Futures Are Flat Following Another Day Of Losses After Fed Rate Hike Sell-Offs
Futures Are Flat Following Another Day Of Losses After Fed Rate Hike, Sell-Offs https://digitalalabamanews.com/futures-are-flat-following-another-day-of-losses-after-fed-rate-hike-sell-offs/
Stock futures were largely flat Wednesday night as investors continued reacting to the Fed’s rate hike and concerns over a potential economic downswing.
The Nasdaq 100 was up 10 points or 0.09%. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures rose by 41points, or 0.14%. S&P 500 futures increased 4 points, 0.11%.
Costco stock was down about 2.6% in extended trading. Although the retailer posted fiscal fourth-quarter revenue and earnings that topped analysts’ expectations, it is seeing higher freight and labor costs.
Thursday brought another day of losses as the market remains poised to end the week below where it started. The Nasdaq Composite decreased 1.4% to 11,066.81. The S&P 500 fell 0.8% to 3,757.99, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended the day 107.10 points lower at 30,076.68, which is a loss of 0.3%.
With the latest pullback, the Dow has given up about 2.4% this week. Both the S&P and Nasdaq saw slightly sharper declines, falling 3% and 3.3%, respectively, week to date.
Bond yields also continued their upward ascent, with the 2-year and 10-year Treasury notes hitting highs not seen in more than a decade.
Industrials, consumer discretionary, growth tech and semiconductors were all industries hit amid fears of easing growth in the economy. Meanwhile, defensive stocks outperformed.
“You’ve just got this volatility that nobody seems to be able to get their head around,” said Tim Lesko, a senior wealth advisor at Mariner Wealth Advisors.
Lesko said more investors are starting to accept that a recession may be on the horizon after the Fed’s decision this week to hike rates by 75 basis points and FedEx CEO Raj Subramaniam saying on CNBC last week that he believed one was imminent. Once that happens, Lesko said investors will react differently.
“At some point, they’ll figure out that recession doesn’t mean the end of the world, and they’ll start getting constructive on stocks again,” he said. “But right now, we’re acting as if the sky’s falling.”
Costco, Scholastic shares fall after reporting earnings
Scholastic and Costco both saw shares fall in post-market trading Thursday after reporting quarterly earnings.
Scholastic shares fell 3.3% after sharing declines of 82% and 74% in operating income and earnings before taxes in the first quarter compared to the same period a year ago. The children’s book maker saw a 1% increase in revenue.
Costco, the wholesale retail chain, was down about 2.6% after reporting its third-quarter earnings. Though the company posted expectation-beating increases in earnings per share and revenue that also marked improvements from a year ago, the company reported increases in freight and labor costs.
— Alex Harring
Futures start flat in post-market trading
Stock futures were flat after another tumultuous day, as investors continue grappling with the Federal Reserve’s decision to up rates and worries about the health of the economy.
Dow Jones Futures went up 41 points, or .14%, to 30,190. The S&P 500 was up 4 points, which translates to .11%, at 3,776. The Nasdaq 100 rose 10 points, .09%, to 11,575,50.
— Alex Harring
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Kenneth Edward Lavoie Obituary (2022) https://digitalalabamanews.com/kenneth-edward-lavoie-obituary-2022/
Obituary
Kenneth E. Lavoie, 75, died Friday morning, September 16,2022 at Sky Ridge Medical Center. He was the cherished husband of Susan M. (Mohler) Lavoie.
Born in Salem, MA, on January 29, 1947, Ken was the son of the late Edward V. and Edith K. (Letarte) Lavoie. A graduate of St. John’s Preparatory School, Danvers, MA class of 1964, he had resided in Salem before moving to Beverly, MA in 1950. He graduated from Merrimack College, Andover, MA, with a degree in Mathematics in 1968.
