| Professor: Trump Must Resign or ‘Dangerous Individuals’ Will ‘Kill and Maim’ Posted: 03 Oct 2019 02:43 PM PDT  A professor at Georgia Southern University has declared that "people have already died" because of Donald Trump -- adding that the media must pressure him to resign or else "dangerous individuals" will "kill and maim."A linguistics and writing professor, Jared Yates Sexton, made the comments on Twitter on Saturday, and screenshots of them were obtained by Campus Reform.According to Sexton, the media "must push against that impulse to juice impeachment for profit," and start pressuring Trump to resign instead -- or else a bunch of bloodthirsty maniacs will be the end of us all."Trump is going to try everything, Fox is going to try everything, and they're going to both further the injuring of societal reality and inspire dangerous individuals to kill and maim," he stated."There's a vast number of people in this, people who have been taught their whole lives that they might need to kill in case of a coup or corrupt takeover," Sexton continued. "Trump and Republicans signal to them constantly. They're more than ready to see this as the occasion."Sexton then reiterated the need for the media to "assert pressure" on Trump "to resign so we can avoid this story going to a place that risks lives.""People have already died," he stated. "More will if this crisis isn't dismantled carefully."Now, Campus Reform later interviewed Sexton, and his comments there perhaps (and only perhaps) seem like a bit (but only a bit) of a walkback from his original tweets -- although he certainly did double down on his view that Trump is "dangerous." In the interview, though, Sexton clarified that he doesn't believe that people will "die simply because Trump remains in office," but that he does "believe there is a danger in President Trump and Republicans continually mentioning coups and civil wars as history, both recent and past, shows that individuals do kill when rhetoric like this permeates media.""For instance, Dylann Roof's killings were predicated by radicalizing propaganda that told him he must take his country back," he told the news source.(President Obama, not Trump, was in office at the time of Roof's murders.)"My concern is that the President has obviously committed impeachable offenses and that the fight over impeachment, considering there [are] already calls for a civil war, will be dangerous for Americans," Sexton continued.Okay. First of all, let me just say that I am certainly not someone who thinks that Donald Trump is perfect. For example, as a pro-immigration libertarian, I couldn't agree less with his views on that issue -- such as his desire to spend taxpayer money building a wall (no matter how "beautiful" he assures me it would be). What's more, I believe that he's said things that warrant criticism, and have not been hesitant to offer my own. In fact, like Sexton, I was also bothered by his tweet predicting that there would be a "Civil War" should he be impeached.Here's the difference, though: Despite having my own issues and concerns regarding the president, I have always managed to remain at least hinged in my criticism of him. For example: I have never even insinuated that he was a murderer, as Sexton did in his tweets. Now, of course, it's been easy for me to refrain from doing so -- because I myself happen to find such statements to be patently ridiculous and rooted in hysteria and prejudgments rather than in fact. For example (as I discussed in my column yesterday) last spring, CNN, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Washington Post, and Vox all ran stories on a single study reporting a 226 percent increase in hate-related incidents in connection to Trump's rallies. Without looking into context or alternative explanations for the numbers, Democratic politicians from Representative Ilhan Omar to Senator Bernie Sanders weighed in to use the study as unequivocal evidence that Trump's rhetoric was absolutely causing hatred and violence. When reporters for Reason looked into the numbers, however, they found that Hillary Clinton actually had an even higher increase in hate incidents related to her rallies -- ultimately concluding that the increase that had been categorically blamed on rhetoric was actually more than likely due to the fact that politicians often choose to hold rallies in larger cities, where "the raw number of crimes is generally mechanically higher."All things considered, people like Sexton may want to contemplate being more measured in their own rhetoric when discussing Trump's presidency -- not for me, not for Trump or his supporters, but for themselves. Aside from the fact that a Trump resignation is quite obviously never going to happen under any circumstances (seriously, I'd bet my cat against it) speaking in clear, hysterical hyperbole is never the way to win anyone over to anything. Although it may energize the hard Left, talk of Trump being a murderer or "literally Hitler" or the like sounds like overblown nonsense to everyone else. The problem, of course, with people hearing you spew what they consider to be nonsense is that they're going to be far more likely to write you off even when you may have a legitimate point. What's more, that sort of talk makes Trump supporters further view the president as a victim, constantly being scourged with the lashes of outrageous allegations. You may be trying to push people away from Trump, but all you end up doing is pushing his supporters further toward him.
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| Florida man shot and killed son-in-law in case of mistaken identity, sheriff says Posted: 03 Oct 2019 04:34 PM PDT  A Florida man will not face charges after authorities said he shot and killed his son-in-law who had flown from Norway as a birthday surprise.
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| Inmate with rare medical condition executed in US Posted: 01 Oct 2019 07:02 PM PDT  A convicted murderer with a rare medical condition was executed Tuesday in Missouri despite his assertion that lethal injection would cause him terrible suffering. Russell Bucklew -- who was found guilty of killing his ex-girlfriend's new boyfriend in 1996, then abducting and raping her -- was pronounced dead at 6:23 pm (2323 GMT). Bucklew, 51, suffered from cavernous hemangioma, a blood vessel condition that hindered his breathing.
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| Satellite images show activity around Iranian-flagged tanker Posted: 03 Oct 2019 01:04 AM PDT  Satellite images released on Thursday show that a once-detained Iranian-flagged oil tanker sitting off the coast of Syria has been approached by a smaller Iranian tanker, an indication the ship could be preparing to transfer its cargo. Images released by Maxar Technologies show the Jasmine alongside the Adrian Darya 1 on Wednesday, with mooring lines between them and a crane deployed on the larger vessel. The Adrian Darya 1, formerly named the Grace 1, was detained off the British overseas territory of Gibraltar in July while carrying $130 million in crude oil, on suspicion of breaking European Union sanctions by taking the oil to Syria.
