| The Problem for Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats Isn’t That They Lack Guts. It’s That They Lack Imagination. Posted: 13 Jun 2019 10:27 AM PDT  Chip Somodevilla/GettyPassions are high after Donald Trump once again announced that he was happy to receive foreign interference in our elections, so long as that interference helped him, and the heat is back on Nancy Pelosi for her caution on impeachment. I wrote a column last week defending her, and I meant it then and stand by it now. As I wrote, she has a majority to protect, a lot of members from swing districts, and it's understandable that her instinct is to think first about that majority.All her critics are carrying on about her lack of guts. But I don't think it's guts she lacks. What she and the Democrats generally lack is imagination—the imagination to think of creative ways to get on offense and put Donald Trump and the Republicans on defense.Trump Finally Told the Truth: He Needs Russia to WinBecause the Democrats sound defensive. All the time. Think about this. Here we have a president of the United States who has clearly broken the law. And who just casually said he'll break it again. And we have a party, his, full of people who are ignoring his lawlessness, or worse abetting it. Trump is the one who's murdering democracy, but all the rest of these people are either holding the body or standing there and watching, amused.If you watched any cable Thursday morning, you saw some Hill reporters catch some Republicans as they walked down the hall and ask them for comment on Trump's remarks. None denounced Trump that I saw. Some said I would call the FBI if that happened on my campaign. Others, Joni Ernst of Iowa notably, scurried away. But no one that I saw said anything like: The President is dead wrong, and we can't tolerate that kind of talk out of a president. And none of them will.Orwell himself would not dare have scripted House Minority Leader McCarthy Thursday morning. Yes, he himself would call the FBI, but as for Trump: "This president has been tougher on Russia than any president before…The president has gone through this and acted properly all the way…The president does not want foreign governments to interfere in our elections. He's been very strong about that…I've watched the president. I believe the president will always do the right thing." That's more than holding the body. That's handing the perp the knife.They're cowards. It shouldn't be this hard to put cowards on the defensive. But the Democrats can't do it. Why?Fundamentally, they fear Republicans. They've feared them since the 1990s, when the Republicans, under Newt Gingrich, and with authoritarian propagandists like Rush Limbaugh pushing them along, became something they had never been before: an ideological shock troop. What the Republicans did to Bill Clinton freaked out Democrats. Pelosi was in the House then, and Jerry Nadler, and Elijah Cummings, and a lot of them. Then came Bush v. Gore, and the Brooks Brothers Riot in Miami-Dade. And then the Iraq war buildup: calling anti-war liberals enemies of freedom, the rhetoric about Democrats secretly loving terrorists. (No, this did not start with Trump by a long shot.)Around that time, in other reading, I tripped across the phrase "learned helplessness," which came from some experiments scientists had done in the 1960s. They administered shocks to dogs, and, to make a long story short, they discovered that after a dispiriting number of shocks, some dogs wouldn't even bother to avoid being shocked even though they could by simply jumping a short barrier.This is what the shock-troop Republicans did to the Clinton-Bush era Democrats, I wrote once or twice at the time. They taught them learned helplessness.Since then, things have gotten better. The Democrats are not as lame as their liberal-left critics contend. They fight a lot. They passed some important legislation when Barack Obama was president, and they've built up something of a fighting infrastructure. But they don't have anywhere near the propaganda network the Republicans have. So they often look like they're losing. Their saving grace is that public opinion is usually on their side, at least on issues (guns, immigration, minimum wage, etc.), so they sometimes end up winning or at least getting a draw on fights that it looks like they're losing.But now, they are back on defense. I don't want to pick on Pelosi. She's in a harder position than her reflexive critics realize.However, read her words from her Thursday morning press conference when she was asked why Trump's comment to George Stephanopoulos shouldn't be grounds for impeachment: "Everybody should be totally appalled. However, what we wanna do is have a methodical approach to the path that we are on, and this will be included in that. But not any one issue is going to trigger. It's about investigating, it's about litigating, it's about getting to the truth, because no one is above the law. But I wanna get back to our legislation…" Then, she mentioned infrastructure. Those aren't exactly fighting words. This is what I mean by imagination. Imagine a reality, Democrats, in which you have the power to change things. The Republicans do that all the time. In fact it is all they do. This, too, goes back to the Bush days. There was a very famous (at the time) quote from an unnamed Bush administration official to journalist Ron Suskind for a New York Times Magazine article in 2004 that Suskind wrote up like this: "The aide said that guys like me were 'in what we call the reality-based community,' which he defined as people who 'believe that solutions emerge from your judicious study of discernible reality.'… 'That's not the way the world really works anymore,' he continued. 