| Republican Sen. Martha McSally wants to make domestic terrorism a federal crime Posted: 14 Aug 2019 03:54 AM PDT  Arizona Sen. Martha McSally wants to create law in the federal criminal code to address domestic terrorism after mass shootings in El Paso and Gilroy.
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| US homeland security chief: Racism is fueling some terrorism Posted: 13 Aug 2019 02:38 PM PDT  White supremacist ideology is helping fuel domestic terrorism in the United States, the head of Homeland Security said Tuesday. Acting Secretary Kevin K. McAleenan appeared in Jackson, Mississippi, for a forum about preventing violence against religious groups. "The attack in El Paso and the violent white supremacist ideology that inspired it offends us all," McAleenan said Tuesday.
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| Flight data places Jeffrey Epstein’s private jet on Arabian Peninsula on the eve of the 2016 election Posted: 13 Aug 2019 08:03 AM PDT  Aviation data shows Jeffrey Epstein's black Gulfstream IV was spotted on the border of Egypt, Israel, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia.
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| Brazil's Bolsonaro warns of Argentina exodus after Macri defeat Posted: 13 Aug 2019 03:01 PM PDT  Brasília (AFP) - Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro on Monday warned of a possible exodus from Argentina after the country's center-right leader Mauricio Macri suffered a major defeat in weekend party primaries. Populist center-left candidate Alberto Fernandez's crushing victory over the pro-business Macri ahead of Argentina's general election in October sent the country's peso and stock market plunging. "We don't want our Argentine brothers fleeing here," far-right Bolsonaro said, likening Fernandez's running-mate, former president Cristina Kirchner, to Venezuela's socialist President Nicolas Maduro and Cuba's Fidel Castro.
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| Glacier National Park death: Utah teen killed by falling rocks during family vacation Posted: 14 Aug 2019 01:30 PM PDT  A 14-year-old girl was killed in Montana's Glacier National Park on Mondayafter large rocks fell from a mountainside and struck her family's vehicle
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| UPDATE 2-Russia flies nuclear-capable bombers to region facing Alaska Posted: 14 Aug 2019 12:06 PM PDT ![UPDATE 2-Russia flies nuclear-capable bombers to region facing Alaska]( "UPDATE 2-Russia flies nuclear-capable bombers to region facing Alaska") * State media says it shows Moscow can deploy close to U.S. MOSCOW, Aug 14 (Reuters) - Russia said on Wednesday it had flown two nuclear-capable TU-160 bombers to a far eastern Russian region opposite Alaska as part of a training exercise that state media said showed Moscow's ability to park nuclear arms on the United States' doorstep.
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| Immigrants Citing ‘Horrific Conditions’ in Texas Sue for Release Posted: 13 Aug 2019 03:45 PM PDT ![Immigrants Citing 'Horrific Conditions' in Texas Sue for Release]( "Immigrants Citing 'Horrific Conditions' in Texas Sue for Release") (Bloomberg) -- Immigrants along the Texas-Mexico border, citing indefinite detention in "horrific conditions," have asked a federal judge to order the U.S. to improve the conditions, give them access to lawyers and release them after 72 hours.U.S. Customs and Border Protection "has intentionally packed these people into filthy holding cells for lengthy periods of time, where they routinely sleep on concrete floors or concrete benches and are denied access to adequate food, water, medical and sanitation facilities," according to the complaint, filed Monday in federal court in Brownsville, Texas.The administration has pursued an increasingly aggressive course on immigrants from Latin America, staging workplace raids right after the mass shooting in El Paso, Texas, that targeted Latinos and, more recently, proposing rule changes for green card applications that would favor wealthier applicants. Last month it moved to narrow protections for asylum seekers if their relatives have a criminal history.The conditions at U.S. detention facilities along the southern border have been the subject of intense scrutiny. In recent months, at least seven children in CPB custody have died, the petition says.The case is Gonzalez-Recinos v. McAleenan, 19-cv-95, U.S. District Court, Southern District of Texas (Brownsville).To contact Bloomberg News staff for this story: Gerald Porter Jr. in New York at gporter30@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: David Glovin at dglovin@bloomberg.net, Peter JeffreyFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Wayne LaPierre Promised Job Security, Then Ousted an NRA Top Gun Posted: 14 Aug 2019 01:48 AM PDT  Jim Watson/AFP/GettyIn retrospect, it was weird. On a mid-July day at National Rifle Association headquarters, NRA CEO Wayne LaPierre gathered with top officials from the gun group's lobbying arm for a frank conversation. Turmoil had rocked the organization for months, reaching a zenith with the resignation of top lobbyist Chris Cox, who for years had helmed the NRA's Institute for Legislative Affairs (ILA). The association had grown balkanized, with top staff torn between LaPierre and Cox. And with the LaPierre camp on the march, Cox loyalists had reason to be nervous about their job security. So LaPierre sought to reassure the senior ILA officials who gathered that