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| Why the Japan-South Korea Trade War Is Worrying for the World Posted: 03 Oct 2019 03:20 AM PDT  The U.S.-China trade war is inflicting the most damage to the global economy, but it's Japan and South Korea's spat that's more concerning.
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| Russia's Next Military Move: Selling Radar That Can Detect Hypersonic Weapons? Posted: 03 Oct 2019 05:44 AM PDT  Russia says it will sell radars in the Middle East that are designed to detect cruise missiles and hypersonic weapons.
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| Rudy Giuliani has been asking an imprisoned Paul Manafort for information on Ukraine Posted: 02 Oct 2019 09:31 PM PDT ![Rudy Giuliani has been asking an imprisoned Paul Manafort for information on Ukraine]( "Rudy Giuliani has been asking an imprisoned Paul Manafort for information on Ukraine") Unable to chat face-to-face with Paul Manafort due to his imprisonment, Rudy Giuliani has been communicating with President Trump's former campaign manager through his lawyer, seeking information on Ukraine.Giuliani, Trump's personal lawyer, told The Washington Post this week that he's spoken with Manafort via an intermediary several times over the last few months. Giuliani, who said he's been investigating Ukraine since last year, asked Manafort about a ledger The New York Times reported on in August 2016. This secret ledger, discovered by Ukraine's National Anti-Corruption Bureau, showed that former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych's political party paid Manafort $12.7 million in cash.Giuliani said he thinks that this ledger was faked and is the key to proving the already debunked conspiracy theory that it was Ukraine, not Russia, that meddled in the 2016 presidential election, seeking to help Hillary Clinton. Manafort said the ledger doesn't exist, Giuliani told the Post. The FBI had a case open against Manafort prior to the 2016 election and the discovery of the secret ledger. After being convicted of tax and bank fraud last year, Manafort pleaded guilty to laundering money he received from Ukraine.
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| Bernie Sanders was hospitalized with chest discomfort and has cancelled all 2020 campaign events until further notice Posted: 02 Oct 2019 02:07 PM PDT  Sen. Bernie Sanders, 78, was hospitalized in Las Vegas, Nevada, due to chest discomfort and has canceled all 2020 campaign events indefinitely.
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| Judge Pressures Prosecutors to Decide Whether to Pursue a Case Against McCabe Posted: 02 Oct 2019 05:00 AM PDT  WASHINGTON -- The Justice Department has come under increasing pressure in its investigation of the former deputy FBI director Andrew G. McCabe, as a federal judge threatened to release internal department records unless prosecutors decide whether to move forward with or abandon the politically charged case.Judge Reggie B. Walton of U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, who is presiding over a lawsuit over FBI documents related to McCabe's firing last year, said at a hearing on Monday that he would soon begin releasing them. The Justice Department has argued that the materials should stay confidential while prosecutors investigate McCabe over whether he lied to internal investigators about dealings with the news media."You all have got to cut and make your decision," Walton said, according to a transcript. "It's not a hard decision, and I think it needs to be made. If it's not made, I'm going to start ordering the release of information because I think our society, our public, does have a right to know what's going on."McCabe, long a target of President Donald Trump's, was the subject of a scathing report by the Justice Department inspector general's office that faulted him for violating media policy and repeatedly misleading its investigators. They were asking about an October 2016 Wall Street Journal article about an investigation into the Clinton Foundation. McCabe, working through the FBI press office, had authorized a spokesman and a bureau lawyer to speak to a reporter to rebut allegations that he had slowed the inquiry.McCabe was fired in March 2018, hours before retirement benefits would have kicked in, and the inspector general referred his findings to federal prosecutors in Washington a month later.Walton's stern warning came as prosecutors grappled with whether to bring charges in what is a seemingly straightforward case with a limited set of facts and witnesses that has been under investigation for 19 months."This matter is a high-profile matter," Walton said. He added that as long as prosecutors hold off on deciding how to proceed, they "undermine the credibility not only of the Justice Department because it's not making these hard decisions, but also the court."McCabe's lawyers have argued that the case is weak and that he is being singled out because of the president's disdain for him. Trump has relentlessly attacked McCabe, potentially complicating any prosecution. McCabe has said the president targeted him to undermine his standing as a witness to whether he obstructed justice in the Russia inquiry.In August, McCabe's lawyers met with Jeffrey A. Rosen, the deputy attorney general, to make a last-ditch appeal for prosecutors to drop the case. Their pleas were rebuffed, and an indictment appeared imminent. But the grand jury hearing the case reconvened last month after weeks without meeting but did not indict McCabe, raising questions about whether prosecutors delayed a vote by jurors to avoid a rare and embarrassing setback of their declining to hand up an indictment.Other setbacks have emerged for the government. One prosecutor on the case left the Justice Department and has said it lacked merit while another left on what seemed like the eve of a possible indictment.A key witness in the case -- Lisa Page, the former FBI lawyer whom McCabe authorized to speak to the Wall Street Journal reporter -- also told the grand jury that he was not motivated to lie about the episode because he was authorized to speak with reporters and thus did not violate media policy. Her sympathetic testimony to McCabe would most likely be a problem for prosecutors.Another important witness who testified before the grand jury, Michael Kortan, the spokesman involved in the episode, could not immediately remember how the leak unfolded.Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a government watchdog group, sued in July 2018 for the records related to McCabe's dismissal. The organization is seeking access to investigators' notes taken during Kortan's interview, which could be exculpatory to McCabe, the group's lawyer, Anne Weismann, argued during the hearing."We're in dark times," she told the judge, saying that growing evidence showed that Trump was abusing his powers to go after perceived enemies in the intelligence and law enforcement communities. McCabe, she said, was "swept up in that."The judge seemed to acknowledge her point, noting that Trump was "going after the courts, too." He later added, "I totally appreciate what you just said and share many of the same concerns that you have expressed."This article originally appeared in The New York Times.(C) 2019 The New York Times Company
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| Paris Knife Attacker Converted to Islam 18 Months Before Attack: Report Posted: 03 Oct 2019 11:14 AM PDT  The French police employee who killed four of his colleagues at the Paris police headquarters on Thursday was a recent convert to Islam, according to French television BFM TV.The 45-year-old attacker killed three police officers and an administrative worker, three men and one woman, before being shot and killed by police. Officials so far have not publicly released a motive, and are trying to discover if there was a terrorism link. The man's wife has been taken in custody.Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo took to Twitter to offer her condolences to the victim's families."During the Paris Council, we will pay tribute to the victims and will salute the unfailing commitment of police forces serving the security of Parisians. We know what we owe them," she wrote.The attack comes on the heels of a period of unrest within French police, who staged a massive protest on Wednesday as thousands marched and demanded better working conditions. Police have also seen an uptick in suicides this year, coming on the heels of months of unpaid overtime and anti-police press surrounding the "Yellow Vest" protests.The attack marks the fourth public Islamic stabbing incident in France since October 2017.In March, an inmate stabbed two prison guards while reportedly shouting "Allahu Akbar." The attack was labelled a "terrorist incident" by the French Interior Minister.In September, British church leaders called for the government to "take urgent measures to promote the sale of safe kitchen knife designs and restrict those designs which have been used in so many acts of violence."
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| Shot HK protester charged by police, as gov moves to 'ban face masks' Posted: 03 Oct 2019 07:59 AM PDT  A teenage pro-democracy protester shot by a Hong Kong police officer was on Thursday charged with rioting, as authorities were reportedly set to ban the wearing of face masks at public rallies. Tsang Chi-kin, 18, was hit in the chest during clashes on Tuesday, a day which saw some of the worst violence in almost four months of unrest. It came as reports emerged that Hong Kong will soon ban the wearing of face masks at protests, in a clampdown on pro-democracy rallies that have rocked the strife-torn city.
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| It's a girl! Florida deputy pulls over speeding car, helps deliver baby Posted: 02 Oct 2019 05:29 PM PDT  Deputy Robert Pounds ran back to his patrol car, got a pair of latex gloves and a fresh blanket, and delivered the baby almost immediately.
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| ACLU challenges deportation of man to El Salvador Posted: 03 Oct 2019 09:56 AM PDT ![ACLU challenges deportation of man to El Salvador]( "ACLU challenges deportation of man to El Salvador") The American Civil Liberties Union is demanding that the federal government return a Salvadoran man to the United States after he was deported despite a court order allowing him to remain here. In its brief filed Wednesday, the ACLU of New Hampshire said that José Daniel Guerra-Castañeda was deported last month by U.S. Immigration and Enforcement to El Salvador and is in a crowded jail there. A federal judge in Boston ruled last month that Guerra-Castañeda could remain in the United States to fight deportation efforts over an alleged murder he committed in El Salvador.
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| Biden invests in an insurance policy against Warren’s surge Posted: 03 Oct 2019 02:00 AM PDT  Joe Biden's campaign is ramping up its investment in Super Tuesday states, anticipating a Democratic race that narrows to two candidates by early March. The increase in staffing across the 14 states that will vote March 3 comes as Biden's polling figures have declined and Elizabeth Warren's have surged, particularly in states like Iowa and New Hampshire where she's heavily invested in field organization. Many of the states on the Super Tuesday map — which includes a handful of Southern and Border states — play to his strengths among African-American voters and more moderate Democrats.
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| New York sues big U.S. student loan servicer for abusing borrowers Posted: 03 Oct 2019 11:30 AM PDT ![New York sues big U.S. student loan servicer for abusing borrowers]( "New York sues big U.S. student loan servicer for abusing borrowers") New York state on Thursday sued one of the largest federal student loan servicers, whose practices the U.S. government singled out for criticism earlier this year, saying it abusively treated borrowers working in lower-paying public service jobs. The lawsuit by state Attorney General Letitia James adds to a growing list of complaints by borrowers and regulators against the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency, which operates as FedLoan and American Education Services. James said FedLoan has "failed miserably" as the sole servicer since 2012 for the federal Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, which excuses borrowers who work in public service for 10 years from repaying their loans, provided they make some qualifying payments.
