| Warren weighs her options. Endorsing Sanders is probably No. 1. Posted: 04 Mar 2020 12:44 PM PST  After a disastrous Super Tuesday, Warren has one last chance to make a difference in 2020.
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| EPA administrator criticizes inspector general's conclusions on Scott Pruitt's alleged abuses Posted: 04 Mar 2020 10:44 AM PST  EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler said "there are a number of errors" in the inspector general's 2019 report that determined former EPA head Scott Pruitt misused $124,000 in government funds for, among other things, first-class travel.
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| Rand Paul says he'll 'stay here all weekend' to get foreign aid cut included in coronavirus bill Posted: 04 Mar 2020 12:31 PM PST  Congress agreed to put a bipartisan emergency spending package to curb the spread of COVID-19 up for a House vote Wednesday, but it may get held up by Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), who wants to include an amendment to the bill.Paul, a deficit hawk, wants to ensure the U.S. has some way to fund the COVID-19 package, so he's trying to sneak a foreign aid cut in there. Paul is confident he'll get a vote, but he's prepared to stick around in Washington all weekend either way.> "We will have an amendment to pay for it," Paul told me. "We've talked to the powers that be and let them know...that we'll have an amendment to offset it. If we dont get the amendment, we can stay here all weekend for all I care." Paul says he thinks he'll get a vote, though> > — Trish Turner (@caphilltrish) March 4, 2020Paul is certainly consistent when it comes to spending bills. Over the summer, he was opposed to passing the 9/11 Victims Compensation Fund (which also had bipartisan support), arguing that he'll "always take a stand against borrowing more money to pay for programs rather than setting priorities and cutting waste."As for the new coronavirus, Paul said Tuesday thinks there's "room for optimism," noting that he could see it dissipating more quickly than people are portraying.More stories from theweek.com It's 2020 and women are exhausted Andrew Yang is launching a nonprofit to make universal basic income a reality Could Democrats win the battle against Trump but lose the war against Trumpism?
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| Three family members charged with murder after locking boys in closet for 16 hours a day Posted: 04 Mar 2020 03:34 PM PST  An Arizona mother, father and grandmother were charged with murder and child abuse after confessing to keeping a six-year-old in a closet with his brother for "stealing food". The child died.Anthony Jose Archibeque-Martinez, 23, Elizabeth Archibeque-Martinez, 26, and Ann Marie Martinez, 50, were each charged with one count of first degree felony homicide and two counts each of child abuse. They are currently being held at the Coconino County Jail.
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| Large asteroid will fly close to, but won't hit, Earth next month: NASA Posted: 04 Mar 2020 07:48 AM PST  A large asteroid will fly close to, but won't hit, Earth next month, according to NASA data. CNN reports that the asteroid, predicted to be between 1.1 and 2.5 miles wide, is scheduled to fly past Earth on April 29.
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| The Best Mowers for Big Lawns Posted: 05 Mar 2020 10:34 AM PST |
| Judge orders review of unredacted Mueller report, calls AG Barr's account 'misleading' Posted: 05 Mar 2020 04:51 PM PST  A federal judge criticized Attorney General William Barr on Thursday, ordering the Justice Department to hand over the Mueller report, unredacted.
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| Moscow imposes 'high alert regime' to stem coronavirus outbreak Posted: 05 Mar 2020 11:26 AM PST  Moscow authorities announced a "high alert regime" and imposed extra measures on Thursday to prevent a spread of the coronavirus in the Russian capital. A document posted on the Moscow mayor's website said that Russians who return from China, South Korea, Iran, France, Germany, Italy and Spain and other states who display possible "unfavorable" signs of coronavirus should self-isolate themselves at home for 14 days. Russia has not reported any confirmed cases of people contracting coronavirus on its territory, although six people who picked up the virus elsewhere have received or are receiving treatment.
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| Biden scores major delegate haul on Super Tuesday, NBC News projects Posted: 04 Mar 2020 12:03 AM PST  The former vice president is now in a position to potentially win an outright majority of delegates to clinch the nomination.
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| Romney Claims Senate Probe into Hunter Biden ‘Appears Political’ Posted: 05 Mar 2020 09:37 AM PST  Senator Mitt Romney (R., Utah) warned Thursday that Senator Ron Johnson's (R., Wis.) probe into the Bidens and Burisma "appears political," and would not comment whether he would vote for a subpoena that Johnson is planning."There's no question that the appearance of looking into Burisima and Hunter Biden appears political. I think people are tired of these kind of political investigations," Romney told reporters, adding that he needs to meet with Johnson to "see what information he has" before deciding on a vote.But he suggested he was uncomfortable with the probe, implying that it was not within the purview of the Senate Homeland Security Committee — which Johnson chairs and Romney serves on."I would hope that there's something of significance that needs to be evaluated that would be done perhaps the FBI or some other agency, although it's not as political as perhaps a committee of our body," he said. "We also have a lot of work to do on matters that are not related to Burisma. We probably ought to focus on those things."Johnson, who has been looking into Burisma since November, wants to vote next week on a subpoena to compel the testimony of former Ukrainian embassy official Andrii Telizhenko, who worked as a consultant for Blue Star Strategies, a Washington-based consulting firm that Burisma hired to combat accusations of corruption. Blue Star tried to leverage the Biden name to secure meetings with the State Department during its campaign to rehabilitate Burisma's image.Johnson told Fox News that his probe was not politically motivated on Wednesday, and was simply to let "the American people see what this possible corruption is." He added that probe had unearthed a document which showed Blue Star apologizing to the Ukrainian prosecutor general's office for a "misinformation campaign" against Ukrainian prosecutor Victor Shokin, who Joe Biden bragged about getting fired.Johnson also told CNN that he thinks he has enough votes to bring the subpoena, although Romney's opposition could scuttle the effort.
