| The CIA sent a team of 4 operators on a spy mission targeting China. None came back. Posted: 19 Sep 2020 02:00 AM PDT  In 2008, CIA operative Stephen Stanek faced a decision: cancel the operation he was running or go forward with it — as a tropical storm barreled through the Philippines with a projection to veer north and miss his team's area of operation.
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| A Florida bar owner is banning customers from wearing masks and asking them to leave if they do Posted: 19 Sep 2020 09:42 AM PDT  Gary Kirby, owner of Westside Sports Bar and Lounge, said that anyone who refuses to take off their face covering will be asked to leave.
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| Communist Organizers Arrested after Allegedly Barricading Officers Inside Aurora Police Department Posted: 18 Sep 2020 12:08 PM PDT  Six rioters were charged by Colorado district attorneys on Thursday with allegations stemming from anti-police demonstrations in June and July.The demonstrations occurred following the death of George Floyd, who was killed during his arrest by Minneapolis police officers. However, Colorado demonstrations also protested the August, 2019, death of Elijah McClain, an African American man who died after being put in a choke hold by officers in Aurora. Several officers in the Aurora Police Department were fired on July 3, 2020, after photos surfaced in which the officers reenacted the choke hold near the site of McClain's arrest.Riots over the summer in Aurora included a July 3 incident in which demonstrators barricaded police inside a precinct building for seven hours.Prosecutors charged Lillian House and Joel Northam, organizers for the Party for Socialism and Liberation, as well as Whitney Lucero with first-degree kidnapping in connection with the July 3 demonstration. The defendants "unlawfully and feloniously attempted to imprison or forcibly secrete 18 officers with the intent to force them or another person to make a concession to secure their release," prosecutors said in a press release. The charges were brought by the district attorneys for Colorado's 17th and 18th judicial districts, both of which are in the city of Aurora.The Party for Socialism and Liberation is a communist party that "believes that the only solution to the deepening crisis of capitalism is the socialist transformation of society," according to its website. House, Northam, and their party have led many of the demonstrations in Aurora and Denver over the summer, the Denver Post reported.Another demonstrator facing felony charges for engaging in and inciting a riot, Terrance Roberts, is a leader of a group called the Front Line Party for Revolutionary Action.Riots that began after the death of George Floyd have caused almost $2 billion in damages, according to a report from Axios, in the most expensive damage from civil unrest in U.S. history. U.S. Attorney General William Barr has called to prosecute rioters for sedition.
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| Sources: Russian aggression against U.S. intelligence satellites sparks congressional briefing Posted: 18 Sep 2020 02:41 PM PDT  Over recent days, officials from the U.S. Space Force and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence briefed congressional committees on an "uptick" in Russian military activity in space targeting U.S. defense and intelligence satellites.
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| Michigan residents urged to stay indoors as scientists race to deal with threat of rare mosquito-borne disease Posted: 18 Sep 2020 07:46 AM PDT  'This is an ongoing threat to the health and safety of Michiganders,' says Department of Health and Human Services chief medical executive Dr Joneigh Khaldun
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| Mass suspension of German police officers who shared pictures of Hitler and doctored images of refugees in gas chambers Posted: 19 Sep 2020 02:00 AM PDT  The officers allegedly shared extremist content in chatrooms and WhatsApp groups. Some face charges of spreading Nazi propaganda and hate speech.
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| Firefighter dies fighting blaze sparked by gender reveal party, California officials say Posted: 18 Sep 2020 09:58 AM PDT  The fire has scorched more than 21,000 acres as of Friday morning.
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| U.S. reverses COVID-19 testing guidance again: exposed without symptoms need tests Posted: 18 Sep 2020 12:23 PM PDT  The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) sparked widespread outcry among state public health officials and experts in late August when it said that people who do not have symptoms may not need to get tested. Before Aug. 24, the CDC had encouraged testing for all those who were exposed. Friday's guidance update effectively returns the CDC's testing guidance to what it said before it was altered in late August.