After graduating from college in 1968, Ken moved to Davenport, IA, to work for the U.S. Army Weapons Command at the Rock Island Arsenal, where he met Sue, who was also working there, and they were married on July 26, 1969. While working at the Arsenal, Ken worked on his Masters Degree in Statistics, which he earned in 1972. After earning his MS, Ken transferred to Eglin Air Force Base, Ft. Walton Beach, FL, and began is thirty-year career working as an Operations Research Analyst for the U.S. Air Force before retiring in 2001. After retiring from Civil Service, Ken was employed by several independent contractors. His last employment took Ken and Sue to Colorado Springs before he again retired in 2006 and then they moved to Littleton, CO.
Ken was an avid reader throughout his life and enjoyed traveling, sailing, cycling, flying sport aircraft and golfing.
In addition to his wife of fifty-three years, he is survived by his son and daughter-in-law, Edward and Jennifer (Parish) Lavoie of Montgomery, ALA; daughter and son-in-law, Anne-Marie and Jason Moat of Golden, CO; two grandchildren, Emma and Cooper Moat; a sister and her husband, Cathryn (Lavoie) Markley and Sam Markley; aunt, Joan (Letarte) Cavett; uncle, John Dombrowski; nephew Joseph and Chloe (Schulze) Markley; nephew Thomas and Wendi (Metters) Markely; and many cousins and extended family.
His funeral service will be celebrated at Good Shepherd Episcopal Church, 8545 E. Dry Creek Road, Centennial, CO 80112 at 10:30 a.m. on September 27. Relatives and friends are cordially invited to attend. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made in his memory to the Xaverian Brothers USA, Inc., 4409 Frederick Ave., Baltimore, MD, 21229 (noted it’s for support of the retired Brothers); or Little Sisters of the Poor at Sacred Heart Home, 1655 McGill Avenue, Mobile, AL 36604.
Published by Horan & McConaty – South Metro/Centennial on Sep. 22, 2022.
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VOLLEYBALL NOTEBOOK: Enterprise Leads Wiregrass Programs https://digitalalabamanews.com/volleyball-notebook-enterprise-leads-wiregrass-programs/
With roughly three-fourths of the high school volleyball regular season in the books, the Enterprise Wildcats are showing their mettle as the Wiregrass’ best program.
Entering Thursday’s home match against Prattville, the Class 7A, No. 3 state ranked Wildcats, having amassed a 22-4 record, highlighted by a current 12-game winning streak with nine of the wins coming in the last week.
But the numbers go even further.
Jennifer Graham’s Wildcats have gone 22-1 against in-state competition, winning the last 21 after losing a three-set match to current 7A, No. 2 ranked Spain Park in the second match of the season. The other three losses have come at tournaments to teams from the state of Tennessee – Briarcrest Christian, Sigel and Cleveland.
In the 22 matches versus state teams (one was a forfeit from R.E. Lee), Enterprise has won 48 of 52 sets with only Auburn and Westminster Christian having been able to win one set against ’the Cats besides Spain Park. Westminster has been ranked No. 1 in Class 5A all season and Auburn has been knocking on the door of a top 10 ranking in 7A.
Overall, Enterprise has beaten 12 of 13 state ranked teams this year, falling only to Spain Park.
The Wildcats try to continue those trends this weekend when they travel to the 38-team HeffStrong Tournament in Hoover. They open play on Friday against Calera and Briarwood Christian, the latter ranked No. 6 in Class 6A. EHS finishes pool play on Saturday against Ramsay and Grissom.
In addition to Enterprise, two other Wiregrass programs are in Hoover for the top-heavy HeffStrong Tournament – Providence Christian and Houston Academy.
The tournament features 38 teams over eight pools with six pools featuring five teams and two with four teams. Nineteen of the 36 Alabama teams in the field are state ranked, including seven of the top 10 in Class 7A, six of the top 10 in Class 6A with three teams ranked No. 1 (McGill-Toolen, 7A; Trinity, 4A; Donoho, 2A). Seven other teams in the field are in the others nominated category, just outside the top 10.
The Eagles have a loaded pool with Class 7A, No. 2 Spain Park, Class 4A No. 1 Trinity and Class 3A No. 6 Ohatchee as their opponents.
The Raiders face Class 7A, No. 8 Hoover, James Clemens, Class 5A, No. 8 Guntersville and Collierville (Tenn.) in their pool.