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| Mosquito-Borne Illness EEE Has Killed 11 People So Far in 2019. Here's What to Know About the Disease Posted: 03 Oct 2019 06:02 AM PDT  It's been a more severe year than usual
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| Michael Avenatti Takes Stormy Daniels to Court for Millions in Legal Backpay Posted: 03 Oct 2019 12:12 PM PDT  Photo Illustration by Elizabeth Brockway/The Daily BeastEmbattled lawyer Michael Avenatti is taking legal action against his ex-client Stormy Daniels for $2 million in legal fees from their infamous "hush agreement" lawsuit against President Donald Trump. Avenatti, who currently faces federal criminal charges set for trial next month, filed an attorney's lien on Thursday. It alleges that despite "repeated demands that Ms. Daniels fulfill her contractual obligations and pay for the millions in legal fees and costs she has enjoyed for her benefit over the last approximate 19 months, including in this case, she has refused."Avenatti, 48, claims the porn star refuses to pay up because she is a "celebrity," and is therefore "entitled to free legal services and costs" and to "manufacture and fabricate facts designed to impugn the reputation of her counsel and falsely accuse him of a multitude of acts.""But the law does not work that way Ms. Daniels wishes," reads the court filing, filed in the United States District Court in the Southern District of Ohio."I look forward to the facts and the truth about what really happened coming to light," Avenatti told The Daily Beast when reached for comment. His lawyer, Tom Warren, added: "Mr. Avenatti did an enormous amount of high quality legal work for Ms. Daniels under intense pressure and scrutiny. He made significant personal sacrifices for her benefit. He deserves to be paid by her, not criticized."Daniels and her lawyer did not respond to The Daily Beast's request for comment. The porn actress and Avenatti became household names in January 2018 after filing a lawsuit to nullify a "hush agreement" Daniels made with then-candidate Trump and his former fixer Michael Cohen just before the election. Since then, the two had a very public falling out back in May, and Avenatti has been hounded by legal troubles and currently faces federal charges in two states. In California, prosecutors alleged he stole $300,000 from Daniels and spent it on flights, hotels, restaurant deliveries, and to bankroll his law firm. And a New York grand jury indicted him in March for allegedly trying to extort Nike for $25 million.Avenatti's court filing this week alleges the initial February 2018 retainer agreement he made with Daniels was for "$100 up-front payment," prompting his firm to spend "thousands of attorney and staff hours, and a significant out-of-pocket-expenses." During his retention, Avenatti said he bailed Daniels out of jail "following her arrest in Columbus Ohio in July 2018" after a strip-club brawl and led the "successful efforts" to have the charges dropped."Despite the significance of his work, Ms. Daniels has yet to directly pay a single dollar to Mr. Avenatti or Avenatti & Associates, APC for their legal services beyond the $100.00 she initially paid back in 2018," the lien states. "Ms. Daniels is required to pay her lawyers." Avenatti has previously told The Daily Beast that "any and all other monies raised via a legal fund would go toward my legal fees and costs." Daniels and Avenatti alleged in her lawsuit, first reported by the Wall Street Journal, that Cohen paid her $130,000 during the 2016 campaign to stay quiet about an affair she had with then-reality TV star Trump a decade before he ran for office (the president admits to the payoff but denies the sexual tryst). The payoff allegations ultimately led to a federal investigation charging Cohen with eight campaign-finance violations. He pleaded guilty in August, admitting he made illegal payments at Trump's direction, and was sentenced to three years behind bars.But, in May, a little over a year after that lawsuit was filed, Daniels and Avenatti announced their split in a pair of tweets."I have retained Clark Brewster as my personal lawyer and have asked him and his firm to review all legal matters involving me," Daniels wrote. "Upon completion of Mr. Brewster's review and further consultation with me, I anticipate Mr. Brewster will serve as my primary counsel on all legal issues." Less than 15 minutes later, Avenatti responded with his own statement claiming he terminated his relationship with Daniels in February but would not disclose the reasons due to "attorney-client privilege."In his new legal action, Avenatti says he decided to cut ties after "Daniels became increasingly difficult, uncooperative, erratic, and unpredictable, and began falsely accusing people closely aligned with her (but not Mr. Avenatti) of theft without any legitimate basis.""Ms. Daniels' false accusations in some instances were targeted at friends of 20 years and her private security detail," the filing alleges. The letter states the firm also decided to sever ties after "prior false accusations (which you chose to make public before communicating them to me—I found out from a reporter)" and Daniels' "general lack of appreciation for our work and the thousands of hours we have devoted to you, which we have largely done for free at great expense to me and my firm."Avenatti concluded in the letter that the firm did not intend to make "any public announcement relation to our decision to no longer represent" Daniels and thanked her for the opportunity to serve as her counsel.Michael Avenatti Indicted on 36 Counts by Federal Grand JuryStormy Daniels' 'Gay Dads' Back Lawyer Michael Avenatti in Latest DramaStormy Daniels Files Defamation Lawsuit Against TrumpThis story has been updated to reflect the correct date of the lawsuit's filing.Read more at The Daily Beast.Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast hereGet our top stories in your inbox every day. 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| India-Pakistan nuclear war could kill 100 million Posted: 02 Oct 2019 06:30 PM PDT  The year is 2025 and militants have attacked India's parliament, killing most of its leaders. New Delhi retaliates by sending tanks into the part of Kashmir controlled by Pakistan. Fearing it will be overrun, Islamabad hits the invading forces with its battlefield nuclear weapons, triggering the deadliest conflict in history -- and catastrophic global cooling, with temperatures not seen since the last Ice Age.
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| Because of Larry Nassar, Michigan State has the most rapes reported in a year in campus safety report Posted: 03 Oct 2019 12:53 PM PDT  The annual Clery Act report, which is mandated by the federal government, includes more than 1,000 rapes – most attributed to Larry Nassar.
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| Tensions over Hong Kong unrest flare on US college campuses Posted: 02 Oct 2019 02:02 PM PDT  As political tensions flare back home, Hong Kong students on U.S. college campuses say they have been ostracized and in some cases threatened by fellow students from mainland China, and they suspect they are being watched from afar by Beijing. Some say they see the hand of the Chinese government working in ways that threaten academic freedom.