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| It was a cat and dog fight in the battle for human hearts during lockdown, says animal charity Posted: 19 Sep 2020 07:44 AM PDT  Dogs really were man's best friend during the lockdown after the Government admitted that more cats than dogs have been abandoned so far during the pandemic. Figures from the Association of Dogs and Cats Homes, which were cited by ministers in Parliament, show that cats were far more likely to be abandoned than dogs during the lockdown. The survey of more than 130 animal-rescue homes during the lockdown in April found 15 per cent were reporting fewer dogs being abandoned than usual, with only 8 per cent taking in more. The association said this was a "a reassuring trend highlighting that dog owners are taking their responsibilities seriously despite the coronavirus restrictions". However, the story was rather different for cats with a 17 per cent jump in rescue centres reporting more cats being abandoned but only 7 per cent reporting fewer cats being dumped. A glimmer of hope was a big increase – by 35 per cent – in people wanting to re-home a dog or cat, which the association said "highlights the important role cats and dogs can play in peoples' lives particularly at a time when they are self isolating". Commenting on the figures in the House of Commons, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Victoria Prentis, told MPs: "We shall continue to engage with the sector to keep monitoring trends in the level of unwanted pets." David Bowles, a trustee of the association, told The Telegraph: "We saw more cats being abandoned in May, June and July than we did in April. "Dogs, as an animal that people wanted to have during lockdown, hugely went up - and people are still keeping hold of their dogs. "We saw a big interest in cats, but then people started to abandon those cats much more as lockdown went on." He added: "Under lockdown people wanted to have a companion and they saw dogs as a good companion. And in early lockdown we were only allowed out once a day for exercise – and dogs provided a very good excuse for exercise." Pet shops and vets can stay open during the pandemic as designated "essential retailers". In April chain Pets at Home reported "exceptional levels of demand" amid the coronavirus outbreak. In August the Dogs Trust warned that while demand for puppies has soared during the "stay at home" lockdown, up to 40,000 more stray or abandoned dogs could be in need of help if an economic downturn lies ahead.
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| New Yahoo News/YouGov poll: Only 22% of Americans think the 2020 presidential election will be 'free and fair' Posted: 18 Sep 2020 12:37 PM PDT  Both Republicans and Democrats harbor grave and growing doubts about whether the upcoming election will accurately reflect the will of the people.
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| Gov. Huckabee reacts to Biden saying Trump could have prevented all virus deaths: ‘Outrageous’ Posted: 18 Sep 2020 07:24 AM PDT  Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden is accused of exaggerating his pandemic record during his town hall; reaction and analysis from former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee on "America's Newsroom."
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| Bradley Fighting Vehicles Sent to Protect US Troops in Syria Posted: 18 Sep 2020 05:18 PM PDT  The nature of the new threat posed by ISIS that triggered this U.S. response was not described.
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| Tesla driver charged for appearing to be asleep with the seat fully reclined while traveling at over 86 mph Posted: 18 Sep 2020 08:42 AM PDT  Canadian authorities said the man was going over 86 mph before being stopped, where police discovered fully reclined seats.
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| Rochester: Two killed and 14 wounded after mass shooting at party in New York state Posted: 19 Sep 2020 03:04 AM PDT  Police say incident is 'tragedy of epic proportions'
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| NC woman still missing two years after she left baby with family reportedly to visit sick mother in Mexico Posted: 19 Sep 2020 08:02 AM PDT  Nancy Troche Garcia, 28, was last seen in Asheboro, North Carolina on May 20, 2018, when she dropped her baby off with the baby's father. She then reportedly went to the father's sister's house nearby and asked her if she would help care for the baby since she would be traveling to Mexico to care for her sick mother. But her mother told police that she was not sick and there were no plans for Nancy to come to Mexico. Nancy's burgundy 2001 Chevy Impala is also missing. The Asheboro Police
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| Fears of a brain drain in Belarus as IT workers prepare to flee brutal crackdown Posted: 18 Sep 2020 12:28 PM PDT  On the night of the Belarusian presidential elections, Andrey Fedorovich, a 27-year-old web developer with an enviable job and a big flat in Minsk, found himself lying on the ground underneath an abandoned van, hiding from riot police rampaging across the city. "I first thought about leaving when I was lying underneath that van, when I saw what kind of people live in my country," Mr Fedorovich says. He and his wife have now decided to flee for Kyiv in Ukraine. Belarus - perhaps better known for its tractor factories - has a booming tech industry. Minsk was the USSR's designated tech hub, and now over 10,000 tech workers are based there. These workers have long enjoyed a comfortable lifestyle and were once hailed as the sole hope for the country's Soviet-style economy.
