Digital Alabama News

Biden’s Mixed Record Forces Some Dems Into Odd Balancing Act https://digitalalabamanews.com/bidens-mixed-record-forces-some-dems-into-odd-balancing-act/ CINCINNATI (AP) — Democratic House candidate Greg Landsman can tick off how his party’s control of Congress and the White House has benefited his city. The bipartisan infrastructure deal will mean upgrades to the heavily traveled highway bridge linking Cincinnati with its airport and northern Kentucky while bolstering a vital westside viaduct. COVID-19 relief funding meant training for more new police academy recruits. A sprawling spending package capped insulin prices. But Landsman won’t say whether President Joe Biden, who signed those measures into law, will help or hurt his campaign to unseat longtime Republican Rep. Steve Chabot. He doesn’t think the president will visit the southwest Ohio swing district before the November midterm elections and insists that, in thousands of conversations while campaigning, Biden usually “just doesn’t come up.” Officeholders and top candidates often distance themselves from their party’s unpopular president. Some Republicans shunned Donald Trump ahead of the 2018 midterms when Democrats flipped the House, just as many Democrats ran away from Barack Obama as 2010’s red wave loomed. George W. Bush and Bill Clinton suffered similar midterm election fates. But this cycle presents conflicting political incentives that have forced some front-line Democrats into delicate balancing acts. While improving lately, Biden’s approval ratings remain low and inflation is still running near record highs. Yet unemployment is down, wages are up and the White House has notched key congressional wins applauded by many Democrats in close races. The predicament underscores the lack of a national Democratic playbook on how to run in relation to Biden ahead of the midterms. “These issues become, especially in places like Cincinnati, Greater Cincinnati, very local very quickly,” said Landsman, a City Council member whose hesitancy to mention Biden is a change from his appearance with the president in Cincinnati in May. Two hundred miles north in Toledo, Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur, the longest-serving woman in House history, has been more direct, producing an ad saying she “doesn’t work for Joe Biden” mere weeks after greeting the president at the Cleveland airport in July. Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan, running for Ohio’s open Senate seat, appeared with the president at the recent groundbreaking of an Intel computer chip factory outside Columbus. But he suggested then of the possibility of Biden seeking reelection in 2024 that both parties need “new leadership” and “it’s time for a generational move.” When Biden visited Milwaukee on Labor Day, Democratic Gov. Tom Evers, who is up for reelection, appeared with him, but Democratic Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, competing against Republican Sen. Ron Johnson, did not. In Maine, Democratic Rep. Jared Goldenhas an ad saying he opposed “trillions of dollars of President Biden’s agenda because I knew it would make inflation worse.” Democratic Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly is giving Biden’s performance “mixed reviews.” Landsman says he appeared with the president because he supported White House-backed microchip legislation that helped make the new Intel facility a reality. Kaptur says she appeared with Biden because he was announcing $1 billion for Great Lakes improvements and got a firsthand look at the town of Lorain, which has been devastated by steel mills closing. “There’s some other things I don’t agree with the president on. But that one — getting attention to Lorain, Ohio, which has endured such a battering in the international markets, and the people are still so positive and so constructive,” she said, “it was a great moment.” Phil Heimlich, a former Cincinnati City Council member and Republican county commissioner who opposes Trump and has endorsed Landsman, said Democrats’ struggles with Biden are real but pale in comparison to GOP candidates contending with a national party increasingly beholden to his predecessor. “I think the national stuff still plays a role,” Heimlich said, “but that cuts both ways.” When Trump held a rally recently in Youngstown, Ohio, Chabot didn’t attend. Kaptur’s opponent, J.R. Majewski, did. But they aren’t letting their opponents escape Biden’s political shadow. “I think people know Pelosi and Biden. Some people are favorable. But I don’t think that’s the majority,” said Chabot, who has criticized Landsman for briefly working in Nancy Pelosi’s Washington office in 1999, before she was House speaker. He’s also tagged tweets about rising prices #Bidenflation. Majewski said in his first TV ad that “Biden and Kaptur are spending more and more while inflation goes up and up.” Chabot was first elected to Congress in 1994 and has won several hotly contested reelection races. But Ohio’s new congressional maps mean his territory encompasses more of Democrat-friendly Cincinnati. A recent Landsman campaign event included his releasing a 5-year-old wire-haired dachshund named Jerome in a wiener dog race as Oktoberfest celebrations thronged the city’s downtown. Chabot, that same weekend, greeted would-be voters at a smaller, Catholic church-sponsored street festival in the nearby town of Reading, where he was born. “I know a lot of people who are not Democrats and they are definitely going to be voting,” Jean Huneck, a 67-year-old who owns a small mechanical engineering business, said of the new, ostensibly bluer district. Huneck is a registered Democrat but supports Chabot and said the GOP needs big November wins to counter Biden. “I feel like our livelihoods are depending on it,” she said. Kaptur has held her seat since 1983 but faces circumstances opposite from Chabot’s. Redistricting swapped parts of her district’s largely blue Cleveland suburbs for a conservative, eastern swath of the state that hugs Lake Erie and reaches the Indiana border. Some of the new territory is dotted with cornfields and bait and tackle shops. An occasional yard sign says “Trump 2024 or Before,” a reference to the former president’s spurious suggestions he could be reinstated into power. Majewski is Trump-endorsed, and Kaptur has branded him as a past devotee of QAnon conspiracy theories who passed police barricades during last year’s deadly insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. Kaptur says in a TV ad that her opponent is “too dangerous to serve in Congress.” The National Republican Campaign Committee, the party’s House campaign arm, promoted a photo of Biden kissing Kaptur’s hand upon arriving in Cleveland and a video of her saying that, after a year in office, the president’s “report card is outstanding” juxtaposed with headlines about inflation and the president’s sinking approval ratings. Following an Associated Press report that Majewski misrepresented his military career, the NRCC canceled TV ads it had booked to support his campaign. Brendan McHugh, a 31-year-old who works in investment real estate in Toledo, said linking Biden and Kaptur isn’t a bad thing because “Democrats have been getting some wins recently.” “I’ve been pleased with the progress that the Biden administration’s been making,” McHugh said, calling that “a net positive” for Kaptur. Michael Jones, a 56-year-old attorney who lives in the same Old Orchard neighborhood near the University of Toledo, said that he’s a Kaptur supporter and that controlling things like inflation is largely out of Biden’s hands. But he added, “There’s a lot of challenging things happening right now.” “People may look at who’s at the top right now,” Jones said. “And it may impact how an undecided person might vote.” Today’s breaking news and more in your inbox Read More…

Clickbait Extremism, Mass Shootings, And The Assault On Democracy – Time For A Rethink Of Social Media? https://digitalalabamanews.com/clickbait-extremism-mass-shootings-and-the-assault-on-democracy-time-for-a-rethink-of-social-media/ Rioters outside the Capitol Building, Washington DC, 6 January 2021. Mihoko Owada/STAR MAX/IPx/AP Social media companies have done well out of the United States congressional hearings on the January 6 insurrection. They profited from livestreamed video as rioters stormed the Capitol Building. They profited from the incendiary brew of misinformation that incited thousands to travel to Washington D.C. for the “Save America” rally. They continue to profit from its aftermath. Clickbait extremism has been good for business. Video footage shot by the rioters themselves has also been a major source of evidence for police and prosecutors. On the day of the Capitol Building attack, content moderators at mainstream social media platforms were overwhelmed with posts that violated their policies against incitement to or glorification of violence. Sites more sympathetic to the extreme right, such as Parler, were awash with such content. In testifying to the congressional hearings, a former Twitter employee spoke of begging the company to take stronger action. In despair, the night before the attack, she messaged fellow employees: When people are shooting each other tomorrow, I will try to rest in the knowledge that we tried. Alluding to tweets by former President Trump, the Proud Boys, and other extremist groups, she spoke of realising that “we were at the whim of a violent crowd that was locked and loaded”. The need for change In the weeks after the 2019 Christchurch massacre, there were hopeful signs that nations – individually and collectively – were prepared to better regulate the internet. Social media companies had fought hard against accepting responsibility for their content, citing arguments that reflected the libertarian philosophies of internet pioneers. In the name of freedom, they argued, long established rules and behavioural norms should be set aside. Their success in influencing law makers has enabled companies to avoid legal penalty, even when their platforms are used to motivate, plan, execute and livestream violent attacks. After Christchurch, mounting public outrage forced the mainstream companies into action. They acknowledged their platforms had played a role in violent attacks, adopted more stringent policies around acceptable content, hired more content moderators, and expanded their ability to intercept extreme content before it was published. It seemed unthinkable back in 2019 that real action would not be taken to regulate and moderate social media platforms to prevent the propagation of violent, online extremism in all its forms. The livestream was a core element of the Christchurch attack, carefully framed to resemble a video game and intended to inspire future attacks. Nearly two years later, multiple social media platforms were central to the incitement and organising of the violent attack on the US Capitol that caused multiple deaths and injuries, and led many to fear a civil war was about to erupt. Indeed, social media was implicated in every aspect of the Capitol Building attack, just as it had been in the Christchurch massacre. Both were fermented by wild and unfounded conspiracy theories that circulated freely across social media platforms. Both were undertaken by people who felt strongly connected to an online community of true believers. Read more: Uncivil wars? Political lies are far more dangerous than Twitter pile-ons The process of radicalisation The testimony of Stephen Ayres to the January 6 congressional hearings provides a window into the process of radicalisation. Describing himself as an “ordinary family man” who was “hard core into social media”, Ayres pleaded guilty to a charge of disorderly conduct for his role in the Capitol invasion. He referenced his accounts on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram as the source of his belief that the 2020 US Presidential election had been stolen. His primary sources were posts made by the former president himself. Ayres testified that a tweet by President Trump had led him to attend the “Save America” rally. He exemplified the thousands of Americans who were not members of any extremist group, but had been motivated through mainstream social media to travel to Washington D.C. The role of former US President Trump in the rise of right-wing extremism, in the US and beyond, is a recurring theme in Rethinking Social Media and Extremism, which I co-edited with Paul Pickering. At the time of the Christchurch massacre, there was ample evidence that US-based internet companies were providing global platforms for extremist causes. Yet whenever their content moderation extended to the voices of the far right, these companies faced censure from conservatives, including from the Trump White House. The message was clear: allowing unfettered free speech for the so-called “alt-right” was the price social media companies would have to pay for their oligopoly. Though the growing danger of domestic terrorism was apparent, the threat of antitrust suits was a powerful disincentive for corporate action against right-wing extremists. Social media companies have faced significant pressure from nations outside the US. For example, within months of the Christchurch attack, world leaders came together in Paris to sign the Christchurch Call to combat violent extremism online. The document was moderate in tone, but the US refused to sign. Instead, the White House doubled down in alleging that the major threat lay in the suppression of conservative voices. In 2021, the Biden administration belatedly signed up to the Christchurch Call, but it has not succeeded in advancing any measures domestically. Despite some tough talk during the election campaign, President Biden has been unable to pass legislation that would better regulate technology companies. With the midterm elections looming – elections which often go against the party of the president – there is little reason for optimism. The decisions of US lawmakers will continue to reverberate globally while ownership of Western social media remains firmly centred in the US. Read more: How self-publishing, social media and algorithms are aiding far-right novelists The failure of self-regulation The spirit of libertarianism lives on within companies that exploded from home-grown start-ups to trillion dollar corporations within a decade. Their commitment to self-regulation suited legislators, who struggled to understand this new and constantly shape-shifting technology. The demonstrable failure of self-regulation has proven lethal for the targets of terrorism and now presents as a danger to democracy itself. In her chapter in Rethinking Social Media and Extremism, Sally Wheeler asks us to reconsider the basis of the social licence social media companies have to operate within democracies. She argues that, rather than asking whether their activities are legal, we might ask what reforms are needed to ensure social media does not cause serious harm to people or societies. Now central to the provision of many public services, social media platforms might be deemed public utilities and, for this reason alone, be subject to different and higher rules and expectations. This point was amply if unintentionally demonstrated by Facebook itself when it blocked many sites – including emergency services – during a disagreement with the Australian Government in 2021. In the process, Facebook shone a spotlight on the nation’s growing reliance on a poorly regulated, privately owned platform. Amid the national outcry following the Christchurch massacre, the Australian government hastily introduced legislation intended to increase the responsibilities of internet companies. Reportedly drafted in just 48 hours before being rushed through both houses of parliament, the bill was always going to be flawed. Effective reform demands that we first recognise the internet as a space in which actions carry real-world consequences. The most visible victims are those directly targeted by threats of extreme violence – mainly women, immigrants and minorities. Even when the threats are not enacted, people are intimidated into silence, even self-harm. More insidious but perhaps just as harmful in the long term, is the overall decline in civility that drives public discourse towards extreme positions. On social media, what is known as the Overton Window of mainstream political debate has not so much been pushed out as kicked in. There is broad agreement that existing legal and regulatory frameworks are simply inadequate for the digital age. Yet even as the global pandemic has accelerated our reliance on all things digital, there is less agreement about the nature of the problem, much less about the remedies required. While action is clearly needed, there is always the danger of overreach. The functioning of democratic society depends as much on our ability to debate ideas and express dissent as it does on the prevention of violent extremism. Our challenge is to balance free speech against other competing rights on the internet, just as we do elsewhere. The current approach of simply ratcheting up the penalties faced by social media companies is more likely to tip the balance against free speech. In a communication landscape that is increasingly concentrated in the hands of just a few major corporations, we are in need of more voices and more diversity, not less. This article is republished from The Conversation is the world’s leading publisher of research-based news and analysis. A unique collaboration between academics and journalists. It was written by: Shirley Leitch, Australian National University. Read more: As pandemic measures are lifted, social media use has declined with the exce...

Korea's Kospi Tumbles 3%; Asia-Pacific Markets Drop As Negative Sentiment Remains https://digitalalabamanews.com/koreas-kospi-tumbles-3-asia-pacific-markets-drop-as-negative-sentiment-remains/ The Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE), operated by Japan Exchange Group Inc. (JPX), in Tokyo, Japan, on Thursday, Oct. 29, 2020. Kiyoshi Ota | Bloomberg | Getty Images Shares in the Asia-Pacific mostly fell sharply on Monday as negative sentiment continues to weigh in on markets. The Nikkei 225 in Japan dropped 2.66% to 26,431.55, and the Topix also slipped 2.71% to 1,864.28. South Korea’s Kospi tumbled 3.02% to 2,220.94 and the Kosdaq plunged 5.07% to 692.37. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 declined 1.6% to 6,469.40. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was 1.34% lower. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 0.21% in the final hour of trade, erasing earlier gains, with the Hang Seng Tech Index bucking the trend and rising by 1.61%. In mainland China, the Shanghai Composite fell 1.2% to 3,051.23 and the Shenzhen Component was down 0.398% to 10,962.56. The Reserve Bank of India’s monetary policy committee is scheduled to meet later this week, and China is expected to release data on factory activity at the end of the week. Onewo, a subsidiary of property developer China Vanke, is set to debut on the Hong Kong stock exchange this week as well. Australian LNG producer Woodside is a buy: Atlas Funds Management Woodside has the lowest production costs among Australian LNG producers, and is not subject to the “political meddling” that its peers are under, Atlas Funds Management said. Santos and Origin Energy face pressure to keep gas for local consumption instead of exporting it, Atlas’ Chief Investment Officer Hugh Dive told CNBC’s “Street Signs Asia.” “There are a lot of moves and political meddling there to conserve gas into the East Coast… gas in Woodside is exported up into East Asia,” he said. Woodside is located in West Australia whereas peers like Santos and Origin are located on the East Coast of Australia and may be forced to sell their energy locally at a discounted price. — Su-Lin Tan British pound drops to record low The sterling fell to a record low in Asia’s morning, briefly shedding more than 4% to $1.0382. It later recovered slightly to $1.0513. The dollar index — which trades against a basket of six currencies including the euro, yen and sterling — gained about 1%. — Abigail Ng U.S. Treasury yields jump as Asian markets tumble, 2-year Treasury hits 4.3% CNBC Pro: Asset manager says one FAANG stock looks ‘very attractive’ in the medium term Macao casino stocks get boost from Hong Kong quarantine changes Shares of Macao casino operators jumped following Hong Kong’s announcement on changes to its hotel quarantine policy for inbound travelers. Sands China jumped more than 18%, Wynn Macau rose 9.33% and Galaxy Entertainment also gained 9%. Casino and entertainment resorts developer SJM Holdings also jumped 13%. Hong Kong could potentially recover 3-4 percentage points of GDP upon a full reopening, Andrew Tilton, chief Asia-Pacific economist at Goldman Sachs said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box Asia.” —Jihye Lee Bank of Korea sees the Fed raising rates by another 75 basis points, governor says The Bank of Korea expects the U.S. Fed to hike rates by another 75 basis points at its upcoming meeting in November. “We see the Fed raising interest rates by 75 basis points at the next meeting, and another shock could come from how much they’ll hike after that,” Bank of Korea governor Rhee Chang-yong told lawmakers in Seoul.  Reiterating median forecasts that show the Fed will hike rates to 4.4% by the end of 2022, Rhee said, “Markets are still digesting the shocks from this adjustment.” “Nobody expected the [Fed] terminal rate to rise this much.” When asked about reports of currency swap agreements between the U.S. and South Korea, Rhee said “there have been exchanges of information” between the two countries, without elaborating further. —Jihye Lee CNBC Pro: Morningstar reveals its top high-dividend global stocks — and gives three 30% upside Morningstar has revealed its pick of global stocks with the highest dividend yields, saying they stand out in an environment where many companies may not be able to maintain their dividends due to “economic strain.” Pro subscribers can read more here. — Ganesh Rao China raises FX risk reserve ratio to support yuan strength The People’s Bank of China announced Monday it would increase the risk reserve requirement on foreign exchange forward sales to 20% from 0%, effective September 28. The move makes selling the yuan more expensive. The currency has weakened in the last several weeks, hitting two-year lows against the U.S. dollar, which has strengthened globally. Analysts say Chinese officials have signaled that they are taking action to stop the currency from falling further. China’s onshore and offshore currency stood past the 7.15 mark against the greenback in early Monday Asia hours. —Iris Wang CNBC Pro: Dan Niles predicts when the S&P 500 might bottom, and reveals how he’s profited this year Asian currencies weaken against the greenback The Japanese yen lost ground against the U.S. dollar in Asia’s morning trade, changing hands at 143.60. The offshore Chinese yuan weakened to 7.1475 per dollar. South Korea’s won was at its weakest levels since 2009, trading at 1,423 against the greenback. Australia’s dollar, meanwhile, strengthened slightly to $0.6532. — Abigail Ng Stocks prepare to test their lows in the final week of trading for September Heading into the final week of trading for September, the Dow and S&P 500 are each down about 6% for the month, while the Nasdaq has lost 8%. Both the Dow and S&P are now sitting 1.2% and 1.6%, respectively, above their lows from mid-June. The Nasdaq is 2.9% above its low. — Tanaya Macheel Read More…

