled Iran Strike Posted: 21 Jun 2019 12:39 AM PDT  Alex Wong/GettyPresident Trump says he abruptly canceled a planned military strike on Iran on Thursday night.He confirmed media reports that he had a last-minute change of heart by saying that the U.S. military was "cocked and loaded" before he changed his mind.Trump approved U.S. strikes on multiple targets in Iran on Thursday in response to Iran's downing of an unmanned U.S. drone. But he changed his orders at the last minute, in a move first reported by The New York Times. Explaining his decision Friday morning, Trump wrote: "We were cocked & loaded to retaliate last night on 3 different sights when I asked, how many will die. 150 people, sir, was the answer from a General. 10 minutes before the strike I stopped it, not proportionate to shooting down an unmanned drone."He added: "I am in no hurry, our Military is rebuilt, new, and ready to go, by far the best in the world. Sanctions are biting & more added last night. Iran can NEVER have Nuclear Weapons, not against the USA, and not against the WORLD!"Multiple senior administration officials cited by the Times said military and diplomatic officials were waiting for a strike Thursday evening when the operation was suddenly called off. Planes were reportedly already in the air and ships had gotten into position when the call came down that the operation was not going ahead.Meanwhile, Iran warned Friday that it had the opportunity to shoot down a U.S. aircraft carrying 35 people that the country claimed was accompanying the drone shot down Thursday. "This plane also entered our airspace and we could have shot it down, but we did not," said Amirali Hajizadeh, head of the Revolutionary Guards aerospace division.It's not immediately clear if there are plans for the strikes to go ahead at a different time. Newsweek cited a Pentagon official as saying U.S. military assets in the region were placed on a 72-hour standby.The drone incident Thursday was just the latest in a growing list of disputes between Tehran and Washington to raise fears that one simple diplomatic misunderstanding between the two countries could trigger a full-on military confrontation. Tensions have gotten so high that the Federal Aviation Administration on Friday blocked all American-registered planes from flying over parts of the Middle East, citing "heightened military activities and increased political tensions in the region" that pose "an inadvertent risk to U.S. civil aviation operations." Other global carriers, including British Airways, KLM, Qantas, and Lufthansa, have followed suit.It was not immediately clear if the FAA order came in response to news reports about the Trump administration's planned airstrike, but the agency cited Iran's shootdown as a reason to fear aircraft could be at risk in the region. Will America Attack Iran Over One Dead Robot?While Trump and his advisers have insisted the U.S. drone was over international waters, Iranian leaders have claimed to have GPS proof that the craft flew into the country's airspace despite radio warnings. The attack on the drone also came as many Democratic lawmakers had already begun to question whether the Trump administration was actively trying to build a case for military action against Iran in response to what top officials have described as escalating threats from the country since Trump pulled out of the Obama-era nuclear deal last year. Just last week, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo backed Trump in blaming Iran for attacks on two fuel tankers in the Gulf of Oman, claiming Tehran was "lashing out" to get back at the U.S. for sanctions. The Trump administration announced last month that it would be sending additional troops to the Middle East "to send a clear and unmistakable message to the Iranian regime," as National Security Adviser John Bolton put it at the time. When reports of the called-off military strikes on Iran broke late Thursday, Democratic lawmakers took to Twitter to sound the alarm over the matter. "This is governing by chaos. We need a steady hand at the wheel. I stood up against the Iraq War and I know that America cannot afford another disastrous war in the Middle East," Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, a 2020 candidate, wrote. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), who is also running for president, accused Trump of "instigating" conflict with Iran. "Donald Trump promised to bring our troops home. Instead he has pulled out of a deal that was working and instigated another unnecessary conflict. There is no justification for further escalating this crisis—we need to step back from the brink of war," she wrote. Trump Tells His Team to Tone Down the Tough Talk on IranRead more at The Daily Beast.Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast hereGet our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