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| Whose voters are 'hidden' in polling data? 'Shy' Biden voters may actually outnumber Trump’s Posted: 18 Sep 2020 02:00 AM PDT  Just 20 percent of Trump voters with mostly Biden-backing neighbors say those neighbors would be surprised by their support for Trump. Among Biden voters in Trump country, however, that number is 10 points higher (30 percent).
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| Ethiopia files terrorism charges against leading opposition activist Posted: 19 Sep 2020 05:27 AM PDT  Ethiopia has filed terrorism charges against a prominent media mogul and opposition politician from the Oromo ethnic group, Jawar Mohammed, the attorney general's office said on Saturday. Jawar, founder of the Oromiya Media Network and a member of the Oromo Federalist Congress party, was arrested in June amid the widespread unrest that followed the assassination of popular Oromo musician Haacaaluu Hundeessaa.
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| Justice Ginsburg saw raw racism and sex discrimination long before she joined the court Posted: 19 Sep 2020 02:16 PM PDT  Our Supreme Court reporter recalls the private side of Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
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| It’s Time to Rein in the Fed Posted: 19 Sep 2020 03:30 AM PDT  At the Kansas City Federal Reserve's virtual Jackson Hole economic-policy symposium, Fed chairman Jerome Powell drove a final stake into the legendary inflation fighter Paul Volcker's Fed. The new orthodoxy promises easy money as far as the eye can see and holds that inflation is good -- not Venezuelan and Zimbabwean hyperinflation of course, just a moderate dose -- thus ensuring that a dollar every year is worth less. Americans should be afraid.Powell announced the Fed's new inflation-averaging strategy. The central bank is changing how it defines and attempts to achieve the 2 percent inflation target, which it adopted on its own authority in 2012. Henceforth, the Fed will attempt to catch up for past inflation shortfalls. Powell warned that inflation below "its desired level," which our enlightened central bankers have decreed is 2 percent, can lead to an "unwelcome reduction" in inflation expectations, causing lower inflation. Joe and Sally Sixpack, however, would view gas, steak, and dental check-up prices not rising as welcome.Additionally, the Fed chairman declared the central bank would not, as it has in the past, preemptively raise interest rates to stave off higher inflation when unemployment falls below its natural rate.The new policy has an asymmetric pro-inflation bias. America's central bankers are not contemplating deflationary policies to offset excessive past inflation. If inflation were 5 percent in period one, the Fed would try to bring it down to 2 percent in period two, not to negative 1 percent.The Fed is a masterful political actor. Powell touted "The Fed Listens" events as "connecting with the American people." All well and good, but it is Congress, which represents the American people, that the Fed is supposed to heed.The Fed isn't independent or the policymaker. It is an instrument of Congress, which by statute directs it to conduct monetary policy to achieve "stable prices," maximum employment, and moderate low-term interest rates. Stable prices mean inflation hovering around zero, not prices doubling every 35 years. If a 200-pound MMA fighter's weight increased 2 percent every year to 244 pounds after a decade, nobody would suggest his weight was stable.Shame on the Fed for "redefining" its role under the law. But shame on Congress for not insisting the central bank hew to statute.If Congress wants inflation, it should pass legislation changing the Fed's mandate to that effect, which President Trump or Biden would likely sign. But while many congressional cravens may want inflation, few want to go on record voting for it.Powell allowed, "Many find it counterintuitive that the Fed would want to push up inflation." No kidding. Money is a unit of account, a means of exchange, and a store of value. Stable money is a sine qua non of stable, prosperous, free societies. There's enormous value in the dollar remaining constant for consumers and firms planning, transacting, and saving. Imagine a world where a yard continually changed.The received wisdom is that deflation is bad. Precipitous deflation is harmful. However, gentle deflation benefits many firms and individuals. During much of the 19th century the U.S. enjoyed mild deflation.To bolster inflation the Fed is keeping real