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| As the coronavirus spreads, one study predicts that even the best-case scenario is 15 million dead and a $2.4 trillion hit to global GDP Posted: 05 Mar 2020 06:40 AM PST  A group of Australian researchers estimate that the coronavirus may have severe consequences on the global GDP.
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| Michigan lawmaker disciplined after sexual harassment probe Posted: 05 Mar 2020 11:12 AM PST  A Michigan lawmaker was stripped of a committee chairmanship and ordered to undergo training Thursday after the state Senate concluded allegations of sexual harassment lodged by several women, including a legislator, were credible. Republican Sen. Peter Lucido of Macomb County's Shelby Township lost his position leading the Senate Advice and Consent Committee. The Senate had opened an investigation in January after a young reporter, Allison Donahue of Michigan Advance, complained that Lucido made a sexist comment to her before a group of high school boys.
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| Students Protest Mormon Church's 'Explicitly Homophobic' Ruling on Brigham Young University's Honor Code Posted: 05 Mar 2020 03:50 PM PST  The Mormon church teaches that while experiencing same-sex attraction is not a sin, having same-sex sexual relations is
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| Dubai ruler ordered abduction of daughters: UK judge Posted: 05 Mar 2020 09:29 AM PST  Dubai's ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum ordered the abduction of two of his daughters and subjected his former wife to a "campaign of fear and intimidation", forcing her to flee to London with their two children, according to a British court ruling made public on Thursday. Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein, 45, fled the United Arab Emirates last April having become "terrified" of her husband, who is also the vice-president and prime minister of the United Arab Emirates. Soon afterwards, the 70-year-old sheikh applied for their two children -- a son aged eight and a 12-year-old daughter -- to be returned to the Gulf kingdom.
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| FISA Court Blacklists FBI Agents Involved in Surveilling Carter Page Posted: 05 Mar 2020 07:28 AM PST  The chief judge on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court has barred Justice Department and FBI officials under review for wiretapping former Trump-campaign adviser Carter Page from appearing before the Court.In a 19-page opinion, Judge James E. Boasberg ordered that "FBI personnel under disciplinary review in relation to their work on FISA applications accordingly should not participate in drafting, verifying, reviewing, or submitting such application to the Court while the review is pending." He added that any "DOJ or FBI personnel under disciplinary or criminal review" are also prohibited from working on FISA applications.Boasberg also called for a higher bar in regards to the disclosure of exculpatory evidence, and ordered agents to swear in future cases that any FISA warrant application contains "all information that might reasonably call into question the accuracy of the information or the reasonableness of any F.B.I. assessment in the application, or otherwise raise doubts about the requested findings."DOJ inspector general Michael Horowitz detailed in his December report on the FBI's "Crossfire Hurricane" investigation how the Bureau knowingly omitted details of Page's prior working relationship with the CIA, as well as numerous potentially exculpatory statements he made to other sources, which undercut the Steele Dossier's allegations used in the FBI's warrants.Horowitz also described how "FBI officials at every level" — including former deputy director Andrew McCabe and former director James Comey — reached a consensus that Steele was a reliable source, despite overhead concerns that his allegations could be biased given that he had been contracted by the Democratic National Committee through the research firm Fusion GPS.
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| With North Korea border shut, China warns citizens to keep away, or else Posted: 05 Mar 2020 03:23 AM PST  SINGAPORE/SEOUL (Reuters) - Chinese authorities have told people to stay away from the border with North Korea, which has banned people from China to keep out the coronavirus, or risk being shot by North Korean guards, residents of the area said. Residents said the warning came in a printed notice that Chinese authorities in the area issued this week, the latest indication of how seriously North Korea takes the threat of the virus. Close allies China and North Korea share a 1,400-km (880-mile) frontier that is especially porous in winter, when rivers separating the countries freeze, allowing people to cross.