Jones Addresses Birmingham Church On Intersecting Of Faith And Politics https://digitalalabamanews.com/jones-addresses-birmingham-church-on-intersecting-of-faith-and-politics/ Jones addresses Birmingham church on intersecting of faith and politics PLAY. NOW, RELIGION AND POLITICS HAVE OFTEN BEEN VIEWED AS TWO THINGS THAT DON’T NECESSARILY GO TOGETHER. BUT AS WVTM 13 CHIP SCARBOROUGH FOUND OUT TONIGHT, THERE’S A NEW PUSH TO SHOW HOW THE TO DO GO HAND-IN-HAND. FORMER U.S. SENATOR DOUG JONES WAS GREETED WITH APPLAUSE AS HE ADDRESSED A GROUP AT HIGHLAND’S UNITED METHODIST CHURCH ON SUNDAY NIGHT. THE TOPIC WHERE FAITH INTERSECTS POLITICS. WELL, I THINK IT’S IMPORTANT ALWAYS FOR PEOPLE TO CONSIDER FAITH AND POLITICS. THEY ARE SO INTERTWINED THESE DAYS. IT IS NOT LIKE IN THE OLD DAYS WHERE PEOPLE SAY THAT YOU SHOULD NEVER MIX YOUR RELIGION AND POLITICS. THEY ARE INTERTWINED AND YOU CAN’T ESCAPE THAT. AT A TIME WHEN POLITICS ARE DIVIDING, MANY OF US, THOSE WHO SPOKE ON SUNDAY NIGHT SAID WE SHOULD BE LEANING MORE ON OUR FAITH TO HELP UNITE US. I THINK THIS COUNTRY WOULD BE A LOT BETTER OFF. AND OFTEN WE SEE JUST THE OPPOSITE THAT THEY USE FAITH TO JUSTIFY SOME POLITICS. HIGHLANDS, UNITED METHODIST CHURCH IN BIRMINGHAM, SOUTH SIDE, SAYS IT TRIES TO LIVE BY THAT VERY MESSAGE. THE RIGHT WING AND THE LEFT WING OF POLITICS ARE VERY DIVIDED, EVEN WITH THE UNITED METHODIST CHURCH, IT’S VERY DIVIDED. AND WE HOLD ON TO THE VISION THAT THERE IS STILL MORE THAT UNITES US THAN DIVIDES US. HOPING TO FIND COMMON GROUND SOMEWHERE, SOMEHOW, MAYBE MEDICAID EXPANSION IN ALABAMA THAT WE COULD ALL GET ON THE SAME PAGE AND BE SUPPORTIVE OF BECAUSE IT WOULD MAKE US A BETTER, STRONGER STATE AND A BETTER, STRONGER NATION. JONES SAYS WITH THE DIFFICULT TIMES WE’RE LIVING IN. FAITH IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN EVER HERE. WE’VE GOT A CULTURE OF HATE IN THIS COUNTRY WHERE PEOPLE DON’T JUST HOLD EACH OTHER IN CONTEMPT. THEY JUST HATE EACH OTHER. IT’S FOR GOOD VERSUS EVIL, US VERSUS THEM. STRESSING THE IMPORTANCE OF CONVERSATION AND SOLVING THE ISSUES WE ARE FACING IN BIRMINGHAM, CH GET LOCAL BREAKING NEWS ALERTS The latest breaking updates, delivered straight to your email inbox. Privacy Notice Jones addresses Birmingham church on intersecting of faith and politics Religion and politics have often been viewed as two things that don’t necessarily go together. Watch the video above to learn why some say the two actually go hand-in-hand. BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Religion and politics have often been viewed as two things that don’t necessarily go together. Watch the video above to learn why some say the two actually go hand-in-hand. Read More…

SBS World Movies Highlights: 28 September – 4 October https://digitalalabamanews.com/sbs-world-movies-highlights-28-september-4-october/ Audio Description (AD) available for Cape Fear, Black Sea, Selma, All Quiet on the Western Front, Killing Them Softly, Love & Friendship, The Seagull, Little Woods, The Rider, and Bull Closed Captions (CC) available for Cape Fear, All Quiet on the Western Front, Killing Them Softly, Love & Friendship and The Seagull  This week’s SBS World Movies channel premieres include Cop Land, The Untouchables, Five Fingers for Marseilles, Guilty Men, The Rider and Bull WEDNESDAY 28 SEPTEMBER Three Summers 6:40pm M Brazil, 2019 Genre: Comedy, Drama Language: Portuguese Director: Sandra Kogut Starring: Regina Casé, Otávio Muller, Gisele Fróes, Rogério Fróes, Jéssica Ellen What’s it about? A charming, funny and biting comedy from Brazil. Over the course of three summers, the irrepressible housekeeper of a wealthy family relies on her resourcefulness to take advantage of whatever comes her way as her employers are caught up in a major corruption scandal. Cape Fear 8:30pm M, AD, CC USA, 1991 Genre: Thriller, Crime Language: English Director: Martin Scorsese Starring: Robert De Niro, Nick Nolte, Jessica Lange, Juliette Lewis, Illeana Douglas What’s it about? Scorsese re-teams with De Niro for another collaboration in this terrifying remake of the 1962 classic of the same name, in which a defence attorney (Nolte) and his family are targeted for elimination by the deadly ex-con he failed to get off the hook. Nominated for two Academy Awards (De Niro for Best Actor, and Juliette Lewis for Best Supporting Actress) and featuring cameos from the original film’s stars, Robert Mitchum & Gregory Peck. NOTE: No catch-up at SBS On Demand Black Sea 10:50pm M, AD UK, 2014 Genre: Action, Thriller Language: English Director: Kevin MacDonald Starring: Jude Law, Scoot McNairy, Ben Mendelsohn What’s it about? This thriller directed by Kevin Macdonald (Touching the Void, Last King of Scotland) follows a captain (Law), who puts together a misfit crew to search for a sunken submarine loaded with gold in the depths of the Black Sea. But greed and desperation soon take hold onboard their claustrophobic vessel and the men start turning on each other, putting them as risk of never making it to the surface alive. Streaming after broadcast at SBS On Demand: THURSDAY 29 SEPTEMBER Selma 10:20am M, AD USA, 2014 Genre: History, Drama Language: English Director: Ava DuVernay Starring: David Oyelowo, Tom Wilkinson, Carmen Ejogo, Tim Roth, Oprah Winfrey What’s it about? A chronicle of Martin Luther King’s (Oyelowo) campaign to secure equal voting rights via an epic march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama in 1965, forcing a famous statement by President Lyndon B. Johnson (Wilkinson) that ultimately led to the signing of the Voting Rights Act. Directed by Ava Duvernay (When They See Us, The 13th) and Oscar-nominated for Best Picture. Streaming after broadcast at SBS On Demand: A Raisin in the Sun 6:10pm PG USA, 1961 Genre: Drama, Romance Language: English Director: Daniel Petrie Starring: Sidney Poitier, Claudia McNeil, Ruby Dee, Diana Sands, Ivan Dixon What’s it about? The Youngers, an African-American family, live together in an apartment in Chicago. Following the death of their patriarch, they try to determine what to do with the substantial $10,000 insurance payment they’ll soon receive. Opinions on what to do with the money vary. Walter Lee (Poitier) wants to make a business investment, while his mother, Lena (McNeil), is intent on buying a house for them all to live in. Based Lorraine Hansberry’s acclaimed Broadway play of the same name – the first Broadway play to be written by a Black female playwright. Cop Land 8:30pm MA15+ USA, 1997 Genre: Action, Crime, Drama Language: English, Georgian Director: James Mangold Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Harvey Keitel, Ray Liotta, Robert De Niro, Peter Berg, Janeane Garofalo What’s it about? Freddy Heflin (Stallone) is the sheriff of a place everyone calls “Cop Land” — a small and seemingly peaceful town populated by the big city police officers he’s long admired. Yet something ugly is taking place behind the town’s peaceful facade. And when Freddy uncovers a massive, deadly conspiracy among these local residents, he is forced to take action and make a dangerous choice between protecting his idols and upholding the law. Original 1997 Movie Show Review Streaming after broadcast at SBS On Demand: Regression 10:30pm MA15+ Canada, Spain, 2015 Genre: Horror, Mystery, Thriller, Crime Language: English Director: Alejandro Amenábar Starring: Ethan Hawke, Emma Watson, David Thewlis, Lothaire Bluteau, Dale Dickey, David Dencik What’s it about? Minnesota, 1990. Detective Bruce Kenner (Hawke) investigates the case of young Angela (Watson), who accuses her father, John Gray (Dencik), of an unspeakable crime. When John unexpectedly and without recollection admits guilt, renowned psychologist Dr. Raines (Thewlis) is brought in to help him relive his memories and what they discover unmasks a horrifying nationwide mystery. Streaming after broadcast at SBS On Demand: FRIDAY 30 SEPTEMBER All Quiet on the Western Front 5:40pm PG, AD, CC UK, USA, 1979 Genre: Drama, History, War Language: English Director: Delbert Mann Starring: Richard Thomas, Ernest Borgnine, Donald Pleasence, Ian Holm, Patricia Neal What’s it about? At the start of World War I, Paul Baumer (Thomas) is a young German patriot, eager to fight. Indoctrinated with propaganda at school, he and his friends eagerly sign up for the army soon after graduation. But when the horrors of war soon become too much to bear, and as his friends die or become gravely wounded, Paul questions the sanity of fighting over a few hundreds yards of war-torn countryside. Streaming after broadcast at SBS On Demand: The Untouchables 8:30pm M USA, 1987 Genre: Crime, Drama, History, Thriller Language: English Director: Brian De Palma Starring: Kevin Costner, Sean Connery, Andy Garcia, Charles Martin Smith, Robert De Niro What’s it about? Young Treasury Agent Eliot Ness (Costner) arrives in Chicago and is determined to take down Al Capone (De Niro), but it’s not going to be easy because Capone has the police in his pocket. Ness meets Jimmy Malone (Connery), a veteran patrolman and probably the most honorable one on the force. He asks Malone to help him get Capone, but Malone warns him that if he goes after Capone, he is going to war. Directed by Brian De Palma (Scarface, Carlito’s Way). Original 1987 Movie Show Review (VIDEO) Streaming after broadcast at SBS On Demand: SATURDAY 1 OCTOBER Dean Spanley 6:35pm G UK, 2008 Genre: Drama, Comedy Language: English Director: Toa Fraser Starring: Peter O’Toole, Sam Neill, Jeremy Northam, Art Malik, Bryan Brown What’s it about? Set in Edwardian England where upper lips are always stiff and men from the Colonies are not entirely to be trusted, Fisk Senior (O’Toole) has little time or affection for his son (Northam), but when the pair visit a swami (Malik), they start a strange journey that eventually allows the old man to find his heart. Killing Them Softly 8:30pm MA15+, AD, CC USA, 2012 Genre: Crime, Thriller Language: English Director: Andrew Dominik Starring: Brad Pitt, Ray Liotta, James Gandolfini, Richard Jenkins, Ben Mendelsohn, Sam Shepard What’s it about? Jackie Cogan (Pitt) is an enforcer, called in to take care when a high-stakes card game has been held up by an unknown gang of thugs. Calculating, ruthless, businesslike, and with a shrewd sense of other people’s weaknesses, Cogan plies his trade, moving among a variety of hoods, hangers-on, and big-timers, tracking those responsible, and returning “law and order” to the lawless Boston underworld. Based on the novel by George V. Higgins (The Friends of Eddie Coyle) and directed by Andrew Dominik (Chopper, The Assassination of Jesse James By the Coward Robert Ford). Streaming after broadcast at SBS On Demand: The Wait 10:20pm MA15+ Finland, 2022 Genre: Romance, Drama Language: Finnish Director: Aku Louhimies Starring: Inka Kallén, Aku Hirviniemi, Andrei Alén, Adeliina Arajuuri, Eino Heiskanen What’s it about? Tells the story of a preacher, his wife and an old friend of the preacher who visits the couple in rural Finland during the summer. While the preacher is happy to see his friend because of the joviality he brings to their household, his wife has more of a romantic interest in mind. Based on the novel by revered Finnish author Juhani Aho, and the first ever carbon negative feature film production. Streaming after broadcast at SBS On Demand: SUNDAY 2 OCTOBER Love & Friendship 6:50pm PG, AD, CC UK, USA, 2016 Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance Language: English Director: Whit Stillman Starring: Kate Beckinsale, Chloë Sevigny, Xavier Samuel, Tom Bennett, Stephen Fry What’s it about? From Jane Austen’s novella, the beautiful and cunning Lady Susan Vernon (Beckinsale) visits the estate of her in-laws to wait out colourful rumours of her dalliances and to find husbands for herself and her daughter. Two young men, handsome Reginald DeCourcy (Samuel) and wealthy Sir James Martin (Bennett), severely complicate her plans. An acerbic take on Austen from Whit Stillman, writer-director of Metropolitan & The Last Days of Disco. Streaming after broadcast at SBS On Demand: The Seagull 8:30pm M, AD, CC USA, 2018 Genre: Drama, Romance, Comedy Language: English Director: Michael Mayer Starring: Annette Bening, Saoirse Ronan, Corey Stoll, Elisabeth Moss, Mare Winningham What’s it about? One summer at a lakeside Russian estate, friends and family gather for a weekend in the countryside. A love triangle soon forms between ageing actress Irina, her lover Boris (Stoll), and Nina (Ronan) from a neighbouring estate. While everyone is caug...

False Claims, Threats Fuel Poll Worker Sign-Ups For Midterms https://digitalalabamanews.com/false-claims-threats-fuel-poll-worker-sign-ups-for-midterms/ Amanda Rouser poses for a photo in front of a recruiting desk for new poll workers at Atlanta City Hall on Sept. 14, 2022, in Atlanta. Rouser was motivated to serve as a poll worker for the first time during the upcoming midterm election by false allegations of fraud against a Georgia poll worker after the 2020 presidential election. (AP Photo/Sudhin Thanawala) ATLANTA (AP) — Outraged by false allegations of fraud against a Georgia elections employee in 2020, Amanda Rouser made a vow as she listened to the woman testify before Congress in June about the racist threats and harassment she faced. “I said that day to myself, ‘I’m going to go work in the polls, and I’m going to see what they’re going to do to me,’” Rouser, who like the targeted employee is Black, recalled after stopping by a recruiting station for poll workers at Atlanta City Hall on a recent afternoon. “Try me, because I’m not scared of people.” About 40 miles north a day later, claims of fraud also brought Carolyn Barnes to a recruiting event for prospective poll workers, but with a different motivation. “I believe that we had a fraudulent election in 2020 because of the mail-in ballots, the advanced voting,” Barnes, 52, said after applying to work the polls for the first time in Forsyth County. “I truly believe that the more we flood the system with honest people who are trying to help out, it will straighten it out.” Barnes, who declined to give her party affiliation, said she wants to use her position as a poll worker to share her observations about “the gaps” in election security and “where stuff could happen afterwards.” Nearly two years after the last presidential election, there has been no evidence of widespread fraud or manipulation of voting machines. Numerous reviews in the battleground states where former President Donald Trump disputed his loss to President Joe Biden have affirmed the results, courts have rejected dozens of lawsuits filed by Trump and his allies, and even Trump’s own Department of Justice concluded the results were accurate. Nevertheless, the false claims about the the 2020 presidential contest by the former president and his supporters are spurring new interest in working the polls in Georgia and elsewhere for the upcoming midterm elections, according to interviews with election officials, experts and prospective poll workers. Like Rouser, some aim to shore up a critical part of their state’s election system amid the lies and misinformation about voting and ballot-counting. But the false claims and conspiracy theories also have taken hold among a wide swath of conservative voters, propelling some to sign up to help administer elections for the first time. The possibility they will play a crucial role at polling places is a new worry this election cycle, said Sean Morales-Doyle, an election security expert at The Brennan Center for Justice. “I think it’s a problem that there may be people who are running our elections that buy into those conspiracy theories and so are approaching their role as fighting back against rampant fraud,” he said. But he also cautioned that there are numerous safeguards to prevent a single poll worker from disrupting voting or trying to manipulate the results. The Associated Press talked to roughly two dozen prospective poll workers in September during three recruiting events in two Georgia counties — Fulton County, which includes most of Atlanta and where more than 70 percent of voters cast a ballot for Biden, and Forsyth County north of Atlanta, where support for Trump topped 65 percent. About half said the 2020 election was a factor in their decision to try to become a poll worker. “We don’t want Donald Trump bullying people,” said Priscilla Ficklin, a Democrat, while taking an application at Atlanta City Hall to be a Fulton County poll worker. “I’m going to stand up for the people who are afraid.” Carlette Dryden said she showed up to vote in Forsyth County in 2020 only to be told that she had already cast a mail-in ballot. She said elections officials let her cast a ballot later, but she suspects someone fraudulently voted in her name and believes her experience reflects broader problems with the vote across the country. Still, she said her role was not to police voters or root out fraud. “What I’m signing up to do is to help others that are coming through here that may need assistance or questions answered,” she said. Georgia was a focus of Trump’s attempts to undo his 2020 election defeat to Biden. He pressured the state’s Republican secretary of state in a January 2021 phone call to “find” enough votes to overturn Biden’s victory in the state and seized on surveillance footage to accuse the Black elections worker, Wandrea Moss, and her mother, Ruby Freeman, of pulling out suitcases of fraudulent votes in Fulton County. The allegation was quickly knocked down, but still spread widely through conservative media. Moss told the House Jan. 6 committee that she received death threats and racist messages. At a farmer’s market in the politically mixed suburb of Alpharetta north of Atlanta, Deborah Eves said she was concerned about being harassed for working at a voting site but still felt compelled to sign up. A substitute teacher and Democrat, Eves visited a recruiting booth set up by Fulton County officials next to stands selling single origin coffee, honey and empanadas. “I feel like our government is ‘we the people, and ’we the people’ need to step up and do things like poll working so that we can show that nobody’s cheating, nobody’s trying to do the wrong thing here,” she said. Allison Saunders, who worked at a voting site for the first time during the state’s May primary, said she believes Moss and Freeman were targeted because they are Black. Saunders, a Democrat, was visiting the farmer’s market with her son. “More people that look like me need to step up and do our part,” said Saunders, who is white. “I think it’s more important to do your civic duty than to be afraid.” Threats after the 2020 election contributed to an exodus of full-time elections officials around the country. Recruiters say they have not seen a similar drop in people who have previously done poll work — temporary jobs open to local residents during election season. But some larger counties around the country have reported that they are struggling to fill those positions. Working the polls has long been viewed as an apolitical civic duty. For first-time workers, it generally involves setting up voting machines, greeting voters, checking that they are registered and answering questions about the voting process. Elections staff in the U.S. generally do not vet the political views of prospective poll workers deeply, although most states have requirements that seek to have a mix of Democratic and Republican poll workers at each voting location. Forsyth County’s elections director, Mandi Smith, said she was not worried about having people who believe the last presidential election was fraudulent serve as poll workers. The county provides training that emphasizes the positions are nonpartisan and that workers must follow certain rules. “It’s a very team-driven process, as well, in the sense that there are multiple poll workers there and you are generally not working alone,” she said. Ginger Aldrich, who attended the county’s recruiting event, said she knows people who believe the last election was stolen from Trump. Their views made her curious about what she described as the “mysterious” aspects of the voting process, such as where ballots go after they leave the voting site. “There’s going to be some people that are unscrupulous, and they are going to spend all this time figuring out how to beat the system,” said Aldrich, who is retired. While she believes there is fraud in elections, she said she was willing to use her experience as a poll worker to try to convince people that there were no problems in her county with the midterm elections. ___ Follow AP for full coverage of the midterms at https://apnews.com/hub/2022-midterm-elections and on Twitter, https://twitter.com/ap_politics Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. Read More…