'We're an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality. And while you're studying that reality—judiciously, as you will—we'll act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too, and that's how things will sort out. We're history's actors… and you, all of you, will be left to just study what we do.'"I don't want the Democrats to become that unhinged from the empirical world. But they definitely need a dose of that:Change reality. Change history. Don't try to control it, from a position of defensiveness.Here are three things off the top of my head they could do right now:1\. Have a hearing, next week, in which they bring up as many Republican political operatives and campaign officials, and even former Republican elected officials, as they can who will be willing to say to a House committee: "No, the president is wrong. I never have and never would do something like that. I would go directly to the FBI." Depending on who agreed to do this, this could generate a lot of coverage and ratchet up the pressure on congressional Republicans to say what's true, or at least make them look worse if they don't.2\. Those 1,000-plus prosecutors who signed that letter saying Trump obstructed justice? Get a parade of them up there testifying. Especially the Republicans. A lot of Republicans signed that letter, so presumably they'd be willing to get up there and talk. This too could have great p.r. benefits.3\. Given that a healthy percentage of Americans may not know what's in the Mueller Report, why not have a week's worth of hearings simply telling the American people what's in the report? This is just a matter of skillfully staged theater with the right witnesses. It won't change the world, but drip drip drip.There are a dozen other things like this they could do. A quick daily press conference aimed at McConnell. Try to get ex-Trump officials up to testify. Kirstjen Nielsen, who once said she saw "no evidence" the Russians were trying to help the Republicans? Where is she? Experts on foreign interference in our elections. How about five or six of them? Kellyanne Conway won't leave even after the The Office of Special Counsel recommended removing her Thursday for her repeated violations of the House Act? Don't move on, hold hearings and spotlight the corruption. The fate of the republic is literally at stake. Right now. Not tomorrow. Right now. They don't have to start impeachment hearings tomorrow. But they need to shake off that defensive habit of mind that goes back 20 years and tells their internal gyroscopes, we can't change this. Yes, you can. And you must.Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
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| Memphis riots: Chaos erupts after police shoot and kill 20-year-old black man Posted: 13 Jun 2019 11:50 AM PDT  Chaos erupted in a neighbourhood in Memphis, Tennessee after US Marshals shot and killed a young black man. Brandon Webber, 20, was getting into his car when US marshals approached and attempted to take him into custody. Webber was wanted on several felony warrants. When the marshals tried to make their arrest, "he reportedly rammed his vehicle into the officers' vehicles multiple times before exiting with a weapon," says the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.At that point, "The officers fired, striking and killing the individual."No officers were injured in the altercation that ultimately lead to Webber's death, however, as community members came out demanding answers and accountability, some members of the police force were hurt. As residents gathered in the street near where the shooting occurred, police responding by forming a human wall and ordering people off the streets. As tensions escalated, police turned to riot shields and tear gas to manage the crowd, who were throwing rocks and bricks at the officers. Six officers were wounded, multiple police cars were vandalised, and two journalists were hurt in the riots. Three were arrested. There is no body camera footage of the shooting, as federal agents aren't required to use body cams, Dave Oney, a spokesperson for US Marshals Service told CNN.The Tennessee Bureau of Investigations and the US Marshals Service will conduct an internal review of the fatal altercation. The US Marshals Service not release the names of marshals involved in shooting until the investigation is completed, as per department policy.Shelby County Commissioner and mayoral candidate Tami Sawyer took to Twitter to share her concerns on the matter. "I was in Frayser tonight because Brandon Webber was shot 16-20 times in his family's front yard on the same day as the Pulse nightclub shooting anniversary and on the same day that the DA chose not to charge another police officer for murdering a civilian."Ms Sawyer continued: "Don't judge Frayser without asking a community how it feels to mourn their youth over and over again." "What do people do with their pain and trauma when it gets to be too much, when a city has ignored them, when their loss is too great and they can no longer yell at the sky?"
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| India set to launch second lunar mission; land rover on the moon Posted: 12 Jun 2019 03:41 AM PDT  India said on Wednesday it will launch its second lunar mission in mid-July, as it moves to consolidate its status as a leader in space technology by achieving a controlled landing on the moon. The mission, if successful, would make India only the fourth country behind the United States, Russia and China to perform a "soft" landing on the moon and put a rover on it. China successfully landed a lunar rover in January.
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| Ilhan Omar’s Tax Filings Draw Accusations of Irregularities Posted: 12 Jun 2019 09:11 AM PDT  A state investigation into Representative Ilhan Omar's misuse of campaign funds uncovered discrepancies in her tax filings as well, alleging that she filed jointly with a man she was living with while still married to her previous husband.The Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board stated in a report that the Democratic congresswoman filed joint tax returns with Ahmed Hirsi for two years despite still being legally married to another man, Ahmed Nur Said Elmi. Minnesota prohibits filing joint returns unless the two parties are legally married to each other.Omar and Hirsi had two children together without being legally married, and separated in 2008. She legally married Elmi in 2009 but later reconciled with Hirsi and had another child with him in 2012. In 2017, she divorced Elmi, and in 2018 she married Hirsi legally for the first time.In the meantime, however, Omar filed joint tax returns with Hirsi in 2014 and 2015 while still legally married to Elmi.Omar argued that in 2011 she obtained a divorce from Elmi "in her faith," the Muslim tradition, although the divorce was not a legal one.The state investigation was originally initiated over accusations that Omar illegally spent campaign funds on personal expenses. The investigatory board has ordered her to reimburse her state House campaign committee almost $3,500 plus a $500 civil penalty for illegally spent funds. Of that money, $1,500 was paid to an accounting firm for work related to Omar's divorce, while the majority was spent on travel expenses to Boston, Washington, D.C., Florida, New York, and Chicago."All of Rep. Omar's tax filings are fully compliant with all applicable tax law," her campaign said in a statement.