Following pool play, the top two teams in each pool advance to the Gold Bracket in an effort to win the tournament title. The third and fourth-place teams from each pool move to the Silver Bracket.
The HeffStrong Tournament is named for Erin Heffner Ventress, a former two-time All-American at Alabama. Indiana native Ventress was an assistant coach at the University of Montevallo and Berry Middle School in Hoover who died of cancer in 2014. She was recognized as an SEC Legend in 2015.
Carroll tournament set: The Carroll Set-Off Tournament is set for Saturday with seven teams competing at tourney at the Ozark school.
The seven are Carroll, Rehobeth, Eufaula, Ariton, Slocomb, Samson and Pike County.
PCS, HA drop out of rankings: Both Providence Christian and Houston Academy dropped out of the al.com state rankings this week. Both were ranked No. 9 last week. PCS fell out in Class 5A after a 3-4 week to drop to 13-13 on the season. Houston Academy, which went 6-2 during the week and is now 14-8 overall, dropped out of 3A and was replaced by Westbrook Christian, which went 3-0 for the week to improve to 20-2 on the season. Both local schools are now in the others nominated category.
Two others slide down: Two other Wiregrass teams dropped in the rankings, though they stayed in the poll. In Class 1A, Kinston, which went 1-5 in the week to drop to 9-12 on the season, fell two spots to No. 9. In AISA, Lakeside (1-1 in week) slide a spot to No. 7 as unbeaten Patrician Academy jumped the Chiefs.
Others stay same: Four other Wiregrass teams remained the same in the latest poll – Enterprise at No. 3 in Class 7A, Geneva at No. 9 in Class 4A, G.W. Long at No. 6 in Class 2A and Ariton at No. 9 in Class 2A.
In addition to Providence Christian and Houston Academy, Rehobeth was also in the others nominated category.
Clinched areas: Two areas involving Wiregrass teams have had the top spot clinched and both were claimed by a non-Dothan Eagle coverage team.
Beauregard (4-0) won the three-team Class 5A, Area 3 crown on Wednesday with a win over Eufaula (2-2), which finished second ahead of Valley (0-4).
In Class 3A, Area 3, Straughn (5-1) has captured the area regular-season title with New Brockton (3-2, one area game left) and Opp (2-2 with two left) still battling for second. Pike County (0-5) is last.
As a result, Beauregard and Straughn will host the area postseason tournament in a few weeks.
On doorstep of clinching: Houston Academy entered Thursday’s play a win away from clinching Class 3A, Area 2 and the host spot for the area postseason tournament. The Raiders (4-0 in area) could do that on Thursday with a win over Ashford (2-2). A loss and the Raiders still can clinch with a win on Tuesday against Northside Methodist (2-2).
Providence Christian (3-0) can clinch Class 5A, Area 3 with a win Monday over Rehobeth (3-1). A Rehobeth victory, though, and the remaining area games still are in play (PCS versus Headland and Carroll; Rehobeth versus Carroll) next Tuesday and Thursday.
Also close to a clinch: Enterprise (4-0, four area games left) can clinch five-team Class 7A, Area 3 with a win over Prattville Thursday and at Dothan Tuesday before its last two games with Jeff Davis. A loss, particularly to Dothan (4-1), could open the door.
Winner in driver’s seat: G.W. Long and Ariton were playing Thursday with the winner likely taking the Class 2A, Area 4 title. Though both still have area games left next week and could still mathematically (though very unlikely) be tied for a top spot, they are prohibitive favorites in those remaining area games against two-win Abbeville or winless Barbour County.
Other area leaders: Prior to Thursday’s action, three other coverage teams are currently lead their area, but still had some work to do to win area regular-season titles.
Geneva is 4-0 in Class 4A, Area 3 with two matches left, but those are against Andalusia (2-1, three matches left) and Slocomb (1-1, four matches left), who are still in the hunt.
Samson leads 2A, Area 2 with a 3-0 record with Wicksburg 2-1, Cottonwood 1-2 and Geneva County 0-3 behind the Tigers. All four teams have three area games left, including Thursday matches.