Author Rustin Starkey https://digitalalabamanews.com/author-rustin-starkey/ Recent release “Gushvin” from Page Publishing author Rustin Starkey introduces Arthur Davis and his old hunting buddy, Henry. The cold and snowy Altai Mountains of Mongolia prove troubling as they chase the infamous and deadly cat Arthur has named Gushvin. HARRISON, Neb., Sept. 26, 2022 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ — Rustin Starkey, who was born in 1998 and has been writing since his junior year of high school, has completed his new book “Gushvin”: a compelling novel about two good friends who embark on a once-in-a-lifetime hunt. With a dangerous and truly lethal cat on the loose, Arthur and Henry must overcome countless obstacles, such as other hunters encroaching on their territory, cold, snowy weather, and their own personal demons. Author Rustin Starkey takes readers into the world of his story, writing, “It was cold. Arthur Davis sat in front of the fire and gazed off at the setting sun, something he hadn’t seen for a couple of months. Even after being in Mongolia for a little over a year now, he was still in awe of the rugged mountains. They were nothing like anything he had ever seen. He had been to the mountains of Alaska to kill a polar bear in 1870, to the Andes mountains in 1872 to hunt cougars, and still, he couldn’t get over the beauty of the Altai mountains. He sat warming by the fire, reminiscing of time not so long ago at his Kentucky home, smoking his pipe, writing in his journal of his hunting trips and old war stories from the Civil War ten years prior to his current predicament. Although he was mesmerized by the beauty of the mountains and ever so rare sunset that he could only see through a valley in the mountains on this evening, he was haunted by the harshness of the wilderness here. It was always so cold, and the air thin in such high altitudes.” Published by Page Publishing, Rustin Starkey’s mesmerizing tale follows the duo as they persevere until they bag their game. Readers who wish to experience this enthralling work can purchase “Gushvin” at bookstores everywhere, or online at the Apple iTunes Store, Amazon, Google Play, or Barnes and Noble. For additional information or media inquiries, contact Page Publishing at 866-315-2708. About Page Publishing: Page Publishing is a traditional, full-service publishing house that handles all the intricacies involved in publishing its authors’ books, including distribution in the world’s largest retail outlets and royalty generation. Page Publishing knows that authors need to be free to create, not mired in logistics like eBook conversion, establishing wholesale accounts, insurance, shipping, taxes, and so on. Page’s accomplished writers and publishing professionals allow authors to leave behind these complex and time-consuming issues and focus on their passion: writing and creating. Learn more at http://www.pagepublishing.com. Media Contact Page Publishing Media Department, Page Publishing, 1-866-315-2708, media@pagepublishing.com SOURCE Page Publishing You just read: EIN Presswire’s priority is source transparency. We do not allow opaque clients, and our editors try to be careful about weeding out false and misleading content. As a user, if you see something we have missed, please do bring it to our attention. Your help is welcome. EIN Presswire, Everyone’s Internet News Presswire, tries to define some of the boundaries that are reasonable in today’s world. Please see our Editorial Guidelines for more information. Submit your press release Read More…

From Yale To Jail: Oath Keepers Founder Stewart Rhodes’ Path – WTOP News https://digitalalabamanews.com/from-yale-to-jail-oath-keepers-founder-stewart-rhodes-path-wtop-news/ PHOENIX (AP) — Long before he assembled one of the largest far-right anti-government militia groups in U.S. history, before his Oath Keepers stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, Stewart Rhodes was a promising Yale Law School graduate. He secured a clerkship on the Arizona Supreme Court, in part thanks to his unusual life story: a stint as an Army paratrooper cut short by a training accident, followed by marriage, college and an Ivy League law degree. The clerkship was one more rung up from a hardscrabble beginning. But rather than fitting in, Rhodes came across as angry and aggrieved. He railed to colleagues about how the Patriot Act, which gave the government greater surveillance powers after the Sept. 11 attacks, would erase civil liberties. He referred to Vice President Dick Cheney as a fascist for supporting the Bush administration’s use of “enemy combatant” status to indefinitely detain prisoners. “He saw this titanic struggle between people like him who wanted individual liberty and the government that would try to take away that liberty,” said Matt Parry, who worked with Rhodes as a clerk for Arizona Supreme Court Justice Mike Ryan. Rhodes alienated his moderate Republican boss and eventually left the steppingstone job. Since then he has ordered his life around a thirst for greatness and deep distrust of government. He turned to forming a group rooted in anti-government sentiment, and his message resonated. He gained followers as he went down an increasingly extremist path that would lead to armed standoffs, including with federal authorities at Nevada’s Bundy Ranch. It culminated last year, prosecutors say, with Rhodes engineering a plot to violently stop Democrat Joe Biden from becoming president. Rhodes, 57, will be back in court Tuesday, but not as a lawyer. He and four others tied to the Oath Keepers are being tried on charges of seditious conspiracy, the most serious criminal allegation leveled by the Justice Department in its far-reaching prosecution of rioters who attacked the Capitol. Rhodes, Jessica Watkins, Thomas Caldwell, Kenneth Harrelson and Kelly Meggs are the first Jan. 6 defendants to stand trial under a rarely used, Civil War-era law against attempting to overthrow the government or, in this case, block the transfer of presidential power. The trial will put a spotlight on the secretive group Rhodes founded in 2009 that has grown to include thousands of claimed members and loosely organized chapters across the country, according to Rachel Carroll Rivas, interim deputy director of research with the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Intelligence Project. For Rhodes, it will be a position at odds with the role of greatness that he has long envisioned for himself, said his estranged wife, Tasha Adams. “He was going to achieve something amazing,” Adams said. “He didn’t know what it was, but he was going to achieve something incredible and earth shattering.” Rhodes was born in Fresno, California. He shuttled between there and Nevada, sometimes living with his mother and other times with grandparents who were migrant farm workers, part of a multicultural extended family that included Mexican and Filipino relatives. His mother was a minister who had her own radio show in Las Vegas and went by the name Dusty Buckle, Adams said. Rhodes joined the Army fresh out of high school and served nearly three years before he was honorably discharged in January 1986 after breaking his back in a parachuting accident. He recovered and was working as a valet in Las Vegas when he met Adams in 1991. He was 25, she was 18. He had a sense of adventure that was attractive to a young woman brought up in a middle-class, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints family. A few months after the couple started dating, Rhodes accidentally dropped a gun and shot out his eye. He now wears an eye patch. Adams’ family had set aside money for her to go to college, but after their wedding Rhodes decided he should be the first to attend school. He told her she would need to quit her job teaching ballroom and country dancing and instead support them both by working full time as a stripper so he could focus on doing an excellent job in school, according to Adams. They married, but she found stripping degrading and it clashed with her conservative Mormon upbringing, she said. “Every night the drive was just so bad. I would just throw up every single night before I went in, it was just so awful,” Adams said. Rhodes would pressure her to go further, increase her exposure or contact with men to make more money, she said. “It was never enough … I felt like I had given up my soul.” She quit when she got pregnant with their first child, and the couple moved back in with her family. They worried about her but didn’t want to push too far for fear of losing her altogether. By then, Rhodes was the center of her orbit. Rhodes’ lawyer declined to make him available for an interview and Rhodes declined to answer a list of questions sent by The Associated Press. After finishing college at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Rhodes went to work in Washington as a staffer for Ron Paul, a libertarian-leaning Republican congressman, and later attended Yale, with stints in between as an artist and sculptor. Paul did not respond to a request for comment. Rhodes’ college transcripts earned him entry to several top schools, Adams said. While at Yale, Adams took care of their growing family in a small apartment while he distinguished himself with an award for a paper arguing that the George W. Bush administration’s use of enemy combatant status to hold people suspected of supporting terrorism indefinitely without charge was unconstitutional. After the Arizona clerkship, the family bounced to Montana and back to Nevada, where he worked on Paul’s presidential campaign in 2008. That’s when Rhodes also began to formulate his idea of starting the Oath Keepers. He put a short video and blog post on Blogspot and “it went viral overnight,” Adams said. Rhodes was interviewed by conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, but also more mainstream media figures such as Chris Matthews and Bill O’Reilly. He formally launched the Oath Keepers in Lexington, Massachusetts, on April 19, 2009, where the first shot in the American Revolution was fired. “We know that if a day should come in this country when a full-blown dictatorship would come or tyranny, from the left or from the right, we know that it can only happen if those men, our brothers in arms, go along and comply with unconstitutional, unlawful orders,” Rhodes said in his Lexington speech, which didn’t garner any news coverage. The group’s stated goal was to get past and present members of the military, first responders and police officers to honor the promise they made to defend the Constitution against enemies. The Oath Keepers issued a list of orders that its members wouldn’t obey, such as disarming citizens, carrying out warrantless searches and detaining Americans as enemy combatants in violation of their right to jury trials. Rhodes was a compelling speaker and especially in the early years framed the group as “just a pro-Constitution group made up of patriots,” said Sam Jackson, author of the book “Oath Keepers” about the group. With that benign-sounding framing and his political connections, Rhodes harnessed the growing power of social media to fuel the Oath Keepers’ growth during the presidency of Barack Obama. Membership rolls leaked last year included some 38,000 names, though many people on the list have said they are no longer members or were never active participants. One expert last year estimated membership to be a few thousand. The internal dialogue was much darker and more violent about what members perceived as imminent threats, especially to the Second Amendment, and the idea that members should be prepared to fight back and recruit their neighbors to fight back, too. “Time and time again, Oath Keepers lays the groundwork for individuals to decide for themselves, violent or otherwise criminal activity is warranted,” said Jackson, an assistant professor at the University at Albany. A membership fee was a requirement to access the website, where people could join discussion forums, read Rhodes’ writing and hear pitches to join militaristic trainings. Members willing to go armed to a standoff numbered in the low dozens, though, said Jason Van Tatenhove, a former spokesman for the group. Showdowns with the government began in 2011 in the small western Arizona desert town of Quartzsite, where local government was in turmoil as officials feuded among themselves, the police chief was accused of misconduct and several police employees had been suspended. A couple years later, Rhodes started calling on members to form “community preparedness teams,” which included military-style training. The Oath Keepers also showed up at a watershed event in anti-government circles: the standoff with federal agents at Nevada’s Bundy Ranch in 2014. Later that year, members stationed themselves along rooftops in Ferguson, Missouri, armed with AR-15-style weapons, to protect businesses from rioting after a grand jury declined to charge a police officer in the fatal shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown. The following year Oath Keepers guarded a southern Oregon gold mine whose mining claim owners were in a dispute with the government. Still, Rhodes was never arrested. As the Oath Keepers escalated their public profile and confrontations with the government, Rhodes was leaving behind some of those he once championed. Jennifer Esposito hired him as her lawyer after the group’s early outing in Quartzsite, but he missed a hearing in her case because he was at the Bundy Ranch standoff. A judge kicked Rhodes off the case, a...

Crimson Tide Roll Call: Monday, September 26, 2022 https://digitalalabamanews.com/crimson-tide-roll-call-monday-september-26-2022/ Your daily briefing on what’s going on with Alabama athletics, and how to watch the Crimson Tide. Today is … National Quesadilla Day Check out and subscribe for free to our new: Newsletter YouTube channel There’s also the Bama Central Forums. Facebook: @AlabamaonSI or BamaCentral: For All Things Crimson Tide Today’s Crimson Tide Schedule Men’s Golf: Alabama vs SEC Match Play hosted by Jerry Pate, Birmingham, Ala., All Day Crimson Tide Results Men’s Golf: Alabama in Ninth Place at Nine-Under Par after Opening 36 Holes at the SEC Match Play Hosted by Jerry Pate Men’s Tennis: The Alabama men’s tennis team closed their fall season opener Sunday after tallying 11 wins over three days at the Bobby Bayliss Invitational, hosted by Notre Dame, at the Courtney Tennis Center in South Bend, Ind. Newcomer Roan Jones went undefeated in singles over the weekend, capping his three-win run with a straight-set victory against Columbia’s Hugo Hashimoto, 6-2, 6-1. In doubles, Joao Ferreira and Zach Foster combined to down Columbia’s Roko Horvat and Sachin Palta, 6-1. It was Foster’s third doubles win of the weekend, playing with three different partners. Scroll to Continue Women’s Golf: Three Alabama women’s golfers shot under par to lead the Crimson Tide’s surge up the leaderboard in Sunday’s final round of the Mason Rudolph Championship, jumping four spots from 11th into seventh place with a season best round of 3-under par 285. Alabama improved its score across each day of the tournament, closing tournament play in seventh overall with a team total of 10-over par 874 (297-292-285). Soccer: No. 6 Alabama 3, Texas A&M 0 Volleyball: Auburn def. Alabama 16-25, 25-16, 25-14, 25-14 Did You Notice? Mac Jones is believed to have suffered a high-ankle sprain on Sunday against the Baltimore Ravens: Jaylen Waddle was mic’d up for the Miami Dolphins: And Quinnen Williams evidently didn’t like what his defensive line coach had to say: On This Date In Crimson Tide History September 26, 1926: Former Crimson Tide baseball and football standout Al Lary was born in Northport. Per his Alabama Sports Hall of Fame bio: One of three players named to both the football and baseball All-Century Teams. At the time, he set the record for Alabama single-season touchdown receptions with ten and the set the single-game record with three. He was named First Team All-SEC in 1950. During the 1950 baseball season, he had a 4-1 (.800) record as a starting pitcher and a 6-2 (.750) record the following year. He ranks fourth in fewest hits allowed in a season (13) with a minimum of 40 innings pitched. He played two seasons in the majors with the Chicago Cubs in 1954 and 1962. September 26, 1981: Three big defensive plays key Alabama’s 28-7 victory at Vanderbilt. Defensive tackle Jackie Cline’s punt block for a safety gave Alabama an early 2-0 lead, and defensive end Russ Wood returned a fumble 33 yards to make it 9-0, and cornerback Benny Perrin returned an interception 72 yards for touchdown as Alabama led 16-7 at the half. The offense finally scored on a 1-yard run by Jeff Fagan and an 81-yard pass from Ken Coley to Joey Jones. – Bryant Museum September 26, 2009: Greg McElroy passed for a career-high 291 yards and three touchdowns and Alabama opened SEC play by blasting Arkansas at Bryant-Denny Stadium, 35-7. The Crimson Tide executive three plays of 50-plus yards, including an 80-yard touchdown by Marquis that was one of the longest pass plays in school history. Trent Richardson broke four tackles for a 52-yard touchdown run, Julio Jones caught a 50-yard TD pass on a trick play and Alabama even managed to block a punt. However, it also lost linebacker Dont’a Hightower to a knee injury. Crimson Tide Quote of the Day “Never compromise what you think is right.” – Paul W. “Bear” Bryant We’ll leave you with this… Read More…