wholesale interest rates negative.Interest rates are the price of present versus future investment and consumption. They are the economy's most important price, dynamically signaling where and when capital should be allocated to maximize value.Keeping interest rates artificially low, as the Fed has done for nearly two decades, causes systemic malinvestment, incentivizes excessive risk-taking, and sustains zombie firms, making society poorer, and is sowing the seeds for the next crisis. It punishes savers and creditors.There are, however, powerful constituencies for easy money. America's biggest borrower, the federal government, loves it. Real-estate developers and brokers and much of Wall Street also vigorously support cheap debt.With everyone focused on the COVID-19 pandemic and recession, inflation is low on people's list of concerns, but it's brewing. From December 2019 to August 24, 2020, the monetary base (M1) increased 35 percent. The Fed's real benchmark interest rate is negative. The pandemic has crimped production. As America limps out of the crisis and the velocity of money -- the rate at which money turns over -- recovers, it's a recipe for inflation.Since the Fed's creation in 1913, its policies have massively debased the dollar and caused or contributed to multiple economic crises, including the Great Depression and the Great Recession, devastating job and wealth creation. While the central bank can affect price levels, easy money can't increase sustainable long-term employment and wealth. Congress should, therefore, eliminate any doubt about what the Fed can and should do by doing away with its "dual" mandate, narrowly focusing it on maintaining stable prices, something that it is equipped to deliver.
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| Mexico's populist president left embarrassed by failed stunt to sell private jet Posted: 19 Sep 2020 08:57 AM PDT  Mexico's populist president Andrés Manuel López Obrador was voted in on a pledge to stamp out corruption and largess that went all the way to the country's highest office. So when he pledged to sell the presidential plane, with its marble bathrooms and king sized bed, it seemed like an easy win. But the $218 million, purchased under a predecessor in 2012, jet lies on the tarmac after the latest failed bid to find a buyer in a saga that has exposed the socialist leader to ridicule and embarassment. This week's attempt to raffle the plane during the country's Independence holiday ended in predictable disaster. For López Obrador, also known by his initials as Amlo, the plane is a symbol of the opulence and waste of the country's political elite, and he vowed to sell it and return the money to Mexicans during his 2018 campaign. After his landslide victory, the President put it up for sale and has been flying on low-cost commercial flights. But it wasn't that easy. The jet is a used and expensive luxury item with few potential buyers. After spending nearly two years parked for sale in California and spending almost the same amount of money for having it parked than he would have spent using it (about $1.5 million), Amlo decided in February he would just raffle it off during the September 15 Independence holiday. He even had to change the law in order to raffle an item instead of money through Mexico's National Lottery. Only the plane wasn't his to raffle. It turned out the Mexican government hasn't finished paying for it. Amlo moved forward with the raffle but decided to give out the cash equivalent of the jet's market value of about $95 million instead of the actual plane, split it into 100 winning tickets.
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| State Department, Officials Accidentally Feature Navy Planes in Air Force Birthday Messages Posted: 18 Sep 2020 10:19 AM PDT  The State Department on Friday posted a tweet to honor the Air Force, but used a photo of the Blue Angels.
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| The man behind Trump’s campaign against 'critical race theory' Posted: 18 Sep 2020 05:00 AM PDT  The programs Rufo targeted are intended to improve communication, defuse tensions and promote equal opportunities among co-workers of different races and ethnicities, and are analogous, or identical to, similar programs that have been a staple of corporate human relations departments for decades.
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| AOC’s challenger on the left’s plan for Biden Posted: 18 Sep 2020 04:22 AM PDT  John Cummings, a 2020 Republican challenger to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, joins 'Fox & Friends.'
