| 'Sleeping while black': Family seeks justice for Breonna Taylor, killed in her bedroom by police Posted: 13 May 2020 02:08 PM PDT  Breonna Taylor was asleep in her Louisville, Ky., home when three police officers forced their way inside and unloaded eight bullets into her body, according to a lawsuit filed by Taylor's family.
|
| Trump Calls for Obama to Be Hauled Before Congress for Massive Crimes He Declines to Outline Posted: 14 May 2020 08:56 AM PDT  If President Donald Trump's Twitter feed is an indication of where his head is at, his thoughts on Thursday morning were far from the 84,000 Americans that have died from COVID-19. The president's morning obsessions included Barack Obama, a government whistleblower, his 22-0 record on congressional endorsements, and unspecified "good numbers" coming out of states that have begun to wind back pandemic-related shutdowns. In a tweet tagging Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, Trump called for former President Obama to be brought before Congress to testify about unspecified crimes that Trump thinks constitutes the biggest scandal in history.Bill Barr Can't Investigate Barack Obama. Who Says So? Bill Barr."If I were a Senator or Congressman, the first person I would call to testify about the biggest political crime and scandal in the history of the USA, by FAR, is former President Obama," he wrote. "He knew EVERYTHING. Do it @LindseyGrahamSC, just do it. No more Mr. Nice Guy. No more talk!"Trump has been loudly complaining about "OBAMAGATE!" in recent days, first amplifying the allegations in a stream of 120 tweets and retweets on May 10. But he has conveniently declined to say what crimes Obama is supposed to have committed.Asked by a Washington Post journalist this week, Trump responded: "Obamagate. It's been going on for a long time. It's been going on from before I even got elected. And it's a disgrace that it happened."When pressed to say what offense was committed, Trump said: "You know what the crime is. The crime is very obvious to everybody. All you have to do is read the newspapers, except yours."Trump and his allies have long claimed, without evidence, that the investigation into Russian election meddling, started by the FBI in 2017, was a hit job by the outgoing Obama administration. Since the Department of Justice sensationally moved to drop its case against Trump's one-time National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, who pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his contact with Russian officials, Trump's "Obamagate" conspiracy theories have reached fever pitch. Richard Grenell, Trump's acting director of national intelligence, released a declassified list on Tuesday of Obama administration officials who sought to "unmask" Flynn—a fairly common practice by senior officials who want to know the names of people under government surveillance. (Under privacy laws and intelligence regulations, the names of Americans picked up on foreign wire taps are concealed unless officials ask that they be unmasked.)Trump and his supporters claimed the list shared by Grenell, which included Trump's likely 2020 opponent Joe Biden, was more proof that the Obama administration sought to sabotage the incoming Trump administration.Graham, whose panel is investigating the origins of the Russia probe, is unlikely to take up Trump's call to bring Obama before Congress. "I don't think now's the time for me to do that. I don't know if that's even possible," he told Politico on Thursday, reiterating his comments from earlier in the week that he was not anticipating calling Obama. "I understand President Trump's frustration, but be careful what you wish for," he added.Attorney General William Barr also launched a separate investigation into the origins of the FBI's Russia investigation, but the prosecutor he put in charge has not interviewed at least five key potential witnesses or targets, multiple sources told The Daily Beast.While Trump's call for Obama to participate in a quasi-show trial seems outlandish, some presidents and former presidents have been called to testify before Congress on rare occasions.After tweeting about "OBAMAGATE!" on Thursday, Trump pivoted to trashing the reputation of Rick Bright, a government scientist-turned-whistleblower who is testifying before Congress on Thursday. Bright claims he was ousted from his job overseeing coronavirus vaccine research after questioning the efficacy of an anti-malarial drug favored by the president.By Wednesday, at least 84,239 Americans had died of the coronavirus, according to Johns Hopkins University. 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.
|
| 'Unrepentant racist' and 'bulls---': Both Republicans and Democrats lawmakers condemn the idea of reinstating Steve King after racist comments Posted: 13 May 2020 05:18 PM PDT  "Steve King is an unrepentant racist," one Democratic lawmaker tweeted. "The GOP was right to try to exclude him."
|
| A black delivery driver filmed himself being trapped in an Oklahoma City neighborhood as an HOA president demanded to know why he was there Posted: 14 May 2020 01:45 PM PDT  Travis Miller, a delivery driver in Oklahoma City, says the HOA president demanded to know how he got into the gated community.
|
| California hospitals brace for fresh coronavirus wave as Mexico comes hotspot Posted: 14 May 2020 10:35 AM PDT  Hospitals in southern California have reported a spike in coronavirus admissions as people flee the growing crisis over the border in Mexico. San Diego and a number of frontier towns are bracing for a larger exodus of dual American-Mexican citizens should the outbreak in Mexico worsen. Over the past few weeks, cases have increased dramatically in National City, Chula Vista and El Cajon counties, according to new data. Hospital Chula Vista said it is already near capacity for patients critically ill with Covid-19, the disease caused by the virus. While Scripps Mercy Hospital Chula Vista now has roughly 30 to 35 beds occupied by coronavirus patients on any given day, the most it can handle. "I think we are concerned with border cities and are starting to see some activity related to what might be happening in Mexico," Scott Evans, CEO of Sharp's Grossmont, which runs Hospital Chula Vista, told local KPBS news network. "There are lots of people that go back and forth between Mexico and the United States even for work. That remains a concern for us."
|
| Interstate reopens as southwest Florida wildfire still burns Posted: 14 May 2020 07:47 AM PDT |
| Forget murder hornets. Giant gypsy moths could bring 'serious, widespread damage' to the US. Posted: 13 May 2020 09:17 AM PDT  Forget murder hornets. Now we've got giant Asian gypsy moths to worry about. And they could cause widespread damage, experts say.
|
| Palestinian shot dead after ramming car into Israeli soldiers: army Posted: 14 May 2020 09:32 AM PDT  A Palestinian rammed a car into Israeli soldiers in the occupied West Bank on Thursday before being shot dead, the Israeli army said. "An assailant drove at a high speed towards (Israeli) soldiers adjacent to a military post near the community of Negohot, southwest of Hebron," an army statement said. The Palestinian health ministry confirmed he was a Palestinian, and his family named him as Bahaa Al-Awawdeh.
|
| Only 2 migrants allowed to seek refuge under emergency border order Posted: 13 May 2020 09:02 PM PDT  More than 20,000 migrants, including unaccompanied children, have been expelled from the southern border under the emergency directive.