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| Could Iran's Drones Start Sinking Oil Tankers and Start a War? Posted: 13 Jun 2019 09:50 AM PDT  Though Iran's Great Prophet-9 military exercise ended last month, you can count on Tehran's military to wring every last drop of bellicosity from the event—such as showing off an apparently armed drone taking a bead on a ship crossing the Strait of Hormuz.(This article by War is Boring originally appeared at War is Boring in 2015.)Iran conducted the exercise during the last week of February, and centered it around the theatrical, Michael Bay-esque destruction of a stationary wooden aircraft carrier prop floating off Iran's Larak Island.The fake Nimitz-like mockup, which Tehran reportedly used as a set for an upcoming film, served as an effigy of the U.S. Navy's most iconic warship. American carriers are a constant irritant to Iran as they loom off its coast.But the exercise contained another threat to a different U.S. strategic interest—shipping.
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| Flying Southwest or American this summer? Check your reservation for new Max 8 cancellations Posted: 13 Jun 2019 08:24 AM PDT  The airlines have taken the grounded planes out of their schedule into early September. Affected travelers will be rebooked or offered refunds.
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| Tourist says he experienced stomach pain while swimming in pool in Dominican Republic Posted: 13 Jun 2019 08:38 AM PDT  A Florida man has contributed to a list of disconcerting incidents in theDominican Republic by coming forward with his own recent experience in thecountry, according to WTVT
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| House committee subpoenas Flynn, Gates in Russia probe Posted: 13 Jun 2019 10:50 AM PDT  The House Intelligence Committee has subpoenaed former White House national security adviser Michael Flynn and former Trump campaign aide Rick Gates as part of its investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Committee Chairman Adam Schiff said Thursday the committee is examining "deep counterintelligence concerns" raised in special counsel Robert Mueller's report and "requires speaking directly" with Flynn and Gates, who were important witnesses for Mueller's investigation.
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| Even after new state abortion bans, women will retain the same choice men have always had Posted: 12 Jun 2019 12:15 AM PDT  But for those abortion restrictions to make sense, there have to be exceptions for victims of rape and incest.
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| Kim's Letter to Trump Contains an ‘Interesting’ Bit, Moon Says Posted: 13 Jun 2019 03:08 AM PDT ![Kim's Letter to Trump Contains an 'Interesting' Bit, Moon Says]( "Kim's Letter to Trump Contains an 'Interesting' Bit, Moon Says") "Trump didn't make this part of letter public, so it's not my place to make public," Moon said at a press briefing in Oslo during a state visit. Moon said he was willing to meet with the North Korean leader "any time, any place" and that he wants to connect with Kim before Trump comes to Seoul later this month after a G-20 meeting in Japan. On Wednesday, Moon said that it was important that Trump and Kim meet in the "near future" as the letters are keeping up momentum for dialog.
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| Marsha P Johnson: ‘America’s first transgender statue’ will immortalise Stonewall riots veteran Posted: 12 Jun 2019 08:01 AM PDT  The "P" in Marsha P Johnson stood for "Pay it no mind" – and when people got too nosy about her, that is what she would tell them. Pay it no mind.Friends say the world heeded that advice, giving Johnson – a transgender activist who played a vital role in the Stonewall riots and the gay rights movement it launched – far less attention than she deserved.Now that's finally changing.As New York prepares to mark the 50th anniversary of Stonewall alongside its Pride celebration, the city announced plans to build a statue honouring Johnson and her friend Sylvia Rivera, who also championed LGBT\+ rights.It will be the first permanent, public monument honouring transgender women in the world."The city Marsha and Sylvia called home will honour their legacy and tell their stories for generations to come," said New York City first lady Chirlane McCray.Johnson was born in 1945 and raised in Elizabeth, New Jersey.In a 1992 interview, she said she started wearing dresses at the age of five, but stopped after being teased.As soon as she graduated from high school, she went to New York with a bag of clothes and $15, she said.Although Greenwich Village was one of the most tolerant places for LGBT+ people at the time, police frequently harassed anyone who didn't conform to sexual norms.There was no way someone like Johnson could get or keep a job. So, like a lot of gay, lesbian and transgender people at the time, she was frequently homeless and worked as a prostitute.Despite these hard circumstances, Johnson was known for her open and optimistic personality. She dressed in flashy, homemade outfits, and bedecked her hair in flowers, fruit and even Christmas lights."I was no one, nobody from Nowheresville, until I became a drag queen," she said.The word "transgender", which describes people whose gender identity does not correspond to their birth sex, was not in use at the time.Johnson referred to herself using female pronouns, and at times described herself as "gay", a "queen", a "drag queen", and a "transvestite".She also had a religious streak. She was often seen praying for friends in neighbourhood churches, and said