Florida Warned To ‘be Ready’ As Ian Expected To Rapidly Intensify – Live https://digitalalabamanews.com/florida-warned-to-be-ready-as-ian-expected-to-rapidly-intensify-live/ Central Florida stores struggle to keep water on shelves ahead of Tropical Storm Ian Floridians have been warned to “be ready” for a potential hurricane this week, as Tropical Storm Ian continues to strengthen while charting a path towards the Sunshine State. The National Hurricane Center forecasts that by mid-week, Ian will have reached Florida as a major hurricane. The Florida governor said that he “appreciates the quick action” from President Joe Biden who granted the state’s request to issue a federal emergency declaration. “We appreciate it, we’re thankful,” he said at Sunday morning’s press conference. Meanwhile, the authorities in Cuba have suspended classes in Pinar del Rio province and said they will begin evacuations today. Tropical Storm Ian is forecast to strengthen into a hurricane before reaching the western part of the island on its way to Florida. As Florida prepares for the incoming weather event, Canada is starting to assess the damage and begin recovery efforts after being hammered by post-tropical cyclone Fiona on Saturday. It has also mobilised its army for rescue and assessment of the damage. Registration is a free and easy way to support our truly independent journalism By registering, you will also enjoy limited access to Premium articles, exclusive newsletters, commenting, and virtual events with our leading journalists Email Please enter a valid email Please enter a valid email Password Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number First name Please enter your first name Special characters aren’t allowed Please enter a name between 1 and 40 characters Last name Please enter your last name Special characters aren’t allowed Please enter a name between 1 and 40 characters You must be over 18 years old to register You must be over 18 years old to register Year of birth I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent.  Read our Privacy notice You can opt-out at any time by signing in to your account to manage your preferences. Each email has a link to unsubscribe. Already have an account? sign in Registration is a free and easy way to support our truly independent journalism By registering, you will also enjoy limited access to Premium articles, exclusive newsletters, commenting, and virtual events with our leading journalists Email Please enter a valid email Please enter a valid email Password Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number First name Please enter your first name Special characters aren’t allowed Please enter a name between 1 and 40 characters Last name Please enter your last name Special characters aren’t allowed Please enter a name between 1 and 40 characters You must be over 18 years old to register You must be over 18 years old to register Year of birth I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent.  Read our Privacy notice You can opt-out at any time by signing in to your account to manage your preferences. Each email has a link to unsubscribe. Already have an account? sign in Read More…

GOP Lawmaker Suggests There's 'pressure' On Republicans To Impeach Biden If Party Wins The House – ABC17NEWS https://digitalalabamanews.com/gop-lawmaker-suggests-theres-pressure-on-republicans-to-impeach-biden-if-party-wins-the-house-abc17news/ By Sonnet Swire, CNN GOP Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina said Sunday she believes there is “pressure” for House Republicans to move to impeach President Joe Biden if they gain control of the chamber after the midterm elections. “I believe there’s pressure on the Republicans to put that forward and have that vote,” Mace told NBC’s Chuck Todd on “Meet the Press” when asked if she foresees impeachment proceedings should her party win control of the House. “I think that’s what some folks are considering.” But the freshman lawmaker added: “If that happens, I do believe it’s divisive.” Mace did not mention the source of the alleged pressure and was not asked to elaborate on who is considering the move. Asked Sunday how she would vote if an impeachment vote came to the floor, Mace said: “I will not vote for impeachment of any president if I feel that due process was stripped away, for anyone. I typically vote constitutionally, regardless of who is in power.” CNN reported earlier this year that hard-line elements of the House Republican Conference were agitating to launch impeachment proceedings against Biden if the GOP takes power after the midterms — a move GOP leaders have so far declined to embrace. House Republicans are also plotting revenge on the select committee investigating the January 6, 2021, insurrection, CNN has reported. Former President Donald Trump has been leaning heavily on his Capitol Hill allies to defend him against a slew of damaging revelations about his role in the deadly attack on the US Capitol. And as Republicans search for ways to undermine those findings, their party has started to lay the groundwork to investigate the January 6 panel itself. Some of Trump’s fiercest acolytes have also begun publicly pushing for hearings and probes into his baseless claims of fraud in the 2020 election. While House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy has vowed to conduct aggressive oversight and investigations in a GOP-led House, it’s unclear just how far he would be willing to go when it comes to January 6 and the 2020 presidential election. Mace, who flipped a Charleston-area seat in 2020, voted to certify Biden’s presidential election victory, earning Trump’s wrath. Faced with charges of insufficient loyalty to the former President, she drew a Trump-backed primary challenger but ended up prevailing by 8 points in her June primary. Mace told NBC she was “very much hopeful” to see “a deep bench of Republicans and Democrats who will be running for president” in 2024. But she left the door open to possibly supporting Trump again if he were the 2024 GOP nominee for president. “I’m going to support whomever Republicans nominate in ’24,” she said. The-CNN-Wire & © 2022 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved. CNN’s Melanie Zanona, Manu Raju, Gabby Orr and Zachary Cohen contributed to this report. Read More…

State NFL Roundup: Josh Allen Rough On Justin Herbert https://digitalalabamanews.com/state-nfl-roundup-josh-allen-rough-on-justin-herbert/ Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert was a limited practice participant on Wednesday and Thursday, and he didn’t practice at all on Friday, putting his status for Sunday’s game against the Jacksonville Jaguars in doubt. But the second-year signal-caller was in his usual role as the Chargers’ starting QB on Sunday afternoon. Herbert played despite having fractured rib cartilage, so it probably didn’t help him any that Jaguars outside linebacker Josh Allen put four hits on him during Jacksonville’s 38-10 victory. A former All-State wide receiver at Abbeville High School, Allen is the first Jacksonville player to be credited with at least four quarterback hits in a game in the past two seasons. Eleven other Jaguars have achieved the feat in the franchise’s history. Allen didn’t register a sack after having two in last week’s 24-0 victory over the Indianapolis Colts. Allen also had one tackle and broke up a pass on Sunday against the Chargers as the Jaguars moved to 2-1. Allen was among the 33 players from Alabama high schools and colleges (excluding Alabama and Auburn) who got on the field on the third Sunday of the NFL’s 103rd season. RELATED: ALABAMA ROUNDUP: DEVONTA SMITH HITS CAREER HIGHS RELATED: AUBURN ROUNDUP: JOSH BYNES LEADS RAVENS’ DEFENSE AGAINST PATRIOTS Four other former state players were involved in the Jacksonville-Los Angeles game: · Gerald Everett (UAB/South Alabama) started at tight end for the Chargers. Everett caught two passes for 25 yards. · Jaguars tight end Gerrit Prince (UAB) is on the practice squad and not eligible to play. · Jaguars defensive end/outside linebacker Jordan Smith (UAB) is on injured reserve and not eligible to play. · Darious Williams (UAB) started at cornerback for the Jaguars. Williams made four tackles and broke up two passes. In the other Sunday games: Carolina Panthers 22, New Orleans Saints 14 · Saints wide receiver Kawaan Baker (South Alabama) is on reserve/suspended by the commissioner and is not eligible to play. · Panthers cornerback Tae Hayes (Decatur) is on the practice squad and not eligible to play. · Jameis Winston (Hueytown) started at quarterback for the Saints. Playing with back and ankle injuries, Winston completed 25-of-41 passes for 353 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions and ran for 5 yards on two carries. Winston threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Marquez Callaway with 2:22 remaining to play. Both of New Orleans’ touchdowns and both of Winston’s interceptions came in the fourth quarter, with the second interception off a 50-yard throw with eight seconds remaining. Chicago Bears 23, Houston Texans 20 · Texans defensive end Mario Addison (Tarrant, Troy) is on injured reserve and not eligible to play. · Bears fullback Khari Blasingame (Buckhorn) made a tackle on special teams. · Texans wide receiver Nico Collins (Clay-Chalkville) caught two passes for 41 yards. · Tytus Howard (Monroe County, Alabama State) started at right offensive tackle for the Texans. Howard recovered a fumble. · Bears wide receiver Velus Jones Jr. (Saraland) was designated as a game-day inactive. · Darnell Mooney (Gadsden City) started at wide receiver for the Bears. Mooney caught two passes for 23 yards. · Nicholas Morrow (Huntsville) started at linebacker for the Bears. · Texans cornerback Tremon Smith (Saks) played but did not record any stats. Indianapolis Colts 20, Kansas City Chiefs 17 · Chiefs wide receiver Justyn Ross (Central-Phenix City) is on injured reserve and not eligible to play. · Chiefs defensive tackle Taylor Stallworth (Murphy) is on the practice squad for the Chiefs. Miami Dolphins 21, Buffalo Bills 19 · Dolphins outside linebacker Trey Flowers (Columbia) made one tackle. · Tyreek Hill (West Alabama) started at wide receiver for the Dolphins. Hill caught two passes for 33 yards. · Bills cornerback Siran Neal (Eufaula, Jacksonville State) played but did not record any stats. Minnesota Vikings 28, Detroit Lions 24 · Vikings quarterback Nick Mullens (Spain Park) dressed for the game but did not play. · Za’Darius Smith (Greenville) started at outside linebacker for the Vikings. Smith made three tackles and registered two tackles for loss. · Lions guard Logan Stenberg (James Clemens) played but did not record any stats. Baltimore Ravens 37, New England Patriots 26 · Patriots cornerback Marcus Jones (Enterprise, Troy) returned two kickoffs for 45 yards. · Ravens outside linebacker Jeremiah Moon (Hoover) is on the practice squad and not eligible to play. · Michael Pierce (Daphne, Samford) started at nose tackle for the Ravens. An arm injury forced Pierce out of the game. Cincinnati Bengals 27, New York Jets 12 · Jets linebacker Kwon Alexander (Oxford) made two tackles. · Bengals cornerback Allan George (Andalusia) is on the practice squad and not eligible to play. · Jets defensive end Bryce Huff (St. Paul’s Episcopal) was designated as a game-day inactive. · Bengals kicker Evan McPherson (Fort Payne) made field goals of 22 and 43 yards and three extra points. McPherson was wide left on a 41-yard field-goal attempt. · Bengals cornerback Cam Taylor-Britt (Park Crossing) is on injured reserve and not eligible to play. · Quincy Williams (Wenonah) started at linebacker for the Jets. Williams made seven tackles, recorded a tackle for loss and registered a quarterback hit. An ankle injury caused Williams to leave the game. Tennessee Titans 24, Las Vegas Raiders 22 · Raiders running back Ameer Abdullah (Homewood) returned a kickoff 23 yards. · Zach Cunningham (Pinson Valley) started at right linebacker for the Titans. Cunningham made five tackles. · Raiders defensive tackle Neil Farrell Jr. (Murphy) was designated as a game-day inactive. · Ben Jones (Bibb County) started at center for the Titans. · Titans linebacker Monty Rice (James Clemens) is on reserve/physically unable to perform and not eligible to play. Philadelphia Eagles 24, Washington Commanders 8 · Eagles safety Reed Blankenship (West Limestone) was designated as a game-day inactive. · James Bradberry (Pleasant Grove, Samford) started at cornerback for the Eagles. Bradberry made five tackles and broke up a pass. · Bobby McCain (Oxford) started at free safety for the Commanders. McCain made two tackles and broke up a pass. · Commanders running back J.D. McKissic (Central-Phenix City) ran three times for 8 yards and caught six passes for 32 yards. · Commanders safety Jeremy Reaves (South Alabama) made three tackles on special teams. · Quez Watkins (Athens) started at wide receiver for the Eagles. Watkins was targeted once but did not have a reception. Los Angeles Rams 20, Arizona Cardinals 12 · Rams offensive lineman Chandler Brewer (Florence) is on the practice squad and not eligible to play. · Rodney Hudson (B.C. Rain) started at center for the Cardinals. · Cardinals cornerback Christian Matthew (Samford) was designated as a game-day inactive. · Cardinals offensive lineman Lachavious Simmons (Selma) is on the practice squad and not eligible to play. Atlanta Falcons 27, Seattle Seahawks 23 · Mike Jackson (Spain Park) started at left cornerback for the Seahawks. Jackson made three tackles and broke up a pass. · Anthony Rush (UAB) started at defensive tackle for the Falcons. Rush made two tackles. Green Bay Packers 14, Tampa Bay Buccaneers 12 · Rakeem Nunez-Roches (Central-Phenix City) started at defensive tackle for the Buccaneers. Nunez-Roches made three tackles. · Buccaneers safety Nolan Turner (Vestavia Hills) is on the practice squad and not eligible to play. Denver Broncos 11, San Francisco 49ers 10 · Forty-Niners tight end Jordan Matthews (Madison Academy) is on injured reserve and not eligible to play. · Broncos punter Corliss Waitman (South Alabama) punted 10 times for a 47.6-yard average with a 43.6-yard net. San Francisco started five possessions inside its 15-yard line after punts to Waitman, including at its 2 and 3. Denver became the first NFL team since 2016 to win a game in which it punted at least 10 times. · Forty-Niners safety Jimmie Ward (Davidson) is on injured reserve and not eligible to play. · Broncos wide receiver Montrell Washington (Samford) returned a kickoff 14 yards and a punt 9 yards. Week 3 started on Thursday night, when the Cleveland Browns defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers 29-17. Pittsburgh wide receiver George Pickens (Hoover) made a Catch of the Year candidate during the game. RELATED: FORMER ALABAMA PREP STAR MAKES EYE-POPPING RECEPTION FOR STEELERS Week 3 concludes when the Dallas Cowboys visit the New York Giants at 7:15 p.m. CDT Monday. ABC and ESPN will televise the game. FOR MORE OF AL.COM’S COVERAGE OF THE NFL, GO TO OUR NFL PAGE Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1. Note to readers: if you purchase something through one of our affiliate links we may earn a commission. Read More…

Georgia Voting Equipment Breach At Center Of Tangled Tale https://digitalalabamanews.com/georgia-voting-equipment-breach-at-center-of-tangled-tale-3/ This Jan. 7, 2021, image taken from Coffee County, Georgia, security video, appears to show Cathy Latham (center, long turquoise top), introducing members of a computer forensic team to local election officials. Latham was the county Republican Party chairwoman at the time. The computer forensics team was at the county elections office in Douglas, Georgia, to make copies of voting equipment in an effort that documents show was arranged by attorney Sidney Powell and others allied with then-President Donald Trump. Coffee County, Georgia, via AP ATLANTA — The tale of breached voting equipment in one of the country’s most important political battleground states involves a bail bondsman, a prominent attorney tied to former President Donald Trump’s attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election and a cast of characters from a rural county that rarely draws notice from outsiders. How they all came together and what it could mean for the security of voting in the upcoming midterm elections are questions tangled up in a lawsuit and state investigations that have prompted calls to ditch the machines altogether. Details of the unauthorized access of sensitive voting equipment in Coffee County, Georgia, became public last month when documents and emails revealed the involvement of high-profile Trump supporters. That’s also when it caught the attention of an Atlanta-based prosecutor who is leading a separate investigation of Trump’s efforts to undo his loss in the state. Since then, revelations about what happened in the county of 43,000 people have raised questions about whether the Dominion Voting Systems machines used in Georgia have been compromised. The public disclosure of the breach began with a rambling phone call from an Atlanta-area bail bondsman to the head of an election security advocacy group involved in a long-running lawsuit targeting the state’s voting machines. This Jan. 7, 2021, image taken from Coffee County, Georgia, security video, Cathy Latham, right, appears to take a selfie with a member of a computer forensics team inside the local elections office. Coffee County, Georgia, via AP According to a recording filed in court earlier this year, the bail bondsman said he’d chartered a jet and was with a computer forensics team at the Coffee County elections office when they “imaged every hard drive of every piece of equipment.” That happened on Jan. 7, 2021, a day after the violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol and two days after a runoff election in which Democrats swept both of Georgia’s U.S. Senate seats. The trip to Coffee County, about 200 miles south of Atlanta, to copy data and software from elections equipment was directed by attorney Sidney Powell and other Trump allies, according to deposition testimony and documents produced in response to subpoenas. Later that month, security camera footage shows, two men who have participated in efforts to question the results of the 2020 election in several states spent days going in and out of the Coffee County elections office. The footage also shows local election and Republican Party officials welcoming the visitors and allowing them access to the election equipment. The video seems to contradict statements some of the officials made about their apparent involvement. Sign up for Daily Headlines Get each day’s latest first thing in the morning. The new information has made Coffee County, where Trump won nearly 70% of the vote two years ago, a focal point of concerns over the security of voting machines. While there is no evidence of widespread problems with voting equipment in 2020, some Trump supporters have spread false information about machines and the election outcome. Election security experts and activists fear state election officials haven’t acted fast enough in the face of what they see as a real threat. The copying of the software and its availability for download means potential bad actors could build exact copies of the Dominion system to test different types of attacks, said University of California, Berkeley computer scientist Philip Stark, an expert witness for the plaintiffs in the voting machines lawsuit. “This is like bank robbers having an exact replica of the vault that they’re trying to break into,” he said. Stark said the risks could be minimized by using hand-marked paper ballots and rigorous audits. Dominion says its equipment remains secure. Marilyn Marks, executive director of the Coalition for Good Governance, the group that sued over the state’s voting machines, said the state has been slow to investigate. She was on the receiving end of the phone call from the bail bondsman. The state, she said, has been “repeatedly looking the other way when faced with flashing red lights of serious voting system security problems.” State officials say they’re confident the election system is safe. All Coffee County election equipment that wasn’t already replaced will be swapped out before early voting begins next month, the secretary of state’s office said Friday. State officials also noted they were deluged by false claims after the 2020 election. “In retrospect, you can say, well what about this, this and this,” said Gabriel Sterling, a top official in the Georgia secretary of state’s office. “In real time, no, there was no reason to think that.” In late January 2021, a few weeks after the computer forensics team visited, security video shows a secretary of state’s office investigator arriving at the Coffee County elections office. He and the elections supervisor walk into the room that houses the election management system server. Seconds later, Jeff Lenberg, who has been identified by Michigan authorities as being part of an effort to gain access to voting machines there, is seen walking out of that room. Asked whether Lenberg’s presence in the room with sensitive election equipment raised concerns for the investigator, secretary of state’s office spokesperson Mike Hassinger said the investigator was looking into an unrelated matter and didn’t know who Lenberg was. Security video also showed another man, Doug Logan, at the office in mid-January. Logan founded a company called Cyber Ninjas, which led a discredited review of the 2020 election in Maricopa County, Arizona. In May 2021, Coffee County’s new elections supervisor raised concerns with the secretary of state’s office after finding Logan’s business card by a computer. The election supervisor’s concerns were referred to an investigator, but he testified that no one ever contacted him. Hassinger said the secretary of state’s office responds to allegations when they are raised but that “information about unauthorized access to Coffee County’s election equipment has been kept hidden” by local officials and others. Much of what is known was uncovered through documents, security camera video and depositions produced in response to subpoenas in the lawsuit filed by individual voters and the election security advocacy group. The suit alleges Georgia’s touchscreen voting machines are not secure and seeks to force the state to use hand-marked paper ballots instead. The recently produced evidence of a breach wasn’t the first sign of problems in Coffee County, which caused headaches for state election officials in the hectic weeks following the 2020 election. It’s likely that turmoil helped open the door for Trump’s allies. In early December 2020, the county elections board declined to certify the results of a machine recount requested by Trump, saying the election system had produced inaccurate results. A video posted online days later showed the former county elections supervisor saying the elections software could be manipulated; as she spoke, the password to the county election management system server was visible on a note stuck to her computer. At the end of December, Cathy Latham, the Coffee County Republican Party chair who also was a fake elector for Trump, appeared at a state legislative committee hearing and made further claims that the voting machines were unreliable. Within days of that hearing, Latham said, she was contacted by Scott Hall, the bail bondsman, who had been a Republican observer during an election recount. Latham testified in a deposition that Hall asked her to connect him with the Coffee County elections supervisor (who later was accused of falsifying timesheets and forced to resign). A few days later, on Jan. 7, Hall met with a computer forensics team from data solutions firm SullivanStrickler at the Coffee County elections office. The team copied the data and software on the election management system server and other voting system components, a company executive said in a deposition. The company said it believed its clients had the necessary permission. Invoices show the data firm billed Powell $26,000 for the day’s work. “Everything went smoothly yesterday with the Coffee County collection,” the firm’s chief operating officer wrote to Powell in an email. “Everyone involved was extremely helpful.” Read More…