|
| 25 Graduation Gifts They Need (And Want) Post-College Posted: 14 May 2020 12:43 PM PDT |
| Ahmaud Arbery’s Accused Killer Was Barred From Making Arrests After Skipping Use-of-Force Training Posted: 14 May 2020 10:39 AM PDT  Gregory McMichael, the former Georgia police detective charged in the fatal shooting of 25-year-old Ahmaud Arbery, was stripped of his law-enforcement certification last February after failing to complete required use-of-force courses, records state. Records first obtained by The Washington Post show that McMichael, 64, lost his power to arrest after repeatedly failing to complete required training sessions—even after a 2014 warning that he had not finished mandatory force and firearms courses. During his 37-year career in law enforcement, McMichael was stripped of his law-enforcement powers twice: Once in January 2006 after an undisclosed infraction and again in February 2019 after the Georgia Peace Officer Stands and Training Council (POST) suspended him for "failure to maintain training for the year." Ahmaud Arbery's Killers Confronted Him Two Weeks Before His Death, Neighbor ClaimsIn all, McMichael had fallen short in various types of training hours in 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, and 2010—and did not complete the mandatory use-of-force and firearms training for at least three of those years, the documents from the Brunswick Judicial Circuit District Attorney's Office state."This situation has been a great embarrassment to me and to Investigator McMichael," Brunswick District Attorney Jackie Johnson wrote in a June 2014 letter to the Georgia POST director. "It has negatively impacted my office, and I have taken measures to ensure that it doesn't happen again. Please accept my sincere apology."McMichaels and his son, 34-year-old Travis McMichael, are currently facing murder and aggravated assault charges for allegedly chasing and shooting Arbery on Feb. 23 while he was jogging on a residential street in Georgia.The slaying—which many have described as a "lynching"—and the subsequent investigation spurred a national outcry and a Department of Justice investigation days after graphic footage emerged of the shooting in the Satilla Shores neighborhood of Brunswick. "We cannot turn away a video that shows two white men casing a black man and killing him," Becky Monroe, the director of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights who previously served as interim director of the Department of Justice's Community Relations Service, told The Daily Beast. "We cannot turn away from that video and we cannot turn away from the facts of this case. We need a full investigation into the case."The charges against the McMichaels come more than two months after Arbery, who was unarmed, died and after the case was bounced to three local prosecutors—two of whom are currently under investigation—before it was ultimately referred to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. Why Aren't Ahmaud Arbery's Killers Facing Hate-Crime Charges? It's Georgia.The Georgia Bureau of Investigation alleges that on Feb. 23 the father and son, armed with a shotgun and a .357 Magnum, confronted Arbery, who was about two miles from his home, before Travis McMichael shot him. The entire incident was captured on video by Bryan.The two white men have said they were chasing Arbery along the tree-lined road because they wanted to make a citizen's arrest on the man they suspected of being a burglar—though authorities have said there were no break-ins reported in the more than seven weeks prior to Arbery's death. In the face of the national outcry, two defense attorneys retained by Gregory claimed in a statement to The Daily Beast on Thursday that a "rush to judgment" has caused the public to vilify their client. "While the death of Ahmaud Arbery is a tragedy, causing deep grief to his family—a tragedy that at first appears to many to fit into a terrible pattern in American life—this case does not fit that pattern. The full story, to be revealed in time, will tell the truth about this case," Frank Hogue, one of the attorneys, said. The documents from the Brunswick Judicial Circuit District Attorney's Office, however, provide a detailed—though incomplete—look at the 64-year-old's history with Glynn County.According to the personnel documents, McMichael fought to keep his arrest powers several times after skipping out on trainings—writing in 2014 that the missed hours were the result of numerous health issues he and his wife had suffered from in 2006 and again in 2009."Again I do not offer this information as an excuse, I knew full well that I was responsible for attending the proper amount of training but failed to do so," McMichael wrote in his waiver application to the training council. "The years 2006 through 2009 were a very difficult period in my life. I allowed the difficulty of the situation to cloud my judgment."The 64-year-old's waiver was granted, according to the records, and he continued to serve as an investigator in Johnson's office until the problem arose again in February 2019. Instead of fighting the suspension, McMichael agreed in a memorandum to give up his badge and weapon. He was reassigned to the Camden County District Attorney's office as a non-sworn employee before he ultimately retired in June. "To that end, Mr. McMichael will not carry a firearm or badge, nor will he operate any vehicle in the motor pool outfitted with lights, siren or police radio equipment," the 2019 memo stated, according to The Washington Post. McMichael and his son are currently being held without bond at the Glynn County Detention Center. His lawyers said they plan to schedule a preliminary hearing soon, at which point "more of the truth will come out, and they will petition the court to set bail."Demands for justice in Arbery's case continued on Thursday. The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, American Civil Liberties Union, the NAACP, and 110 additional organizations issued a letter to U.S. Attorney General William Barr calling for a "full and thorough hate crimes investigation" into the case and a federal civil rights investigation into the local district attorneys—and the Glynn County Police Department—for what they call "systemic constitutional abuses." A Kentucky EMT Worker Was Killed During a 'No-Knock' Police Raid. The Target Was Already in Custody.Their demand comes one day after more than 80 lawmakers, spearheaded by New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, issued a letter to the DOJ with a similar plea. "The DOJ has publicly acknowledged the real and growing threat of white supremacy and white nationalism in the United States. The murder of Ahmaud Arbery and the actions of the local district attorneys and police department warrant the DOJ's action," the group wrote in the letter. "This terrifying violence is not new; it is part of the continuing dehumanization of Black people across America," the letter says. "We cannot fight the racism, hate, and impunity that threaten the lives of Black people and other people of color unless the department takes the necessary actions to ensure full and real accountability."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.
|
| Apple's top lobbyist resigned after getting tapped to work on Joe Biden's campaign Posted: 14 May 2020 04:23 AM PDT  Apple's head of policy and government affairs Cynthia Hogan has a long history of working with Joe Biden.
|
| Naked doll hanging by a noose prompts fight at armed anti-lockdown protest in Michigan Posted: 14 May 2020 11:56 AM PDT  A fight broke out between anti-lockdown protesters in Michigan after one began waving an American flag with a doll tied to the pole by a noose around its neck.As armed demonstrators gathered at Michigan's State Capitol to denounce the governor's stay-at-home orders, one man began waving his flag with the naked doll attached in one hand while also carrying an axe in the other.