day, according to two people familiar with the meeting. He said ILA was "moving forward" and that staff there would have a "clean slate." His message, which attendees then relayed to their subordinates, was simple: People could breathe easy about their jobs, and things were stabilizing. His message was wrong. Just days later, news broke that Jennifer Baker—who spent years as the communications director for ILA and was part of Cox's small inner circle—was out. Baker's departure shocked many Republican insiders, who had long seen her as a fixture in the organization. An NRA spokesperson told CNN Baker had been ousted because the association had conducted "a reorganization of its public affairs function," implying she had been rendered redundant. Politico reported, however, that she had been helping plan its electoral strategy.Reached for comment, the NRA highlighted the statement that CNN had quoted."The NRA would not be inclined to discuss private business meetings, but it was reported that on July 16, 2019 that the NRA announced a reorganization of its public affairs function," the NRA said in a statement. "Jennifer, as you know, worked in public affairs for ILA. At the time, it was announced that, according to the NRA: 'The NRA announced a reorganization of its public affairs function this week. The change consolidates and improves our communications, public affairs, and social media functions. All these operations now operate under one department, eliminating a parallel function in NRA-ILA. We are excited about the change and the benefits it brings to the organization and its members.'"LaPierre's abortive effort to calm employees' nerves crystallized the confusion and bewilderment that grips NRA officials. And the uncertainty could hardly come at a worse time. The association faces a host of challenges: New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has intimated to financial institutions that they could face legal trouble if they work with the NRA, so some have pulled away from the association. In response, the NRA sued, with an assist from the ACLU. The association also faces a number of investigations. The Senate Intelligence Committee has scrutinized the group as part of its probe into Russian influence in the 2016 campaign, and Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR)—the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee—has obtained documents from NRA officials as part of his own investigation of the group. Meanwhile, attorneys general in New York and Washington, D.C., have launched their own probes of the association. Then there are the dueling lawsuits between the NRA and its ex-PR firm, Ackerman McQueen. Both demand tens of millions from each other and allege major wrongdoing. All those legal problems bring big legal bills. Ad Agency Fires Back at NRA With $50 Million CounterclaimThe legal bills have become a problem in and of themselves. Oliver North, who was president of the group until stepping down in April after a fight with LaPierre, has alleged that the association's outside lawyers are billing it nearly $100,000 a day. NRA officials, including LaPierre, stand by those lawyers. But the bills are still piling up. At the same time, the association's fundraising has struggled. Allegations of financial mismanagement—including hundreds of thousands of dollars spent on LaPierre's wardrobe—have angered gun rights activists and some major donors. On top of that, activists are less worried about the Second Amendment's future given Republican control of the Senate and White House, which makes them less inclined to donate. The result: The NRA has brought in $55 million less in 2017 than it did in 2016. Meanwhile, the gun group's opponents are as energized as ever—due in large part to a recent spate of horrific mass shootings, including the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and the white supremacist terror attack in El Paso. The El Paso attack—followed hours later by a mass shooting in Dayton, Ohio—jarred Trump administration officials and appears to have jarred the president himself. Trump claimed on Tuesday afternoon that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell supports expanded background checks, and McConnell himself has telegraphed some openness to stricter gun laws. LaPierre had a phone call with Trump last week and tried to dissuade him from tightening background checks. But without his top lobbyist, Cox, his government affairs shop is hobbled. That doesn't mean new gun laws are guaranteed—far from it. And, ironically, the NRA will likely cash in on the fight, telling disaffected donors that it's the only group that can keep Republicans in line. It's an argument that has opened wallets for years. But for that argument to work, LaPierre needs credibility with donors. And he just bashed his credibility with his own lobbyists. Read 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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| Suspect arrested for allegedly running over, killing 2 wild peacocks in Chatsworth on purpose Posted: 13 Aug 2019 06:11 PM PDT  The person accused of purposely killing two wild peacocks in Chatsworth Lake Manor has been arrested, police say.
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| San Francisco approves historic ban of e-cigarette sales, a first for a major US city Posted: 14 Aug 2019 07:28 AM PDT  San Francisco officials approved a ban on the sale of electronic cigarettes Tuesday, making it the first major U.S. city to pass such a restriction.