'Fighting Fit': Trial To Show Oath Keepers' Road To Jan. 6 https://digitalalabamanews.com/fighting-fit-trial-to-show-oath-keepers-road-to-jan-6-5/ Stewart Rhodes, founder of the Oath Keepers, center, speaks during a rally June 25, 2017, outside the White House in Washington. Hundreds of pages of court documents in the case against Rhodes and four co-defendants, whose trial opens with jury selection Tuesday, in Washington’s federal court, paint a picture of a group so determined to overturn Biden’s election that some members were prepared to lose their lives to do so. Susan Walsh ~ Associated Press, file The voting was over and almost all ballots were counted. News outlets on Nov. 7, 2020, had called the presidential race for Joe Biden. But the leader of the Oath Keepers extremist group was just beginning to fight. Convinced the White House had been stolen from Donald Trump, Stewart Rhodes exhorted his followers to action. “We must now … refuse to accept it and march en-mass on the nation’s Capitol,” Rhodes declared. Authorities allege Rhodes and his band of extremists would spend the next several weeks after Election Day, Nov. 3, amassing weapons, organizing paramilitary training and readying armed teams with a singular goal: stopping Biden from becoming president. Their plot would come to a head on Jan. 6, 2021, prosecutors say, when Oath Keepers in battle gear were captured on camera shouldering their way through the crowd of Trump supporters and storming the Capitol in military-style stack formation. Members of the Oath Keepers stand on the East Front of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington. The trial of the founder of the Oath Keepers, Stewart Rhodes, and four associates charged with seditious conspiracy in the attack on the U.S. Capitol is set to begin this week. Manuel Balce Ceneta ~ Associated Press, file Court documents in the case against Rhodes and four co-defendants — whose trial opens Tuesday with jury selection in Washington’s federal court — paint a picture of a group so determined to overturn Biden’s victory that some members were prepared to lose their lives to do so. It’s the biggest test for the Justice Department’s efforts to hold accountable those responsible for the Capitol attack. Rioters temporarily halted the certification of Biden’s victory by sheer force, pummeling police officers in hand-to-hand fighting as they rammed their way into the building, forcing Congress to adjourn as lawmakers and staff hid from the mob. Despite nearly 900 arrests and hundreds of convictions in the riot, Rhodes and four Oath Keeper associates — Kelly Meggs, Jessica Watkins, Kenneth Harrelson and Thomas Caldwell — are the first to stand trial on the rare and difficult-to-prove charge of seditious conspiracy. The Oath Keepers accuse prosecutors of twisting their words and insist there was never any plan to attack the Capitol. They say they were in Washington to provide security at events for figures such as Trump ally Roger Stone before Trump’s big outdoor rally near the White House on Jan. 6. Their preparations, training, gear and weapons were to protect themselves against potential violence from left-wing antifa activists or to be ready if Trump invoked the Insurrection Act to call up a militia. Sign up for Daily Headlines Get each day’s latest first thing in the morning. Rhodes’ lawyers have signaled their defense will focus on his belief that Trump would take that action. But Trump never did, so Rhodes went home, his lawyers have said. On Nov. 9, 2020, less than a week after the election, Rhodes held a conference call and rallied the Oath Keepers to go to Washington and fight. He expressed hope that antifa (anti-fascist) activists would start clashes because that would give Trump the “reason and rationale for dropping the Insurrection Act.” “You’ve got to go there and you’ve got to make sure that he knows that you are willing to die to fight for this country,” Rhodes told his people, according to a transcript filed in court. By December, Rhodes and the Oath Keepers had set their sights on Congress’ certification of the Electoral College vote on Jan. 6, prosecutors say. On Dec. 23, he published an open letter on the Oath Keepers website declaring that “tens of thousands of patriot Americans, both veterans and nonveterans” would be in Washington. He warned they might have to “take to arms in defense of our God given liberty.” As 2021 approached, Rhodes spent $7,000 on two night-vision devices and a weapon sight and sent them to someone outside Washington, authorities say. Over several days in early January, he would spend an additional $15,500 on guns, magazines, mounts, sights and other equipment, according to court documents. Rhodes had instructed Oath Keepers to be ready, if asked, to secure the White House perimeter and “use lethal force if necessary” against anyone, including the National Guard, who might try to remove Trump from the White House, according to court documents. On Jan. 5, Meggs and the Florida Oath Keepers brought gun boxes, rifle cases and suitcases filled with ammunition to the Virginia hotel where the “quick reaction force” teams would be on standby, according to prosecutors. A team from Arizona brought weapons, ammunition, and supplies to last 30 days, according to court papers. A team from North Carolina had rifles in a vehicle parked in the hotel lot, prosecutors have said. At the Capitol, the Oath Keepers formed two teams, military “stacks,” prosecutors say. Some members of the first stack headed toward the House in search of Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., but couldn’t find her, according to court documents. Members of the second stack confronted officers inside the Capitol Rotunda, prosecutors allege. Rhodes isn’t accused of going inside the Capitol but was seen huddled with members outside after the riot. Rhodes and others then walked to the nearby Phoenix Park Hotel, prosecutors say. In a private suite there, Rhodes called someone on the phone with an urgent message for Trump, according to an Oath Keeper who says he witnessed it. Rhodes repeatedly urged the person on the phone to tell Trump to call upon militia groups to fight to keep the president in power, court papers say. The person denied Rhodes’ request to speak directly to Trump. “I just want to fight,” Rhodes said after hanging up, according to court papers. Authorities have not disclosed the name of the person they believe Rhodes was speaking to on the call. That night, Rhodes and other Oath Keepers went to dinner in Virginia. In messages over the course of the evening, they indicated their fight was far from over. “Patriots entering their own Capitol to send a message to the traitors is NOTHING compared to what’s coming,” Rhodes wrote. Rhodes returned to Texas after the Jan. 6 attack and remained free for a year before his arrest in January 2022. In interviews before he was jailed, he sought to distance himself from Oath Keepers who went inside the Capitol, saying that was a mistake. He also continued to push the lie the election was stolen and said the Jan. 6 investigation was politically motivated. For full coverage of the Capitol riot, go to https://apnews.com/hub/capitol-siege Read More…

Giorgia Meloni: Italy's Far Right On Course To Win Election https://digitalalabamanews.com/giorgia-meloni-italys-far-right-on-course-to-win-election/ By Paul Kirby BBC News, Rome Image source, Reuters Image caption, Ms Meloni said Italians had sent a clear message calling for a right-wing government Far-right leader Giorgia Meloni has claimed victory in Italy’s election, and is on course to become the country’s first female prime minister. Ms Meloni is widely expected to form Italy’s most right-wing government since World War Two. That will alarm much of Europe as Italy is the EU’s third-biggest economy. However, speaking after the vote, Ms Meloni said her Brothers of Italy party would “govern for everyone” and would not betray people’s trust. “Italians have sent a clear message in favour of a right-wing government led by Brothers of Italy,” she told reporters in Rome, holding up a sign saying “Thank you Italy”. She is predicted to win up to 26% of the vote, based on provisional results, ahead of her closest rival Enrico Letta from the centre left. Ms Meloni’s right-wing alliance – which also includes Matteo Salvini’s far-right League and former PM Silvio Berlusconi’s centre-right Forza Italia – now looks to have control of both the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies, with around 44% of the vote. Her own party’s dramatic success in the vote disguised the fact that her allies performed poorly, with Mr Salvini’s party slipping below 9%, and Forza Italia even lower. Four years ago, Brothers of Italy won little more than 4% of the vote but this time benefited from staying out of the national unity government that collapsed in July. The decision on who becomes Italy’s next leader is up to the president, Sergio Mattarella, and that will take time. Although Giorgia Meloni has worked hard to soften her image, emphasising her support for Ukraine and diluting anti-EU rhetoric, she leads a party rooted in a post-war movement that rose out of dictator Benito Mussolini’s fascists. Earlier this year she outlined her priorities in a raucous speech to Spain’s far-right Vox party: “Yes to the natural family, no to the LGBT lobby, yes to sexual identity, no to gender ideology… no to Islamist violence, yes to secure borders, no to mass migration… no to big international finance… no to the bureaucrats of Brussels!” The centre-left alliance was a long way behind the right with 26% of the vote and Democratic Party figure Debora Serracchiani said it was a sad evening for Italy. The right “has the majority in parliament, but not in the country”, she insisted. The left failed to form a viable challenge with other parties after Italy’s 18-month unity government fell apart, and officials were downbeat even before the vote. The Five Star Movement under Giuseppe Conte won a convincing third place – but does not see eye to eye with Enrico Letta even though they have several policies in common on immigration and raising the minimum wage. Turnout fell to a record low of 63.91% – nine points down on 2018. Voting levels were especially poor in southern regions including Sicily. Italy is a founding father of the European Union and a member of Nato, and Ms Meloni’s rhetoric on the EU places her close to Hungary’s nationalist leader Viktor Orban. Her allies have both had close ties with Russia. Mr Berlusconi, 85, claimed last week that Vladimir Putin was pushed into invading Ukraine while Mr Salvini has called into question Western sanctions on Moscow. Ms Meloni wants to revisit Italian reforms agreed with the EU in return for almost €200bn (£178bn) in post-Covid recovery grants and loans, arguing that the energy crisis has changed the situation. Image source, Reuters Image caption, There was little cause for joy at Enrico Letta’s Democratic Party headquarters on Sunday night The Hungarian prime minister’s long-serving political director, Balazs Orban, was quick to congratulate Italy’s right-wing parties: “We need more than ever friends who share a common vision and approach to Europe’s challenges.” In France, Jordan Bardella of the far-right National Rally said Italian voters had given European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen a lesson in humility. She had earlier said Europe had “the tools” to respond if Italy went in a “difficult direction”. However, Prof Gianluca Passarrelli of Rome’s Sapienza University told the BBC he thought she would avoid rocking the boat on Europe and focus on other policies: “I think we will see more restrictions on civil rights and policies on LGBT and immigrants.” Mr Salvini will be hoping to return to the interior ministry to halt migrant boats crossing from Libya. This election marks a one-third reduction in the size of the two houses, and that appears to have benefited the winning parties. A Rai TV exit poll suggested the three parties will hold 227-257 seats in the revamped 400-seat Chamber and 111-131 seats out of a total of 200 seats in the Senate. Mr Salvini said the right had a clear advantage in both houses. The same Rai poll also reveals just how dominant the Meloni-led coalition is likely to be. The centre left will hold a mere 78-98 seats in the Chamber and 33-53 in the Senate, it says. More on Italy’s election Read More…

An Advisor To The January 6 Committee Said Mark Meadows' Texts Provide 'irrefutable' Proof Of A Comprehensive Plot To Overturn The 2020 Election https://digitalalabamanews.com/an-advisor-to-the-january-6-committee-said-mark-meadows-texts-provide-irrefutable-proof-of-a-comprehensive-plot-to-overturn-the-2020-election/ White House chief of staff Mark Meadows speaks on a phone on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Friday, Oct. 30, 2020, before President Donald Trump’s departure on Marine One.Patrick Semansky/Associated Press A former technical adviser to the January 6 committee discussed the investigation with “60 Minutes.” Denver Riggleman said texts from Mark Meadows showed a “roadmap” to overturning the election. Meadows was receiving texts about the alternate electors plot just days after the election. A former technical adviser to the January 6 committee said texts former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows turned over provide “irrefutable” proof of a plot to overturn the results of the 2020 election. Denver Riggleman, a former Republican congressman, made the comment during an interview with CBS News’ “60 Minutes” on Sunday. He said Meadows’ texts showed a “roadmap” for how allies of former President Donald Trump were trying to overturn the election. “It showed actually the evolution of the beginning arguments from alternate electors all the way through rally planning, all the way to day of,” he said. Host Bill Whitaker asked Riggleman to confirm his belief that Meadows’ texts “provide irrefutable, time-stamped proof of a comprehensive plot at all levels of government to overturn the election.” Riggleman responded affirmatively: “Irrefutable. Early in the text messages they were talking about alternate electors, you know, I think as soon as November 5th or November 6th.” Whitaker went on to note the many text messages Meadows had received in the days after the election, including one from Donald Trump Jr. in which he explained an alternate electors plan that would allow his father to win pending Congress’s actions on January 6. Meadows, who was Trump’s chief of staff from 2020 to 2021, was also receiving texts about how to address the “stolen” election from people like MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell and GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene. Insider previously compiled a list of all the texts Meadows had received while the January 6 insurrection was unfolding. “The Meadows text messages show you an administration that was completely eaten up with a digital virus called QAnon and conspiracy theories: an apocalyptic, messianic buffoonery. You can look at the text messages as that roadmap, but it’s also a look into the psyche of the Republican party today,” Riggleman said. Riggleman noted it’s unclear if Meadows turned over all of his relevant texts but said “what we got is pretty valuable.” A lawyer for Meadows did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment. Read the original article on Business Insider Read More…

GOP Lawmaker Suggests There’s ‘pressure’ On Republicans To Impeach Biden If Party Wins The House https://digitalalabamanews.com/gop-lawmaker-suggests-theres-pressure-on-republicans-to-impeach-biden-if-party-wins-the-house/ “I believe there’s pressure on the Republicans to put that forward and have that vote,” Mace told NBC’s Chuck Todd on “Meet the Press” when asked if she foresees impeachment proceedings should her party win control of the House. “I think that’s what some folks are considering.” But the freshman lawmaker added: “If that happens, I do believe it’s divisive.” Mace did not mention the source of the alleged pressure and was not asked to elaborate on who is considering the move. Asked Sunday how she would vote if an impeachment vote came to the floor, Mace said: “I will not vote for impeachment of any president if I feel that due process was stripped away, for anyone. I typically vote constitutionally, regardless of who is in power.” News84Media reported earlier this year that hard-line elements of the House Republican Conference were agitating to launch impeachment proceedings against Biden if the GOP takes power after the midterms — a move GOP leaders have so far declined to embrace. House Republicans are also plotting revenge on the select committee investigating the January 6, 2021, insurrection, News84Media has reported. Former President Donald Trump has been leaning heavily on his Capitol Hill allies to defend him against a slew of damaging revelations about his role in the deadly attack on the US Capitol. And as Republicans search for ways to undermine those findings, their party has started to lay the groundwork to investigate the January 6 panel itself. Some of Trump’s fiercest acolytes have also begun publicly pushing for hearings and probes into his baseless claims of fraud in the 2020 election. While House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy has vowed to conduct aggressive oversight and investigations in a GOP-led House, it’s unclear just how far he would be willing to go when it comes to January 6 and the 2020 presidential election. Mace, who flipped a Charleston-area seat in 2020, voted to certify Biden’s presidential election victory, earning Trump’s wrath. Faced with charges of insufficient loyalty to the former President, she drew a Trump-backed primary challenger but ended up prevailing by 8 points in her June primary. Mace told NBC she was “very much hopeful” to see “a deep bench of Republicans and Democrats who will be running for president” in 2024. But she left the door open to possibly supporting Trump again if he were the 2024 GOP nominee for president. . “I’m going to support whoever Republicans nominate in ’24,” she said. News84Media’s Melanie Zanona, Manu Raju, Gabby Orr and Zachary Cohen contributed to this report. . Read More…