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| Joe Biden’s Gun-Control Plan Is a Constitutional Disaster Posted: 02 Oct 2019 12:22 PM PDT  This morning, Democratic presidential front-runner Joe Biden unveiled his "Plan to End Our Gun Violence Epidemic," and it's a mess. It contains provisions that would bankrupt gun manufacturers for the crime of selling fully functional, legal firearms. It would ban the sale of the most popular rifles in America and the standard-capacity magazines made for America's most commonly used handguns. Oh, and to incentivize a voluntary buyback of existing "assault weapons," it would grant the owners of such weapons a choice: sell your rifle to the government or join a firearms registry.Put simply, Biden's plan would leave law-abiding citizens outgunned in their own homes by predatory criminals, and place virtually every gun-maker at risk of financial ruin. This is what Democratic "moderation" looks like?Biden begins his plan by pledging to repeal the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, a 2005 law that was designed to shield gun-makers from liability for "harm solely caused by the criminal or unlawful misuse of firearm products or ammunition products by others when the product functioned as designed and intended." This is a solid basic principle. If a terrorist uses an SUV in a ramming attack or puts a bomb in a van, it's not the automaker's fault. Why should it be the gun-maker's fault if if an evil man uses a lawful product unlawfully?It shouldn't be. Yet there are all too many Americans (and American judges, especially in state courts) who view the manufacture and sale of guns as morally suspect, and of so-called assault weapons as inherently illegitimate. The Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act stands as a firewall against activist litigation designed to put gun companies out of business. Biden would destroy that firewall.What of his proposed assault-weapons ban? Let's be clear — what the Biden plan calls "weapons of war" are not the weapons that our soldiers carry into combat. Instead, AR-style rifles are among the most popular civilian firearms in the United States. They are extraordinarily useful for self-defense, and they're rarely used to commit crimes. (Indeed, rifles more broadly are used to kill fewer people than blunt objects or hands and feet.) Yes, they have been used in several high-profile mass killings, but there's no meaningful evidence indicating that banning them would decrease mass shootings. In fact, they've been used in mass shootings in states that already ban them.Taken together, Biden's bans on the sales of assault weapons and the magazines that come standard with millions of popular rifles and handguns would create the perverse result of placing law-abiding Americans at a distinct disadvantage in defending themselves from criminals. With hundreds of millions of magazines already in circulation, the foreseeable threat comes from a criminal armed with just such a magazine. That's one reason why police officers carry equivalent weapons. It's one reason why bans on standard-capacity magazines tend to contain exceptions for law-enforcement officers. But if police can protect themselves from common domestic threats, why can't my family?Biden wants to give existing assault-weapon owners a choice: Sell your weapon to the government or register it with the government. But we know registration is a failed policy, one that's routinely met with massive public indifference. It's estimated that as many as 1 million New Yorkers have defied the Empire State's assault-weapon-registration law, and as many as 85 percent of Connecticut assault-weapon owners have flouted the Nutmeg State's registration requirement. A California registration requirement has had compliance rates as low as 3.6 percent. If states are the laboratories of democracy, then registration is a lab experiment that's failed.Biden's proposal also contains now-standard calls for universal background checks and his own hobby-horse, so-called smart guns that present enormous technological and practical challenges, including challenges that could hamper their use in self-defense, when innocent lives are on the line. And while I support properly drafted "red flag" laws, I have little confidence in the due-process protections that a Biden administration would endorse.There are good elements to Biden's proposal. Stricter enforcement of laws prohibiting straw purchases would be a welcome way of cracking down on a method we know criminals use to obtain guns. Forwarding failed background-check requests to law enforcement could deter individuals who know they're prohibited purchasers from attempting to slip through cracks in the system. But the heart of the plan is a direct attack on the gun industry and on the inherent right to self-defense of America's law-abiding citizens.One final note: While it's important to highlight the injustice of Biden's proposals, it's also worth mentioning that draconian Democratic gun-control proposals are partly the fault of a Supreme Court that has been woefully delinquent in taking and deciding Second Amendment cases. We cannot expect the Court to rapidly develop a body of case law as rich and detailed as its First Amendment jurisprudence, but we have a reasonable right to expect it to definitively decide whether the government can, in fact, ban the nation's most popular firearms and most widely used magazines.Until that question is answered, though, our body politic will continue to confront a series of escalating Democratic gun-control proposals. Those proposals will have virtually no chance of passing at the federal level. But they'll still demonstrate the vast, growing cultural and political divide over American gun rights.
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| Fish-hunting 'iron dragon' soared over Australia in age of dinosaurs Posted: 03 Oct 2019 08:02 AM PDT ![Fish-hunting 'iron dragon' soared over Australia in age of dinosaurs]( "Fish-hunting 'iron dragon' soared over Australia in age of dinosaurs") A winged beast dubbed the "iron dragon" soared above Australia during the age of dinosaurs, hunting fish in rivers and lakes, according to scientists who found that continent's most complete fossil representing the flying reptiles called pterosaurs. Paleontologists on Thursday said fossils of the pterosaur, named Ferrodraco lentoni, were unearthed in the Australian state of Queensland. The creature, which lived about 96 million years ago during the Cretaceous Period, boasted a 13-foot (4-meter) wingspan, a bony crest at the tip of its upper and lower jaws and spike-shaped teeth perfect for a diet of fish.
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| China's Robot Submarines Could Be the Ultimate Underwater Spy Posted: 02 Oct 2019 11:45 PM PDT  How worried should Asia and America be?