she would never get married because Jesus "is the only man I could really trust...he listens to all my problems, and he never laughed at me."In the 2012 documentary Pay It No Mind: The Life and Times of Marsha P. Johnson, Stonewall veteran Agosto Machado said: "Marsha always gave this blessed presence and encouragement to be who you wanted to be."Longtime friend Randy Wicker added: "Friends and many people who knew Marsha called her 'Saint Marsha', because she was so generous."Sylvia Rivera even credited Johnson with saving her life – a life marked by hellish trials from the beginning.Her father abandoned her at birth, and her mother killed herself when she was three.As a child, Rivera would try on her grandmother's clothes and makeup, and was beaten when caught. By 11, she was a runaway and child prostitute.She met Johnson on the streets in 1963, when she was still a preteen."She was like a mother to me," Rivera said later. Johnson gave her a measure of stability and love she had never experienced.There are many stories about what Johnson and Rivera did in the early morning hours of 28 June 1969, when the Stonewall riots erupted.Almost everyone agrees they were there. One legend has Johnson throwing the first "shot glass heard around the world"; another has her throwing the first brick.Stonewall historian David Carter concluded it was "extremely likely" that Johnson was among the first people to resist the police.But in 1987, Johnson herself told historian Eric Marcus that she didn't arrive until "the riots had already started".And in 2001, Rivera said she was at the Stonewall Inn with a boyfriend when it was raided, but that she wasn't the first to resist.In his book, The Gay Metropolis, Charles Kaiser suggested the first person to physically resist may have been a lesbian named Stormé DeLarverie, who died in 2014.In a 2018 essay, transgender poet Chrysanthemum Tran said the particulars of who-did-what don't matter.Stonewall was a "collective uprising", and Johnson and Rivera should be acknowledged not just for their actions on those few days, "but for their lifelong work of organising and activism".In the wake of the riots, the pair were frequent organisers and participants at gay rights protests.They also founded Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries, or STAR, and opened a house to shelter homeless LGBT+ youth – the first shelter of its kind in the country.But as the gay rights movement grew, some wanted people like Johnson and Rivera pushed out.Some gay and lesbian activists took the tack that they were no different than their straight peers, and thought that argument was harder to make if Johnson showed up in plastic heels and fruit in her hair.Things came to a head at the Pride March in 1973, when Rivera said she was repeatedly blocked from speaking.When she finally took the microphone, she shouted: "If it wasn't for the drag queen, there would be no gay liberation movement. We're the front-liners." She was booed off the stage.After the speech, Rivera attempted suicide, she said; Johnson found her and saved her life.Rivera left activism and New York after the incident, but Johnson stayed.In the mid-1970s, Andy Warhol made her the subject of one of his famous silkscreen portraits.She also began performing in a drag revue called the Hot Peaches. In 1980, her housing situation finally stabilised when Wicker took her on as a roommate.As the AIDS crisis devastated the LGBT+ community in the 1980s, Johnson continued her work, marching with activist group ACT UP, helping at fundraisers, and nursing her friends on their death beds.Johnson's body was found floating in the Hudson River on 6 July 1992.Her death was quickly ruled a suicide, but after protests, the cause was changed to an unexplained drowning.Johnson was repeatedly the victim of violent attacks, and many close to her think she was murdered. The case was reopened in 2012, and remains open.Rivera returned to New York after Johnson's death. She struggled with addiction and lived by the pier where Johnson's body was found.But by 2001, she was sober, marching in Pride parades, and living in Transy House, which was created by activists inspired by STAR.Rivera died of liver cancer in 2002. The Village Voice eulogised her as "the Rosa Parks of the modern transgender movement". In the last hours of her life, she was urging gay leaders who had come to her bedside to be more inclusive.Now, as the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots approaches, the search begins for an artist to create a monument to two of the women who helped make it the turning point that it was.The Washington Post
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| Huawei files to trademark mobile OS around the world after U.S. ban Posted: 12 Jun 2019 12:08 PM PDT  LIMA/SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China's Huawei has applied to trademark its "Hongmeng" operating system (OS) in at least nine countries and Europe, data from a U.N. body shows, in a sign it may be deploying a back-up plan in key markets as U.S. sanctions threaten its business model. The move comes after the Trump administration put Huawei on a blacklist last month that barred it from doing business with U.S. tech companies such as Alphabet Inc, whose Android OS is used in Huawei's phones. A senior U.S. official on Thursday said Huawei's clients should be asking themselves if the Chinese firm can meet its commitments given its dependence on U.S. companies.
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| They were paid to shoot David Ortiz Posted: 12 Jun 2019 03:45 PM PDT  Plus: Cuba Gooding Jr. agrees to turn himself in. It's Wednesday's news.