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| Inmate asks for electric chair death in Thursday execution Posted: 14 Aug 2019 12:08 PM PDT  A Tennessee inmate has made a last-minute request to be put to death in the electric chair, an option his lawyer described as "also unconstitutional, yet still less painful" than the state's preference of a three-drug lethal injection. The state Department of Correction on Wednesday confirmed 56-year-old Stephen West made the request and said the Thursday execution will be carried out by electrocution. West previously opted against selecting a preference, which would have resulted in lethal injection.
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| View Photos of the 2019 Honda Civic Type R and 2019 Volkswagen Golf R Posted: 14 Aug 2019 05:27 AM PDT |
| Trump news: Fox News to air advert blaming mass shooting on president 'stoking fire of racists' Posted: 13 Aug 2019 11:04 AM PDT  Donald Trump will face a shock on Wednesday morning when his favourite breakfast show Fox and Friends runs an attack advert paid for by 2020 Democratic presidential challenger Julian Castro in which the candidate accuses him of "stoking the fire of racists" and inspiring the El Paso mass shooting.As the Jeffrey Epstein case continues to unfold, Donald Trump says he has "no idea" if Bill Clinton was involved in the disgraced financier's death, accusing former President Bill Clinton of lying about his air travel on Epstein's planes. The president has been heavily criticised for promoting the unfounded theory that the Clintons were somehow involved in Epstein's death. Attorney General William Barr has expressed concern at the "serious irregularities" surrounding the death of the billionaire paedophile – a former friend of Mr Trump – in his Manhattan jail cell over the weekend. The FBI conducted a raid on Jeffrey Epstein's private island, according to reports, as two guards assigned to watch the disgraced financier before his apparent suicide in prison were put on administrative leave. The president meanwhile took a break from his vacation to speak about energy investments at a Shell complex in Pennsylvania on Tuesday. During the speech Mr Trump launched a series of attacks, primarily focusing his sights on 2020 Democratic candidates. He criticised Elizabeth Warren, using his common slur of "Pocahontas", before moving onto "sleepy" Joe Biden. The president then went on to attack his home state of New York, in a rambling tirade about power outages and lawsuits. "They're burdened with power outages," he said. "New York energy rates are through the roof. All New York likes to do is sue me, they like to sue me, they're always suing. They sue me for everything so they can try to stop us by any means possible."Donald Trump has meanwhile wrongly claimed that the US has "similar, more advanced" missile technology to that currently being experimented with in Russia, apparently alluding to the nuclear-powered cruise rockets developed under Project Pluto in the 1960s during the Cold War, an initiative that was ultimately dismissed as "too crazy" to be viable.Please allow a moment for our liveblog to load
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| Indian court acquits six of killing Muslim dairy farmer in cow vigilante case Posted: 14 Aug 2019 07:52 AM PDT ![Indian court acquits six of killing Muslim dairy farmer in cow vigilante case]( "Indian court acquits six of killing Muslim dairy farmer in cow vigilante case") An Indian court on Wednesday acquitted six men of the killing of a 55-year-old Muslim dairy farmer, citing lack of evidence, raising questions over the prosecution's failure to make its case despite videos of a crowd beating him in the street. The 2017 attack on Pehlu Khan and his two sons in the western state of Rajasthan by a suspected mob of cow vigilantes caused public outrage and demands for swift action. Videos shot on mobile phones showed Khan begging for mercy as the crowd set upon him after stopping his truck with cows in the back.
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| Marine Corps F-35s practice 'shock and awe' strikes in the Pacific with back-to-back bombing runs Posted: 14 Aug 2019 07:41 AM PDT  A Marine Corps officer who observed the training in the Pacific said that the Marines can now "rain destruction like never before."
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| Shooting of two ICE offices in San Antonio was a ‘targeted attack,’ FBI officials say Posted: 13 Aug 2019 02:37 PM PDT  An ICE official blamed "misinformation" spread about the agency by politicians, media and activists.
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| 14-year-old girl killed by falling rocks in Montana’s Glacier National Park Posted: 13 Aug 2019 03:03 PM PDT  The family was traveling west on Going-to-the-Sun Road when the vehicle was hit by rockfall at around 7 p.m., according to a Glacier Park release.
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| Inside locked down Kashmir, a reporter finds fear and chaos Posted: 14 Aug 2019 03:41 AM PDT  On a normal day, it would have been a smooth journey from the airport in Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir state, to my family home in the northern town of Baramulla. The part that India controls is now under an unprecedented security crackdown to prevent an uprising after the central government in New Delhi unexpectedly stripped the region's special constitutional status, the last vestige of real autonomy for the predominantly Muslim region that is claimed by both India and Pakistan.