AP News Summary At 12:34 A.m. EDT https://digitalalabamanews.com/ap-news-summary-at-1234-a-m-edt/ Italy voters shift sharply, reward Meloni’s far-right party ROME (AP) — Italian voters have shifted sharply, rewarding a party with neo-fascist roots and bolstering prospects the country could have its first far-right-led government since World War II. Partial results Monday from the election for Parliament suggested far-right leader Giorgia Meloni and her Brothers of Italy party were winning Sunday’s vote. In a victory speech, Meloni struck a moderate tone, saying: “If we are called to govern this nation, we will do it for everyone, we will do it for all Italians and we will do it with the aim of uniting the people (of this country).” From Yale to jail: Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes’ path PHOENIX (AP) — The founder of the militia group Oath Keepers, Stewart Rhodes, was once a promising Yale Law School graduate. Then his deep distrust of government and thirst for greatness led him down a far different path. Rhodes built one of the country’s largest anti-government militia groups with members who would eventually storm the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. The 57-year-old Rhodes will soon be back in court, but not as a lawyer. He and four others tied to the group head to trial this coming week on charges of seditious conspiracy. It’s the most serious charge leveled by the Justice Department in its far-reaching prosecution of Capitol rioters. Politics impede long-advocated growth of UN Security Council UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Virtually everyone involved agrees that the powerful U.N. Security Council needs to expand and include more voices. But as with so many things, the central question is exactly how. Five countries that were powers at World War II’s end have dominated the United Nations and its most important body for its 77-year history. The council remains in its current configuration despite a growing, four-decade clamor for other countries to join that VIP group to reflect the dramatically changed 21st-century world. The failure of the council to respond to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has shone a spotlight on another failure: It can’t seem to increase its inclusivity. US carrier, S. Korea ships launch drills amid North’s threat SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A U.S. aircraft carrier and its battle group have launched drills with South Korean warships off the Korean Peninsula’s east coast in their first such training in five years. The four-day training that began Monday came a day after North Korea test-fired a short-range ballistic missile in a possible response to the exercise. South Korea’s navy says the drills are aimed at demonstrating the allies’ “powerful resolve to respond to North Korean provocations” and improving their ability to perform joint naval operations. It says more than 20 U.S. and South Korean navy ships, including the nuclear-powered USS Ronald Reagan are mobilized for the drills, Japanese leader’s trip to China in ’72 was diplomatic gamble TOKYO (AP) — The Japanese leader who normalized relations with China 50 years ago feared for his life when he flew to Beijing for the high-stakes negotiations at the peak of the Cold War. That’s according to his daughter, a former Japanese foreign minister who spoke to The Associated Press ahead of the 50th anniversary Thursday of the communique Kakuei Tanaka signed with China’s Zhou Enlai. Tanaka was confident and ambitious, his daughter says, but his mission to normalize relations with China was a huge gamble. He told her before leaving that he would resign if his mission failed. The visit in 1972 followed President Richard Nixon’s visit to China months earlier that transformed the then-isolated nation’s position in the world. Biden’s mixed record forces some Dems into odd balancing act CINCINNATI (AP) — Some Democrats facing tough midterm races are praising many of the Biden administration’s top policy achievements even while distancing themselves from the president himself. Those conflicting political incentives have forced many front-line Democrats into delicate balancing acts. Biden’s approval ratings have improved lately but remain low as inflation still runs near record highs. Yet unemployment is down, wages are up and the White House and Democratically controlled Congress have notched wins that many candidates in close races applaud. Their predicament lays bare the lack of a national Democratic playbook on how to run in relation to Biden and his White House. Bills would curtail objections at future Jan. 6 counts WASHINGTON (AP) — Members of Congress have officially objected to the results in four of the last six presidential elections. The partisan practice has been legal for over a century but became more fraught after a violent mob of former President Donald Trump’s supporters attacked the U.S. Capitol last year. In an effort to prevent another Jan. 6, 2021, bills moving through the House and Senate would make it harder to lodge those objections when Congress counts the electoral votes in a joint session after a presidential election. The language is part of a larger effort to overhaul the 19th century Electoral Count Act. False claims, threats fuel poll worker sign-ups for midterms ATLANTA (AP) — False claims about the 2020 presidential election by former President Donald Trump and his allies are spurring new interest in working the polls in Georgia and elsewhere for the upcoming midterm elections, but for different reasons. Some prospective poll workers tell The Associated Press they aim to shore up a critical part of their state’s voting system amid the lies and misinformation. But others have bought into the claims, leading election security experts to worry that those workers could overstep their roles. Local election officials say they have numerous safeguards to prevent a single poll worker from disrupting voting or trying to manipulate results. Russia’s call-up splits EU; Ukraine says it shows weakness KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine’s president says Russia’s rush to mobilize hundreds of thousands of recruits to staunch stinging losses is a tacit acknowledgement that its “army is not able to fight.”  Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also told CBS he’s bracing for more Russian strikes on Ukraine’s electrical infrastructure as the weather gets colder. He says this winter “will be very difficult.” Although the European Union is now largely off limits to most Russians, with direct flights stopped, an exodus of Russians fleeing military service is dividing European opinion over whether they should be granted safe haven. Officials in the Baltics say the Russians have had plenty of time to protest the war but did not. The partial mobilization is also triggering more protests in Russia. Canada struggles to restore power after storm; body found TORONTO (AP) — Hundreds of thousands of people in Atlantic Canada remain without power and officials are trying to assess the scope of devastation from former Hurricane Fiona. It swept away houses, stripped off roofs and blocked roads across the country’s Atlantic provinces. Officials said they found the body of a woman swept into the sea. After surging north from the Caribbean, Fiona came ashore before dawn Saturday as a post-tropical cyclone, still at hurricane strength. Defense Minister Anita Anand says troops will help remove fallen trees, restore transportation links and do whatever else is required for as long as it takes. Fiona caused at least five deaths in the Caribbean. Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Read More…

Auburn Takes Home Two Doubles Titles In Final Day Of 2022 Fall Ranked Spotlight – Auburn University Athletics https://digitalalabamanews.com/auburn-takes-home-two-doubles-titles-in-final-day-of-2022-fall-ranked-spotlight-auburn-university-athletics/ AUBURN, Ala. – Both of Auburn’s doubles teams participating in the 2022 Fall Ranked Spotlight in Cary, NC. Took home a title for their respective flights on Sunday. The Tigers also won an additional three matches in singles play.   Senior Carolyn Ansari and junior Ariana Arseneault were crowned champions of the C-D flight after defeating Kolie Allen and Lucia Marzal from Ohio State 6-3. The freshman duo of Kaitlyn Carnicella and DJ Bennett beat USC’s Snow Han and Sloane Morra 6-2 to claim the title in the G-H flight.   “What an incredible end to a weekend of immense growth,” Auburn head coach Caroline Lilley said after the tournament wrapped up on Sunday afternoon. “Credit to our athletic trainer Amanda Lyon and our strength and conditioning coach Dr. Joe D’Amato. They are doing a terrific job of caring for our student-athletes and are irreplaceable assets to our program. We played a ton of tennis this weekend and to watch our young women dig deep and find reasons they could is a great place to be to start our season. As we navigate our fall slate, we are eager to enjoy the monotonous days that make tournament play that much more rewarding.”   In singles play, Arseneault won another ranked matchup. Sunday’s win came against Oklahoma’s Carmen Corley, who is ranked 22nd in the nation, 6-4, 4-6, 10-7. Bennett defeated Elise Mills from South Carolina 7-5, 6-3. Carnicella took down Miami’s Audrey Boch-Collins 6-1, 7-6 (4).   Up next on the fall schedule, Auburn will have representation at the ITF 25K in Austin, Texas on October 1-9.   Players Mentioned Players Mentioned Read More…

Democrats Are Warming To A Biden 2024 Campaign. They https://digitalalabamanews.com/democrats-are-warming-to-a-biden-2024-campaign-they/ The mood has notably shifted among top Democrats in recent months. During the depths of Biden’s political struggles in March, some party leaders from all over the country huddled in the hallways of the Hilton a few blocks from the White House for the annual Democratic National Committee meeting, according to four people involved in the conversations. Over drinks, while looking around to make sure no one overheard, they winced and grimaced and whispered: What could they do to stop Biden from running for reelection again? “There were people who were not certain he would be the right candidate,” said Jim Roosevelt, a top DNC member and the grandson of a president who ran for reelection more than any other. When those same state party chairs and executive directors returned to the capital for their fall meeting two weeks ago, the disposition had whipped around. Biden’s summer of successes has started to permeate. Fears of a radical Donald Trump restoration remain high, mounting legal problems regardless. A potentially bruising open primary would loom if Biden decided against seeking another term. “In New Mexico I’ve seen a radical shift after his speech in Philadelphia,” said the state’s Democratic Party chair Jessica Velasquez, referring to the President’s battle for the soul of democracy speech. “Part of that is he just keeps showing up.” A state party chair who asked not to be named added, “People were grumbling because nothing was passing. Now we’re getting the Biden we all voted for.” Inside the White House — both in the West Wing and in first lady Dr. Jill Biden’s offices — the last six weeks have renewed confidence of the President’s chances in a reelection run. They’ve developed a chip-on-the-shoulder underdog mentality, saying people doubt Biden and claim they’re not excited by him before he pulls it all together and comes out on top. He did it after he was counted out during the 2020 primaries, they say, he did it in going up against Trump and he did it again when his presidency was assumed to have sputtered out in the spring. Now they were ready to get on board — if he is. “If he feels he can do it,” Roosevelt said, “people would want him to do it.” Biden is already the oldest president ever and tends to keep a lighter public schedule than his predecessors, which has led to questions about how extensive a campaign he’d engage in. But even with those limited appearances recently, his poll numbers have been slowly moving upward. Already at his rally in Washington on Friday, Biden delivered another in what has become a series of much more energetic speeches, ripping into Republicans while pacing the stage on a handheld mic, and then walking off the stage to the beat of Daft Punk’s “One More Time.” But as much as most Democrats would love to be finished with the endless “Is he going to run?” discussion, Biden keeps stoking it. “My intention, as I said to begin with, is that I would run again. But it’s just an intention. But is it a firm decision that I run again? That remains to be seen,” Biden said in his “60 Minutes” interview that aired last Sunday. Advisers dismissed that answer as simply trying to listen to lawyers’ warnings of not preemptively triggering Federal Elections Commission laws around fundraising and activity. Many others are not convinced. People in and around the President’s orbit would like him to make a decision by early 2023, after he comes back from his traditional Biden family Christmas, possibly by Martin Luther King Jr. Day. “He will decide when he decides,” a top Democrat who speaks to the President told CNN, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss a highly sensitive subject. “And rarely has he ever decided anything a minute sooner than he has to.” Even in-the-know supporters who say they’re completely gung-ho about Biden 2024 quickly add that of course he’ll have to talk with his family to see what’s right for him — and that more than anything, they know everything hinges on the first lady. No incumbent president has faced these kinds of continued doubts about running for reelection, which stretch from Pennsylvania Avenue to Pennsylvania. Dave Henderson, the executive director of AFSCME Council 13 in Pennsylvania — who as a union leader from Pittsburgh is about as core a Biden voter as exists — said he’d supported the President from the start of his 2020 campaign and remains enthusiastic, but paused when asked if he’d support Biden for reelection. “Tough question, because I’m not sure he’s going to run for reelection,” Henderson said. Told that Biden has said he intends to run, Henderson signed on immediately: “If he’s running, then I’ve got his back.” Sen. Chris Coons, the Delaware Democrat who holds Biden’s old seat and has stayed a confidant, told CNN the President “is seriously considering running,” and dismissed any static from the “60 Minutes” interview or elsewhere. “He beat Donald Trump before; he’ll beat Donald Trump again. If that’s the way this race plays out, I think Joe Biden is the best Democrat to beat Donald Trump in 2024,” Coons said. Standing on the White House driveway earlier this month after attending the Inflation Reduction Act celebration, Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet said that as one of the incumbent Democrats facing a strong GOP challenger in November, he’d be eager to have the President come campaign for him. “People have connected that it’s Democrats delivering,” Bennet said, “But I’d say it’s something more important than that: It reflects a very different ethic than the chaos of the Trump White House.” Those who know the first lady’s thought process, and are familiar with the strength of the Biden clan’s input, tell CNN that the last few months have also made them feel more open to another campaign. At times, they’ve expressed a little excitement at the prospect. Jill Biden “is still processing” the idea, says a person with knowledge of the first lady’s recent conversations on the topic. She was never sold on Biden’s running in 2016, when he ultimately didn’t. She was in favor of his running in 2020, when he did. “She will want to know if he can win, first and foremost. She will not want him put in a position where he could be embarrassed,” said one person who has worked for Biden for a long time and has witnessed the first lady’s tenacity with assessing data. “She will want to see a strategy for a primary and for a general (election).” With the exception of Hunter Biden’s toddler-aged son, the other five Biden grandchildren are old enough, and care enough, to have an opinion on whether their “Pop” should run again. The President himself has recently returned to recounting the input his grandchildren gave him about getting into the 2020 race. “Jill would make sure this decision would be made as a family — Hunter, Ashley, Val (Biden’s sister) and the grandchildren,” says the person who has worked with Biden. “She would want to know how they individually feel.” A senior Biden adviser insisted there’s no wavering. “The President has consistently said he intends to run for reelection and that is something both Dr. Biden and the family fully supports,” the adviser said. “The first lady will be an active campaigner for Democrats this fall and will carry a message of optimism and hope, focusing on the accomplishments of her husband’s administration. ‘Joe is delivering results’ will be a frequent message from her on the stump, name checking his achievements, and calling on voters to imagine what more he could do with larger majorities in Congress.” The questions over Biden’s age get a little quieter Biden is now a couple of months older than he was when many Democrats were gingerly trying to nudge him off the stage in the spring, but suddenly they’re insisting age is just a number for a man who’d be an unprecedented 86 years old by the end of his second term. “The age thing is a convenient place to go for people who had other reasons to say they didn’t want him to run,” said Rep. Brendan Boyle, a Pennsylvania congressman who was rooting for Biden to run in 2016, attended the first fundraiser of his 2020 campaign and is eager to see him go again. “It will be unique to have someone that age running for president. It was two years ago. It was in 2016 with Trump.” Standing in a hallway in the Capitol, Boyle motioned toward the House floor, where all three top members of the Democratic leadership are already in their 80s. “I serve in Congress,” he said. “To me, Joe Biden is young.” Biden has always been sensitive about being seen as or called old, but he and others now say that all the talk over the summer that he wasn’t up to the moment and shouldn’t run for reelection was just Democrats voicing their despair that he and his White House seemed unable to get anything done. “First half of the administration, people were basically describing him as Johnny Carson in his retirement year,” said Quinton Lucas, the 38-year-old mayor of Kansas City. “What you are seeing now is someone who is very active, going on trips, engaging with different parts of the administration.” Getting results on “issues that not only are important for all Americans but issues the base has been talking about for a long time — guns, climate — that quells that discussion,” Lucas said. Sitting at a bar in the Pittsburgh suburbs, Summer Lee, the young outspoken progressive almost certainly headed to Congress to succeed a retiring Democrat, said she’s not ready to commit to Biden — but is ready to hear him out. “You can have a man for the moment, but it doesn’t matter unless we have a movement for the moment,” she said. Whatever happens, Biden “deserves to be able to set up that vision.” “The best thing that could set us up for whatever it’s going to be, whether it’s President Biden or…. somebody else….is if we do ...

Putin Will Happily Nuke A Ukrainian City…just Maybe Not The One You’re Thinking Of. https://digitalalabamanews.com/putin-will-happily-nuke-a-ukrainian-cityjust-maybe-not-the-one-youre-thinking-of/ I’m reading the articles here and elsewhere in the news, and seeing a serious misread of Putin, and the situation in Ukraine. Putin loves using misinformation and gaslighting others. Like Trump, he projects his own villainy onto opponents. He’s attempting “nuclear blackmail”, not suffering that from NATO.    Putin will happily use a 500KT ‘baby’ nuke on Ukraine. He can drop it on Kyiv, or better yet Lwow. Either city’s loss will break the Ukrainian war effort in the east. Not that Ukraine won’t fight on. They will, but the loss of the conduit of NATO supplies coming in through Lwow and on to Kyiv is critical to their offensive capability. If he nukes Kyiv, he probably kills Zelensky, a propaganda victory of great value. Zelensky is a symbol of his people, and has built personal relationships with many leaders of NATO countries.  But, I doubt he will, as Kyiv is close to the Russian border. As a prior blog here pointed out, the radioactive fallout from Kyiv, would be horrendous to Russia as well. However, Putin, like Trump, believes other people exist for his use, not to be protected. He has never hesitated to murder anyone…Chechnyans, Russians, Ukrainians…killing anyone is fair game to this guy. Nuking Kyiv is the simple way to ‘win’ the war. Or…maybe he does not need to do that…at all.   If he hits Lwow, the radioactive fallout is moved hundreds of miles to the west, away from Russia and the places he wants to absorb. Also, that creates an ecological catastrophe for Poland and Eastern Europe to distract them from helping Ukraine. NATO logistical support all comes through Lwow…without that city, the country falls. All Putin needs to hit either city is the excuse that Russia is being invaded. Then he can use a nuke. By doing these sham elections in Kherson, Luhansk, etc., he is making them part of Russia. Ukraine will not stop winning conventional victories. But it will be hard to stop a nuke. Russia developed 500KT and 1MT nukes. These are smaller than standard, intended for tactical use on the battlefield. But, they can quite handily level a city. Putin knows that defeat in the war will invariably cause his death. He cares nothing for most people, even his own countrymen. He has motive and soon will have opportunity to use a ‘baby nuke’. It will upset Europe, but it will make many NATO countries fear him. The war might escalate at that point. But more likely, Ukraine will be abandoned, despite much lamenting. Read More…