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| India arrests nine al Qaeda militants planning 'terrorist attacks' Posted: 19 Sep 2020 01:44 AM PDT |
| Tropical Storm Wilfred could form in Gulf; Hurricane Teddy remains a major Category 4 Posted: 18 Sep 2020 08:03 AM PDT |
| Mexico sees fentanyl seizures up 465%, denies making drug Posted: 18 Sep 2020 08:24 AM PDT  Mexican authorities say seizures of the synthetic opioid fentanyl so far this year are 465% higher than in 2019, rising to almost 2,300 pounds (1,040 kilograms) from around 405 pounds ( 184 kilograms) last year, but progress against another big Mexican export to the U.S. market — methamphetamines — is slower. The Defense Department said seizures of meth in Mexico rose by only 32.8% between Jan. 1 and Sept. 16, but busts of meth labs dropped 51% compared to the same period of last year.
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| China launches counter-mechanism to US sanctions list Posted: 18 Sep 2020 10:38 PM PDT  China said Saturday it had launched a mechanism enabling it to restrict foreign entities, a much-anticipated move seen as retaliation to US penalties against Chinese companies such as telecom giant Huawei.
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| American Airlines CEO says hundreds of thousands will lose their jobs without additional emergency aid Posted: 18 Sep 2020 06:22 AM PDT  "It's not fair to them, it's not fair to our country," Doug Parker said about the upcoming mass layoffs in the airline sector.
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| China holds military drill as US envoy visits Taiwan Posted: 18 Sep 2020 02:07 AM PDT  The military drills near the Taiwan Strait comes as China accuses the US and Taiwan of "collusion".
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| Trump: I'm the best thing to happen to Puerto Rico Posted: 18 Sep 2020 01:49 PM PDT  President Donald Trump has announced nearly $13 billion in aid to Puerto Rico to help rebuild the electrical grid and repair schools following devastating storms. The grant comes amid criticism the assistance is politically motivated. (Sept. 18)
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| 'They should have let us die in the water': desperate Lebanese migrants sent back by Cyprus Posted: 18 Sep 2020 04:09 AM PDT  Mohammad Ghandour never thought he'd be one of them. "In Lebanon, we are being killed by poverty," Ghandour told Reuters this week, from his mother's cramped three-room apartment where he was staying with 12 other family members. Ghandour, 37, is one of dozens of Lebanese who've attempted the journey since late August, when rights groups say a rise in the number of boats leaving Lebanon began.
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| Man rides out Hurricane Sally in RV Posted: 18 Sep 2020 06:51 PM PDT  As Hurricane Sally crawled onto shore during the early hours of Wednesday morning, coastal residents from Mississippi to Florida braced for impact.The storm had given areas along the Gulf Coast a preview of its power ahead of landfall, a barge crashing into Pensacola's Three Mile Bridge on Tuesday amid deteriorating conditions.As the storm approached landfall on Wednesday, people staying at Playa Del Rio RV Park in Perdido Key, an unincorporated community between Pensacola and Orange Beach in Escambia County, Florida, took cover. Some headed for the public restroom building on site, which sat on slightly higher ground."They had a big party in the lady's room. Most of the people went into the bathroom," Camp host John Russ told AccuWeather Reporter Bill Wadell. "I stayed in the RV." Camp host John Russ took shelter in his RV during Hurricane Sally. (AccuWeather/Bill Wadell) Hurricane Sally struck Gulf Shores, Alabama, on Sept. 16, the 16th anniversary of Hurricane Ivan making landfall in the same city, as a Category 2 hurricane. The storm's flooding rainfall and lashing winds, however, extended into nearby areas such as Pensacola, Florida, where a section of the Three Mile Bridge across Pensacola Bay went missing after the hurricane.Hurricane Sally made landfall at its peak intensity with maximum sustained winds of 105 mph, dumping over two feet of rain over Pensacola as it crawled northward around 3 mph.But while storm surge and powerful winds pushed around -- and even flipped over -- RVs closer to the marina, his stayed upright, though the one of the tires had started lifting off the ground. John Russ's RV, which he took shelter in during the storm, remained upright throughout Hurricane Sally's onslaught. (AccuWeather/Bill Wadell) Billy Pardue from Birmingham, Alabama, who was parked just behind Russ, wasn't as lucky with his RV."We secured everything and did the best we could," Pardue told Wadell. "By then, the water was already so high there wasn't much we could do." Billy Pardue