|
| China's rejects planned U.S. moves at U.N. on Iran sanctions Posted: 14 May 2020 11:53 AM PDT |
| France requires face masks but still bans Islamic face coverings Posted: 13 May 2020 06:31 AM PDT  All citizens must wear a mask — but women in face-covering Islamic garb could be punished.
|
| Trump Supreme Court goal: Slow walk the cases, hide secrets until the election is over Posted: 13 May 2020 01:01 PM PDT  If Trump can delay a decision on his financial records, he'll be able to keep any damaging information under wraps during his 2020 reelection campaign.
|
| Cuomo is letting billionaires plan New York's future. It doesn't have to be this way Posted: 14 May 2020 06:01 AM PDT  The New York governor is replacing elected representatives with private, unaccountable monopolists, and lawmakers across the US are doing the same thing * Coronavirus – live US updates * Live global updatesLast week, New York's governor, Andrew Cuomo, announced that Bill Gates would be responsible for "reimagining" New York's education system. Cuomo also asked former Google chief executive Eric Schmidt to lead a panel planning New York's post-Covid tech infrastructure.As Naomi Klein writes, the appointments of Schmidt and Gates represent a "Pandemic Shock Doctrine … that is being rushed into being as the bodies still pile up [and] treats our past weeks of physical isolation not as a painful necessity to save lives, but as a living laboratory for a permanent – and highly profitable – no-touch future".As she points out, the two billionaires have disastrous records in the precise areas of public policy they are charged with leading. The Gates Foundation was the driving force behind high-stakes testing regimes and the Common Core fiasco. And Schmidt's vision of the future is Black Mirror with a bow on it: mass surveillance plus public investment in companies in which he has a stake.Even if Schmidt and Gates had good policies, Cuomo's knighting of them is offensive to American self-government. Nobody voted for them and they are accountable to no one. Cuomo, often accused of being too close to big campaign donors, is tripling down: he is simply allowing billionaires to plan our future directly, taking out the middlemen.In case you had any doubt that this is a new form of government worming its way into our old democratic ways, Cuomo anointed these tsars at the exact same time that he took vast new powers away from the state legislature, which has not been holding regular legislative hearings since 1 April. Lawmakers are notably MIA in the middle of a pandemic – and by all accounts Cuomo likes it that way.Turning away from locally-elected representatives, and towards billionaires with no accountability, represents a terrible erosion of democratic decision-making: Cuomo is quite literally replacing elected representatives with private, unaccountable monopolists. And too many other lawmakers across the US are doing the same thing.From California to Florida, states are turning to big corporations, CEOs and trade associations to not only decide when and how these states should "reopen", but also what the post-virus economy should look like. The various taskforces and panels states have convened to chart a way forward are populated by executives from Pepsi, Dell, Disney and other corporations.The White House has trotted out a steady stream of Wall Street bankers, pharma executives, and big-box store CEOs to make promises about pandemic recovery measures. (Which haven't been kept – for instance, weeks later, the promised Target and Walmart parking lot testing sites hadn't materialized.)Meanwhile, the Cares Act, Congress' coronavirus rescue package, is an authoritarian, top-down, big business restructuring of the already monopolized American economy. It gives extraordinary powers to the treasury secretary to reshape manufacturing, retail and banking in America, with almost no oversight, via easy access to trillions of dollars from the Federal Reserve.Too many decision-makers are ceding their policy to corporate power and private sector privilege.> Even before this pandemic, turning to big businesses and their wealthy owners was a common condition of policymakingEven before this terrible pandemic, turning first to big businesses and their wealthy owners was a common condition of American policymaking. When federal lawmakers want to juice the economy, they pass tax cuts for big corporations and the wealthy. When state and city lawmakers want to promote economic development, they dole out giveaways to big companies, providing them a leg up over smaller, more local competitors, often without letting constituents know until the contracts have all been signed.When those deals become well-publicized enough – like Amazon's HQ2 deal with New York – local communities have shown they can fight back and stop them. These battles aren't just about subsidies and inequality, they are about democracy: who governs us?Deference to big business isn't smart. The extremely concentrated, too-smart-to-fail medical industry failed; monopolization and bad trade policy, championed by the very men who now want to govern us, has led to mass death and suffering. The medical system couldn't take the shock of the pandemic, thanks to outsourced supply chains and a rotting for-profit hospital system.Coronavirus has created a constitutional crisis of sorts, one where the rules of representation, power and decision-making are up for grabs. As during the Great Depression, the fundamental facets of power – who has it, what constrains its use – are changing before our eyes. Monopolists are seizing power and market share for themselves, setting themselves up as the arbiters of our collective futures.The pandemic has revealed just how far apart the incentives of big business and workers and community members are: big business wants to acquire power and profit. Owners get to stay at one of their many homes, sanitized, safe, while employees face terrible choices about the risks they create for their family members by going to work. The stock market is booming while low-wage, and disproportionately female and minority, employees get sick and die in the name of economic recovery.It doesn't have to be this way. We must build a post-pandemic economy that is not only more resilient to external shocks but also fairer for the workers who bear the brunt of downturns. That's a lesson everyone - from the president to Andrew Cuomo to your local city council member – needs to learn, fast. * Zephyr Teachout is an associate professor at Fordham Law School and the author of Break 'Em Up: Recovering Our Freedom from Big Ag, Big Tech, and Big Money * Pat Garofalo is director of state and local policy at the American Economic Liberties Project and the author of The Billionaire Boondoggle: How Our Politicians Let Corporations and Bigwigs Steal Our Money and Jobs
|
| Israel eyes closing down evangelical channel Posted: 13 May 2020 08:48 AM PDT  "There are 9 million people in Israel who need to hear the gospel of Jesus," channel CEO Ward Simpson said.
|
| Elon Musk sent a thank-you note to Tesla's workers returning to work — but some employees fear for their jobs if they don't go back Posted: 13 May 2020 04:43 AM PDT  Musk has grown increasingly frustrated with Tesla having to cease operations due to lockdown orders brought on by the coronavirus pandemic.
|
| Michigan settles suit after landmark right to read ruling Posted: 13 May 2020 10:28 PM PDT  Gov. Gretchen Whitmer will ask the Michigan Legislature to provide at least $94.4 million to Detroit's public schools to settle a lawsuit that describes the city's schools as "slum-like" and incapable of delivering access to literacy. The settlement agreement was signed Thursday and comes weeks after a federal appeals court issued a groundbreaking decision recognizing a constitutional right to education and literacy. Under the settlement, Whitmer must propose legislation to fund literacy-related programs and other initiatives for the Detroit Public Schools Community District.