Kinston is on top of Class 1A, Area 1 with a 3-0 mark, but also has three left to play (Elba, Houston County and Florala).
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White Woman Who Called 911 On Black Birder Loses Suit Over Termination
White Woman Who Called 911 On Black Birder Loses Suit Over Termination https://digitalalabamanews.com/white-woman-who-called-911-on-black-birder-loses-suit-over-termination/
A federal judge has dismissed a case brought by Amy Cooper, the White woman who in 2020 falsely called 911 on a Black man birdwatching in Central Park, against her former employer over her termination.
Southern District of New York Judge Ronnie Abrams on Wednesday dismissed Cooper’s lawsuit alleging her ex-employer, Franklin Templeton, discriminated against her based on her race and gender, defamed her and intentionally caused emotional distress.
The investment firm said on social media hours after video of the 2020 incident went viral that it was placing Cooper, without naming her, on administrative leave while it conducted an investigation. A day later, it announced the review had led to Cooper’s termination, also without naming her but adding that the company “does not tolerate racism of any kind.”
Cooper sued her ex-employer in 2021, alleging the company illegally fired her without performing a legitimate internal review and falsely portrayed her as a racist, while she was being labeled “Central Park Karen” by social media users for the incident. The suit also argued she was the victim of racial discrimination.
“Franklin Templeton’s alleged investigation and results provided legitimacy to the ‘Karen’ story, and appeared to provide justification for those who sought the destruction of the Plaintiff’s life,” Cooper’s suit claimed.
A spokeswoman with Franklin Templeton on Wednesday said the company was pleased the judge dismissed the case.
“We continue to believe the company responded appropriately,” Franklin Templeton spokeswoman Lisa Gallegos told The Washington Post in an email.
Attorneys representing Cooper did not immediately responded when reached out by The Post seeking comment. Cooper could not be reached by The Post.
On May 5, 2020, Christian Cooper — who is not related to Amy Cooper — was birdwatching in Central Park when he noticed Amy and her dog, an unleashed cocker spaniel, standing right by a sign saying all dogs must be leashed, he told The Post in an interview shortly after the incident.
When he approached her and asked her to leash her pet that early morning, she refused, he told The Post. Christian Cooper, who said he usually carries dog treats, then attempted to throw a treat toward her dog.
He began recording when she threatened to call the police on him.
“I’m going to tell them there’s an African American man threatening my life,” she told him, pulling out her cellphone and dialing 911.
Christian Cooper chose to keep recording because he wasn’t going to become an active player of his “own dehumanization,” he told The Post.
“Please call the cops,” he said on video. “Please tell them whatever you’d like.”
The video quickly racked up millions of views after his sister posted it on Twitter.
The following day, Amy Cooper publicly apologized for her actions, saying she “reacted emotionally and made false assumptions about his intentions” when she should have leashed her dog.
“I was the one who was acting inappropriately by not having my dog on a leash,” she wrote. “I am well aware of the pain that misassumptions and insensitive statements about race cause. … I hope that a few mortifying seconds in a lifetime of forty years will not define me in his eyes.”
State prosecutors charged her with false reporting months later. The criminal charges were later dropped.
On May 5, 2o21, Amy Cooper filed a lawsuit alleging Franklin Templeton “performed no investigation” into the incident, did not interview her nor Christian Cooper, and made no attempt at obtaining her full 911 call.
The company, the lawsuit states, also failed to take into consideration her achievements as an “exceptional employee” who earned “high performer bonuses” for three consecutive years, instead defaming her and discriminating against her based on her race and gender. This cost the woman a “substantial loss of earnings and benefits,” and “severe emotional distress” in the near and long future, the suit said.
Teo Armus, Jaclyn Peiser and Michael Brice-Saddler contributed to this report.
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NY Probe Found Potential Crimes. Why Isn't Trump In Cuffs?