stands in front of his camper, which he had to righten after Hurricane Sally flipped it onto its side. (AccuWeather/Bill Wadell) Pardue had visited the park before the hurricane to prepare the vehicle for the storm, but hadn't stuck around. When he returned after Sally, he found the RV flipped onto its side. He had to righten it to retrieve his personal belongings."There were several of [the campers] that were flipped over," Pardue said. "Everyone of them around has been displaced and moved around." Vehicles at the park were flipped or displaced after Hurricane Sally. (AccuWeather/Bill Wadell) Despite the chaos Sally had brought to this corner of Escambia County, everyone at the park had made it through the storm safely. As for the campers and RVs, Pardue expressed that they could always be replaced."It's just things," Pardue said. "Things can be replaced. Good thing is nobody got hurt and everybody's accounted for."Reporting by Bill Wadell.
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| Biden makes push for voters on National Black Voter Day Posted: 18 Sep 2020 05:30 AM PDT  Joe Biden's campaign unveiled a series of nationwide digital events Friday targeting Black voters in swing states — a strategic move by the Democratic presidential nominee to further energize the key demographic as the race heads into its final weeks. The virtual events, which will commemorate Friday's inaugural National Black Voter Day, will begin with a voter registration and early vote rally in North Carolina featuring vice presidential nominee Sen. Kamala Harris as part of the campaign's "Turn Up and Turn out the Vote Virtual Bus Tour." The tour is a joint effort with the Congressional Black Caucus' PAC and will be spread across a full weekend of events, according to plans shared first with The Associated Press.
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| There's a World War II-era blueprint for the looming eviction crisis Posted: 18 Sep 2020 02:50 AM PDT  In what has been described as a "sweeping" protection for renters, this month the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention declared a nationwide moratorium on evictions until the end of the year. Even so, experts and activists worry it is not enough to address the ongoing economic crisis created by the coronavirus pandemic. Non-profit Aspen Institute released new data in August that projected around 30 million Americans could be at risk for eviction by the end of 2020. The moratorium does not reduce these individuals' risk. It merely postpones it.Congress is focused on passing another relief bill, but members have seemingly placed little emphasis on how to address the predicted evictions other than moratoriums, despite record high unemployment. The United States has, however, dealt with an affordable housing crisis before. A government agency of the past kept tenants in their homes and may be a guide for today.In 1942, memories of the Great Depression, unemployment, and the post-World War I housing shortage remained fresh. In response, the Office of Price Administration (OPA), established by Executive Order 8875 in 1941 to ration goods and enact price and rent controls, declared 20 "defense rental areas" in 13 states. In these areas, not only could the OPA keep rents affordable, the office could also deny landlords' trying to evict tenants. Rents were rolled back to pre-inflation rates and offices were established within rental areas to investigate any attempted increases or abuses.The offices spread. Only five years after the first rental areas, there were more than 600 across the country.Marques Vestal, an incoming professor of Critical Black Urbanism at UCLA, researches the types of complaints the rent office in Los Angeles handled. Vestal points out the simplicity of a rent office where working-class people without legal backgrounds could check rent ceilings and file complaints against landlords. OPA investigators "were aggressive with defending tenants as consumers of housing. Tenants saw [the rental office] as a space that was safe for them," he told The Week.Vestal found one complaint filed by a Russian immigrant woman who complained about her landlord's whiskey consumption. Although the complaint was not strictly rent-related, Vestal said, "She believed in this new entity. She trusted them to intervene."After adopting new regulations in 1942, the Federal Price Administrator, Leon Henderson, justified the decision by saying, "someone had to come to the defense of tenants." Today, even the eviction moratorium is framed as a defense against the spread of the novel coronavirus, not the rights of tenants.In 1945, the OPA denied a landlord's request to raise the rent from $50 to $60 a month in a Flatbush, New York property. After the OPA advised the tenants to not pay a higher rent, the landlord cut the heat to the property, a