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| Apology over NZealand mosque accused's 'hateful' letter Posted: 14 Aug 2019 03:40 PM PDT  Officials in New Zealand apologised Thursday after the alleged Christchurch mosque gunman was allowed to send a letter from prison espousing "hateful" views that a supporter then shared online. Australian Brenton Tarrant is in a maximum-security jail in Auckland awaiting trial for the murder of 51 Muslim worshippers on March 15 in the worst mass shooting in modern New Zealand history. Handwritten in childish block letters, the six-page note discusses a trip Tarrant made to Russia in 2015, his admiration for British fascist Oswald Mosley and his belief "there is a great conflict on the horizon".
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| Key Mexico Lawmaker Recommends Narrowing 2020 Primary Surplus Posted: 14 Aug 2019 12:12 PM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- A key lower house lawmaker is recommending that Mexico narrow its primary budget surplus by half next year to alleviate fiscal pressure on the government and send more resources to strengthen Petroleos Mexicanos. The peso extended its decline.Mario Delgado, the lower house majority leader for President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's Morena party, said in an interview Wednesday that targeting a surplus of 0.5%, instead of the 1.3% outlined by the Finance Ministry in April, would still continue a decline in the nation's debt relative to its gross domestic product.Delgado, a former finance head for Mexico City, cautioned that he hasn't yet discussed the idea with the leftist leader known as AMLO, who has led an austerity campaign, or Finance Minister Arturo Herrera, who took over last month. But he said that he's talked about it with ratings agencies and funds invested in Mexico, and he doesn't believe it would hurt the nation's credit rating."It would be well received by financial markets as a show of solid public finances and would take some pressure off so that we can increase resources for Pemex," Delgado said. "It wouldn't mean any relaxation in terms of fiscal discipline."The peso fell 1.9% to 19.7522 per dollar at 1:35 p.m. in Mexico City.The Finance Ministry last month announced plans to use almost half of the money in its rainy day oil fund in the remainder of this year to avoid spending cuts after a revenue shortfall due to economic stagnation squeezed the budget. Still, Delgado said that the plan for a primary surplus of 1% for this year, which required significant spending cuts, was needed for the new administration to send a fiscal responsibility message.To contact the reporter on this story: Eric Martin in Mexico City at emartin21@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Juan Pablo Spinetto at jspinetto@bloomberg.net, Robert JamesonFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Montel Williams: Trump has gone off a narcissistic cliff. Does anything matter anymore? Posted: 14 Aug 2019 10:47 AM PDT  We are likely stuck with an incompetent, emotionally unstable president through 2020. Please treat voting like our country's future depends on it.
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| Mexican president says predecessor not under investigation in graft case Posted: 14 Aug 2019 06:56 AM PDT  Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Wednesday that his predecessor, Enrique Pena Nieto, is not under investigation in a probe into suspected corruption that has ensnared one of Pena Nieto's former cabinet ministers. On Tuesday, a judge ordered that former Social Development Minister Rosario Robles be detained pending a trial over missing public funds. Lopez Obrador said judges would decide whether more people were implicated.
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| Fox Host Compares Migrants to Nazis: ‘We’ve Been Invaded by a Horde’ Posted: 14 Aug 2019 10:31 AM PDT  Fox Nation/ScreenshotLess than two weeks after 22 people were killed in El Paso by an accused shooter who told officials he targeted Mexicans and apparently posted a racist manifesto complaining about a "Hispanic invasion," Fox Nation host Todd Starnes likened migrants to Nazis while claiming America has been invaded by a "rampaging horde of illegal aliens."During Wednesday's broadcast of Fox Nation's Starnes Country, first spotted by Media Matters, the conservative pundit groused that The New York Times had recently observed that the El Paso suspect had echoed the same incendiary rhetoric as right-wing media, including Fox News. He then went on to proudly note that he's been spewing the "invasion" commentary for years."I do believe that we have been invaded by a horde," Starnes exclaimed. "A rampaging horde of illegal aliens. This has been a slow-moving invasion."Claiming that this is a "fair description" of what's been going on in this country, the right-wing commentator asserted that a large number of undocumented immigrants are violent criminals, despite studies showing immigrants commit crimes at a lower rate than native-born Americans.This prompted Starnes to make a historical comparison of other "invasions," leading him to make his Third Reich analogy."When you go back in time and when you look at what an invasion is," he declared. "Whether it is the Nazis invading France and Western Europe. I mean, whether the Muslims were invading a country back in the early years. It was an invasion."Fox News has come under fire recently for its inflammatory rhetoric surrounding race and immigration in the wake of the El Paso shooting. Prime-time star Tucker Carlson, who suddenly announced last week he was going on vacation, sparked intense backlash when he said white supremacy is a "hoax" three days after the shooting.Read more at The Daily Beast.Get 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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| Woman tries to take child from mom’s arms and assaults parents at NC park, police say Posted: 13 Aug 2019 11:41 AM PDT  Witnesses stepped in to help the parents after this incident at a popular central Asheville park.