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| Photos of the 2020 BMW 3-Series Wagon Posted: 12 Jun 2019 08:29 AM PDT |
| Pompeo Claims Iran Is Responsible for Oil-Tanker Attacks Posted: 13 Jun 2019 11:47 AM PDT  The U.S. intelligence community has concluded that Iran is responsible for the oil-tanker attacks that occurred in the Strait of Hormuz Thursday morning, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said during a press conference hours after the attack.Two oil tankers were attacked within the space of 45 minutes in the Gulf of Oman, off of the coast of Iran, where four oil tankers were similarly attacked last month by Iranian forces.Addressing reporters at the State Department, Pompeo explained that the assessment of Iranian culpability was "based on intelligence, weapons used, the level of expertise needed to execute the operation, recent similar Iranian attacks on shipping, and the fact that no proxy group operating in the area has resources and proficiency to act with such a high degree of sophistication."> BREAKING: Sec. Pompeo says the US blames Iran for the attacks on 2 tanker ships in the Gulf of Oman today. https://t.co/oAIxR89P7b pic.twitter.com/pdWBjgqYyS> > -- MSNBC (@MSNBC) June 13, 2019The tankers, one of which was operated by a Japanese company, were hit with torpedo-like projectiles near the water line, causing fires on-board that forced crew members to abandon ship. The attacks came shortly after Tehran rebuffed Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe's attempts to deescalate military tensions between Iran and the U.S.The incident disrupted global oil-supply chains and caused prices to increase sharply, since roughly one-third of the world's oil flows the Strait of Hormuz. Tehran has repeatedly threatened to close off the strait in retaliation for U.S. sanctions that have cut off most Iranian oil exports and devastated the country's already-struggling economy.In describing the pattern of aggression that Iran has engaged in since the U.S. withdrew from the 2015 nuclear agreement reached by the Obama administration, Pompeo noted that 26 civilians were killed on Wednesday after Iranian-backed Houthi rebels fired a missile into a Saudi airport."Taken as a whole, these unprovoked attacks present a clear threat to international peace and security, a blatant assault on the freedom of navigation, and an unacceptable campaign of escalating tension by Iran," he said.Pompeo also criticized the Iranian foreign minister's suggestion that the U.S. might be attempting to frame Iran for the attack."Iran's foreign minister responded to these attacks today. He said sardonically: 'Suspicious doesn't begin to describe what likely transpired this morning.' Foreign Minister Zarif may think this is funny but no one else in the world does," Pompeo said. "Iran is lashing out because the regime wants our successful maximum-pressure campaign lifted. No economic sanctions entitle the Islamic republic to attack innocent civilians, disrupt global oil markets and engage in nuclear blackmail."U.S. representatives have been instructed to raise the attacks during a U.N. meeting Thursday afternoon, Pompeo said.
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| Official: Pilot who crashed helicopter radioed he was lost Posted: 12 Jun 2019 08:58 AM PDT  The pilot killed when his helicopter hit the roof of a New York City skyscraper in rain and fog radioed that he was lost and trying to get back to the heliport but couldn't find it, an official briefed on the investigation told The Associated Press on Tuesday. Videos posted on social media soon after the crash showed a helicopter that investigators believe is the doomed chopper pausing and hovering south of the heliport, then turning and making an erratic flight back north through rain and clouds. The pilot, 58-year-old Tim McCormack, was not authorized to fly in limited visibility, raising questions about why he took off in the first place.
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| Drug trafficker charged as accomplice in David Ortiz shooting, prosecutors say Posted: 12 Jun 2019 05:00 AM PDT  "He didn't know what they were going to do. He's a fan of David's," Feliz Garcia's lawyer said.
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| Trump Bids Flynn Best After Saying He’d Take Foreign Dirt Again Posted: 13 Jun 2019 04:55 AM PDT  The tweet comes as Trump faces growing criticism over a comment to ABC News that he'd be open to accepting damaging information about a political rival from a foreign source. Flynn lasted just three weeks as Trump's first national security adviser before being forced out over revelations that he'd lied about conversations he had with Sergey Kislyak, then Russia's ambassador to the U.S.
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| UPDATE 3-Memphis man killed by U.S. marshals was a new father, wanted for felonies Posted: 13 Jun 2019 08:23 AM PDT ![UPDATE 3-Memphis man killed by U.S. marshals was a new father, wanted for felonies]( "UPDATE 3-Memphis man killed by U.S. marshals was a new father, wanted for felonies") The young black man killed by U.S. marshals in Memphis, Tennessee, whose death sparked clashes with police overnight, had recently become a father for the second time and was the subject of multiple felony warrants, according to his family and officials. The victim, identified by authorities as Brandon Webber, 20, was the eldest of eight sons, his father, Sonny Webber, said in an interview on Thursday. Sonny Webber said his son had sold marijuana but was not a drug dealer.