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| Biden Jokes That His Wife Is His Secret Service Protection Posted: 05 Mar 2020 04:47 AM PST  (Bloomberg) -- A day after his wife pushed away protesters who rushed him on stage, Joe Biden tried to turn the episode -- which prompted calls for Secret Service protection -- into a joke."I'm probably the only candidate who's run for president whose wife's my Secret Service," Biden said at a Los Angeles fundraiser on Wednesday night, hours after congressional Democrats asked that major presidential candidates be provided a Secret Service detail."I think they're afraid Jill's going to hurt someone," he quipped. "I tell you what, man, I married way above my station." The Biden campaign declined to comment on whether it has made a formal request to the agency, as is required for it to begin considering whether to assign him a security detail.On Tuesday night, four protesters from an animal rights group called Direct Action Everywhere approached the stage in Los Angeles where Biden was delivering his Super Tuesday victory speech. Two of them were stopped before they could get on stage, but two got within inches of Biden before being shoved away by Jill Biden and senior adviser Symone Sanders, with help from a campaign security guard and a handful of other Biden staffers."That's something that has to be considered," Biden said of Secret Service protection during an interview Thursday morning with NBC's "Today" show. "I do think the idea of jumping on the stage is just not permissible."The Wednesday night fundraiser, held high in the hills of Bel Air, had originally been planned for 80 guests but swelled to more than 350 after Biden's standing in the presidential race improved.Tickets ranged from $1,000 to $2,800 per person. His campaign said earlier Wednesday that it had raised more than $7.1 million during the 42-hour period beginning Tuesday at midnight after Senator Bernie Sanders' campaign announced it took in $5 million during that period.The event was just the second public appearance for the former vice president after his wins in 10 states -- but not California -- on Super Tuesday, putting him on a path to a one-on-one contest with Sanders for the Democratic presidential nomination.Host Sherry Lansing, the producer and former chief executive officer of Paramount Pictures, said the fundraiser had been scheduled months ago and she planned to have 80 people in her living room. "But then South Carolina happened and the calls just kept coming in," she said. "Over and over. It was like a deluge and obviously we didn't want to turn anyone away because anyone who is a friend of Joe Biden is a friend of mine."In the end, some 350 people filled her backyard on Wednesday night.(Updates with Biden comments in fifth paragraph.)To contact the reporter on this story: Jennifer Epstein in Los Angeles at jepstein32@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Wendy Benjaminson at wbenjaminson@bloomberg.net, John Harney, Chelsea MesFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Kilmeade Fumes as Ex-Obama Adviser Says Fox News Is Trump’s ‘Happy Place’ Posted: 05 Mar 2020 08:46 AM PST  Fox & Friends co-host Brian Kilmeade grew incredibly defensive on Thursday morning when former Obama campaign manager David Plouffe noted that President Donald Trump has Fox News on his side, claiming that Trump "doesn't have the whole network."Discussing former Vice President Joe Biden's presidential campaign on Trump's favorite morning show, Kilmeade asked Plouffe why the suddenly resurgent candidate didn't have a better fundraising foundation and staff during the early days of the race. Plouffe, after touting Biden's recent momentum, quickly pivoted to taking shots at the incumbent. And, in turn, Fox News."Trump has this network," the ex-Obama adviser said. "He has his unofficial campaign chairman Vladimir Putin. He has billions of dollars. He is a brilliant marketer."Kilmeade, meanwhile, grumbled that it was "not right" to invoke the Russian leader in that manner, prompting Plouffe to reply: "Listen, [Trump] got help last time."The pro-Trump Fox host went on to defend Fox News, insisting that the entire channel wasn't completely in the tank for the president."He doesn't have the whole network," Kilmeade exclaimed. "Every show here is different. And if you talked to him last night on Sean Hannity, is he not happy with this network."Seth Meyers Disgusted by Fox News Host Jeanine Pirro's 'Insane Screed' Against Mitt RomneyKilmeade was referring to Trump's interview with close pal Sean Hannity on Wednesday night in which the president once again groused that he's unhappy with some of the programs and commentators at Fox News for not showing him sufficient loyalty and obsequiousness. Last month, the president went so far as to suggest Fox fire anchor Neil Cavuto over a segment that was critical of his 2016 debate performances."This is his happy place," Plouffe shot back. "It's like his own political Westworld."Kilmeade fumed that the president "knows it's the number one channel in America" and Fox News beats every other network "no matter the format.""This is not a debate," Plouffe retorted. "This is the news media, media outlets should hold the powerful to account, not the account to the powerful."Fox News Host Grills Kellyanne Conway: Is Trump Scared of Biden?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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| Here are 3 previously unthinkable ideas Elizabeth Warren thrust into the mainstream before ending her 2020 campaign Posted: 05 Mar 2020 10:51 AM PST  She thrust the wealth tax, student debt reduction, and universal childcare into the political mainstream with a campaign defined by progressive plans.
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| Coronavirus questions answered by a doctor: Should I panic? What are best prevention steps? Posted: 05 Mar 2020 06:57 AM PST  No one is immune to the novel coronavirus, Dr. Thomas File says. So, everyone is potentially at risk. Here's what you should know about COVID-19.
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| Amid coronavirus outbreak, these airlines will waive flight-change fees Posted: 05 Mar 2020 09:26 AM PST  Following the COVID-19 outbreak, airlines including American, Delta, JetBlue and United are taking measures to help slow the spread of the novel coronavirus.
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| Saudi empties Islam's holiest site for 'sterilisation' Posted: 05 Mar 2020 09:48 AM PST  Saudi Arabia on Thursday emptied Islam's holiest site for sterilisation over fears of the new coronavirus, an unprecedented shutdown state media said will last while the year-round umrah pilgrimage is suspended. State television relayed images of an empty white-tiled area surrounding the Kaaba -– a large black cube structure inside Mecca's Grand Mosque -- which is usually packed with tens of thousands of pilgrims. As a "precautionary measure", the area will remain closed as long as the umrah suspension lasts but prayers will be allowed inside the mosque, state-run Saudi Press Agency cited a mosque official as saying.