|
| Letters to the Editor: Ahmaud Arbery's killing was heinous, but it wasn't a surprise Posted: 14 May 2020 03:00 AM PDT  Black runners have long expressed fear that simply going out for exercise can kill them — and Ahmaud Arbery's death proves them right.
|
| Brazil coronavirus cases hit daily record as Bolsonaro pressures CEOs Posted: 14 May 2020 03:48 PM PDT  Brazil registered a daily record 13,944 new cases of the novel coronavirus on Thursday, as President Jair Bolsonaro urged business leaders to push for lifting lockdown orders in financial center Sao Paulo to help the economy. Brazil is the hardest hit country in Latin America with a tally of 202,918 confirmed cases of the virus and 13,933 deaths, since the outbreak began, according to health ministry data. Bolsonaro has railed against the economic damage caused by state and local government social distancing measures, taking his campaign to reopen the economy to Brazil's business community on Thursday.
|
| Afghan attack: Maternity ward death toll climbs to 24 Posted: 13 May 2020 01:23 PM PDT  Afghan mothers and babies make up most of the dead in militant violence condemned for its savagery.
|
| China fears alienation from new global economic order Posted: 13 May 2020 02:53 AM PDT  One of China's top trade negotiators warned that his country's handling of the coronavirus pandemic could lead to alienation from the new global economic order. Long Yongtu, the former vice-minister of the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation who helped secure China a place at the World Trade Organization in 2001 added to growing concern in Beijing over the long-term fallout. "China is an important participant in globalisation," Long said at an online finance summit. "When people begin to talk about 'deglobalisation,' it also indicates some level of 'de-sinicisation.' Therefore, we need to be highly wary of that."
|
| Biden is crushing Trump among older Wisconsin voters in new Marquette poll Posted: 12 May 2020 11:41 PM PDT  A poll of Wisconsin voters from Marquette University Law School released Tuesday shows former Vice President Joe Biden beating President Trump in the crucial swing state by 3 percentage points, 46 percent to 43 percent, within the margin of error. But mind the age gap: Trump leads Biden among voters 30-59, "a pattern that has held in most of the Marquette Law School polls since August," Marquette notes, but Biden's lead among voters 60 and older — 18 points — is larger than his 10-point advantage in voters 18 to 29.> In presidential race in WI, Biden holds an advantage over Trump among 18-29 year old voters, leading in that group 51% to 41%. Biden also leads among voters 60 and over, 55% to 37%. mulawpoll> > — MULawPoll (@MULawPoll) May 12, 2020Biden also led Trump by 3 points, 48 percent to 45 percent, in the last Marquette poll in March, and polls since August have shown a close race, with Trump leading in November and the two candidates tied in February. Marquette's new poll was conducted via phone May 3-7 among 811 Wisconsin registered voters. The margin of error is ±4 percentage points.Nationally, Trump won voters 65 and up by 7 points, and he led Democrat Hillary Clinton by 5 points at this point in 2016, The New York Times notes. Some public polls and internal campaign polling now show Biden winning by at least 10 points nationally, the Times reports, and some Trump campaign officials attribute the dangerous softening of support among older voters to Trump's coronavirus briefings, arguing that "older voters will return now that Mr. Trump has phased out his self-congratulatory version of a fireside chat."Vox's Sean Collins writes that publicly available national polling still has Trump leading among seniors but consistently losing to Biden among the general electorate, and "much of what is driving Biden's advantage appears to be support among Generation Z and millennial voters." But even if Biden just peels off some of Trump's support among senior citizens, one of the president's most important constituencies, that could tip what is expected to be a close election, the Times notes, in Wisconsin and other swing states.More stories from theweek.com The conservative victimhood complex has made America impossible to govern Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Kimmel, and Seth Meyers consider why Trump, GOP, Fox News are gunning for Fauci GOP senators release list of Obama officials who asked to 'unmask' Flynn. It 'backfired,' Biden campaign says.
|
| 4-foot-long lizards that can eat 'just about anything they want' are taking over Georgia Posted: 14 May 2020 09:07 AM PDT  Argentine black and white tegu lizards, which can grow up to four feet long and weigh more than 10 pounds, are an invasive species in Georgia.
|
| A Civil War Has Erupted in the Anti-Vaxx Movement and It’s Just as Ridiculous as You’d Expect Posted: 14 May 2020 01:03 AM PDT  One would think that a global pandemic resulting in the deaths of tens of thousands of Americans would present a fair number of challenges for anti-vaccine activists. But in the wake of the spread of the novel coronavirus, the community is—to borrow an overused phrase—having a moment. They're pushing their dangerous views at anti-lockdown protests across the country, raising fears about the risks of any future COVID-19 vaccine. Plandemic, the coronavirus conspiracy-theory video starring a discredited doctor allied with anti-vaccine activists, racked up millions of views on social media before it was banned from YouTube and Facebook. In Australia, a crowd called for billionaire Bill Gates to be arrested—all for the "crime" of funding vaccine research. And yet, with increased visibility comes heightened pressure. And as the anti-vaccine movement tries to take advantage of the pandemic, it's been torn in half by a new feud and multiple lawsuits over the most damaging claim someone can make about an anti-vaccine activist: that they secretly support vaccines.The Anti-Vax Doctor Undermining the COVID-19 Response in MontanaOn one side of the fight is Robert F. Kennedy Jr., perhaps the country's most prominent anti-vaccine activist, whose own family members have disowned his anti-vaccine views. On the other is Shiva Ayyadurai, the self-styled "inventor of email" who's running in the Republican primary for a Massachusetts Senate seat. Last week, their simmering fight over leadership of the anti-vaccine movement spilled into court, with Ayyadurai suing Kennedy for $95 million for defamation.Ayyadurai has been publicly feuding with Kennedy since at least January, when he claimed on Twitter that Kennedy was afraid to take a picture with him at an anti-vaccine event and tying Kennedy to Hillary Clinton, who has been dubbed in the community as the "vaccine queen." The clash between the two has only accelerated in the coronavirus era, as Ayyadurai, who holds a Ph.D. in biological engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and has long associated himself with fringe right-wing activists, styled himself as a coronavirus expert. Ayyadurai's claims about "coronavirus fear-mongering" were cited by Fox News host Sean Hannity, while QAnon conspiracy theorists pushed for Ayyadurai to replace Dr. Anthony Fauci as the face of the country's coronavirus response. At the same time, Ayyadurai has clashed with other prominent anti-vaccine activists, even as he himself argued that the coronavirus could be dealt with through vitamins. Ayyadurai dubbed Kennedy a member of the "Kennedy Klinton Klan," portraying him as a secret ally of Gates and the 2016 Democratic presidential nominee. Ayyadurai appears to have picked Kennedy as a foil because he's preparing to face Kennedy's nephew, Rep. Joe Kennedy (D-MA) in the Senate general election. The younger Kennedy is currently polling ahead of incumbent Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) in the Democratic primary. This isn't Ayyadurai's first Senate run. In 2018, he badly lost an independent Senate bid for the seat held by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) in which he urged