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| Pelosi calls McConnell 'Moscow Mitch' while criticizing inaction on legislation Posted: 14 Aug 2019 01:32 PM PDT  At an Illinois Democrats event, Nancy Pelosi referred to Mitch McConnell by the nickname "Moscow Mitch," attacking inaction on gun control.
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| Greenland's ice is melting at the rate scientists thought would be our worst-case scenario in 2070 Posted: 14 Aug 2019 12:25 PM PDT  Summer heat waves have caused Greenland's ice to melt at rates scientists didn't expect to see for another 50 years.
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| Mugshot released of suspect in attack of woman outside San Francisco apartment building Posted: 14 Aug 2019 10:18 AM PDT  We are getting a first look at the man accused of attacking a women outside her San Francisco apartment building. Austin James Vincent was taken into custody after a terrifying incident.
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| Playing god: Japan temple puts faith in robot priest Posted: 14 Aug 2019 06:31 AM PDT  The android Kannon, based on the Buddhist deity of mercy, preaches sermons at Kodaiji temple in Kyoto, and its human colleagues predict that with artificial intelligence it could one day acquire unlimited wisdom. "This robot will never die, it will just keep updating itself and evolving," priest Tensho Goto told AFP. It's changing Buddhism," added Goto.
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| View Photos of the 2020 Volkswagen T-Roc Cabriolet Posted: 14 Aug 2019 10:02 AM PDT |
| Man dies after competing in California taco-eating contest Posted: 14 Aug 2019 04:56 PM PDT  A man died shortly after competing in a taco-eating contest at a minor league baseball game in California, authorities said Wednesday. Dana Hutchings, 41, of Fresno, died Tuesday night shortly after arriving at a hospital, Fresno Sheriff spokesman Tony Botti said. An autopsy on Hutchings will be done Thursday to determine a cause of death, Botti said.
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| Kremlin says it is winning arms race against U.S. despite rocket accident Posted: 13 Aug 2019 07:06 AM PDT  The Kremlin boasted on Tuesday it was winning the race to develop new cutting edge nuclear weapons despite a mysterious rocket accident last week in northern Russia that caused a temporary spike in radiation levels. Rosatom, Russia's state nuclear agency, has said that the Aug. 8 accident occurred during a rocket test on a sea platform in the White Sea, killing at least five and injuring three more. U.S. President Donald Trump said on Twitter on Monday the United States was "learning much" from the explosion which he suggested happened during the testing of a nuclear-powered cruise missile vaunted by President Vladimir Putin last year.
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| Welcome to the Climate Fight, Republicans Posted: 13 Aug 2019 04:00 AM PDT  (Bloomberg Opinion) -- Rather unexpectedly, Republicans have become a minor font of ideas on fighting climate change. There's been talk of clean-energy tax credits, a boost to carbon-capture technology, a renewed push for nuclear power, even a new "Roosevelt Conservation Caucus" dedicated to green issues. Above all, they say, the fight against climate change must take advantage of American innovation.That's no doubt true. And Republicans are to be commended for finally grappling with this problem. Unfortunately, most of the ideas they've aired so far are unlikely to achieve their stated goals.One plan reportedly under consideration would create a government fund to invest in clean-energy companies. That sounds helpful but is in fact a recipe for failure. Politicians have no aptitude for identifying workable or cost-competitive ideas, and their incentives — such as maximizing jobs — are at odds with the market's. In all likelihood, such a fund would crowd out private investment, prop up unpromising companies at taxpayer expense, and thereby actually reduce the urgency to come up with viable solutions. Surely Republicans remember a solar-panel company called Solyndra?Another plan involves pumping lots of money into carbon-capture research and development. Much depends on the details, but again, the right way to support an experimental technology isn't to lard businesses in politically expedient districts with loan guarantees and other blandishments. Instead, Congress should fund research programs at labs and universities. That would help avoid cronyism, build a skilled workforce, and spread the benefits of technological progress more widely.But with a few laudable exceptions, Republicans are ignoring the best approach of all — one that would accord with the party's views on market economics and do more to encourage innovation than anything else. They should get behind a carbon tax.By raising costs on companies that emit carbon dioxide, such a tax would encourage them to find inventive ways to cut down on fossil fuels while allowing green technologies to compete on a fair footing. A tax set to rise gradually over time would spur long-term investment in clean-energy infrastructure and the development of cleaner products and businesses.If made revenue-neutral, moreover, such a plan wouldn't amount to a tax increase and wouldn't enlarge the state: It could be paired with equally large cuts in other taxes, which could be designed to more than offset increased energy costs for ordinary taxpayers. By making the tax code more efficient, this approach would also boost economic growth.Granted, one complication does arise: To protect American competitiveness, so-called border