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| Texas town bans abortion after decision made by five white men Posted: 13 Jun 2019 10:21 AM PDT  A small town in East Texas outlawed abortion after a council of five men declared the town a "sanctuary city for the unborn".Waksom, Texas, has a population of just over 2,000 people and borders Louisiana. The town has no abortion clinics. Despite this, the city council, which is comprised of five white men, signed a city ordinance banning abortion, with exceptions for rape, incest, and the health of the pregnant person as reported by the Washington Post. The city council was applauded by community members after passing the ordinance as a "preventative measure". The measure states "the Supreme Court erred in Roe v. Wade when it said that pregnant women have a constitutional right to abort their "pre-born children" and co-opts pro-immigrant language, using the term "sanctuary city", which generally refers to cities where migrants leading safe and lawful lives are safe from deportation. After Louisiana passed a restrictive abortion bill, anti-choice activists were fearful that a nearby facility across the border would move near their community. This city ordinance comes with the rising tides of abortion bans across America, ranging from foetal heartbeat bills to an all out ban in Alabama. This move, like many of the other abortion bans, is set up to provide a legal challenge to the Supreme Court precedent of Roe v Wade, which defends a pregnant persons right to abortion until foetal viability. The measure describes Roe v Wade as a "lawless and illegitimate act of judicial usurpation, which violates the Tenth Amendment by trampling the reserved powers of the States, and denies the people of each State a Republican Form of Government by imposing abortion policy through judicial decree."With a conservative leaning Supreme Court bench, it is believed that the 1973 case may be overturned and federal protections for abortion will cease.Town residents aren't concerned about a potential costly legal battle as, according to local media, "they say God will take care of them."On the other side of the abortion debate, the executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Texas, Aimee Arrambide, called the move a "dangerous attempt to undermine Roe v. Wade." Ms Arrambide reassured those seeking abortion that "abortion remains legal in all 50 states" in a statement on Thursday."We will not be intimidated."
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| Bodies of Maryland couple who died at Dominican Republic resort returned to US Posted: 12 Jun 2019 11:10 AM PDT  Edward Nathaniel Holmes and Cynthia Ann Day were found dead in their hotel room in the Dominican Republic on May 30.
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| Turkish artist goes viral with stark misery/comfort images Posted: 12 Jun 2019 08:05 PM PDT  A Starbucks cup merging with a crowd around a dried-up well, or a yacht spliced with a boat full of refugees: powerful collages by a Turkish artist have taken the internet by storm. With over half a million followers on Instagram and thousands more on Facebook and Twitter, 29-year-old Ugur Gallenkus has stirred a huge reaction by juxtaposing photos of misery in war-torn countries with the comforts of the West.
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| Maine legalizes medically assisted suicide Posted: 12 Jun 2019 03:35 PM PDT  Maine becomes the 8th state to legalize assisted suicide.
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| The F-22 Raptor Has One Problem That Won't Ever Be Solved Posted: 12 Jun 2019 06:00 PM PDT  The time and money needed to develop and build a new F-22s would take money away from PCA and other Air Force program that are more relevant to the 2030 fight. Even an export version of the F-22—should one have been developed—would have used up scarce resources. "The costs to restart production of the F-22 would be extensive even with the involvement of foreign partners," the report states. "Just as F-22 production would compete for fiscal and contractor resources with other Air Force programs, any F-22 export would compete with FMS customers' resources as well, including countries already committed to F-35 purchases. Most nations are not likely to have the resources available for procurement of an export F-22, which extremely limits the ability of FMS to reduce the costs associated with restarting production."A 2017 Pentagon report to Congress detailing production retail costs for Lockheed Martin's F-22 Raptor show that reviving the powerful stealth air superiority fighter would be prohibitively expensive. Moreover, it would take so long to reconstitute the production line that it would not be until the mid to late 2020s before the first "new" F-22s would have flown. By that time, the F-22 would be increasingly challenged by enemy—Russian and Chinese—capabilities.(This first appeared last year.)
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| A Hydrogen-Station Fire in Norway Doesn't Mean the Fuel Is Inherently Unsafe Posted: 13 Jun 2019 11:04 AM PDT  Authorities are still investigating what went wrong, but some pro-battery critics are already using the incident as their own fuel.
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| Trump calls battle over census citizenship question 'ridiculous' Posted: 12 Jun 2019 12:23 PM PDT  While claiming he has not been "overly involved in the census controversy," President Trump called the question of whether to allow a question about citizenship on the 202 Census forms "totally ridiculous" Wednesday.
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| U.S. blames Iran for tanker attacks in Gulf of Oman, Iran rejects assertion Posted: 13 Jun 2019 12:07 AM PDT  DUBAI/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States blamed Iran for attacks on two oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman on Thursday that drove up oil prices and raised concerns about a new U.S.-Iranian confrontation. Iran "categorically rejects the U.S. unfounded claim with regard to 13 June oil tanker incidents and condemns it in the strongest possible terms," the Iranian mission to the United Nations said in a statement on Thursday evening. It was not immediately clear what befell the Norwegian-owned Front Altair or the Japanese-owned Kokuka Courageous, which both experienced explosions, forcing crews to abandon ship and leave the vessels adrift in waters between Gulf Arab states and Iran.
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| Former Stanford sailing coach avoids prison in first sentence of college admissions scandal Posted: 13 Jun 2019 06:22 AM PDT  John Vandemoer is the first of the 22 defendants who pleaded guilty in the nation's sweeping college admissions scandal to be sentenced.
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| Hong Kong police use tear gas as protesters try to storm parliament Posted: 12 Jun 2019 02:58 AM PDT  Violent clashes broke out in Hong Kong on Wednesday as police tried to stop protesters storming the city's parliament, while tens of thousands of people blocked key arteries in a show of strength against government plans to allow extraditions to China. Police used tear gas, rubber bullets and batons to disperse crowds of black-clad demonstrators -- most of them young people and students -- calling for authorities to scrap the Beijing-backed law. Clashes broke out shortly after 3:00 pm (0700 GMT) -- the deadline protesters had given for the government to abandon the controversial bill -- and continued throughout the afternoon in the worst political violence the city has seen in years.