Morales Puts Indiana GOP In New Territory https://digitalalabamanews.com/morales-puts-indiana-gop-in-new-territory/ In Indiana, there’s never been a candidate like Diego Morales. The Republican nominee for secretary of state was born in Guatemala. Not knowing any English, he immigrated to the U.S. when he was in high school and graduated from Silver Creek High in Sellersburg before attending Indiana and Purdue universities. Now, Morales is likely the first Latino GOP candidate to run for a statewide office, and the first person of color on the ballot for Indiana’s highest election position. Just a decade ago, it would have been hard to imagine a Latino running as a Republican in Indiana, which has had only elected a handful of Hispanic legislators, all Democrats. Currently, state Reps. Mike Andrade and Earl Harris Jr. are the only Latino legislators in the House. Sen. Rodney Pol Jr. became the first Hispanic to serve in the Senate in 2021 after he was elected by the Democratic caucus. The three Latinos represent just 2% of Indiana lawmakers. But that’s changing. This election cycle has seen a record number of Hispanic GOP candidates running for U.S. Congress, including 102 Latinos campaigning for House seats, according to the National Republican Congressional Committee. The shift comes after the GOP made a concerted effort to recruit more Hispanic candidates following former President Donald Trump’s surge in heavily Latino areas of the country in 2020. Now, Morales is riding that wave after easily defeating incumbent Holli Sullivan in May for the Republican Party’s nomination for secretary of state. Oscar Alvarez, secretary of Indiana’s chapter of the National Republican Hispanic Assembly, said Morales’ nomination marks a major shift in the Indiana GOP, and one that could lead more Latinos to engage in the political process. “This is the first time a Hispanic has been nominated for secretary of state, so this is big,” he said. “It’s huge. And we’re behind him all the way.” Alvarez, who grew up in Texas but has lived in Indiana for more than two decades, helped found the state’s GOP Hispanic assembly chapter last year in an effort to recruit more Latinos into the Republican Party. The move comes as the state’s Latino population has grown to more than 475,000, according to the 2020 U.S. Census. That’s up about 20% from 2010. The number of Hispanics comprising the state’s total population has grown in the past decade from 6% to 8.2%. Morales’ heritage is important to Hispanic voters, but it’s also an important step to diversifying the GOP, according to Alvarez. “The tides are turning, and Hispanics and also Black Americans are saying, ‘You know, we’re a conservative group,’” he said. “We need to start establishing ourselves as a stronghold to say that the GOP can also be very multicultural.” Throughout his campaign, Morales has used his immigration background to paint himself as a hard worker who learned English, worked two jobs in college and is now living the “American Dream” — a term that comes up multiple times in his political ads. His campaign also plays up his service in the Army, although his claims to be a veteran have recently come under scrutiny following the release of his discharge forms, which indicate Morales didn’t fulfill his eight-year commitment in the Indiana National Guard. Morales has tapped his immigration status to make the case for requiring voters to prove their citizenship — a proposal that failed last year in the Indiana Senate after the office of then-Secretary of State Connie Lawson called it “unconstitutional.” Morales said last year during a Clay County GOP meeting that, if elected, he would strengthen voter ID laws and also look into the possibility of requiring proof of citizenship to vote. He argued that, as an immigrant, he couldn’t be accused of voter suppression. “I believe that I’m the only Republican who can be the best ambassador for Indiana GOP party to request proof of citizenship,” he said in video of the meeting. “The left and the liberals will not accuse me of voter suppression, because you know what? I’ve been showing proof that I’m a legal citizen myself here in American my whole life.” Morales has faced fierce criticism from Democrats over other election claims, including his contention that the 2020 presidential election was a “scam” and calling for the number of early-voting days to be cut in half. He has since walked back those statements, saying President Joe Biden is the “legitimate” president and supporting the current number of early-voting days. Early voting in Indiana begins Oct. 12 and runs through noon Nov. 7. ‘Not a representative of Latinos’  Cynthia Morraz, president of the Indiana Latino Democratic Caucus, said Morales’ election rhetoric might play well with the right wing of the Indiana GOP. But, she said, it’s a major turnoff for the state’s Hispanic voters, who would be most affected by stricter voting laws. “He is not representative of the Latino community,” she said. “I think that where representation is important, it’s also important to elevate the Latino community and make sure we are improving the lives of all Latino community members.” That’s why Morraz’s caucus has endorsed Democratic candidate Destiny Wells for secretary of state. The Morgan County native and combat veteran has engaged more with the Latino community, she said, and better represents its constituents. With only 4% of the state’s eligible voting population made up of Hispanics, there isn’t much motivation for Morales to appeal to that demographic, said Vanessa Cruz Nichols, an assistant professor of political science at Indiana University. She said that’s apparent from his campaign ads, which show Morales interacting with only white constituents. A man with a Hoosier accent does the voiceover of the video on his campaign website to avoid any bias toward his accent, Cruz Nichols added. “He’s not really interested in catering to or appealing to diverse Latino voters,” she said. “Morales is being strategic and is using a whitewashing strategy so as to not alienate white voters. He is treading lightly.” However, in televised interviews, Morales has emphasized that he wants to be an inspiration to Latinos interested in seeking political office. His Facebook page also highlights his trips to Latino festivals around the state. Morraz of the Hispanic Democratic caucus said that, if anything, Morales’ nomination is proof that the long-held assumption that Latinos only vote Democrat is eroding. The Hispanic community has always held diverse political views, she argued. Now, bolstered by the larger-than-expected turnout for Trump in 2020, red-leaning Latinos are taking action by running as Republicans. “We are starting to see that here in Indiana, but slowly,” Morraz said. “We do want competitive races, but we want to make sure our community is represented correctly. And I honestly like to think that our community will elect someone who represents them and their values, not just because they have a Spanish last name.” Read More…

Nikkei, Kospi Fall 2%; Asia-Pacific Markets Drop As Negative Sentiment Remains https://digitalalabamanews.com/nikkei-kospi-fall-2-asia-pacific-markets-drop-as-negative-sentiment-remains/ The Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE), operated by Japan Exchange Group Inc. (JPX), in Tokyo, Japan, on Thursday, Oct. 29, 2020. Kiyoshi Ota | Bloomberg | Getty Images Shares in the Asia-Pacific fell sharply on Monday as negative sentiment continues to weigh in on markets. The Nikkei 225 in Japan dropped 1.97% in early trade, and the Topix slipped 2%. South Korea’s Kospi lost 2.3% and the Kosdaq shed 3.12%. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 declined 1.94%. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was 1.19% lower. Meanwhile, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gained 0.38%, with the Hang Seng Tech Index bucking the trend and rising by 2.45%. In mainland China, the Shanghai Composite rose 0.3% and the Shenzhen Component was up 1%. The Reserve Bank of India’s monetary policy committee is scheduled to meet later this week, and China is expected to release data on factory activity at the end of the week. Onewo, a subsidiary of property developer China Vanke, is set to debut on the Hong Kong stock exchange this week as well. CNBC Pro: Dan Niles predicts when the S&P 500 might bottom, and reveals how he’s profited this year Asian currencies weaken against the greenback The Japanese yen lost ground against the U.S. dollar in Asia’s morning trade, changing hands at 143.60. The offshore Chinese yuan weakened to 7.1475 per dollar. South Korea’s won was at its weakest levels since 2009, trading at 1,423 against the greenback. Australia’s dollar, meanwhile, strengthened slightly to $0.6532. — Abigail Ng Stocks prepare to test their lows in the final week of trading for September Heading into the final week of trading for September, the Dow and S&P 500 are each down about 6% for the month, while the Nasdaq has lost 8%. Both the Dow and S&P are now sitting 1.2% and 1.6%, respectively, above their lows from mid-June. The Nasdaq is 2.9% above its low. — Tanaya Macheel Read More…

At Elton John’s White House Concert, Tears And A Trip Down Memory Lane https://digitalalabamanews.com/at-elton-johns-white-house-concert-tears-and-a-trip-down-memory-lane/ When Donald Trump asked one of his favorite musicians, Elton John, to perform at his 2017 inauguration, the knighted singer politely declined in an email: “Thank you so much for the extremely kind invitation to play at your inauguration,” John wrote. “I have given it at lot of thought, and as a British National I don’t feel that it’s appropriate for me to play at the inauguration of an American President. Please accept my apologies.” Friday night, Sir Elton offered a different statement in the form of the ebullient six-song, solo piano concert he played to a crowd of 2,000 people on the South Lawn of the White House at the invitation of President Biden and first lady Jill Biden. “I don’t know what to say. What a dump!” said John, laughing, in a sparkling black blazer as he peered through red-tinted glasses at the floodlit columns of the South Portico towering above him, playing under a glass-paneled tent, while members of the Marine Corps band fanned out along the steps to the Truman Balcony in red dress uniforms. “I’ve played in some places before that have been beautiful, but this is probably the icing on the cake.” Tears and joy were more the order of the day than politics at an event the Bidens said they intended to be a concert for the American people called “A Night When Hope and History Rhyme.” The evening ended with the president surprising John with the National Humanities Medal, to which the singer welled up with tears, but that felt like a capstone to the larger message of celebrating the 30th anniversary of the Elton John AIDS Foundation and the bipartisan unity needed to bring an end to the disease by 2030 — as John and the United Nations have said is the goal. The last time John played the White House was at a 1998 state dinner during the Clinton administration honoring British Prime Minister Tony Blair. According to a video feed of the event and interviews with those in attendance (media access was restricted), John appeared genuinely thrilled as he played beneath a glass-paneled tent, with the audience surrounding all sides of his stage. He plowed through several greatest hits: “Your Song,” “Tiny Dancer,” “Rocket Man,” “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me,” “Crocodile Rock” and “I’m Still Standing.” Teachers, first responders, and LGBTQ activists made up the largest portion of the crowd, and had all been allowed to bring plus ones. They were the ones John thanked first, well before he acknowledged the Bidens: “They’re the heroes to me.” Other guests included House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and his husband, Chasten, and Attorney General Merrick Garland — not to mention actress Anna Kendrick and John’s dear friend Billie Jean King. To those who recognized her, Ruby Bridges, the civil rights advocate who became one of the first Black children to integrate New Orleans’ all-White public school system when she was 6 years old, might have been the most impressive luminary there. Charlotte Clymer, a D.C.-based writer and LGBTQ activist who was pleasantly surprised to get the invite, found herself overcome with emotion. “I wouldn’t even say bipartisan, it felt more nonpartisan,” she told The Washington Post. “Everyone was there because they cared about folks with HIV and AIDS. And of course, they wanted to see Elton John perform.” The White House had focused on inviting members of vulnerable communities, and Clymer said the crowd felt notably diverse — racially diverse, politically diverse, even gender diverse. For once, she added, “I was not the only trans person at one of these events, which was nice to see.” As appealing as the narrative is of Dark Brandon sub-tweeting his predecessor by feting his favorite musician, this was not an event instigated by John as a form of high-level trolling. The conversation had started with an invitation to a “History Talks” symposium on Saturday at Constitution Hall, featuring the likes of Serena Williams and former presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, sponsored by the History Channel and A&E, which also sponsored the concert. But that set date was also the day of John’s concert in the District at Nationals Park, “so it evolved into the opportunity to perform the night before on the South Lawn of the White House. And, you know, what a spectacularly beautiful setting,” David Furnish, John’s husband and manager, said on Sunday. “Elton loved the idea and the whole evening was pitched to us as a nonpartisan event even though President Biden is in the White House,” Furnish continued, “but a nonpartisan event which was really to talk about common humanity, healing through unity, philanthropy.” In the past, though, John did have a friendly relationship with Trump. He played at the former president’s third wedding, and Trump had even gone around telling people he’d secured John for the inauguration. Despite John asking him not to, Trump frequently used “Tiny Dancer” at his rallies. He also gave the nickname “Rocket Man” to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Instead, at this concert, John acknowledged a different Republican, former first lady Laura Bush, who had come with daughter Jenna Bush Hager and her children, saying that the Bush administration’s creation of the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR, “was the most incredible thing,” adding, “We never would have got this far without the President Bush administration giving us that money.” He even gave a shout-out to Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) as a supporter in the fight against AIDS, who, said John, “to his credit has always come through.” As John came up with his set list, Furnish said, there was only one song he wanted to make sure to sing: “Crocodile Rock.” Years ago, when he and Biden, the vice president at the time, were on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” the same night, Biden told him that, as a single father, he used to drive his two sons around and sing that song in the car. Later on, said Furnish, he and John went to visit President Barack Obama in the White House during the time when, unbeknown to them, Biden’s son Beau was terminally ill with brain cancer and unconscious in the hospital. Biden had asked John to meet with his staff, “which I thought really said so much about him,” said Furnish. As Furnish remembers being told, Biden went to the hospital and told the unconscious Beau that Elton John had come by the White House that day and he sung “Crocodile Rock” to him. “He didn’t come back to consciousness. But we’d been told that he smiled and it definitely, you know, triggered something,” said Furnish. “So we knew that was a song with a real journey that had been on a real journey for the president. And so it was important for Elton that it was included in the set.” Before he launched into “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me,” John also acknowledged Jeanne White-Ginder, the mother of Ryan White, who had died of AIDS-related complications in 1990 and in his short life had become a symbol of the cruelty endured by the epidemic’s victims. The White family was John’s entry into becoming an AIDS activist. He’d met them, “and I got to love them and look at them and they faced such terrible hostility,” he said from the stage. “And yet when Ryan was dying in the hospital in Indianapolis, the last week of his life where I went and tried to help Jeanne do menial things, there was no hatred. There’s no hatred. There was just forgiveness.” “It was a very heartwarming experience to see somebody that gives so much of themselves and wants no attention whatsoever,” White-Ginder told The Post on Sunday, recalling those days. Six months after White’s death, John checked into rehab for cocaine and alcohol addiction and got sober. Onstage Friday he said the family “saved my life. The moment when Biden gave John the National Humanities Medal was a complete surprise not just to John, but also to Furnish, who as his manager usually knows everything. John had said he was completely “flabbergasted,” and burst into tears during his citation. “Elton had absolutely no idea he was getting the medal. It’s very rare to see Elton rendered speechless on anything, and when that came out, he was completely gobsmacked,” said Furnish. “And just everyone felt the love.” Read More…

In China, Home Buyers Occupy Their 'rotting', Unfinished Properties https://digitalalabamanews.com/in-china-home-buyers-occupy-their-rotting-unfinished-properties/ By Eduardo Baptista and Xiaoyu Yin GUILIN, China (Reuters) – For six months, home for Ms. Xu has been a room in a high-rise apartment in the southern Chinese city of Guilin that she bought three years ago, attracted by brochures touting its riverfront views and the city’s clean air. Her living conditions, however, are far from those promised: unpainted walls, holes where electric sockets should be and no gas or running water. Every day she climbs up and down several flights of stairs carrying heavy water bottles filled with a hose outside. “All the family’s savings were invested in this house,” Xu, 55, told Reuters from the Xiulan County Mansion complex, her room bare except for a mosquito net-covered bed, a few necessities and empty bottles on the floor. She declined to give her full name, citing the sensitivity of the matter. Xu and about 20 other buyers living in Xiulan County Mansion share a makeshift outdoor toilet and gather during the day at a table and benches in the central courtyard area. They are part of a movement of home buyers around China who have moved into what they call “rotting” apartments, either to pressure developers and authorities to complete them or out of financial necessity, as numerous cash-strapped builders halt construction amid the country’s deep real estate slump. Shanghai E-House Real Estate Research Institute estimated in July that stalled projects accounted for 3.85% of China’s housing market in the first half of 2022, equivalent to an area of 231 million square metres. While some local governments have taken steps to prop up the property market by setting up bailout funds, buyers like Xu, who paid deposits in advance and are on the hook for mortgages, remain in limbo. MORTGAGE STRIKES The proliferation of unfinished apartments has sparked unprecedented collective disobedience, fuelled by social media: in late June, thousands of home buyers in at least 100 cities threatened to halt mortgage payments to protest stalled construction. The overall property market is highly sensitive to cases of unfinished apartments because 90% of new houses bought in China are purchased “off plans” while still under construction, said Yan Yuejin, research director at Shanghai E-House. “If this issue is not resolved, it will affect property transactions, the government’s credibility, and it could exacerbate the developers’ debt problems,” he said. China’s deep property slump, along with disruptions caused by strict anti-COVID measures, are dragging on the world’s second largest economy just as the ruling Communist Party gears up for its once-in-five-years Congress next month. ‘CRASHING FROM PARADISE’ Xu bought her two-bedroom, 70 square metre flat in early 2019, about a year after its developer, Jiadengbao Real Estate, started construction and began marketing apartments for around 6,000 yuan ($851) per square metre, which they said would come with facilities such as floor heating and a shared swimming pool. Work progressed quickly at first, with blocks in the planned 34 tower complex going up one after another. But in June 2020, Jiadengbao Real Estate hit the headlines after a court accused its parent company of illegal fund-raising and seized 340 million yuan worth of its properties, including a number of flats in Xiulan County Mansion. Construction stopped in mid-2020, which Xu found out months later, describing her feelings at the time as “crashing from paradise”. Jiadengbao Real Estate did not respond to a request for comment from Reuters. Since the debt crisis erupted in 2021, thousands more home buyers have been caught in similar predicaments as cash-strapped developers went into bankruptcy or abandoned struggling projects. FENCING AND UNDERGROWTH On a recent day, the main block of buildings at Xiulan County Mansion was surrounded by a tall blue fence while the clubhouse, touted in promotional materials, was covered in a dense undergrowth. Cement mixers, iron poles, and piles of debris lay strewn around. Xu, who is unemployed, said she bought the apartment for her only son, with the hope that he would be able to raise a family there. She said her son and her husband, who live far away in the northern province of Hebei, blame her for their financial predicament, and no longer speak to her. “We don’t know how long we will have to live here because the government has not said anything officially,” she said. She hopes the Guilin government will step in to help. The city government did not respond to a request for comment from Reuters. Housing authorities in Baoding, the northern city where Xu is from and where Jiadengbao Real Estate’s parent company is registered, said last November the city government and Communist Party committee had set up a group to resolve the issue. “If the government really wants to protect people’s livelihoods, and resume construction, we will go back home,” Xu said. ($1 = 7.0508 Chinese yuan renminbi) (This story corrects name of expert in paragraph 9 to Yuejin) (Reporting by Eduardo Baptista and Xiaoyu Yin; Additional reporting by Beijing newsroom and Xihao Jiang; Editing by Lincoln Feast.) Read More…