voters to back "the REAL Indian." Ayyadurai faces only one GOP primary opponent, attorney Kevin O'Connor.Robert F. Kennedy Jr. shot back against Ayyadurai on April 28, suggesting in a blog post that Ayyadurai is "controlled opposition" working on behalf of unnamed forces intent on dividing and undermining anti-vaccine activists with "venomous salvos." "When Shiva calls Movement leaders 'controlled opposition,' is he speaking of himself?" Kennedy wrote. Kennedy's blog post included a host of accusations against Ayyadurai, many of them meant to tie Ayyadurai himself to the Clinton family or Gates, whose funding of vaccine research has turned him into a top enemy for anti-vaccine activists. Most damning of all, Kennedy claimed that CytoSolve, a company that Ayyadurai runs, is involved in vaccine production—with the supposedly damning implication that Ayyadurai is secretly a supporter of vaccines."Shiva never mentions the fact that he is a vaccine maker," Kennedy wrote. Few charges are more serious in the anti-vax community. Ayyadurai quickly denied that CytoSolve makes vaccines. And on May 8, he took the fight to federal court with a lawsuit claiming that Kennedy defamed him with the allegation, insisting that the allegation that he makes vaccines and other claims mentioned in Kennedy's blog post had caused him a whopping $95 million in damages. It's not clear how Ayyadurai arrived at the figure of $95 million, which he claims he'll use to fund centers devoted to the "importance of boosting the immune system." Ayyadurai filed a separate lawsuit against a Kennedy supporter over a related blog post. In his complaint, Ayyadurai alleged that Kennedy's claim that Ayyadurai makes vaccines was "intended to discredit him.""Dr. Ayyadurai is not a vaccine maker," the lawsuit reads. "He has never made a vaccine, nor, as explained further below, have any of his companies made a single vaccine."Ayyadurai didn't respond to a request for comment on the lawsuit, which is now being considered in the U.S. District Court for Massachusetts. So far, no hearing date has been set in the case. Kennedy couldn't be reached for comment. 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.
|
| Immigrants in the U.S. on work visas must have a job or be forced to leave country during pandemic Posted: 13 May 2020 09:20 AM PDT  Unlike Americans, foreign workers are not entitled to unemployment benefits, despite paying taxes, because they are on foreign work visas. And if they fail to find similar jobs soon, they must leave the country.
|
| Meet the billionaire family behind Tyson Foods, the $42 billion meat company that's been hit by COVID-19 outbreaks at its plants and is warning of a meat shortage Posted: 13 May 2020 12:48 PM PDT  Tyson Foods has been family-run for three generations, making the Tysons one of the wealthiest families in the US.
|
| US military offers condolences over Iran accident killing 19 Posted: 13 May 2020 10:40 PM PDT  The U.S. military offered condolences Thursday to Iran over a friendly fire incident in the Islamic Republic that saw an Iranian missile kill 19 Iranian troops, identifying the weapon that detonated as an anti-ship cruise missile. Iranian authorities on Monday said that the missile struck the Iranian navy vessel Konarak near the port of Jask, some 1,270 kilometers (790 miles) southeast of Tehran in the Gulf of Oman.
|
| Hopes of a new witness dashed in case of slain Georgia black jogger Posted: 14 May 2020 12:35 PM PDT  Hopes of finding a new witness in the case of an unarmed black jogger whose fatal shooting in Georgia triggered a national outcry were dashed Thursday afternoon. The note found at the memorial of Ahmaud Arbery reading "I should have stopped them" was left by a person "expressing their condolences" and not a new witness in the case of the jogger who was shot after being chased by an ex-cop and his son, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) said in a Twitter post. The community and the family of Arbery, 25, saw the note, which drew national media attention, as a potential sign of new evidence, said James "Major" Woodall, Georgia state president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).
|
| France gives online firms one hour to pull 'terrorist' content Posted: 14 May 2020 09:05 AM PDT  Websites will have just one hour to pull content reported by police, or face huge fines.
|
| Mystery deaths in Nigeria provoke fear of unrecorded coronavirus surge Posted: 14 May 2020 07:09 AM PDT  Authorities in Nigeria's northern Yobe state have reported hundreds of unusual deaths over the last few weeks, prompting fears that the coronavirus is spreading rapidly through Africa's most populous nation. Yobe authorities said that 471 people have died in the last five weeks in the state. The Yobe State Commissioner for Health, Dr Muhammad Lawan Gana, said that most of those who died were elderly people or had underlying health issues. It is not clear whether or not the Yobe deaths are linked to coronavirus because the Nigerian government is struggling to carry out many tests. In the last few weeks, there have been a spate of hundreds of unexplained deaths across northern Nigeria. Kano state, which is nearby Yobe, has seen at least mysterious 600 deaths. Doctors in Kano say they are being overwhelmed by patients showing clear signs of coronavirus, like temperatures and respiration issues.
|
| Graham shoots down Trump's call for Obama testimony on Russia probe origins Posted: 14 May 2020 09:02 AM PDT  In recent days, President Donald Trump has mounted an aggressive campaign against his predecessor.
|
| Feinstein was also questioned by FBI on coronavirus stock trades — but Loeffler won't say if she has been Posted: 14 May 2020 12:23 PM PDT  Sen. Dianne Feinstein's (D-Calif.) spokesperson has confirmed she answered questions from the FBI over stock trades her husband made before the U.S. markets took a dive due to the coronavirus pandemic — but Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-Ga.) is refusing to say if she was contacted as well.Reports emerged earlier this year Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) sold stocks while he was receiving briefings on the coming COVID-19 coronavirus crisis, and federal agents have now seized his cellphone. Numerous other senators also sold stocks around the same time as Burr, including Feinstein, as The New York Times reported she and her husband sold between $1.5 million and $6 million in stock in the biotech company Allogene Therapeutics between Jan. 31 and Feb. 18.Feinstein denied being involved in the sales, with a spokesperson at the time saying, "All of Senator Feinstein's assets are in a blind trust" and "she has no involvement in her husband's financial decisions." On Thursday, Feinstein's spokesperson confirmed to NBC News that she answered questioned from the FBI and provided authorities with documents. Her aides also said this questioning occurred in April and that there have been "no follow up actions on this issue," per The Washington Post.Loeffler, who is a much closer ally of President Trump's than Burr, and her husband also sold stock around the same time after she was briefed on the coronavirus, although she says the decisions were made by investment advisers. But asked Thursday if she's been contacted by the FBI, Loeffler wouldn't say, and when asked by CNN if she has, a spokesperson didn't directly address the question, instead saying, "No search warrant has been served on Sen Loeffler. She has followed both the letter and spirit of the law and will continue to do so."More stories from theweek.com The conservative victimhood complex has made America impossible to govern 5 hilarious cartoons about Trump's vague 'Obamagate' allegations The strange conflation of masks and masculinity
|
| First to close and last to open? California takes 'appropriately cautious' path in combating coronavirus Posted: 14 May 2020 03:24 AM PDT  California was the first state to lock down because of the coronavirus. Will it be the last one to open? The Golden State is taking measured steps.