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| 12 of America's Best Historic Homes to Visit Posted: 12 Jun 2019 02:29 PM PDT |
| Second Ebola victim dies in Uganda as disease spreads Posted: 13 Jun 2019 05:37 AM PDT  A grandmother in Uganda has died from Ebola, health officials said Thursday, the second fatality in the country since a major outbreak in Democratic Republic of Congo crossed the border. Health Minister Jane Ruth Aceng announced Wednesday that Uganda had recorded three cases of Ebola in the first known cross-border spread since an outbreak began in eastern DRC last August. The patients were from a family of six, including four children, that travelled to DRC to care for a relative and later attended his burial after he died of Ebola. Upon returning to Uganda two brothers - aged five and three - and the 50-year-old grandmother tested positive for the virus, and the family was quarantined in Bwera, a border town in the country's west. The older boy died Tuesday - the first Ebola fatality in Uganda since the start of the DRC outbreak that has seen more than 2,000 cases recorded, around two-thirds of which have been fatal. Ebola | Health workers attacked amid mistrust from communities A health ministry official said Thursday the grandmother had also died overnight. "The deceased has been confirmed as the grandmother of the five-year-old boy who died. Both victims had attended the burial of an Ebola patient in DRC, but returned to Uganda," the official told AFP on condition of anonymity. The official said arrangements were being made to bury the woman in Kasese, the western district bordering Congo where her grandson was laid to rest Wednesday. About 25,000 people cross the district's main border crossing of Mpwonde at a daily basis, according to the DRC health ministry. The World Health Organization also confirmed the woman had succumbed to the haemorrhagic virus. WHO said 27 others in contact with the family had been placed under close monitoring. Uganda's health ministry said frontline health workers were due to be vaccinated Friday with a new drug designed to protect them against the virus.
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| Southern Baptists combat sex abuse as critics rally Posted: 12 Jun 2019 06:48 AM PDT  Confronting an unprecedented sex-abuse crisis, delegates at the Southern Baptist Convention's national meeting voted Tuesday to make it easier to expel churches that mishandle abuse cases. The Rev. J.D. Greear, president of the nation's largest Protestant denomination, said the SBC faced a "defining moment" that would shape the church for generations to come. "This is not a distraction from the mission," Greear said of the fight against sex abuse.
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| Ford recalls more than 1.2m cars over fears of 'loss of steering control' Posted: 12 Jun 2019 09:04 AM PDT  Ford Motor Company issued four safety recalls in North America on Wednesday, including one covering more than 1.2m SUVs.Approximately 1.2 million 2011-2019 model-year Ford Explorers, built between May 17, 2010 and January 26, 2017 in Chicago, will be recalled in the US after the automaker discovered a defect that puts drivers at risk of crashing. The error concerns loss of steering control.The same recall affects approximately 28,000 SUVs in Canada and Mexico.Damages on the SUVs are expected to cost the company around $180m, according to a regulatory filing.The company also recalled roughly 123,000 select 2013 F-150 pickup trucks, which they found to be equipped with 5-litre and 6.2-litre engines that were insufficiently repaired in a previous recall. This puts these trucks at risk of crashing as well."It did not have the updates necessary to prevent a potential unintended downshift into first gear or the updates necessary to ensure illumination of the malfunction indicator light in the event of an intermittent transmission output speed sensor signal," Ford said of the "incomplete" repairs on the F-150.The affected vehicles were built in plants in Michigan and Missouri.About 4,300 2009-16 Ford Econoline cars, built in Ohio, were found to have faulty welding, and will also be recalled. In Canada only, select versions of the 2010-17 Ford Taurus, 2009-17 Ford Flex, 2009-15 Lincoln MKS and 2010-17 Lincoln MKT have recalls regarding a rear suspension toe link fracture. This recall will affect about 12,000 vehicles.Ford says that one crash with minor injuries has been reported regarding that final recall. They are not aware of any injuries related to the first three.
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| Democratic candidates, forced to take a stand on gun control by activists, are speaking out forcefully Posted: 12 Jun 2019 02:00 AM PDT  As mass shootings continue to occur, advocates for stricter gun regulation have gained momentum. But so have those rallying to protect themselves and their constitutional right to bear arms.