Auburn Defense Finally Ends Lengthy Turnover Drought, But Work Remains https://digitalalabamanews.com/auburn-defense-finally-ends-lengthy-turnover-drought-but-work-remains/ Derick Hall for a moment Saturday felt like he was a junior in high school again. The Auburn senior edge defender looked skyward as he hopped over cornerback Nehemiah Pritchett and Missouri receiver Luther Burden, the two tangled on the turf below him. Hall reached out his hands and looked in the tipped pass initially thrown by Brady Cook on Missouri’s opening drive. Hall, who spent some time at wide receiver as a junior at Gulfport High back in 2018, secured the interception and turned up field. After three fruitless games, Auburn’s defense finally had its first turnover of the season. Read more Auburn football: What went wrong for Anders Carlson before his game-winning field goal against Missouri? Robby Ashford’s injury against Missouri nothing “too bad” Grading Auburn’s 17-14 win against Missouri “I didn’t think the boy could catch,” defensive lineman Colby Wooden joked after the game. Cook’s pass was intended for Burden, the five-star freshman receiver, but Hall’s interception instead lifted a burden off Auburn’s defense. The unit had not forced a turnover through three games and was one of just four FBS teams without a takeaway through the first three weeks of the season, joining Temple, Notre Dame and Fresno State. Auburn’s turnover drought on defense was so unusual that it was the first time since 1996 — as far back as the program’s game-by-game team stats are archived online — that it went three consecutive games without a forced turnover, much less three straight games to open the season. The defense’s inability to force turnovers through the first three game was only exacerbated by the offense’s own turnover issues. Auburn committed eight turnovers through three games, giving it a minus-eight turnover margin entering Week 4; only New Mexico State (minus-nine through four games) had a worse margin than Auburn entering the weekend. As Bryan Harsin said last week: That just isn’t a sustainable formula. Auburn reversed its fortunes in its ugly and improbable win against Missouri, finishing with a plus-two turnover margin. Bryan Harsin’s team did not commit a turnover for the first time this season, while the defense forced two of its own — Hall’s early interception and Cayden Bridges’ fumble recovery in the end zone to secure the win in overtime. “It was great because we got ourselves in the plus column on turnovers,” quarterback Robby Ashford said. “We’ve been on the back end, not taking great care of the ball. So, just us taking care of the ball, our defense getting two clutch turnovers. The one in the first half, we ended up scoring off of that. The one at the end of the game, man, all the credit goes to them. They played their butts off. I feel like we’ve got one of the best defenses in the country. I can’t thank them enough. If I could go hug every defensive player, I would right now.” Ashford had reason to be grateful on a day Auburn’s offense was unable to do much of anything after the first quarter. After Auburn’s opening 14-play, 59-yard touchdown drive, the offense mustered 158 yards and averaged 3.03 yards per play the rest of the day. Hall’s early interception afforded the offense a short field, and Ashford helped Auburn capitalize, putting together a five-play, 24-yard scoring drive to take an early 14-0 lead. Auburn’s offense didn’t do much after that, but it managed to avoid turnovers despite a few close calls. Ashford fumbled on a second-quarter sack that was recovered by center Jalil Irvin. Holden Geriner threw a backward pass that was ruled a fumble, recovered by John Samuel Shenker for an 11-yard loss in the third quarter. Then, during Auburn’s overtime possession, Ashford nearly threw a costly interception. Missouri’s Daylan Carnell appeared to pick Ashford off on third-and-12 in the extra period, but after official review, the play was overturned and ruled an incomplete pass. That allowed Anders Carlson to kick the go-ahead field goal on fourth down. “(If) that’s a turnover, that’s huge, that’s a game-changing moment,” Harsin said. “It didn’t go their way; it went our way.” That, of course, preceded Bridges’ game-sealing fumble recovery. Missouri running back Nathaniel Peat appeared to break off a walk-off touchdown on the ensuing Missouri possession, but he lost control of the ball as he reached for the end zone and before he broke the plane of the goal line. The ball tumbled toward the back of the end zone, Bridges fell on it, and as Hall put it afterward, “the rest is history.” Auburn still has work to do in the turnover department; it’s average turnover margin of minus-1.5 per game still ranks tied for 125th among FBS teams, and it’s eight giveaways are tied for 100th in the country — but Saturday was at least a start. Better late than never. “Those are two huge turnovers,” Hall said. “You win the turnover battle; you win the game.” Tom Green is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Tomas_Verde. Note to readers: if you purchase something through one of our affiliate links we may earn a commission. Read More…

1 Killed In Midtown Shooting Along Street With Popular Nightlife https://digitalalabamanews.com/1-killed-in-midtown-shooting-along-street-with-popular-nightlife/ 1 killed in midtown shooting along street with popular nightlife THIS IS KCRA 3 NEWS THAT BY A MAN IS DEAD AFTER AN OVERNIGHT SHOOTING OUTSIDE OF A POPULAR ROW OF RESTAURANTS AND BARS IN MIDTOWN SACRAMENTO. THE 911 CALLS CAME IN AT AROUND ONE IN THE MORNING AFTER SHOTS WERE FIRED AND A VICTIM WAS DOWN AT THE SCENE. WE NOW KNOW THAT VICTIM DIED AND THE SUSPECT HAS NOT BEEN FOUND. THIS ALL HAPPENED ON JAY AND 28TH. THAT’S WHERE KCRA 3’S ERIN HEFT JOINS US LIVE. AARON, THIS AREA AND ITS NIGHTLIFE ARE GENERALLY CONSIDERED SAFE RIGHT? YEAH, ABSOLUTELY. THIS AREA VERY CORE JAIL. EVEN WHEN CROWDS GET YOU KNOW, HERE, IT’S NOT ANYTHING BUT TAME. I SPOKE TO NEIGHBORS AND BUSINESS OWNERS ALIKE. THEY SAY DURING THE DAY HERE IT’S VERY QUIET AND EVEN AT NIGHT WHEN THERE IS RUCKUS, PEOPLE ARE VERY CORDIAL. BUT LAST NIGHT’S VIOLENCE THEY FIND SHOCKING. THE SCENE LASTING ALL NIGHT INTO THE LATE MORNING. I HEARD THIS RAY OF LIGHT AND D.A. GETS YOU KNOW, SPRAY OF MORE BULLETS. I KNEW WHAT IT WAS. AUTOMATICALLY CLOSING ROADS AS HOMICIDE INVESTIGATORS AND SACRAMENTO POLICE SECURED EVIDENCE OF A HOLE LEFT IN A CAR WINDOW BY A STRAY BULLET AND RESTAURANT PATIO IS LEFT WITH DRINKS. SACRAMENTO POLICE TOLD KCRA AROUND ONE IN THE MORNING THERE WAS A FIGHT IN AND NEAR THE RESTAURANT BAR WEST. IT ESCALATED AND TWO MEN GRABBED GUNS AND BEGAN SHOOTING AT ONE ANOTHER. ONE OF THOSE MEN DIED AND THE OTHER GOT AWAY. WE’RE TIRED OF THE GUN VIOLENCE IN OUR CITY. QUITE HONESTLY, IN ALL PARTS OF OUR CITY, AND NOT JUST DOWNTOWN. NOW, THIS MORNING, THIS USUALLY BUSY BRUNCH BLOCK WAS DOOR SHUT. NOW IT’S GETTING OUT OF HAND. I HOPE YOU KNOW, I HOPE THAT THE CITY GETS A HOLD OF THIS. AND, YOU KNOW, IT’S IT’S BAD FOR BUSINESS. YOU KNOW, IT’S BAD FOR THE PEOPLE THAT LIVE IN DOWNTOWN. ANTHONY TAFOYA STOPPED BY TO CATCH THE RAIDERS GAME. HE WAS TURNED AWAY AND AFTER HEARING OF THE SHOOTING, HE’S WORRIED FOR HIS LITTLE SISTER. SHE LIVES DOWN THE BLOCK. SCARY TO JUST THINK THAT IF SHE’S HERE, YOU KNOW, AND THAT HAPPENED, YOU KNOW, I WAS LITERALLY FREAKED OUT. BUT MANY PEOPLE WE SPOKE TO WEREN’T SURPRISED. THERE’S SIRENS GOING ON AND THE SHOOTING IS GOING ON. IT’S KIND OF A VIOLENT PLAYING, VIOLENT PLANET WE LIVE ON RIGHT NOW. AND SACRAMENTO IS NOT MUCH DIFFERENT. I HOPE THEY CATCH IT. I REALLY DO. THEY DON’T NEED THAT KIND OF STUFF AROUND HERE. IT’S BAD ENOUGH THAT THEY DO. WILLIE HARRIS HAS LIVED HERE SINCE 1986, SO I’VE SEEN IT GO FROM GOOD TO TOTALLY JUST OUT OF CONTROL NOW. HIS KIDS WANT HIM TO MOVE. IT’S A LITTLE SCARY TO THINK OF, TO HAPPEN. CLARISSA KATO’S, OWNER OF 927 SALON, SHE’S BEEN HERE A YEAR AND SHE SAYS GENERALLY IT’S A VERY NON-THREATENING AREA. AND NOW SHE’S NOT EXCITED TO HAVE TO ADDRESS WITH CLIENTS THIS SHOOTING THAT HAPPENED ON HER BLOCK. I WILL BE ON GUARD BECAUSE EVERYONE’S GOING TO HEAR THE STORY. IT IS GOING TO THEY’RE GOING TO ASK QUESTIONS. MATT RUSSELL STROLLS HIS KIDS DOWN THE BLOCK ALL THE TIME. WALKING ON J STREET IS THE ONE THAT WE CAN GET THROUGH, AND IT’S, YOU KNOW, IT’S IT’S ACTUALLY THE NICEST ROUTE OF ANY OF THE FREEWAY UNDERPASSES TO GO IN. BUT NOW ANOTHER VIOLENT CRIME THAT MANY HOPE DOESN’T TAINT THE AREA. YES, SACRAMENTO POLICE SAY THAT OFFICERS ARRIVED ON SCENE IN LESS THAN 3 MINUTES. THEY ALSO SAID THAT THEY HAVE SIGNIFICANT VIDEO EVIDENCE AND VERY COOPERATIVE WITNESSES. THE INVESTIGATION RIGHT NOW IS UNDERWAY IN SACRAMENTO, ERIN HEFT, KCRA 3 NEWS. AARON, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THAT UPDATE. ANOTHER DEADLY SHOOTING HAPPENED IN THE SAME AREA OF THE SHOOTING THAT HAPPENED THIS MORNING. THAT SHOOTING HAPPENED BACK IN JANUARY. TAKE OUT YOUR PHONE AND OPEN UP THE CAMERA APP. IF YOU SCAN THIS QR CODE ON YOUR SCREEN, IT WILL TAKE YOU TO OUR WEBSITE WHERE WE HAVE A MAP OF THE SHOOTINGS THAT HAVE HAPPENED IN SACRAMENTO AND IN STOCKTON. WE DO UPDATE THAT MAP WEEKLY. YOU CAN FIND THAT ON OUR WEBSITE GET LOCAL BREAKING NEWS ALERTS The latest breaking updates, delivered straight to your email inbox. Privacy Notice 1 killed in midtown shooting along street with popular nightlife One person is dead following an early Sunday morning shooting in Sacramento, authorities said. Detectives believe at least two people fired guns during a fight. The shooting happened just before 1 a.m. near the intersection of 28th and J streets, the Sacramento Police Department said in a release. Officers found a man with gunshot wounds near the intersection and immediately started life-saving efforts. He died near James Marshall Park, which is near the intersection, according to authorities. Detectives have learned that a disagreement started at Barwest Midtown. Authorities told KCRA 3 that the victim went to a car to get a gun and then began shooting at the suspect. Sacramento police have yet to release information on the suspect or victim.Detectives have found two separate caliber casings at the scene. The Sacramento Police Department encourages any witnesses with information regarding this investigation to contact the dispatch center at 916-808-5471 or Sacramento Valley Crime Stoppers at 916-443-HELP (4357). Callers can remain anonymous and may be eligible for a reward up to $1,000. Anonymous tips can also be submitted using the free “P3 Tips” smartphone app. One other deadly shooting has happened in the immediate area of where this shooting happened Sunday morning, according to data compiled by KCRA 3. That shooting happened back in January. This is a developing story, stay with KCRA 3 for the latest. SACRAMENTO, Calif. — One person is dead following an early Sunday morning shooting in Sacramento, authorities said. Detectives believe at least two people fired guns during a fight. The shooting happened just before 1 a.m. near the intersection of 28th and J streets, the Sacramento Police Department said in a release. Officers found a man with gunshot wounds near the intersection and immediately started life-saving efforts. He died near James Marshall Park, which is near the intersection, according to authorities. Detectives have learned that a disagreement started at Barwest Midtown. Authorities told KCRA 3 that the victim went to a car to get a gun and then began shooting at the suspect. Sacramento police have yet to release information on the suspect or victim. Detectives have found two separate caliber casings at the scene. The Sacramento Police Department encourages any witnesses with information regarding this investigation to contact the dispatch center at 916-808-5471 or Sacramento Valley Crime Stoppers at 916-443-HELP (4357). Callers can remain anonymous and may be eligible for a reward up to $1,000. Anonymous tips can also be submitted using the free “P3 Tips” smartphone app. One other deadly shooting has happened in the immediate area of where this shooting happened Sunday morning, according to data compiled by KCRA 3. That shooting happened back in January. This is a developing story, stay with KCRA 3 for the latest. Read More…

GOP Lawmaker Suggests There https://digitalalabamanews.com/gop-lawmaker-suggests-there/ GOP Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina said Sunday she believes there is “pressure” for House Republicans to move to impeach President Joe Biden if they gain control of the chamber after the midterm elections. Allison Joyce/Getty Images (CNN) — GOP Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina said Sunday she believes there is “pressure” for House Republicans to move to impeach President Joe Biden if they gain control of the chamber after the midterm elections. “I believe there’s pressure on the Republicans to put that forward and have that vote,” Mace told NBC’s Chuck Todd on “Meet the Press” when asked if she foresees impeachment proceedings should her party win control of the House. “I think that’s what some folks are considering.” But the freshman lawmaker added: “If that happens, I do believe it’s divisive.” Mace did not mention the source of the alleged pressure and was not asked to elaborate on who is considering the move. Asked Sunday how she would vote if an impeachment vote came to the floor, Mace said: “I will not vote for impeachment of any president if I feel that due process was stripped away, for anyone. I typically vote constitutionally, regardless of who is in power.” CNN reported earlier this year that hard-line elements of the House Republican Conference were agitating to launch impeachment proceedings against Biden if the GOP takes power after the midterms — a move GOP leaders have so far declined to embrace. House Republicans are also plotting revenge on the select committee investigating the January 6, 2021, insurrection, CNN has reported. Former President Donald Trump has been leaning heavily on his Capitol Hill allies to defend him against a slew of damaging revelations about his role in the deadly attack on the US Capitol. And as Republicans search for ways to undermine those findings, their party has started to lay the groundwork to investigate the January 6 panel itself. Some of Trump’s fiercest acolytes have also begun publicly pushing for hearings and probes into his baseless claims of fraud in the 2020 election. While House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy has vowed to conduct aggressive oversight and investigations in a GOP-led House, it’s unclear just how far he would be willing to go when it comes to January 6 and the 2020 presidential election. Mace, who flipped a Charleston-area seat in 2020, voted to certify Biden’s presidential election victory, earning Trump’s wrath. Faced with charges of insufficient loyalty to the former President, she drew a Trump-backed primary challenger but ended up prevailing by 8 points in her June primary. Mace told NBC she was “very much hopeful” to see “a deep bench of Republicans and Democrats who will be running for president” in 2024. But she left the door open to possibly supporting Trump again if he were the 2024 GOP nominee for president. “I’m going to support whomever Republicans nominate in ’24,” she said. The-CNN-Wire & © 2022 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved. Read More…

Trump Even https://digitalalabamanews.com/trump-even/ Former President Donald Trump was more of a menace than anyone may have realized because he was clueless enough to believe he could declassify sensitive top secret documents with his mind — and put the safety of the nation at risk, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) said Sunday. CNN’s Jake Tapper played a clip on “State of The Union” of Trump insisting earlier this week to Sean Hannity that he could declassify anything just by saying so — even simply by merely “thinking about it.” “Is that how it works?” Tapper asked Schiff. “That’s not how it works,” Schiff responded. “Those comments don’t demonstrate much intelligence of any kind. If you could simply declassify by thinking about it, then, frankly, if that’s his view, he’s even more dangerous than we may have thought,” he told Tapper. Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) on Donald Trump saying he could declassify anything just by thinking about it: “No, that’s not how it works. Those comments don’t demonstrate much intelligence of any kind … If that’s his view, he’s even more dangerous than we thought.” pic.twitter.com/iUHTlIweXT — The Recount (@therecount) September 25, 2022 Distributing or blurting out information about the identities of spies or the location and details of weapons systems could cost countless lives, experts have warned. Yet Trump’s former White House chief of staff, John Kelly, told The Washington Post that the former president was disdainful of the secrets shield and had no comprehension of its importance. “His sense was that the people who are in the intel business are incompetent, and he knew better,” Kelly told the Post. “He didn’t believe in the classification system.” People “work hard” to obtain important intelligence, said Schiff, who is serving on the House panel investigating last year’s Jan. 6 insurrection. “People put their lives at risk to get that information. That information protects American lives. And for him to treat it so cavalierly shows both what a continuing danger the man is, but also how very little regard he has for anything but himself,” the lawmaker added. In Trump’s view, he could ”simply spout off on anything he read in a presidential daily brief or anything that he was briefed on by the CIA director to a visiting Russian delegation … and simply say, ‘Well, I thought about it and therefore, when the words came out of my mouth, they were declassified,”’ Schiff scoffed. A process is required for declassifying documents. It cannot be done in secret because several federal departments and officials would need to be informed to handle the material differently. For one thing, the records would be then accessible to the Freedom of Information Act and other records requests by the press and public, former Trump administration national security adviser John Bolton has pointed out. So far, only QAnon disciple and former Trump administration Defense Department aide Kash Patel has backed up Trump’s claim that he had a “standing order” to declassify everything that was taken from the White House to Mar-a-Lago. Court-appointed Special Master Raymond Dearie, who is reviewing records seized by the FBI from Mar-a-Lago, has challenged Trump’s attorneys to prove that any of the documents marked “classified” had actually somehow been declassified by Trump. Schiff on Sunday also complained to Tapper that the Department of Justice was too slow to investigate the Jan. 6 insurrection. Read More…

Daschle, Karl Discuss Political Climate Ahead Of ‘Daschle Dialogues’ https://digitalalabamanews.com/daschle-karl-discuss-political-climate-ahead-of-daschle-dialogues/ BROOKINGS, S.D. (Dakota News Now) – The Daschle Dialogues series continued in Brookings Sunday night, with former South Dakota Senator Tom Daschle playing host to ABC News White House correspondent Jonathan Karl. Former Senator Daschle says asking Jonathan Karl to speak as part of the Daschle Dialogues series was an easy decision, given Karl’s front row experience at the Trump White House and in the halls of Congress. “Jonathan is one of the most respected reporters in this country so to have him here to talk about the role of journalism in our democracy in this day and age is perfect.” Karl tells me the political acrimony that exists in Washington is not being exaggerated; that there is virtually no real communication between Democratic and Republican leaders in either chamber of Congress. “Now the Republican and Democratic leaders in the Senate barely speak and virtually never speak in the U-S House. That being said we have seen some actual bi-partisan accomplishments over the last year. President Biden has been able to do something incredibly rare which is sign bills that had bi-partisan support.” And with the nation so politically divided at this moment in time, I asked former Senator Daschle what his feeling is concerning the upcoming November midterm elections and what the outcome might be when voters cast their ballots a little more than six weeks from now. “It’s going to be very very competitive all the way to the end. I don’t think anyone can predict with any accuracy how its going to turn out. Conventional wisdom is the Republicans are going to pick up the House. I think the Senate is up for grabs at this point.” Copyright 2022 KSFY. All rights reserved. Read More…