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| Schumer Claims Conservative Supreme Court Justices Will ‘Pay the Price’ If They Rule against Abortion Advocates Posted: 04 Mar 2020 11:41 AM PST  Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on Wednesday warned Supreme Court Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh that they will "pay the price" if they take a position he disagrees with in deciding a case that addresses the credentials required for doctors who perform abortions."I want to tell you, Gorsuch. I want to tell you, Kavanaugh. You have released the whirlwind, and you will pay the price," Schumer told a cheering crowd of abortion-rights advocates in front of the Supreme Court."You won't know what hit you if you go forward with these awful decisions," the New York Democrat added.> "I want to tell you Gorsuch. I want to tell you Kavanugh. You have released the whirlwind, and you will pay the price!" > — Chuck Schumer at a pro-choice rally near SCOTUS as the court hears arguments about Louisiana's abortion lawpic.twitter.com/lguWx4mwkD> > -- JERRY DUNLEAVY (@JerryDunleavy) March 4, 2020A spokesman for Schumer said the minority leader's comments were a "reference to the political price" Republicans will pay for putting Gorsuch and Kavanaugh on the court, as well as a warning that the justices will inspire a "major grassroots movement on the issue of reproductive rights against the decision."The Supreme Court on Wednesday took up June Medical Services v. Russo, which considers the constitutionality of a 2014 Louisiana law requiring doctors who perform abortions to obtain admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles of their clinic, a credential many abortionists do not have. According to critics of the law, it threatens to shut down all but one abortion clinic in Louisiana, which sees roughly 10,000 abortions every year.The Unsafe Abortion Protection Act was introduced by Democratic state senator Katrina Jackson, who told National Review she considers her bill "a health-standard law" that is "very common sense.""Basically, Louisiana, unknowingly to us, had a lower standard of care for women who elected to have abortions in some places," Jackson said. "And so what we did was make sure that that standard of health care that we established in Louisiana for years also applied to abortion."The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the law in September. The Supreme Court will consider whether to allow the lower court's ruling to stand or whether the law conflicts with Whole Woman's Health v. Hellerstedt, the 2016 Supreme Court precedent ruling that Texas cannot restrict abortion in a way that creates an undue burden for women seeking abortions.Pro-life advocates hailed the law as well as the Supreme Court's decision to take up the case, the first the court has agreed to consider that deals with abortion rights since Kavanaugh and Gorsuch were confirmed as justices."Louisiana's abortion businesses have a long and well-documented history of serious health and safety violations that have systematically placed women and girls at risk," said Marilyn Musgrave, the pro-life Susan B. Anthony List's vice president of government affairs."The state has an obligation to regulate these businesses just as they regulate all other ambulatory surgical centers," Musgrave added. "It is disingenuous for anyone to claim they care about women and yet actively work to lower the bar on women's health and safety.""Women deserve this very basic care and respect," said Jeanne Mancini, president of the March for Life. "Abortion shouldn't be given a pass on health regulations and oversight."
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| MLK's son asks Alabama to stop inmate's upcoming execution Posted: 04 Mar 2020 09:00 AM PST  The son of Martin Luther King, Jr. has called on Alabama's governor to stop Thursday's plan to execute an inmate for the 2004 killings of three police officers in which authorities say a co-defendant did the shooting. Nathaniel Woods, 43, is scheduled to receive a lethal injection Thursday evening at a south Alabama prison unless the governor or courts intervene. Family members of Woods also have urged the governor to halt the execution.
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| Palestinians declare state of emergency over coronavirus: prime minister Posted: 05 Mar 2020 12:34 PM PST  Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas declared a 30-day state of emergency on Thursday after coronavirus cases were reported in the West Bank town of Bethlehem. The decree was announced by Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh hours after officials closed Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity, the traditional birthplaces of Jesus, and banned foreign tourists from West Bank hotels. "We have decided to declare a state of emergency in all Palestinian areas to confront the danger of the coronavirus and prevent it from spreading," Shtayyeh said, reading from the decree.
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| ‘Bernie’s gonna do it’: New delegate count shows Sanders-Biden race still too close to call Posted: 05 Mar 2020 04:58 AM PST  Bernie Sanders has insisted he still "has a shot" of securing the Democratic nomination and defeating Donald Trump after Joe Biden launched an unexpected comeback on Super Tuesday in the party's presidential primary.The Vermont senator's comment came as the latest delegate count in the Democratic primary showed Mr Sanders close to the former vice president.
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| A California man who self-quarantined after returning home from China amid the coronavirus outbreak said he is '100x more concerned' for his health in the US than he was in China Posted: 05 Mar 2020 11:50 AM PST  The Bay Area man saw how differently both governments handled the coronavirus outbreak after returning from a one-week trip to China.