move not dissimilar to tactics used by some of today's New York City landlords.A study of Chicago by St. Clair Drake and Horace Cayton from the same year describes tenants lining up to file complaints with the office. Historian Wendy Plotkin said attempted abuses were rampant in Chicago during that period, but the very existence of these offices, which required landlords to register their units, and their usage by tenants is an important reminder that evictions are not an inevitability.Joshua Freeman, a labor historian at the City University of New York and author of Working-Class New York: Life and Labor since World War II, described the rent regulations as effective because it was not only the OPA working to uphold tenants' rights. "Political parties set up rent clinics where you could go complain. There were volunteer lawyers," he said. Non-governmental groups were committed to increasing access to OPA's rental offices.The OPA's authorization ended in 1947, but state legislatures could adopt rental protections following the office's dissolution. Some areas, like New York, did incorporate rent control into their own laws, but with the passing of the OPA went much of tenants' recourse across the country. Even as an example of a city that adopted OPA protections, without the government agency and a strong network of unions, New York City eventually turned toward public-private partnerships and replaced rent control with rent stabilization laws.Today, the CDC order and some extended local moratoriums may give renters the ability to postpone eviction proceedings, but accruing six month's back rent is a far cry from the protection the OPA provided.Unexpectedly, many landlords and tenants have found themselves arguing for a similar solution: direct rental assistance. Back in August, Democratic nominee Joe Biden called on Trump to work with Congress to provide emergency housing support for Americans, but didn't elaborate on what the support should look like.Progressive housing activists and Congresswoman Ilhan Omar are pushing for more: Cancel rent entirely. Landlords could receive federal assistance to cover their mortgages. These plans may allow government money to flow to landlords and halt evictions, but none have the regulatory power found in the OPA. Nor do the plans seek to redress the growing cost of housing.In the past, the U.S. government used emergency powers to keep renters in their homes. Today, despite the very real emergency conditions, it seems the most the Trump administration will do is allow renters to become increasingly indebted.More stories from theweek.com How a productivity phenomenon explains the unraveling of America How the Trump-Russia story was buried The conservatives who want to undo the Enlightenment
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| Seattle mayor and police chief told to remedy ‘unacceptable’ arrest of Independent journalist Posted: 18 Sep 2020 06:28 AM PDT  Seattle councillor says the arrest of Andrew Buncombe violated the US constitution and Seattle Municipal Code
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| Trump's 1776 commission is proof America is spiraling toward fascism Posted: 19 Sep 2020 06:00 AM PDT  Trump is setting up the commission to teach students 'the miracle of American history' – which sounds like a core part of the fascist process of taking powerSign up for the Week in Patriarchy, a newsletter on feminism and sexism sent every Saturday. Gilead here we comeCan we use the F word yet? Can we finally admit that America is dipping its feet in fascism? Armed militias are roaming the streets; Donald Trump is laying the groundwork to discredit the results of the 2020 election; the press has been labelled the "enemy of the people"; there are credible allegations that migrant women in detention camps are being coerced into having their uteruses removed; "anti-fascists" have been branded public enemy number one. And now Trump has announced a "national commission to support patriotic education" – in other words, a racist propaganda program."Leftwing rioting and mayhem are the direct result of decades of left-wing indoctrination in our schools," Trump declared in a speech on Thursday. He went on to condemn critical race theory and the 1619 Project, the New York Time's Pulitzer-prize winning initiative to reframe American history by placing the consequences of slavery at the center. "[T]he crusade against American history is toxic propaganda [that] will destroy our country," he announced. Per Trump, the only way to save the United States is to revise its history entirely; to gloss over violent colonialism and slavery and pretend America doesn't have a bigoted bone in its body. Which is why, Trump said, he is setting up a 1776 Commission to teach students "about the miracle of American history". Well, "miracle" is certainly