NY Probe Found Potential Crimes. Why Isn't Trump In Cuffs? https://digitalalabamanews.com/ny-probe-found-potential-crimes-why-isnt-trump-in-cuffs/
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Putin Faces Fury In Russia Over Military Mobilization And Prisoner Swap
Putin Faces Fury In Russia Over Military Mobilization And Prisoner Swap https://digitalalabamanews.com/putin-faces-fury-in-russia-over-military-mobilization-and-prisoner-swap/
Russian families bade tearful farewells on Thursday to thousands of sons and husbands abruptly summoned for military duty as part of President Vladimir Putin’s new mobilization, while pro-war Russian nationalists raged over the release of Ukrainian commanders in a secretive prisoner exchange.
As women hugged their husbands and young men boarded buses to leave for 15 days of training before potentially being deployed to Russia’s stumbling war effort in Ukraine, there were signs of mounting public anger.
More than 1,300 people were arrested at anti-mobilization protests in cities and towns across Russia on Wednesday and Thursday, in the largest public protests since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov dismissed reports of booked-out flights and queues to leave Russia as “false.”
“The information about a certain feverish situation in airports is very much exaggerated,” Peskov insisted during his daily conference call with reporters on Thursday.
But there were other signs of increased public pushback against Putin and his war, despite the Kremlin’s harsh crackdown on dissent.
In the city of Togliatti, a local military recruitment office was set on fire, one of dozens of similar attacks across Russia in recent months.
Russia’s war hawks on the far right, meanwhile, had a different cause for fury: a prisoner exchange that freed commanders from Ukraine’s controversial Azov Regiment, long branded by Russia as “Nazis.” They were swapped for dozens of prisoners held in Ukraine, including Viktor Medvedchuk, reputed to be Putin’s closest Ukrainian friend and the leader of the country’s main pro-Kremlin political party.
The dual backlash over mobilization and the prisoner exchange showed Putin facing his most acute crisis since he launched the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Not only is his country grappling with punishing economic sanctions imposed by the West, but his military has suffered dramatic setbacks, including an embarrassing retreat from the northeastern Kharkiv region.
With his options diminishing, Putin has made increasingly perilous decisions that could turn the Russian public against the war. In his national address Wednesday, he voiced support for steps toward annexing four Ukrainian regions that he does not fully control, which risks fierce fighting and further humiliation.
Putin also used his speech to make a thinly veiled threat that Russia would use nuclear weapons. On Thursday, former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev, now the deputy head of the country’s Security Council, made the threat explicit.
“Referendums will be held, and the Donbas republics and other territories will be accepted into Russia,” Medvedev posted on Telegram, warning that Russia would be willing to use “strategic nuclear weapons” for the “protection” of those territories.
In New York, where world leaders are gathered for the annual United Nations General Assembly, the top U.S. and Russian diplomats clashed during a heated meeting of the U.N. Security Council.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken told the council that every member should “send a clear message that these reckless nuclear threats must stop immediately.” He also condemned the gruesome torture and murder of Ukrainian civilians discovered after Russia’s withdrawal from the cities of Izyum and Bucha.
“Wherever the Russian tide recedes, we discover the horror that’s left in its wake,” Blinken said. “We can not, we will not, allow President Putin to get away with it.”
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov denied the charges and accused Ukrainian forces of killing civilians in the eastern Donbas region “with impunity.”
Lavrov also said that countries sending weapons to Ukraine or training its forces “to deplete and weaken Russia” were direct parties to the war.
“Such a line signifies the direct involvement of Western countries in the Ukrainian conflict, and makes them a party thereto,” he said, walking out of the chamber as soon as he finished speaking.
Yet amid the escalating rhetoric, the secretive prisoner exchange deal announced Wednesday night, which involved the mediation of Turkey and Saudi Arabia, showed that some behind-the-scenes diplomacy was still possible.
The deal was celebrated in Kyiv, where the Azov commanders are widely regarded as heroes for their role in holding the line during the siege of Mariupol. The head of Ukraine’s chief military intelligence directorate, Kyryl Budanov, alleged that some of the liberated prisoners had been tortured. “There are persons who were subjected to very cruel torture, and unfortunately the percentage of such persons among whom we returned is quite large,” he said.