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| Trump Is 'Last Hope for White People,' Said Police Chief on Trial Posted: 02 Oct 2019 05:02 AM PDT  A former police chief in New Jersey who is on trial on a federal hate-crime charge after he allegedly slammed a black teenager's head into a doorjamb, once called President Donald Trump "the last hope for white people," according to a recording recently played for jurors.In the 2016 recording, which federal officials shared with The New York Times, Frank Nucera Jr., the former chief, can be heard saying that Trump was the last hope because "Hillary will give it to all the minorities to get a vote. That's the truth! I'm telling you."The Trump comment was surreptitiously recorded by a Police Department colleague just months before the 2016 presidential election.The recording was played in court last week by prosecutors in an effort to show that the alleged attack in September 2016 by the former chief on a guest -- an 18-year-old black man -- at a Ramada Hotel in Bordentown, New Jersey, was motivated by Nucera's "intense racial animus."In 2015, Nucera had told a colleague that African Americans were "like ISIS, they have no value," according to a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in New Jersey. "They should line them all up and mow 'em down," he said, according to the complaint.Nucera's lawyer, Rocco Cipparone, said that his client did not commit a hate crime, although he acknowledged that Nucera made the Trump remark and has used "inappropriate language, including derogatory racial terms" in the past."These are embarrassing, ugly words, but if Frank Nucera did not strike this man, then the words are equally irrelevant," Cipparone said. "It is not a crime, even for a police officer, to use that language. It's not socially acceptable, it's not appropriate, but it's not criminal."The U.S. attorney's office for the District of New Jersey declined to comment on the case.As a result of the episode, Nucera, 62, resigned in 2017 from the Police Department in Bordentown, a township about 60 miles southwest of New York City. Aside from the hate crime charge, Nucera is charged with depriving a suspect's rights and making false statements to the FBI, according to the criminal complaint.If convicted, Nucera faces up to 20 years in prison.On Tuesday, prosecutors rested their case, and Nucera told the judge that he would not take the stand. A verdict in the three-week trial could come this week.According to court papers, a manager at the hotel had called the police to report that two guests -- the 18 year-old man and a 16-year-old girl, who is also black -- who did not pay for their room the night before were swimming in the hotel pool. When the police arrived, according to court papers, the girl, who was not identified because she is a minor, and the man, identified at trial as Timothy Stroye, resisted arrest.Stroye was eventually handcuffed, the complaint said, and an officer began walking him to a police car. Nucera then approached them from behind and pushed Stroye's head into a metal doorjamb that separated the hallway from the stairwell at the hotel.Hours later, Nucera, using a racial slur, suggested to a colleague, who was recording the conversation, that Stroye and the girl were from Trenton, according to the complaint. Bordentown, which is about a 15-minute drive south of Trenton, has about 12,000 residents, most of whom are white, census data shows. The nearly 84,000 residents in Trenton are mostly black.Stroye could not be reached for comment.Michael Theokas, a spokesman for Bordentown Township, would not say whether Nucera had been disciplined by the Police Department as a result of his actions on that night.This article originally appeared in The New York Times.(C) 2019 The New York Times Company
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| 'Gigantic' iceberg breaks away from ice shelf in Antarctica Posted: 02 Oct 2019 01:38 PM PDT  A colossal iceberg roughly the size of Los Angeles or Sydney, Australia, and weighing an estimated 347 billion tons broke off from the Amery Ice Shelf in Antarctica last week.The 630-square-mile iceberg, named D28, separated from the ice shelf on September 26, next to a location scientists had been watching for nearly 20 years. The area was known as the "Loose Tooth," because it appeared to be barely hanging on to the ice shelf in recent years."We first noticed a rift at the front of the ice shelf in the early 2000s and predicted a large iceberg would break off between 2010-2015," said Helen Amanda Fricker, one of the lead researchers on the team studying D28, said in a statement from the Australian government's Antarctic division.The Antarctic division also released stunning aerial footage showing the "gigantic" hunk of ice that until last week had been hanging on by a thread. Below is a video animation made from satellite imagery showing the moment the break-away iceberg split from the Amery Ice Shelf.> A 1600 km² iceberg broke off Amery Ice Shelf, as seen in @CopernicusEU Sentinel-1 radar images. This part, coined the "Loose Tooth" by @helenafricker and colleagues, has been hanging by a thread since 2002 (https://t.co/IUhXDCWOFF) and finally gave way last week.@sentinel_hub pic.twitter.com/GG60Sk52GB> > -- Bert Wouters (@bert_polar) September 30, 2019The GIF shows the iceberg rotating westward, apparently pushed by the prevailing easterly winds, which reached speeds of 40 mph, according to AccuWeather meteorologist Jim Andrews."The calving will not directly affect sea level, because the ice shelf was already floating, much like an ice cube in a glass of water," Dr. Galton-Fenzi said in the statement released by the Australian Arctic division.However, Fenzi said scientists are interested to see if the loss of ice will influence the ocean melting under the remaining ice shelf and the speed at which the ice flows off the continent.Amery is the third-largest ice shelf in Antarctica, and is a key drainage channel for the east of the continent -- a closely-watched piece of real estate that researchers have been studying since the 1960s.Currently, there are instruments deployed on the ice measuring the impact of ocean melt and ice flow. "We don't think this event is linked to climate change, it's part of the ice shelf's normal cycle, where we see major calving events every 60 to 70 years," Fricker said.If the calving isn't linked to climate change, then what should people make of it? "I like to think of it as being akin to our fingernails -- they grow and break off -- at least if we don't keep them clipped," Andrews said.