one way to describe something completely made-up.The federal government doesn't have jurisdiction over school curriculum – but don't let that reassure you into thinking that Trump's 1776 Commission is pure puff. Whenever Trump comes out with an outrageous plan there are always people rushing to point out that he won't actually be able to follow through with it; that checks and balances will stop him. But Trump has already stormed through many of these checks and balances; he's already normalized behaviour that would have brought down any other president. If he gets another term there are no limits to what he might do; hello re-education camps, goodbye reproductive rights! And that, ultimately, is what his speech on Thursday was about; it wasn't so much about American history as it was about America's future. It was a promise to his base that he will Make America White Again.Hannah Arendt famously talked about the banality of evil – unspeakable horrors are often perpetuated by unthinking people simply "doing their job". What we're living through right now might be characterized as the inanity of evil. Trump is still treated as a figure of fun a lot of the time. A buffoon incapable of becoming a "proper" fascist. Objective White Men™ have lined up to lecture us all on how Trump isn't all that bad and belittle fear of what he is capable of as "elite hysterics." (Easy to talk dismissively about "hysterics" when you don't have a uterus that Trump wants to control.) But as Madeleine Albright explained in a discussion of her 2018 book, Fascism: A Warning, "Fascism is not an ideology; it's a process for taking and holding power." Propaganda like the 1776 commission, narratives that make a dominant cultural group feel like victims, is a core part of that process. The most patriotic thing a person can do is tell the truth, and the truth is that America is spiraling towards fascism horrifyingly fast. Is Ice removing migrant women's uteruses?A privately run Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) detention center in Georgia has been accused of coercing migrant women to have hysterectomies without their informed consent. The Department of Homeland Security is now investigating the allegations, some of which were submitted as a whistle-blower complaint by a nurse at the facility. It's hard to wrap your head around how something this horrific could be happening but, as Moira Donegan explains, "the allegations of forced sterilizations would make the Irwin county detention center only the latest in America's long history of eugenics, which has disproportionately targeted women of color". Emily Ratajkowski on buying herself back"All these men, some of whom I knew intimately and others I'd never met, were debating who owned an image of me," the model writes in a powerful essay for the Cut. "I have learned that my image, my reflection, is not my own." Should Margaret Court's name be removed from a prestigious tennis arena?Andy Murray is the latest person to say he reckons the Australian Open should consider removing Court's name from the arena at Melbourne Park. While 78-year-old Court may be a tennis legend she is also a raging homophobe: she once warned that tennis is full of lesbians intent on recruiting impressionable youngsters. Kathryn Farmer becomes the first female CEO of a major American railroadFarmer will become CEO of Berkshire Hathaway's BNSF Railway next year. Almost all of the US kids and teens who've died from Covid-19 were Hispanic or BlackAccording to a new report from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 121 kids and young adults under 21 have died from Covid-19. "Hispanic, non-Hispanic Black and non-Hispanic American Indian/Alaskan Native persons accounted for 94 (78%) of these deaths." Donald Trump is accused of sexual assault for the millionth timeThe 26th time, actually, but who's counting? The week in porridge-archyIt delights me to inform you of the existence of the Golden Spurtle World Porridge Making Championship, an annual cook-off held in (where else?) Scotland. Not even Covid-19 can get in the way of oatmeal enthusiasts: the competition will be held online this year, with creative spins on the dish reviewed by an official Porridge Committee. Gruel-ing work.
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| US borders with Canada, Mexico to remain closed through Oct. 21 to 'slow spread of COVID-19' Posted: 19 Sep 2020 06:07 AM PDT  Neither border closure extension comes as much of a surprise: The U.S., Canada and Mexico have all seen a rise in cases since August.
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| Firefighter who hung brown doll from neck in Wisconsin station suspended, chief says Posted: 18 Sep 2020 12:54 PM PDT  Milwaukee's fire chief called it a "gross lack of judgment."
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