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| Google just revealed the Pixel 4 months earlier than expected Posted: 12 Jun 2019 11:59 AM PDT  In a shocking turn of events, Google shared the first image of its next smartphone on Wednesday, confirming many of the leaks that have been spreading around the internet over the last few weeks. If Google sticks to the same release schedule it had for the Pixel 3, then the Pixel 4 won't officially launch until October, which makes this an incredibly early reveal. But there's no denying that it will get people talking.If you've been keeping up with the countless leaks in recent weeks, the product shot shared by Google shouldn't do much to surprise you. As expected, Google is scrapping the old multi-colored back panel in favor of one solid sheet of what we assume is glass. We also see the rear camera housing, which appears to contain two cameras (the first time a Pixel has had more than one rear camera), and at least two other sensors.It's worth noting that the phone in the photo above (and in the tweet below) looks virtually identical to the renders that OnLeaks and Pricebaba shared earlier this week. Those renders also included a look at the front of the phone, which, based on Google's official image, we can't help but assume are accurate as well.https://twitter.com/madebygoogle/status/1138876305158500353In an era where everyone is prone to massive leaks, even the likes of Apple, Samsung, and Google, it's interesting to see a company try to ride the wave rather than fight back. OnePlus has had some success by joining in on the fun of early feature reveals and hints at designs, and now Google will try to replicate that success.If you want to see the phone in one piece, rather than split in half, this tweet from Roland Quandt should help:https://twitter.com/rquandt/status/1138883250322051072
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| Cuba travel ban: Disappointed passengers return after being rerouted mid-cruise Posted: 13 Jun 2019 11:42 AM PDT ![Cuba travel ban: Disappointed passengers return after being rerouted mid-cruise]( "Cuba travel ban: Disappointed passengers return after being rerouted mid-cruise") Thousands of cruise passengers originally headed to Cuba ended up in the Bahamas after a travel ban was announced earlier this week.
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| UPDATE 4-Jet.com falls by wayside as Walmart focuses on its website, online grocery Posted: 12 Jun 2019 02:27 PM PDT ![UPDATE 4-Jet.com falls by wayside as Walmart focuses on its website, online grocery]( "UPDATE 4-Jet.com falls by wayside as Walmart focuses on its website, online grocery") Walmart Inc on Wednesday announced a sweeping overhaul at Jet.com, an online start-up it acquired in 2016 for $3.3 billion, after it failed to live up to the world's largest retailer's e-commerce ambitions. Walmart said it will integrate Jet.com's retail, technology, marketing, analytics and product teams with its own online business. Walmart's move reduces the scope and importance of Jet.com in its overall U.S. e-commerce business, which competes with Amazon.com Inc, according to interviews with six vendors, two consultants and three Walmart employees.
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| Calls Grow for Lam to Delay Bill as Hong Kong Streets Calm Down Posted: 13 Jun 2019 04:38 PM PDT  "So far everybody is very unhappy with the way the government handled it," Felix Chung, who represents the textile and garments industries as a pro-establishment member of Hong Kong's legislature, said in a phone interview. Bolstering those concerns, a bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat, reintroduced the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act. Among other provisions, the measure threatens to freeze U.S. assets of individuals involved in forcibly removing people from Hong Kong.
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| Jury: Man held stepdaughter for 19 years, fathered her 9 children Posted: 13 Jun 2019 01:13 PM PDT  A 64-year-old man accused of abducting his stepdaughter and holding her captive for 19 years in Mexico and elsewhere while fathering her nine children has been found guilty of kidnapping and other charges.
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| 6 Successful Boomers Share Inspiring Retirement Quotes Posted: 12 Jun 2019 06:00 AM PDT ![6 Successful Boomers Share Inspiring Retirement Quotes]( "6 Successful Boomers Share Inspiring Retirement Quotes") A sense of the unknown often looms over retirement. Here, baby boomers share the retirement sayings and sentiments that help them to make the most of their retirement years. Nancy D. Butler, a former entrepreneur living in Waterford, Connecticut, took a well-known phrase and fine-tuned it.
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| I'm Not Sure We Need a Ford Ranger Raptor Posted: 13 Jun 2019 09:00 AM PDT  The standard Ranger is probably more than you ever need off-road.
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| AT&T cancels Galaxy Fold preorders, gives customers $100 for their troubles Posted: 13 Jun 2019 06:26 AM PDT  Following Samsung and Best Buy, it's time for AT&T to cancel Galaxy Fold preorders, as the foldable phone is still vaporware after its release was canceled due to terrible design flaws. The carrier has notified customers who had preordered the phone and offered them a $100 bonus for their troubles.AT&T said in an email first shared by Tom's Guide that any funds held from customers will be released, while any money charged will be refunded. The $100 bonus will be delivered as an AT&T Promotion Card that should be shipped through the mail within the next 60 days. AT&T added that customers will be able to reorder the phone once Samsung announces the new release date. If that ever happens, of course.The Galaxy Fold was supposed to hit stores nearly two months ago when Samsung ran into unexpected issues with the handset. Early reviewers identified two different ways to damage the screen. One of them was caused by user error -- sort of -- as some people removed a film with exposed edges from the display, mistakenly thinking it was a standard screen protector. It wasn't. The other issue was the large gaps near the hinges in the center of the phone. Dirt and debris would work its way into those gaps after just a few days and break the phone's screen.Samsung was quick to postpone the release and recall all review models so it could investigate and fix the problems. It still seems determined to launch the phone, which turned out to be an unexpected source of embarrassment for a company that wants to be at the forefront of mobile innovation.An announcement could follow in the coming weeks, at which point Samsung should reveal the phone's new release date. The price, $1980 in the US, isn't likely to change.
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| The family vacation planning guide for parents who hate to plan Posted: 12 Jun 2019 10:00 AM PDT  If you hate to plan, your last family vacation probably was filled with chaos. I know a thing or two about chaos because I've failed to plan, too.
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