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| Feuding children reach truce on funeral for Mexican superstar Jose Jose Posted: 02 Oct 2019 09:01 PM PDT  After days of drama involving a missing corpse, a family feud and a soundtrack of heartbroken love songs, late Latin singing sensation Jose Jose's children have set aside their differences and agreed on plans for his funeral, the Mexican government said Wednesday. Jose Jose, known as "The Prince of Song," one of the most famous Mexican singers of all time, died Saturday in Miami at age 71. Jose Jose will be given a funeral Friday in Miami, the ministry said in a statement.
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| Hong Kong protesters say they're prepared to fight for democracy 'until we win or we die' Posted: 02 Oct 2019 06:47 PM PDT  "We'd rather die in the fight than slowly suffocate to death after we lose the fight," one protester told Business Insider.
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| CNN says it won't air a Trump campaign ad featuring 'false' claim against Biden Posted: 03 Oct 2019 12:05 PM PDT  A CNN spokesperson said that the Trump campaign ad attacking Biden does not meet its advertising standards because it includes "demonstrably false" claims.
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| See Photos of the 2020 BMW 840i Gran Coupe Posted: 02 Oct 2019 09:59 AM PDT |
| More benefits planned for some Oklahoma death row inmates Posted: 03 Oct 2019 08:58 AM PDT  OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) Some of the 44 death row inmates housed at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester will soon be moved from the prisons maximum-security H-Unit to another unit to give them more benefits and access to the outdoors, the states new prisons boss said. In a letter released by the agency on Thursday, the Department of Corrections Interim Executive Director Scott Crow told officials with the American Civil Liberties Union of Oklahoma that the agency plans to move qualifying inmates to its less restrictive A-Unit by the end of October. The ACLU had threatened legal action over what it says are potential constitutional violations of the rights of death row inmates, mostly by confining them to their cells for 23 hours per day.
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| China Won’t Save the World Economy This Time Posted: 02 Oct 2019 09:14 PM PDT  (Bloomberg Opinion) -- U.S. recession indicators are growing stronger and there's one bigger-than-usual reason why the world should be worried: China isn't coming to the rescue this time.In the past week alone, a gauge of U.S. manufacturing unexpectedly fell to its weakest reading in a decade and payrolls at private companies grew less than forecast. Economists are starting to wonder whether the U.S. has approached so-called stall speed, the slowest pace of growth without careening into a recession. The International Monetary Fund, meanwhile, will likely downgrade global growth estimates this month.One of the engines that drove a global economic recovery after the last two downdrafts in America – the relatively shallow one in 2001 and the catastrophe that began in 2007 – was China. As the financial crisis escalated, Beijing opened a floodgate of credit and cut interest rates, which stoked demand for everything from Australian coal to German cars.We're unlikely to see anything like that this time. Beijing has shown little appetite for another round of massive fiscal stimulus as it atones for the profligacy of the last decade, which left a massive buildup of debt and fueled asset bubbles.While Chinese authorities have been juicing the economy the past year, they have been very careful about how they go about it. Economists keep predicting cuts in the benchmark interest rate; but those haven't been forthcoming, as my Bloomberg Opinion colleague Shuli Ren wrote recently. The People's Bank of China has preferred trims to lenders' reserve requirements, as officials focus on the best way to channel credit to certain sectors of the business world. Open-slather easing, it isn't. That doesn't augur particularly well for the prospects of a global recovery. The financial crisis saw the world's most consequential central banks coordinate rate cuts, with China's participation. Beijing's involvement made China a serious player in the global monetary order.How likely is it that the PBOC will happily sign off on something with the Fed once again? With President Donald Trump sitting in the White House, not very. Then again, Trump has already likened Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell to Chinese President Xi Jinping. Desperation has been known to make odd bedfellows in pursuit of shared short-term goals. The good news is that any steps China does take will have ripple effects given its sheer size. Gross domestic product is now about $14 trillion, compared with barely more than $1 trillion in 2001 and about $4 trillion in 2007. Chinese firms continue to plow investment into neighboring countries and Beijing-funded lenders like the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank may well step up to provide cash to struggling economies.Let's keep things in perspective, though. China is now recording quarterly economic growth of about 6%, not the 15% notched in 2007 or the roughly 10% in 2001. The executives and politicians who tripped over themselves to praise China's model of development are noticeably quieter now.Not every recession is like 2007, nor are they always accompanied by a financial collapse. The next slump, whenever it comes, will still be painful, so the U.S. might want to start casting about for an enthusiastic partner. It's probably a mistake to expect that'll be China this time around – it's not only less willing, but less able.To contact the author of this story: Daniel Moss at dmoss@bloomberg.netTo contact the editor responsible for this story: Rachel Rosenthal at rrosenthal21@bloomberg.netThis column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.Daniel Moss is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering Asian economies. Previously he was executive editor of Bloomberg News for global economics, and has led teams in Asia, Europe and North America.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinion©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| The B-2 Bomber Has More Firepower Than an Aircraft Carrier Posted: 03 Oct 2019 12:50 AM PDT  Could the B-2 stealth bomber be the most dangerous plane ever built?