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| As Johnson Prepares for Power, Tories Plot Against No-Deal Brexit Posted: 21 Jun 2019 10:56 PM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- In the coffee shops and bars of Britain's Parliament, the political conversation has already turned to the question that will define the country's immediate future: Can Boris Johnson be stopped from pursuing a no-deal Brexit?The options under discussion for Conservative politicians who want to avoid a no-deal split from the European Union are dramatic. They include quitting the party and mounting a rebellion to bring down the government.The contest to succeed Theresa May as prime minister has seen a hardening of rhetoric around leaving the European Union. Johnson and his rival to be prime minister, Jeremy Hunt, argue that only by threatening to leave the EU without an agreement can Britain get a good deal.Johnson remains the front-runner to be the next prime minister, though he has raised new questions about his temperament. London police were called to his home early Friday morning after an argument with his partner Carrie Symonds became so heated that neighbors called authorities. Police said in a statement that they determined that everyone at the residence was safe and "there was no cause for police action."The fear among some members of Parliament is that Johnson, in particular, will find himself boxed into a corner where he has to carry out his threat. That's why politicians who oppose a no-deal Brexit, from the cabinet down, are bracing themselves for battle.Read more: Wit Made Boris Johnson -- And His Team Know It Could Undo HimThere has been talk of a vote of no-confidence in the government, with the idea floated even of doing it as soon as Johnson takes office in late July. This is a "nuclear option" that could destroy Johnson's administration as soon as it is formed, leading to a general election.Plotters' OptionsAny Conservative MP supporting a no-confidence vote would be expelled from the party and forbidden from standing as a Tory candidate, effectively ending their careers. Yet one veteran Conservative observed privately that he was ready to do it if necessary to avoid the economic disaster of a no-deal Brexit.Most no-deal opponents argue that such a radical move would not be necessary. Instead, they plan to seize control of the Parliamentary agenda, putting them in charge of the draft laws and motions that are debated and voted on -- matters that the government of the day usually decides.There's no formal mechanism for this to happen, but officials point to the Standing Order 24 in the parliamentary rule book, which lets the opposition force an emergency debate.Parliamentary officials expect Speaker of the House of Commons John Bercow to allow this rule to be used in an unprecedented way to set aside a whole day for debate. That day would give Johnson's opponents a chance to pass a law blocking a no-deal Brexit.Willing to RebelSupporters of this plan are confident it would work. Rory Stewart, who ran for the party leadership but was knocked out, told journalists that "nearly 100 of my colleagues" would vote to prevent a move to leave the EU without a deal.That's a big increase on the nine Conservatives who voted to block a no-deal Brexit in March. But even if it's an exaggeration, there are good reasons to think that more Tories will be willing to rebel against the government to stop a no-deal exit under Johnson.He is such a divisive figure that some MPs could leave the party if Johnson wins and sit as independent MPs. Former Attorney General Dominic Grieve has said he will. In the final stages of voting for leadership candidates, two Tories spoiled their ballots, suggesting they found all the remaining options unacceptable.Fractures, SchismsWhoever is the next prime minister will find he makes enemies as quickly as he makes friends. The suggestion that some Johnson supporters voted for Hunt in order to put his long-term rival Michael Gove out of the race has created resentment in parts of the Tory party. And there are likely to be MPs supporting Johnson in hope of getting government jobs who find themselves disappointed.The biggest group in the way of Johnson's plan to leave the EU without a deal are the ministers he fires when he takes power.They would feel liberated to vote as they liked. Along with Stewart, other ministers who vocally oppose no-deal are May's de facto deputy, David Lidington, Philip Hammond, the finance minister, and Justice Secretary David Gauke.If Johnson is defeated on a vote about no-deal, he will face another choice: Back down and see his credibility further eroded, or call an election -- and risk being thrown out of office only weeks after taking the job.(Updates with police visiting Boris's home in fourth paragraph.)To contact the reporters on this story: Robert Hutton in London at rhutton1@bloomberg.net;Alex Morales in London at amorales2@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Tim Ross at tross54@bloomberg.net, Robert JamesonFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| US state of Georgia executes man for murder Posted: 20 Jun 2019 07:31 PM PDT  The US state of Georgia on Thursday executed a man convicted of murdering a plainclothes prison guard over 20 years ago. Marion Wilson Jr, 42, was put to death by lethal injection at 9:52 pm (0152 GMT Friday) by lethal injection at a prison in Jackson, in the center of the southern state. Wilson was convicted for a murder he committed in March 1996 as part of a task for the violent "Folk Nation" gang.