adjustments would be needed. Imports of carbon-intensive goods from more permissive countries would need to face added charges, while U.S. exports to such areas would qualify for rebates. This would level the playing field while also rewarding innovation and offering an incentive for other countries to follow America's lead.Many Republicans are inclined to despise any new tax, even if it allows others to be cut while serving a vital public purpose, and some activist groups have reacted to this idea with alarm. But one recent survey found that a solid majority of the party's voters — and fully 75% of those under 40 — would support such a plan. It's the rare issue where prudence and public opinion are starting to align.Republicans should be welcomed to this battle of ideas. Their instinct to focus on technology and market-driven incentives is well placed. All the more reason for them to back a reform that could truly unleash American inventiveness.—Editors: Timothy Lavin, Clive Crook.To contact the senior editor responsible for Bloomberg Opinion's editorials: David Shipley at davidshipley@bloomberg.net, .Editorials are written by the Bloomberg Opinion editorial board.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinion©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Sheriff: Deputy was on duty when he tried to have sex with minor in predator sting Posted: 13 Aug 2019 12:03 PM PDT  The deputy showed up in his patrol car, but it wasn't a teenage girl waiting, Sheriff Leon Lott said.
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| NYPD officer kills himself amid rash of police suicides Posted: 13 Aug 2019 07:00 PM PDT ![NYPD officer kills himself amid rash of police suicides]( "NYPD officer kills himself amid rash of police suicides") A New York Police Department officer died by suicide in Yonkers today, the eighth such death for the department in 2019.
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| Google reportedly has a massive culture problem that's destroying it from the inside (GOOG, GOOGL) Posted: 13 Aug 2019 02:19 PM PDT  Google has faced issue after issue over the past several years, and it sounds like a major reason for that is the company's culture.
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| Super-Quick Dinners That Are So Much Better Than Takeout Posted: 14 Aug 2019 02:27 PM PDT |
| Tens of thousands of women march in Brazil against Bolsonaro Posted: 14 Aug 2019 01:08 PM PDT  Brasília (AFP) - Tens of thousands of women took to the streets of Brazil's capital Wednesday to denounce President Jair Bolsonaro, in the third anti-government protest in the city in two days. The huge demonstration in Brasilia comes as Bolsonaro faces increasing heat over rampant deforestation in the Amazon rainforest as well as education funding cuts, which have sparked nationwide protests by students and professors in recent months, including one in the capital on Tuesday. The "March of the Margaridas" is named after Brazilian trade union leader Margarida Maria Alves, who was murdered in 1983 during the military dictatorship.
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| How Mayor Pete Buttigieg Helped Prepare Immigrants for ICE Raids Posted: 14 Aug 2019 01:41 AM PDT  Alex Edelman/AFP/Getty"A mayor can't do much when it comes to immigration policy," Pete Buttigieg wrote in his memoir, Shortest Way Home: One Mayor's Challenge and a Model for America's Future.But in his two terms as mayor of South Bend, Buttigieg has found creative ways to navigate within the strictures of local office to bring undocumented immigrants and their families into the city's fold, running a city with a growing immigrant population under a president who has made the deportation of millions of undocumented people his signature issue.Partnering with local nonprofit organizations, Buttigieg has instituted a "Community Resident Card" program to help undocumented South Bend residents open bank accounts and fill prescriptions, led "Know Your Rights" events for residents in South Bend's Latino-heavy West Side to prepare them in the event of federal immigration operations, and even helped create a phone tree to alert local families in the event that ICE raided the homes or businesses of city residents."We, along with several other community organizations, lead a process of coming up with our local response plan to the rumor of, or actual ICE raid in our area," Sam Centellas, executive director La Casa de Amistad, told The Daily Beast. La Casa coordinated with representatives of Buttigieg's office to set up a roster of the best people to contact in the event of a federal immigration enforcement operation, Centellas said, and for advice on the best ways to communicate.Genevieve Miller, deputy chief of staff and policy director for Buttigieg's mayoral office, described the effort to The Daily Beast as a collaboration with community groups "to identify community members who can be contacted if there is an immigration event."The group—composed of members from local faith-based organizations, several local nonprofits and a few attorneys and community leaders who volunteered time—was the result of the "first scare of the Trump era," Buttigieg wrote in his memoir. Rumors of impending immigration raids in South Bend had swept through the city's West Side last month, and several small businesses had shuttered for days as families took refuge in a local church."Parents had grabbed their kids from Harrison Primary Center and small shops closed for the day," Buttigieg recalled in Shortest Way Home. "After that day working the phones to verify this was all a false alarm, my staff and I added to our mayor's office to-do list the creation