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| Nigeria Senate Approves President’s $23 Billion Loan Request Posted: 05 Mar 2020 09:18 AM PST  (Bloomberg) -- Nigeria's Senate approved President Muhammadu Buhari's plan to borrow $22.7 billion from external creditors to finance infrastructure projects.Lawmakers gave their endorsement to the government during Thursday's proceedings in the capital, Abuja, to seek the funding expected from the Islamic Development Bank, the African Development Bank, the World Bank and creditors in China, Japan and Germany. "The loans will have a positive influence on the GDP of this country," Senate President Ahmed Lawan said.The government will use the money to expand the railways, build a new hydro power dam and fund special intervention projects across the West African nation, according to a letter sent to the parliament in November.While Nigeria's outstanding loans amount to about about a quarter of its economic output, Africa's largest oil producer spends more than half of its revenue servicing debts. The International Monetary Fund has warned that without major revenue reforms, the debts could rise to almost 36% of GDP by 2024, with interest payments taking as much as 75% of government revenue.(Updates with Senate President's comment in second paragraph)To contact the reporter on this story: Anthony Osae-Brown in Lagos at aosaebrown2@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Paul Richardson at pmrichardson@bloomberg.net, Dulue MbachuFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Are more coronavirus travel restrictions coming? Experts say they only delay the inevitable Posted: 05 Mar 2020 03:45 PM PST  Are Americans likely to see domestic travel restricted because of coronavirus? Not likely, medical and emergency planning experts say.
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| New York state coronavirus cases double to 22; Senate overwhelmingly passes $8.3 billion spending bill Posted: 05 Mar 2020 01:44 PM PST  The number of people who have the novel coronavirus in New York state doubled to 22 on Thursday, following an increase in testing, as Tennessee became the 14th state to report a case of the fast-spreading illness.
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| Schumer to Gorsuch and Kavanaugh: Nice Little Court Ya Got There, Hate to See Anything Happen to It … Posted: 05 Mar 2020 03:30 AM PST  'If, then, the courts of justice are to be considered as the bulwarks of a limited Constitution against legislative encroachments, this consideration will afford a strong argument for the permanent tenure of judicial offices," argued Alexander Hamilton in Federalist No. 78.If we ever needed a pristine example of why justices are bestowed lifetime appointments and shielded from the vagaries of the electorate and the intimidation tactics of unethical politicians, Chuck Schumer has now provided us with one.While speaking to pro-abortion protesters in front of the Supreme Court today, the Senate minority leader threatened -- there's no other way to put it -- two sitting justices with repercussions if they ruled to uphold a Louisiana law requiring abortionists to gain admitting privileges to hospitals before offering their services to women:> I want to tell you, Gorsuch, I want to tell you, Kavanaugh, you have released the whirlwind, and you will pay the price. You won't know what hit you if you go forward with these awful decisions.It's conceivable that Schumer -- who, like the rest of his party, doesn't have the slightest interest in protecting babies who've survive botched abortions -- can't think of any good reason for hospital-admitting privileges. But treating as an "undue burden" any laws that require abortion clinics to provide basic medical facilities for women is just an example of the Democrats' extremism on the issue. Threatening justices over the case is hysterical.Moreover, Schumer's thuggish attack on Kavanaugh and Gorsuch is a transparent attempt to intimidate justices. And wow -- a sitting senator threatening an independent judiciary. Surely the champions of norms and decency will be horrified by this development. When Donald Trump, rather absurdly, demanded that Sonia Sotomayor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg recuse themselves from "Trump-related" Supreme Court cases because of their partisan positions -- and, yes Notorious RGB is openly partisan and anti-Trump -- it was a major national story. In this case, I suspect we're going to hear a lot about a general "coarsening" of discourse.Whatever the case, this an unprecedented attack on a justice of the Supreme Court. And by unprecedented, I mean that you won't be able to unearth a single instance in modern history of a member of Congress threatening a justice -- by name, no less -- for ruling against his wishes. Which is why, I imagine, Chief Justice John Roberts felt the need to release this statement:> Justices know that criticism comes with the territory, but threatening statements of this sort from the highest levels of government are not only inappropriate, they are dangerous. All Members of the Court will continue to do their job, without fear or favor, from whatever quarter.Sometimes, in highly charged debates over public policy, the moment gets the better of person. It's probably happened to all of us. Yet, rather than walking back his statement, Schumer compounded the ugly behavior by smearing the chief justice as a partisan ideologue, as well."For Justice Roberts to follow the right wing's deliberate misinterpretation of what Sen. Schumer said, while remaining silent when President Trump attacked Justices Sotomayor and Ginsburg last week, shows Justice Roberts does not just call balls and strikes," Schumer spokesman Justin Goodman said in statement to USA Today. The senator meant only that there would be a "political price Republicans will pay for putting them on the court," Goodman added.First of all, is Schumer really arguing that being critical of justices is tantamount to threatening them? If that's the case, why, during Obama's State of the Union address in 2010, did Schumer stand and clap for Obama's norm-breaking attack on the Supreme Court justices who had upheld the First Amendment in Citizens United? It seems clear that Obama was attempting to manipulate court, as well, but at least he had the decency not to sound like some wannabe Mafioso.By accusing Roberts of misrepresenting his comments for partisan reasons, Schumer (via his spokesman) is obviously trying to influence the chief justice, as well. But he's lying. Schumer's initial statement specifically and unequivocally named two justices -- one of whom he and his colleagues had already attempted to humiliate and defame. He was not calling out the Republicans who put Gorsuch and Kavanaugh on the Court.Schumer doesn't have the power to follow through on any threats, thankfully. His attack, like many less obvious ones, is just part of the Left's concerted effort to delegitimize the court, denigrate its justices, and undermine the legality of its decisions. This isn't surprising, since the Constitution -- and the jurists who are inclined to uphold it -- is the biggest impediment to the progressive agenda. So expect a lot more of this.