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| Doctor gets 40 years in prison for prescribing over 500,000 opioid doses Posted: 03 Oct 2019 05:22 AM PDT  Virginia doctor Joel Smithers was convicted in May of more than 800 counts of illegally distributing opioidsAn undated photo of Dr Joel Smithers. Photograph: APA doctor who prosecutors said ran a medical practice in Virginia like an interstate drug distribution ring was sentenced on Wednesday to 40 years in prison for illegally prescribing opioids.Dr Joel Smithers was sentenced in US district court in Abingdon. Judge James Jones sentenced Smithers to 40 years. He faced a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years and a maximum of life.Smithers was convicted in May of more than 800 counts of illegally distributing opioids, including oxycodone and oxymorphone that caused the death of a West Virginia woman.Authorities say Smithers prescribed more than 500,000 doses of opioids to patients from Virginia, Kentucky, West Virginia, Ohio and Tennessee while based in the small western Virginia town of Martinsville from 2015 to 2017. Martinsville has a population of roughly 13,000.US attorney Thomas Cullen said the sentence, while severe, "serves as just punishment" for Smithers' actions."This physician perpetuated, on a massive scale, the vicious cycle of addiction and despair," Cullen said in a statement.More than 300,000 people have died in the opioid overdose crisis since 2000.Smithers, 36, a married father of five from Greensboro, North Carolina, testified that he was a caring doctor who was deceived by some of his patients.Some patients remained fiercely loyal to him, testifying that they needed the powerful opioids he prescribed for them to cope with chronic pain.Prosecutors said many patients would drive hundreds of miles one-way to get to Smithers' clinic in Martinsville.Smithers prescribed opioids to every patient in his practice, according to prosecutors. Before a warrant was served on his clinic, he took in more than $700,000 in cash and credit card payments. He did not accept insurance.WSET-TV reported that the judge recommended that Smithers serve his sentence in a prison close to his family and that he receive mental health treatment.Smithers wrote in a court filing that he plans to appeal his convictions. His attorney did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment on the sentence.
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| Spokesman defends dishevelled Duterte as 'very hygienic' Posted: 03 Oct 2019 06:11 AM PDT  President Rodrigo Duterte's spokesman on Thursday defended the Philippine leader as "very hygienic" and nice-smelling after he was mocked on social media for looking dishevelled in a meeting with the Russian prime minister. The 74-year-old Duterte was in Russia on a working visit and sat down for the talks with Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev on Wednesday. In pictures of the meeting, Duterte was seen in a rumpled suit with his tie hanging loose as the two posed for pictures and shook hands.
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| Fairfax County, Va., cop suspended for turning individual over to ICE Posted: 02 Oct 2019 01:14 PM PDT  The Fairfax County, Va., Police Department has suspended an officer for detaining and turning the driver in an accident over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Saturday in violation of the department's policy not to assist ICE with civil enforcement.
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| Netanyahu weighing Likud leadership election: party spokesman Posted: 03 Oct 2019 09:04 AM PDT  Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is considering a snap leadership vote in his Likud party, a spokesman said on Thursday, adding a new twist to Israeli politics after two deadlocked general elections this year. A leadership vote would give Netanyahu an opportunity to win a new mandate from his party after his failure to secure a parliamentary majority in national elections in April and last month left him politically weakened. In a statement, the party spokesman said Netanyahu was weighing the idea "to shatter the illusion of a Likud rebellion" against him and persuade any political rivals who might be anticipating one that they should join a unity government with him now.
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| North Korea tests submarine-launched missile a day after saying it will resume nuclear talks with US Posted: 03 Oct 2019 12:23 PM PDT  A day after saying it would resume nuclear talks with the US, North Korea said it successfully test-fired a submarine-launched missile.
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| A Virginia teacher is suing his school district after he was fired for refusing to use a trans student's pronouns, arguing that doing so would have been 'telling a lie' Posted: 02 Oct 2019 04:02 PM PDT  A teacher alleged that the school tried to force him to "express an objective biological falsehood" by urging him to use the student's male pronouns.
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| Ex-NAACP leader ‘deeply sorry’ but denies sexual assault Posted: 02 Oct 2019 08:28 AM PDT  In a written statement to The Associated Press, the Rev. Curtis Gatewood said he was "deeply sorry" for the way his actions were perceived. Two women have accused Gatewood of inappropriate behavior or sexual harassment. The accusations have spurred questions about whether a nationwide policy on sexual harassment is overdue for the NAACP.
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| After terrifying ICE raid, Mississippi is still fighting back Posted: 03 Oct 2019 04:12 PM PDT  Families are still separated, and lawyers are still pushing back against slanted justice system
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| The Army Wants Killer Electromagnetic Pulse Artillery Shells Posted: 02 Oct 2019 07:00 PM PDT  A sci-fi fantasy?
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| Suspected drug smugglers saved from drowning by floating cocaine packs Posted: 03 Oct 2019 08:26 AM PDT  Three suspected drug smugglers whose boat capsized off the Colombian coast saved themselves from drowning by clinging to their floating bales of cocaine.The trio were rescued after seven hours of using their illegal cargo as makeshift life rafts in the shark-infested waters of the Pacific Ocean
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| Taiwan warns Chinese could be barred entry over anti-HK violence Posted: 02 Oct 2019 05:31 PM PDT  Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen warned Thursday that mainland Chinese who attacked Hong Kongers or damaged "Lennon Walls" could be barred from the island following a recent spate of such incidents. The walls plastered in colourful sticky-notes, posters and slogans that have sprung up across Hong Kong have also been set up in Taiwan, mostly in university campuses. Taiwan held a Hong Kong solidarity rally last weekend which was largely peaceful, although Hong Kong popstar Denise Ho -- a staunch democracy advocate -- had red paint thrown at her by an unidentified assailant as she spoke to local media.
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