of a phone tree in the event of immigration raids."Buttigieg, now an upper-tier candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination, is now proposing that some of his immigration initiatives be taken nationwide. On Tuesday, Buttigieg's campaign released a sweeping set of policies intended to strengthen rural America—a key component of which is the creation of a location-based "Community Renewal visa" to encourage working-age immigrants to relocate to U.S. counties facing a shrinking population."Immigrants can and should be essential players in the growth of our economy, and it's time we start recognizing that when we expand our lawful immigration system, everyone benefits," the policy paper states, proposing that the new visa designation would target counties that have lost prime working-age populations. In return for three years of residence and employment in such communities, the visa would fast-track visa holders for a green card, and would allow the admission of spouses and children "to preserve family integrity and foster community integration."Increased immigration to the heartland also forms a key component of Buttigieg's rural health plan, released last Friday, which would expand a waiver program that allows foreign doctors training in the United States to work in rural or medically underserved areas instead of returning to their home countries for two years, as currently required. Although Buttigieg's campaign has not yet put out a comprehensive immigration plan, the immigration-related proposals in the candidate's other white papers are an extension of his approach to immigration in South Bend, where he has made welcoming immigrant residents to the region a key component of the city's economic growth strategy."Pete is proud of the strong immigrant community in South Bend, which has helped the city grow, contributed to the economy, and enriched the city's social fabric," Marisol Samayoa, the Buttigieg campaign's deputy national press secretary, told The Daily Beast. "Pete has worked to adopt policies that help immigrants feel welcome in South Bend, creating a phone tree in case of immigration raids, and helping jumpstart initiatives like the Municipal ID program so that immigrants in South Bend can live without fear.""Immigrants contribute to communities around the country, which is why, at this critical moment in our nation's history as Washington continues to fail us, Pete will continue to push for real solutions to our broken immigration system," she added.Much of Buttigieg's immigration rhetoric has focused on the contributions that South Bend's newest residents have made to the surrounding community, particularly to the region's economy."Pete knows immigration can help communities across our country reverse population declines and rebuild neighborhoods as well," Samayoa said.Fifty-nine percent of South Bend's population growth between 2011 and 2016 came from immigration, and a research brief released by the city in partnership with local religious and economic groups found that immigrants to the region contributed $3.1 billion to the region's GDP in 2016, paying an estimated $212.8 million in federal taxes and $103 million in state and local taxes."I guess the president thinks America's full. We're not. I would be delighted to have more people," Buttigieg said during a CNN immigration town hall in April. "We've got plenty of room for more residents and taxpayers who want to fund the snowplowing and the firefighters that I gotta have for 130,000 peoples' worth of city, with only 100,000 people to pay for it."Part of that welcoming strategy has been to assure immigrants in the city, documented or otherwise, that they are safe in South Bend. At one "Know Your Rights" event early in Trump's presidency, hosted by the National Immigrant Justice Center and La Casa de Amistad, a local immigrant community organization, Buttigieg told residents in Spanish that "our police are here to keep you safe, not to practice federal immigration enforcement.""The last thing our law enforcement needed was for Latino families to be afraid even to speak to our officers, especially if they had information needed to solve or prevent crime in their neighborhoods, all because they conflate local police with federal immigration authorities," Buttigieg wrote in his memoir, published earlier this year.Although South Bend is forbidden under state law from claiming "sanctuary city" status, Buttigieg has described the city's policy as "welcoming," and has insisted that South Bend police do not assist in the enforcement of federal immigration law, which he has likened to "conscription."But perhaps the most innovative immigration policy enacted under Buttigieg has been the creation of an identity card program through a public-private partnership with La Casa de Amistad. The program, dubbed "SB ID," is intended to help South Bend residents who can't obtain driver's licenses or passports access critical services.La Casa de Amistad distributes the IDs, which thanks to an executive order signed by Buttigieg are recognized by law enforcement, schools and libraries. Local banks and pharmacies also recognize SB ID, allowing those without identification to open bank accounts, obtain financial statements and pick up medications. And because the program is administered by a private organization, the identities of recipients can't be obtained via public records requests, providing shelter for those worried that their immigration status might become public knowledge.Not that anti-immigrant groups haven't tried. Last week, the conservative legal organization Judicial Watch announced that it was filing an Access to Public Records Act (APRA) lawsuit against South Bend, Indiana, seeking all records of communications from Buttigieg's office related to the program's creation."Mayor Buttigieg's city administration in South Bend is in cover-up mode on his work for special ID cards to make it easier for illegal aliens to stay in the United States contrary to law," Judicial Watch president Tom Fitton said in a statement announcing the suit. "Judicial Watch made simple open records requests and have faced nothing but games from the Buttigieg administration—which is why we had to sue."Both Buttigieg's campaign and mayoral office denied any attempt to stymie the request, saying that the records in question don't even exist."It's clear that this is an attempt to scare the undocumented community," said Samayoa, calling the timing of the suit "ridiculous.""After a domestic terrorist drove to El Paso to kill Latinos, this right-wing group is continuing the GOP's fearmongering that inspired this attack in El Paso," Samayoa continued. "It's an attempt to deter cities from standing up for immigrants."The suit—and the program that prompted it—are part of the double-edged nature of Buttigieg's status as the mayor of a city, rather than a member of Congress. Being a city executive means that you are the closest to meat-and-potatoes issues that resonate with voters, both for good and for bad."They're the closest to the people, and they're not in Washington," a political consultant who is currently working with one of Buttigieg's rivals for the Democratic nomination, told The Daily Beast about mayors. "Washington, D.C., is not particularly popular with the American public right now. To be able to say, 'I am not part of the problem, I am part of the solution' is extremely advantageous."Part of pitching those solutions, Buttigieg told reporters while touring the grounds of the Iowa State Fair on Tuesday, is emphasizing the lesson that all mayors learn: at the end of the day, we're all neighbors, and that "it's hard to hate from up close.""Very rural, very conservative areas are much more open on immigration when they personally know immigrants," Buttigieg said. "People have been told immigration is the problem. I think it does change the way we look at things versus when it's kind of all this fear of the unknown."Read 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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| 'Chrisley Knows Best' stars charged with federal tax evasion Posted: 13 Aug 2019 04:19 PM PDT  A federal grand jury in Atlanta on Tuesday indicted reality television stars Todd and Julie Chrisley on charges including tax evasion, alleging among other things that they tried to hide their income from "Chrisley Knows Best" from the IRS. The 12-count indictment also accuses the pair of conspiracy, bank fraud and wire fraud. "The allegations contained in the indictment are based on complete falsehoods.
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| China requests removal of additional tariffs as per Osaka consensus -Global Times editor in chief Posted: 14 Aug 2019 10:19 AM PDT ![China requests removal of additional tariffs as per Osaka consensus -Global Times editor in chief]( "China requests removal of additional tariffs as per Osaka consensus -Global Times editor in chief") China is asking that it and the United States remove all additional tariffs in line with a consensus reached between the two sides in Osaka, Japan, at the G20 summit at the end of June, the editor in chief of China's Global Times newspaper wrote on Wednesday. "As far as I know, the Chinese side requests that both sides respect the consensus reached at Osaka summit, which is removing all additional tariffs, not delaying some.
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| Trump rule to protect contractors who discriminate against LGBT workers Posted: 14 Aug 2019 09:52 AM PDT ![Trump rule to protect contractors who discriminate against LGBT workers]( "Trump rule to protect contractors who discriminate against LGBT workers") Wednesday's proposed rule will clarify that government contractors may make employment decisions that align with their religious beliefs.
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| Florida company building brand-new classic Mustangs with modern features Posted: 14 Aug 2019 09:32 AM PDT  A company called Revology will make you a modern version of you favorite Ford Mustang or Shelby classic with more powerful engines and new technology.
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| Trump: Give CNN's Cuomo a 'red flag' for his 'Fredo' rant Posted: 13 Aug 2019 08:36 AM PDT  President Trump on Tuesday suggested Chris Cuomo should be banned from owning a firearm after the CNN host was seen in a profanity-laced viral video confronting a man who called him "Fredo."
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| Does your cable company carry the ACC Network? What you need to know Posted: 14 Aug 2019 10:59 AM PDT  South Carolina residents, Spectrum has reached a deal to carry the new channel.
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| Malawi court sentences three to death over albino killing Posted: 14 Aug 2019 06:59 AM PDT  A Malawi court has convicted and sentenced two men and a woman to death for killing a person with albinism, a judiciary official said on Wednesday. Malawi has since late 2014 seen a surge in attacks on people with albinism, whose body parts are often used in witchcraft rituals to bring wealth and luck. The court found Douglas Mwale, Fontino Folosani and Sophie Jere guilty of murdering Priscott Pepuzani in 2015 using a metal bar and a hoe handle.
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