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| California cruise ship held for coronavirus screening after 20 passengers ill Posted: 05 Mar 2020 05:08 AM PST  A California cruise ship is being held offshore after two passengers who previously stayed on the vessel contracted coronavirus, and around 20 people onboard fell ill.
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| Joe Biden is surging but his campaign has one weak spot: Joe Biden himself Posted: 05 Mar 2020 03:10 AM PST  There is little reason to assume 'Joementum' will die off soon – but gaffes have killed his earlier runs and could still kill this one tooSuper Tuesday was a powerful reminder that Twitter is not the real world. Of course, we knew this, or could have known this. Pew Research had shown several times that Democrats on Twitter are more liberal than Democrats overall, and that Twitter Democrats are less supportive of Joe Biden and more supportive of Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren. But pushed by some early wins, and the overwhelming presence of a loud minority on social media, the Sanders train took off in the traditional media too, bringing excitement and panic to liberal and moderate journalists and pundits alike.It was not to be. Not Sanders but Biden was the big winner of Super Tuesday. Winning 10 of the 14 states in play, he only left Sanders the big prize of the delegate-richest state of California, and even there he ate into the Vermont senator's delegate count, in part helped by Mike Bloomberg and Elizabeth Warren, who both polled above 10% but below the 15% viability threshold.Now that Bloomberg has dropped out, the pressure on Warren to follow suit will be huge. Bloomberg only entered the race to stop the progressive agenda of Sanders and Warren and, after spending a perverse half a billion of dollars on his campaign, only had American Samoa to show for. He is expected to save face by putting his money and support behind Biden, which could be the push he needs to transform a plurality into a majority at, or before, the Democratic national convention in Milwaukee.This puts even more pressure on Warren, whose campaign never bounced back from its – still largely unexplained – November slump. Despite excellent debate performances, she had a dismal Super Tuesday, being viable in only a couple of states, and even coming in third in her own home state of Massachusetts. She wasn't able to pick up any "wonk votes" from Pete Buttigieg or "female votes" from Amy Klobuchar, who both suspended their campaigns days before Super Tuesday.Hence, it is time to bow out for Warren, and let Sanders defend the progressive camp against the now consolidated moderate camp of Biden. She can do so with her head up high, as at the very least her debate performances have helped to stop Bloomberg and led to the resignation of Chris Matthews, a long-term embarrassment for liberal media.> The most remarkable aspect of Super Tuesday is that Biden won in states that he had spent little money in and had few campaign staffThe most remarkable aspect of Super Tuesday is that Biden won in states that he had spent little money in and had few campaign staff. Against the millions of dollars of Bloomberg, and the tens of thousands of volunteers of Sanders, Biden seem to have won the good old-fashioned way, through endorsements.South Carolina's iconic congressman Jim Clyburn's endorsement, which started the "Joementum", led to Biden's massive win in South Carolina, followed by withdrawals from his moderate rivals, as well as the impeccably rolled-out endorsements of Buttigieg, Klobuchar and Beto O'Rourke just before Super Tuesday. The fact that an endorsement and win in South Carolina, a state that will solidly support Trump in November, could have fundamentally changed the outcome of the Democratic primaries is yet another example of the complete irrationality of the primary process.Given that money and people will be flooding into the Biden campaign into the coming days and weeks, there is little reason to assume Joementum will die off soon. Moreover, while a significant number of moderate early votes had still been cast for Buttigieg and Klobuchar on Super Tuesday, this will no longer be the case in the upcoming primaries. Many of the next primaries are in moderate states, such as Mississippi and Missouri, which should be Biden territory.Where does this leave Sanders? To be clear, the Sanders camp is still very much alive. The problem is, his campaign seems to have hit its ceiling. Sanders has a solid support of roughly one-quarter of Democrats and has been able to expand that to about one-third. Even if he would be able to capture the full Warren support – which is doubtful given growing tensions between the campaigns and their supporters – it would not be close to 50%.The next big test for both Biden and Sanders is Michigan, the type of swing state that both candidates have staked their claim of defeating Trump in November on. Will "Uncle Joe from Scranton" be able to dig into Sanders' support among the white working class, while also carrying the moderate suburban vote? Or will Sanders finally prove that he is the (only) candidate to win both new voters and some of Trump's white working class?At the moment, everything seems to point at, at least, a Biden plurality. But his campaign will always have one lethal weak spot: Joe Biden. Gaffes have killed his earlier runs and could still kill this one too. It might be Sanders' best, and only chance at winning the nomination. Because the way Joementum is going, Sanders might regret his recent statements that the candidate with a plurality should become the nominee at the Democratic national convention.
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| U.S. opposes releasing a dying Bernard Madoff from prison early Posted: 04 Mar 2020 07:27 PM PST  The U.S. government opposed Bernard Madoff's request to be freed from prison even if he is close to death from kidney failure, saying he has never accepted responsibility for his massive Ponzi scheme or shown compassion for victims. In a Wednesday night court filing, prosecutors said denying the 81-year-old Madoff's request would uphold victims' and public faith in the justice system. "Madoff's crimes were extraordinarily evil," prosecutors said.