In Russia, the deal was so toxic that the Kremlin distanced itself from the decision and the Ministry of Defense would not confirm the details.
Medvedchuk, the apparent centerpiece of the deal, was chief of staff to former Ukrainian president Leonid Kuchma from 2002 to 2005 and has long played a Machiavellian role in Ukrainian politics.
Before the failure of Moscow to seize Kyiv and topple the elected government of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Medvedchuk was seen as a potential puppet leader for the Kremlin. But he is known mainly as a close friend of Putin. Medvedchuk has said the Russian leader is godfather to his daughter and Putin has visited his palatial mansion in Crimea.
Asked whether Medvedchuk had been freed, Peskov said: “I can’t comment on the prisoner exchange. I don’t have powers to do so.” A statement from the Russian Defense Ministry also failed to mention Medvedchuk.
Eventually, Denis Pushilin, Moscow’s proxy leader in a separatist area of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine, confirmed that he had agreed to the exchange for 50 Russian servicemen, five pro-Russian fighters from Ukraine and Medvedchuk.
Sending Russian men to fight in a war to “denazify” Ukraine, at the same time as releasing the Azov commanders and fighters, was difficult for Russia to explain — given that, for years, Kremlin propaganda has portrayed the Azov group as fanatical terrorists and “Nazi” ringleaders who must be destroyed.
The exchange deal took place “in difficult circumstances,” Pushilin told Russian state television. “We gave them 215 people, including nationalistic battalion fighters. They are war criminals. We were perfectly aware of that, but our goal was to bring our guys back as soon as possible.”
Hard-line nationalists branded the exchange as a betrayal that undercut the reason for the war, on the same day Russia was calling up men to fight.
Among the toughest critics of the Russian military approach — for being too soft — is Igor Girkin, a former Russian FSB agent who commanded Moscow proxy fighters in 2014. He called the exchange of the Azov fighters “treason,” in a post on social media Thursday, blaming “as yet unidentified persons from the top leadership of the Russian Federation.”
The release was “worse than a crime and worse than a mistake. This is INCREDIBLE STUPIDITY,” he complained. (Girkin is being tried in absentia by a court in The Hague over the shooting down of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 in 2014.)
In Chechnya, the regional dictator and close Putin ally Ramzan Kadyrov said on Telegram that the Azov Regiment “terrorists” should not have been handed over.
“It is not right. Our fighters crushed the fascists in Mariupol, drove them into Azovstal, smoked them out of the basements, died, got wounded and shell-shocked. The transfer of even one of these Azov terrorists should have been unacceptable.”
Putin has relied on public apathy to continue his war, and has stopped short of declaring a full national draft. But his mobilization, which is supposed to call up at least 300,000 reservists, will force many more Russians to confront the brutal reality of the conflict in Ukraine.
In a speech posted online late Thursday, Zelensky, switching to Russian, addressed Russian citizens directly, invoking the thousands of their countrymen already killed and wounded in Ukraine. “Want more? No?” he asked. “Then protest. Fight. Run away. Or surrender to Ukrainian captivity. These are the options for you to survive.”
Some Russian protesters who were arrested while demonstrating against mobilization Wednesday were handed military summonses at police stations, a move designed to deter further dissent, especially by fighting-age men. Peskov said it was perfectly legal. “It does not contravene the law. Therefore, there is no violation of the law,” he said.
Questions about the partial mobilization swirled on Thursday, with confusion over who would escape being called up and who would be forced to fight.
The role of Peskov’s own son, Nikolai Peskov, underscored Russian suspicions that wealthy and politically connected figures would be spared from military service, and that the war would continue to be fought largely by men from impoverished regions, far from Moscow.
Nikolai Peskov was less than enthusiastic about the idea he could be sent to fight when he was phoned Wednesday by Dmitry Nizovtsev, a member of the team of jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny and an opposition YouTube channel anchor. Nizovtsev, posing as a military official, demanded that the younger Peskov appear at a local military commissariat the following day at 10 a.m.