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| After high arsenic reports, Keurig Dr Pepper pulls bottled water sold at Target, Walmart Posted: 21 Jun 2019 04:53 PM PDT  All bottles of unflavored Peñafiel mineral spring water are part of a voluntary withdrawal, Keurig Dr Pepper said in a statement Friday.
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| VIDEO: Man rushes TSA agents at Phoenix airport Posted: 21 Jun 2019 12:14 AM PDT  Phoenix airport surveillance video shows a 19-year-old man running past a security checkpoint and wrestling with TSA agents.
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| Booker campaign gets 2020 jolt with pushback against Biden Posted: 20 Jun 2019 11:57 PM PDT  Cory Booker's supporters have spent months waiting for a moment when the charismatic senator could break through a crowded field of Democratic presidential candidates. The New Jersey senator called on Biden to apologize Wednesday after the former vice president nostalgically referenced the "civility" he maintained during his time in the Senate with two segregationist Democrats in the 1970s despite their vast distance in ideology. After Biden pushed back, saying Booker should apologize to him because the senator "knows better," Booker called for the Democratic Party to choose a presidential nominee who can be "sensitive" to the "hurt and pain" caused by Biden noting that the two senators had called him "son" instead of "boy," a reference to the racist way many whites addressed black men at the time.
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| America's 6th Generation Fighter Could Be Everything: 4 Things It Must Have Posted: 21 Jun 2019 09:00 PM PDT  While the United States moves towards full-scale of the fifth-generation F-35 Lightning stealth fighters, countries like France, Germany, Japan and the United Kingdom are looking to skip ahead to an even more advanced sixth-generation.It's too soon to identify for sure what the sixth-generation jets will look like, as none exist yet, and they are only planned to enter service starting in the late 2030s and 2040s. However, there are many technologies likely to feature in the sixth generation of aircraft.Of course, it is the nature of arms races and military industrial complexes to already looking ahead to the next game in town. Thus the Navy and Air Force are already courting concepts from the defense industry on separate sixth-generation successors to the F-35, called the FA-XX and Penetrating Counter Air respectively.After the frustrations experienced in reconciling the Air Force's and Navy's differing demands for the F-35—and the mere 20 percent parts commonality that resulted between the two—the two services have little desire to jointly develop the Lightning's successors. The PCA is intended to be a long-range escort fighter that can accompany forthcoming B-21 Raider stealth bombers into enemy airspace and protect them from enemy fighters. The FA-XX will likely be an interceptor that can better protect Navy carriers from enemy bombers and missiles.
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| UPDATE 7-Iran says it will confront any U.S. threat, Trump eyes new sanctions Posted: 21 Jun 2019 11:57 PM PDT ![UPDATE 7-Iran says it will confront any U.S. threat, Trump eyes new sanctions]( "UPDATE 7-Iran says it will confront any U.S. threat, Trump eyes new sanctions") Iran said on Saturday it would respond firmly to any U.S. threat, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported, amid escalating tension between Tehran and Washington over the shooting down of an unmanned U.S. drone by the Islamic Republic. On Thursday, an Iranian missile destroyed a U.S. Global Hawk surveillance drone. Tehran repeated on Saturday that the drone was shot down over its territory.
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| How to Mow Your Lawn in Hot Weather and Keep It Green Posted: 21 Jun 2019 01:05 PM PDT  With the dog days of summer finally here, it's time to re-evaluate how you mow your lawn. While a low-cut, manicured lawn might seem ideal, turf grass actually does better in the summer heat when...
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| Witness in Navy SEAL trial takes blame for killing Posted: 20 Jun 2019 09:08 PM PDT  When the prosecution called a special forces medic to testify, they expected him to bolster their murder case against a decorated Navy SEAL accused of stabbing an Islamic State fighter in his care. Corey Scott delivered on that count, saying Special Operations Chief Edward Gallagher had unexpectedly plunged a knife into the adolescent detainee after treating his wounds in 2017 in Iraq. Scott called the asphyxiation an act of mercy.
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| How, where to get free food – doughnuts, tacos and more – and discounts Posted: 21 Jun 2019 03:00 AM PDT  Krispy Kreme has announced a new Original Filled doughnut and a way to try it for free Saturday as part of its National Donut Day challenge.
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