|
| Barr’s Prosecutor Hasn’t Grilled Key Russiagate Witnesses Posted: 14 May 2020 01:18 AM PDT  John Durham, the federal prosecutor assigned by Attorney General William Barr assigned to review Robert Mueller's Trump-Russia probe, still hasn't interviewed at least five key potential witnesses or targets, multiple sources familiar with the issue told The Daily Beast.According to four sources familiar with the developing probe, Durham has yet to interview several former senior officials involved in the origins of the intelligence and law enforcement probes of Russian election interference and potential ties to the Trump campaign, nor Obama administration officials Trump insists without evidence orchestrated them. That's the mandate of Durham's year-old probe, which has expanded into a criminal inquiry that has alarmed many ex-intelligence officials as political retribution. Still not interviewed by Durham are former CIA Director John Brennan, former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe. Nor have been former FBI agent Peter Strzok, former FBI attorney Lisa Page, both of whom were involved in the FBI's "Crossfire Hurricane" inquiry and whose texts disparaging Trump have for years been presented by the president as proof he was framed. Nor has former National Security Adviser Susan Rice, who, despite not being an intelligence or law enforcement official, has been another Trumpist target. Durham not interviewing Brennan is particularly noteworthy. In February, the New York Times reported that Durham appeared to be circling Brennan, who has called Trump "treasonous," for allegedly cooking the 2016-era Russia intelligence. The CIA would not answer if it had provided Brennan's records to Durham, as the Times reported Durham has requested, and deferred comment to the Justice Department. A spokesperson for Durham declined comment for this story. Everything about Durham's probe is the subject of extensive speculation in national security circles—though rarely for the record—particularly the length of time it's gone on without visible progress. (Nearly seven months ago, Durham's investigators had reportedly interviewed two dozen current and former FBI officials.) Some consider it in line with Durham's typical practice. His investigation of CIA torture lasted three years before fizzling out. Others wonder if Durham will announce the results of his inquiry, or even criminal charges, closer to November's presidential election.In recent days, President Trump has been hinting that big revelations are forthcoming documenting malfeasance or illegality coming from his perceived enemies in the Obama administration and the intelligence agencies. Trump and his allies have begun referring to a conspiracy theory they're calling "Obamagate" that's so convoluted, even he is unable to explain what it really is. Nevertheless, Trump claims it's "the biggest crime in American political history." The person most likely to make this narrative come to life is Durham, the U.S. attorney for Connecticut. "You have Bull Durham, who's supposed to be the toughest," Trump enthused in November. As Trump and Willam Barr Try to Undo His Work, It's Robert Mueller TimeDurham carries a reputation for probity and rigor—though at least one person impacted by Durham's work considers that undeserved. Durham was best known previously for an investigation of the Boston FBI's mob ties that helped inspire the Martin Scorsese movie The Departed. After that, he led a sprawling investigation into the destruction of CIA torture videotapes by now-Director Gina Haspel and her then-boss Jose Rodriguez, and then CIA torture outright. In 2012, he declined to bring any charges against CIA torturers. Durham has reportedly interviewed lower-level CIA, FBI, and NSA analysts and officials for his current investigation. The highest-profile official known to have spoken with Durham is retired Admiral Mike Rogers, the director of the NSA at the time of the joint January 2017 intelligence assessment that Russia interfered in the election on Trump's behalf. The Republican-led Senate intelligence committee recently supported the findings of that assessment. The Intercept first reported Rogers' multiple interviews with Durham. A year ago, Barr appointed Durham to investigate the origins of the Trump-Russia probe. (A year into the Mueller probe, Vice President Mike Pence called on Mueller, "in the interest of the country," to wrap it up.) Since then, Durham's probe has become a criminal inquiry. That's raised fears amongst former intelligence officials that their analytic judgments will be treated as criminal. "I have some concern whether someone with a prosecutorial background is going to understand the way analysts' minds work, and whether it's dangerous to apply those prosecutorial tools for understanding intelligence analysis," said Robert Litt, the senior attorney for the director of national intelligence when the Russia probes began. Litt, a former Justice Department official who's interacted with Durham repeatedly ever since the Whitey Bulger case, called the prosecutor a "straight shooter." Litt also has not been contacted by Durham. An attorney for former FBI Director James Comey, David Kelley, did not respond to inquiries from The Daily Beast. Kelley gave an interview in November saying Comey has "continued to cooperate with all inquiries, from Congress, the Department of Justice and the Inspector General."Barr has stoked concerns like the one Litt expressed. His Justice Department has shown leniency to Trump's allies Roger Stone, Paul Manafort and Michael Flynn. By contrast, he recently told Laura Ingraham of Fox News about Durham's investigation, "If people broke the law, and we can establish that with the evidence, they will be prosecuted."Among the causes for alarm about Durham by ex-intelligence officials came in December, when Durham publicly disagreed with the Justice Department's inspector general that the FBI was justified in opening its counterintelligence probe on the Trump campaign. "We do not agree with some of the report's conclusions as to predication and how the FBI case was opened," Durham said. That highly unusual statement has been Durham's only major public utterance about his inquiry.Barr Pressed Australia for Help on Mueller Review as DOJ Worked to Free Its Hostages"It was unnecessary and inconsistent with typical practice when there's an investigation ongoing," Litt said. Added Daniel Jones, a former FBI counterterrorism analyst and lead investigator for the Senate torture report, "I thought it was remarkable, unheard of, and points to why many believe the Department of Justice is off the rails."Jones has a particular history with Durham. Durham refused to cooperate with the Senate torture probe Jones led. That meant Jones couldn't interview CIA officials involved in the torture program, since they would potentially open themselves up to criminal liability. It became a key line of attack on the Senate torture report. The terms of Durham's CIA inquiry limited his focus to cases where CIA agents acted outside the already-broad scope of since-rejected torture authorizations issued by the Justice Department. That happened repeatedly, Jones' inquiry found, as CIA interrogators used power drills, mock executions and even the sexual assault of inserting pureed food and water into detainees' anuses. But Durham declined to bring any charges—nor did he deconflict his inquiry with the Senate's, even after Durham's inquiry ended. "There are so many unanswered questions," Jones said about Durham. "Why did Durham break from years of established practice and refuse to engage with the Senate's bipartisan investigation of the CIA? He must have known this would prevent the Senate from accessing CIA personnel for interviews. Why did Durham just look at 101 detainees—when even the CIA concluded they held at least '112-plus'? How did Durham fail to bring charges against any government personnel for torture tactics that even the CIA agrees were never a component of the so-called [DOJ] 'torture memos'? And how is it the Durham investigation ended just mere months before the Senate approved its near-7000 page report on CIA torture?"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.