“Obviously I won’t come tomorrow at 10 a.m.,” Nikolai Peskov said. “You have to understand that I am Mr. Peskov and it’s not exactly right for me to be there. In short, I will solve this on another level.”
Natalia Abbakamova in Riga, Latvia, and David Stern in Kyiv contributed to this report.
War in Ukraine: What you need to know
The latest: Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a “partial mobilization” of troops in an address to the nation on Sept. 21, framing the move as an attempt to d...
To Charge Or Not To Charge Trump? Garland Faces Decision-Time
To Charge Or Not To Charge Trump? Garland Faces Decision-Time https://digitalalabamanews.com/to-charge-or-not-to-charge-trump-garland-faces-decision-time/
WASHINGTON — Attorney General Merrick Garland is rapidly approaching a choice likely to shape American politics and the boundaries of law enforcement for decades: whether Donald Trump will be the first former U.S. president charged with a crime.
Garland has nothing but hard choices. The nation is split, a bare 47% to 43% plurality backing criminal charges for mishandling classified documents, according to an Aug. 29-Sept. 1 Marist College poll. Trump, who is mulling another run for the presidency in 2024, is already openly raising the possibility of dark consequences in the event of an indictment.
Asked last week by conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt whether he would be indicted, Trump said, “If it happened, I think you’d have problems in this country the likes of which perhaps we’ve never seen before.”
The Justice Department likely already has the evidence that would support indicting Trump for obstructing a federal grand jury investigation into his handling of classified documents, current and former officials said. The probe into whether he compromised sensitive national secrets is also moving swiftly, potentially setting up a prosecution decision after the Nov. 8 midterm elections. But a sprawling investigation into Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election likely will take a lot longer.
Any decision by Garland, 69, a former federal appeals court judge known for his by-the-book approach, is sure to stoke political passions in the coming presidential race and set a precedent for whether criminal law extends to presidents. Public confidence in the U.S. justice system is at stake. The prospect of violence looms.
The Justice Department declined to comment.
“We don’t want to look like a banana republic, where, when people are out of office, they’re prosecuted by their successors,” said former Trump Attorney General William Barr.
Conversely, since the Justice Department already has decided a president can’t be charged in office, it raises the question of whether presidents effectively would be placed above the law if they committed criminal acts out of office and weren’t prosecuted.
“You can’t have a situation where someone who has been a president is immune,” said Jamie Gorelick, former deputy attorney general under Bill Clinton.
Here are Garland’s options:
Indict Trump: High-profile top government officials have already been prosecuted for mishandling classified documents, including former national security adviser Sandy Berger and former CIA Director David Petraeus, both of whom pleaded guilty. Each paid a hefty fine — Petraeus $100,000 and Berger $50,000 — and were on probation for two years. As of now, it’s unclear what damage the documents in Trump’s possession may have allegedly caused.
The Justice Department’s review before bringing charges against a former president will be extraordinary. Such a prosecution decision “is weightier” than most, Gorelick said. “You just have to be more thoughtful and careful.”
The University of Chicago’s Project on Security and Threats estimates 18 million Americans believe a violent response would be justified if Trump were charged with mishandling classified documents, based on a poll taken Sept. 9-12. The researchers extrapolated the estimate from their survey, which found 7% of respondents agreed with that statement in a poll of 2,142 adults contacted by web and telephone. The margin of error is 2.9 percentage points.
Barr said Garland should try to put out of his mind the potential for violence when deciding how to proceed.
“I don’t think threats of violence are appropriate to consider,” Barr said. “If anything, they should weigh in favor of an indictment because we can’t get into a state of affairs where our justice system is determined by threats of violence and mobs.”
An indictment is sure to divide the country. Merely seizing documents from Trump’s estate unleashed furious criticism from Republican politicians and threats of violence against the FBI. The backlash against criminal charges could be far more heated, especially as the campaign for the GOP presidential nomination begins in earnest next year. Some 78% of Republicans opposed prosecution and 63% of Republicans said in the Marist poll that Trump has done nothing wrong. The Marist poll of 1,236 adults contacted by telephone Aug. 29 through Sept. 1 has a margin of error of 4.1 percentage points.