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| A Pentagon linguist is accused of giving up the names of US spies to her crush with ties to Iran's Hezbollah militant group Posted: 04 Mar 2020 12:42 PM PST  FBI agents found a handwritten note in Arabic stuffed under the linguist's mattress with the names of three US spies, according to an affidavit.
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| China's Handling of the Coronavirus Has United Its People Against the Government Posted: 05 Mar 2020 12:30 AM PST  How China's Great Firewall was breached.
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| Border Patrol waited to call EMS for U.S. man who later died Posted: 04 Mar 2020 11:13 PM PST  The agency told Congress that agents called an ambulance "immediately," but call logs reviewed by CBS News show a lengthy delay.
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| Woman uses drone to look for son's body in Mexico's killing fields Posted: 05 Mar 2020 01:39 PM PST  Leticia Hidalgo smears her face with sunscreen and walks steadily across the weedy wasteland she has come to know as one of Mexico's killing fields. Mexico has been overwhelmed by an escalation of narco violence that has left more than 60,000 people missing since 2006. Hidalgo's son Roy is one of them, and she believes he could well be here, somewhere beneath the scrubland at her feet, in what she calls a likely "place of extermination."
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| 1 Killed and 5 Injured, Including 7-Year-Old Girl, in Shooting at California Family's 'Celebration of Life' Party Posted: 05 Mar 2020 07:27 AM PST  Tulare Sgt. Ed Hinojosa said the shooter fired multiple rounds at a "party or some type of celebration of life" occurring with about 50 to 60 people present .
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| Trump denies official coronavirus death rate based on his 'hunch' and suggests people with deadly virus can go to work Posted: 05 Mar 2020 02:49 AM PST  Donald Trump has denied the official global death rate for coronavirus reported by health experts because he has a "hunch" it is lower.The president described the 3.4 per cent global death rate given by the World Health Organisation (WHO) on Tuesday as a "false number" in an interview with Fox News' Sean Hannity and gave medical advice which contradicted his public health experts.
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| Michigan Governor Endorses Biden: ‘All Roads to the White House Lead Through My State’ Posted: 05 Mar 2020 10:41 AM PST  Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, on Thursday endorsed Joe Biden ahead the of the state's March 10 primary."I've been watching this campaign play out, and there's been sources of inspiration in a variety of candidates," Whitmer said on MSNBC's Morning Joe. "But as we go into Michigan's election on Tuesday, I am going to be voting for Joe Biden." The former vice president is currently battling progressive Senator Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) for a win in the primary."I think we all know Michigan is incredibly important," Whitmer said. "All roads to the White House lead through my state and I want to make sure that we've got a strong ability to help impact where we are headed as a nation."On Thursday Sanders canceled a planned rally in Mississippi and announced he would travel to Michigan instead, highlighting the importance of the state's primary.Whitmer's endorsement follows the release of a Detroit News/WDIV-TV poll showing Biden leading Sanders in Michigan with 29 percent support among likely Democratic primary voters, compared to Sanders's 22.5 percent. While the poll indicated that the race was still fluid, it also pointed to possible problems for Sanders. The Vermont senator has failed to gain support among elderly voters, who are more likely to turn out to vote in the primary. And, complicating matters, many of Michigan's major universities will be on spring break, meaning it will be more difficult for Sanders to organize among college-age voters.The poll was taken before Biden's Super Tuesday victories. Senator Elizabeth Warren's (D., Mass.) announcement on Thursday that she was ending her presidential campaign could sway the primary race in either direction as her former supporters decide who to choose.Warren has declined to immediately endorse either Biden or Sanders and is reportedly considering not weighing in on either candidate's behalf.
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| What The Satanic Temple is and why it's opening a debate about religion Posted: 05 Mar 2020 04:46 AM PST  A group called The Satanic Temple went to court in their lawsuit against the city of Scottsdale, Arizona, for religious discrimination in January 2020.The city's attorneys argued that they could not possibly be guilty of religious discrimination because The Satanic Temple is not a religion. This argument prompted the judge in the case, Justice David Campbell, to ask, "What is religion?"I am a professor of religious studies, and part of my job is getting students to think critically about the definition of religion. After studying The Satanic Temple for my book, "Speak of the Devil," I find the most interesting thing about this group is the way it disrupts commonly held ideas about what religion is. History of the groupThe Satanic Temple was created in 2013 by two friends using the pseudonyms Malcolm Jarry and Lucien Greaves. Many members of The Satanic Temple use pseudonyms because of threats and hate mail that they receive.Members of The Satanic Temple do not believe in God or the devil. Its beliefs are articulated in "the seven tenets." These tenets emphasize reason and science as well as values such as compassion and justice. The first tenet states, "One should strive to act with compassion and empathy toward all creatures in accordance with reason." Other tenets address bodily autonomy, the freedom to offend and taking responsibility for one's mistakes.It was a series of political actions invoking religious freedom that brought the group into the public eye. They demanded the same privileges for Satanists that many Christians take for granted, such as erecting religious monuments on government property and using government meetings to present sectarian prayers.Today there are 24 official chapters of the group throughout North America and Europe, ranging in membership from a dozen to over 100 people. Chapters can be found in coastal cities but also in the South and the Midwest. Texas is home to four chapters, more than any other state. There are also thousands