|
| Nebraska health officials stop reporting COVID-19 confirmations at meatpacking plants as case counts continue to rise Posted: 13 May 2020 10:49 AM PDT  Gov. Pete Ricketts announced that state health officials would no longer share numbers of infected at each plant, according to The Washington Post.
|
| China may test all of Wuhan amid fears of virus comeback Posted: 13 May 2020 03:30 AM PDT  Authorities in Wuhan, the Chinese city where the coronavirus pandemic first broke out, are planning to test all 11 million residents in the next 10 days, Chinese media reported. No official announcement has been made, but district officials confirmed receiving marching orders from the city's coronavirus task force, the reports said. China has moved quickly to snuff out new outbreaks wherever they pop up, even as it relaxes restrictions on the movement of people and reopens public attractions to limited numbers of visitors.
|
| EU top diplomat wants independent probe into coronavirus origins Posted: 14 May 2020 01:10 PM PDT  The European Union's foreign policy chief called on China on Thursday to contribute significantly to the fight against the coronavirus pandemic and said there should be an independent scientific investigation into the origins of the pandemic. In a guest column in Friday's edition of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper, Josep Borrell said China should act to help protect the world from future pandemics. "An independent scientific investigation of the origin of this pandemic is also necessary," he wrote.
|
| 'Surge' in illegal bird of prey killings since lockdown Posted: 14 May 2020 05:15 PM PDT  The RSPB says it has been "overrun" by reports of birds of prey being illegally killed.
|
| Surrogates left holding the baby as coronavirus rules strand parents Posted: 14 May 2020 01:00 AM PDT  The US surrogacy business is in turmoil, with parents overseas unable to pick up their baby and others unable to leave AmericaA week before Sierra Martin's 27 February due date, she received an email. It was from the couple that Martin was carrying a baby for, as a gestational surrogate. This was Martin's first surrogacy; she was carrying a boy for a gay couple from China.Due to the coronavirus travel ban, the email read, the couple wouldn't be able to get into the US to collect their son. Would Martin look after him, until the restrictions were lifted?"I waited a full day before replying, because I didn't know what to do," says Martin, who is 22 and works as a barista and childminder in Lake Bay, Washington. "I have nothing to look after a baby!"After thinking about it, she agreed. Martin gave birth to baby Steven on 23 February, and took him home. She is raising him alongside her two children, aged three and five, until his parents can get into the US, sort the paperwork, and bring Steven home to China.Spending nearly three months raising a baby she has given birth to, but who she is not biologically related to and will be giving back to his parents eventually, is emotionally wearing. "I love having the baby snuggles," says Martin, "but it's definitely hard knowing that he is not mine. I love him, but I know that he has to go back to his own parents eventually."Martin and baby Steven are caught up in a nationwide surrogacy crisis of growing proportions. Commercial surrogacy is legal in some US states, making it a hotspot for parents looking to have children through assisted reproduction. But the coronavirus travel ban has seen President Trump close the country's borders to almost all international visitors, while a nationwide US passport office shutdown has made it impossible for parents who do manage to get into the country to obtain the necessary documentation to take their children home.As a result, babies are being born without their parents present at the birth (immigration authorities will only let parents in once the surrogate has given birth to the child). In at least one case, a mother flew from France to attend the birth of her child, only to be turned back by border control. Some parents aren't being allowed in the country at all. Surrogates and surrogacy agencies are scrambling to look after babies themselves. "It's unprecedented for a surrogate to be looking after the baby," says Rich Geisler, a Californian surrogacy lawyer. "We as an industry really try to avoid that. We want to avoid the possibility of the surrogate bonding with the child."Martin is adamant that she'll be able to give Steven back to his parents when the time is right. "It will be hard to give him back, because I'll miss him," Martin says. "But I know he's not mine, and that I have to give him up, which is totally OK with me." She pauses. "But there's definitely a bit of attachment there," Martin says. "I care for him. When you love on a baby, you love on a baby."To avoid leaving children in the care of their surrogates, with the emotional challenges this can entail, some surrogacy agency workers are taking babies into their own homes. "I never anticipated something of this nature happening," says Katie Faust, a 26-year-old surrogacy case worker from Tampa Bay. Faust is caring for a three-week-old baby girl, whose name we have withheld at her parents' request.When it became apparent that her parents, a heterosexual couple living in China, would be unable to collect her, Faust, her husband, and three children flew to California to collect the baby, rented a car, then drove for five days back to Florida. (As the baby doesn't have a passport, they couldn't take her on a commercial flight.) "We're just kind of planning it as we go along," says Faust. "We're trying to figure out a way to get her reunited with her parents as soon as we can. But I'm OK looking after her, until they get here."For the parents on the other end of the coronavirus shutdown, there is an excruciating wait to meet their children for the first time. "I feel really sad about almost everything to do with my son's birth," says John, a 41-year-old airline worker from Shanghai.John's baby son with his partner Will, a 39-year-old finance worker, was born on 24 February: they have not been able to enter the US to meet him due to the travel ban. (Both men have requested anonymity, as they are not out to their employers.)When Trump issued an order preventing Chinese nationals from entering the US in January, John wept. "I cried and cried," he remembers. "It was really important for me to be there for the birth."Fortunately, Will's elderly parents live in Portland, and are caring for the baby. "We speak to the baby by WeChat almost every day," says John. "When I look at his photos or videos, I feel like my heart is melting." But Will's parents are elderly, and he worries what would happen should they, or the baby, fall sick with coronavirus – the baby is uninsured, as the shutdown means they can't get the documentation they would need to insure him. John wants more than anything to get into the US and bring his son home. "Here in China, life is returning to normal," John says. "I think the US government should open the border, so I can get my son. Most people here are healthy and do not have the disease."In addition to the logistical challenges of arranging care for a child you have never met on the other side of the world, the shutdown means that parents like John and Will are missing out on those precious early months with their children. Martin is sending Steven's parents pictures and videos, but it's not the same. "For Steven's sake it would be nice for him to bond with his parents instead of with me," Martin says. "Those first three months of his life are instrumental in the bonding process for the baby."And even if you can get into the US to collect your child, your problems don't end there. Surrogacy is an expensive process. Having to wait in the US for the passport office to reopen – at the moment, it is only issuing documents for life-and-death emergencies, which do not include surrogacy – all add to the cost. "People are running out of funds," says New Jersey reproductive lawyer Melissa Brisman. "They've already spent so much money on this. They can't afford another £2,000 a week on a certified nurse to take care of the baby."When I speak to Nir Tcik, he sounds almost frantic. "We are under huge pressure, because every day our money is getting lower and lower," he says. Tcik, 47, and his husband Avi, 46, are from Israel, where same-sex surrogacy is illegal. Their daughter Noga was born on 2 April. Since Noga's birth, the family of four – the Tciks have a four-year-old son, also born via surrogate – have been stuck in a New Jersey hotel room, waiting in vain for the authorities to issue her a birth certificate. Even when the birth certificate comes through, they will probably still be stuck, unless the Israeli embassy can make an exception and issue Noga emergency travel documents to fly home, in lieu of a US passport.The Tciks did not budget for nearly two months in the US. They estimate they have spent almost $20,000 in additional costs due to the coronavirus shutdown, on top of the approximately $150,000 cost of the surrogacy. "If this goes on much longer," Tcik says, "we are going to have to borrow money from family and friends."He is terrified that Noga will fall ill – as Noga has no official paperwork, she is uninsured. As a result, the Tciks are terrified to take her outside, lest she contracts coronavirus. "We are stuck in this hotel," says Tcik. "All the time, we're in this hotel room. We don't feel safe."The solution, Brisman says, is for the US immigration authorities to allow parents into the US to collect their children, and expedite the process by which they can leave the country. "I would like to see the government allow these people in quickly, and allow them home quickly," she says. "We need expedited passports, birth certificates and visas for people whose babies are being born."The administrative and bureaucratic nightmare in which the Tciks now find themselves means that coronavirus has cast a pall over what should be a joyful experience. "We thank God that we have a daughter who is healthy, and that the surrogate is also OK," says Tcik. "That is the most important thing. But this coronavirus shutdown, and us being stuck here, has ruined everything."
|
| Letters to the Editor: Trump told us not to fear the coronavirus, so why should he? Posted: 14 May 2020 03:00 AM PDT  The president reassured Americans they had little to fear about the coronavirus. Will he take his own advice now that it's in the White House?
|
| Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and John Kerry lead Biden-Sanders 'Unity Task Force' on climate change Posted: 13 May 2020 09:33 AM PDT  Former Vice President Joe Biden has extended another hand to supporters of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).After Sanders suspended his 2020 campaign and endorsed Biden as the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, Biden pledged to make inroads with Sanders' backers and adopted some of the progressive's policy proposals. That promise continued Wednesday as Biden and Sanders unveiled six "Unity Task Forces" made up of top supporters of both candidates.The task forces on climate change, criminal justice reform, the economy, education, health care, and immigration are each a mix of progressive and more moderate Democrats. They're all aimed at "identifying ways to build on our progress and not simply turn the clock back to a time before Donald Trump, but transform our country, Biden said in a statement.Notable names include Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), who has pushed for Sanders' Medicare-for-all and will co-chair the health care task force along with Obama administration Surgeon General Vivek Murphy. Former Secretary of State John Kerry and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), meanwhile, will co-chair a task force on climate change. > ICYMI this AM: @JoeBiden & @BernieSanders announced the 48 members serving on their six "Unity Task Forces" that will shape policy recommendations for his campaign & the DNC platform committee. > > More on this from me, @sahilkapur & @philhelsel here: https://t.co/aQX91nAj7z pic.twitter.com/ldj6sRTQQ7> > -- Marianna Sotomayor (@MariannaNBCNews) May 13, 2020More stories from theweek.com The conservative victimhood complex has made America impossible to govern 5 hilarious cartoons about Trump's vague 'Obamagate' allegations The strange conflation of masks and masculinity
|
| Wisconsin bars packed after court strikes down stay-at-home order Posted: 14 May 2020 10:16 AM PDT 
Bars in Wisconsin were packed on Wednesday night. Video from this bar in West Allis, a Milwaukee suburb, showed patrons huddled together and not wearing masks just hours after Wisconsin's supreme court knocked down the state's stay-at-home order. Larry Prior, owner of Buzzards Nest in Wisconsin: "It was a rough two months and we miss our customers, a lot of them are like family to us, and it was good to see a lot of familiar faces, it's been a long time." Hayden Krueger was one of dozens enjoying a night out at Buzzards Nest after isolating. "It's been kinda boring sitting in my house, I love my fiancé but there's only so much we can handle from each other without having interaction with each other." Bars in Wisconsin began opening back up after the Wisconsin Supreme Court on Wednesday sided with Republican lawmakers who had argued the state's top public health official exceeded her authority when she extended Wisconsin's stay at home order through May 26. The court, which is dominated by Republican-nominated judges, said that while Wisconsin's Democratic Governor Tony Evers possesses emergency powers, the stay-at-home order was effectively imposed by Health Secretary Andrea Palm, whose discretion as a political appointee is more limited. Republicans in Wisconsin and across the U.S. have rallied and demonstrated against efforts to close businesses to protect public heath. The state's Republican controlled legislature filed its lawsuit on April 21, arguing the stay-at-home order would cost residents their jobs. The Wisconsin ruling marks the first time a statewide order of its kind has been struck down by a court, in a decision applauded by U.S. President Donald Trump, who on Thursday tweeted "Its Democrat Governor was forced by the courts to let the State Open. The people want to get on with their lives. The place is bustling!"
|
| 20,000 migrants have been expelled along border under coronavirus order Posted: 13 May 2020 07:55 PM PDT  More than 90% of the families, children and single adults that Border Patrol encountered in April were expelled under a public health order.
|