of supporters with individual memberships or in unofficial chapters with names like "Friends of The Satanic Temple, Arkansas." Political actionsOne of the group's political goals is to advocate for the value of the separation of church and state. Their strategy is to remind the public that if Christians can use government resources to assert their cultural dominance, then Satanists are free to do the same.After Oklahoma installed a monument of the Ten Commandments at its State Capitol in 2012, the group demanded that their statue of a satanic deity, Baphomet, a winged-goat-like creature, be installed next to it. The group received US$30,000 in donations from people around the country to build the statue.The Oklahoma Supreme Court ordered the Ten Commandments monument removed. However, thousands of people extended their support to The Satanic Temple, leading to the creation of the group's first few chapters. Prayer invocationsThe trouble in Scottsdale, Arizona, began in 2014 when the Supreme Court ruled in Greece v. Galloway that city councils and other government bodies may begin meetings with "invocations" that involve sectarian prayers. What this meant was that the government could invite a pastor to say, "We pray in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ," as long as they did not discriminate against religious groups who wanted to give the invocation.The Satanic Temple took the Supreme Court at their word. In 2016 they asked Scottsdale to open a city council meeting with the following prayer:> "Let us stand now, unbowed and unfettered by arcane doctrines born of fearful minds in darkened times. Let us embrace the Luciferian impulse to eat of the Tree of Knowledge and dissipate our blissful and comforting delusions of old.> > "Let us demand that individuals be judged for their concrete actions, not their fealty to arbitrary social norms and illusory categorizations. Let us reason our solutions with agnosticism in all things, holding fast only to that which is demonstrably true.> > "Let us stand firm against any and all arbitrary authority that threatens the personal sovereignty of One or All. That which will not bend must break, and that which can be destroyed by truth should never be spared its demise. It is Done. Hail Satan." Backlash against the SatanistsInitially Scottsdale officials agreed. Satanist Michelle Shortt, a member of the Arizona chapter, was scheduled to speak before a council meeting that April.But then the Christian backlash began. In court, attorneys discussed how one church sent over 15,000 emails demanding the Satanists be uninvited, crashing the city's email system. Scottsdale officials cancelled Shortt's invocation and declared a new policy that all invocation speakers must have "a substantial connection to the Scottsdale community."When the Satanists sued, Judge Campbell ruled there was insufficient evidence to prove Scottsdale officials acted out of religious prejudice. What is religion?However, an important outcome of the case was that Campbell rejected Scottsdale's claim that The Satanic Temple is not a "real religion" or seeks only to mock actual religions.The debate over what constitutes religion is an old one. In 1961, the Supreme Court acknowledged in Torcaso v. Watkins that there are many religions like Buddhism, Confucianism and even expressions of Judaism that are just not interested in God. Torcaso v. Watkins did not define religion; it merely ruled that religion is not synonymous with theism.Scholars of religion have suggested that religion is not reducible to theism or indeed any one element. They have noted that the word religion is used differently in different contexts.For example, religion scholar Catherine Albanese, in her 1981 book "America: Religions and Religion," presented religions as systems consisting of "four 'c's." These include creed, or a set of beliefs; code, or rules; cultus, meaning rituals; and community. In other words, religion is much more than the sum of its parts.Religion can also be redefined to serve certain political interests. For example, in 2012 the state of Florida could not legally execute paranoid schizophrenic and convicted murderer John Errol Ferguson because the Florida Supreme Court ruled that the mentally ill must understand they will die when they are executed. Ferguson stated he could not die because he was an immortal "prince of God." The state circumvented this law by ruling that Ferguson's delusions were a religious conviction and proceeded with the execution.The word religion lends itself to such creative legal uses precisely because it has no set definition. As religion scholar Russell McCutcheon says, religion's "utility is linked to its inability to be defined." The Satanic Temple is significant because it renders this sort of verbal slipperiness less tenable. If this group can no longer be dismissed as a "hoax," people might be forced to think a bit more about what religion is.[You're too busy to read everything. We get it. That's why we've got a weekly newsletter. Sign up for good Sunday reading. ]This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts.Read more: * The changing nature of America's irreligious explained * Giving thanks, but to whom? Fewer Americans embrace organized religionJoseph P. Laycock does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
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| The Department of Defense is bracing for a potential coronavirus outbreak at the Pentagon Posted: 05 Mar 2020 12:46 PM PST  "We want to be prepared for everything, and we're taking a variety of measures," Secretary of Defense Mark Esper said Thursday afternoon.
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| Could China's New DF-100 Missiles Really Sink America's Carriers? Posted: 05 Mar 2020 02:00 PM PST  A huge problem.
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| Thailand announces compulsory quarantine for arrivals from six places Posted: 05 Mar 2020 06:13 AM PST  The Thai government on Thursday announces new compulsory quarantine measure for arrivals from four countries and two territories in a bid to contain the spread of the coronavirus. The move came as the Thai postal service began disinfecting all packages received from overseas, although the World Health Organization has said it is safe to receive post from badly affected countries such as China. The quarantine announcement, published in the official Royal Gazette on Thursday, classified South Korea, China, Macao, Hong Kong, Italy and Iran as "dangerous communicable disease areas".
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