The more the case becomes a partisan cause, the harder it may be for a jury to reach a unanimous verdict. A failed prosecution carries extra risk for the Justice Department’s long-term reputation, not to mention the standing of Garland and his boss, President Joe Biden.
An indictment — even a conviction — also won’t necessarily stop Trump from another run for the White House. And the criminal case could well drag on to become a sideshow in the presidential campaign.
Don’t Indict: Even if Garland determines he has enough evidence to prove Trump guilty beyond a reasonable doubt — the standard the Justice Department usually uses for criminal charging decisions — he does have prosecutorial discretion to not pursue the case if that would be in the public interest.
“There is no question that prosecutorial discretion can consider the political or social upheaval that a case may cause,” said Jonathan Turley, a law professor at George Washington University. “It is part of the balancing with the need to show that no one is above the law.”
More immediately, a decision not to prosecute would provide fodder for Republican claims that the Aug. 8 Mar-a-Lago search amounted to nothing more than Justice Department and FBI harassment of Biden’s most prominent political opponent.
Even if Garland doesn’t indict Trump in relation to the secret documents, Trump still faces a number of other, potentially more serious, investigations that could lead to criminal charges, including a lawsuit by New York Attorney General Leticia James on Wednesday, accusing Trump of fraud in overvaluing his real estate assets in the state. Conversely, if he doesn’t prosecute Trump in the records case, it sends a message that presidents can break the law with impunity.
Wait: Garland could wait on making a charging decision while the Justice Department proceeds with its investigation into whether Trump and his allies illegally attempted to overturn the results of the 2020 election. There is also a separate investigation into election-related actions by a special grand jury in Fulton County, Georgia, featuring a recorded call from the former president to the state’s secretary of state asking him to “find” more Trump votes.
Waiting for a more serious charge like trying to overturn an election could weaken the argument that the charge wasn’t worth the historic prosecution of a former U.S. president. Some have argued that such a prosecution should be for a charge more egregious than mishandling even top secret records.
“These violations are rarely prosecuted and those relatively few cases have not generated significant sentences,” Turley said.
But there are risks to waiting. Federal investigators are still gathering evidence about actions Trump and his allies took regarding the Jan. 6 violence, fake elector schemes and other efforts to overturn the 2020 election, meaning any charging decisions aren’t expected anytime soon. It could press up against voting in the next Republican presidential primaries, in which Trump may be a candidate.
The Justice Department normally makes prosecution decisions on a criminal case even when a defendant may be under investigation for another offense.
Charges related to mishandling secret documents also are far easier to explain, potentially creating a simpler test case for a history-making prosecution.
Garland has been reluctant to speak publicly about the challenges he and his department face. But he urged allegiance to the rule of law during a speech Saturday to welcome new U.S. citizens.
“There is not one rule for friends, another for foes; one rule for the powerful, another for the powerless; a rule for the rich, another for the poor,” Garland said. “The rule of law is not assured. It is fragile. It demands constant effort and vigilance,” Garland said. “And it demands that we reject violence and threats of violence that endanger each other and endanger our democracy.”
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Trumps Legal Woes Mount Without Protection Of Presidency
Trump’s Legal Woes Mount Without Protection Of Presidency https://digitalalabamanews.com/trumps-legal-woes-mount-without-protection-of-presidency/
WASHINGTON Stark repudiation by federal judges he appointed. Far-reaching fraud allegations by New York’s attorney general. It’s been a week of widening legal troubles for Donald Trump, laying bare the challenges piling up as the former president operates without the protections afforded by the White House.
The bravado that served him well in the political arena is less handy in a legal realm dominated by verifiable evidence, where judges this week have looked askance at his claims and where a fraud investigation that took root when Trump was still president burst into public view in an allegation-filled 222-page state lawsuit.
In politics, “you can say what you want and if people like it, it works. In a legal realm, it’s different,” said Chris Edelson, a presidential powers scholar and American University government professor. “It’s an arena where there are tangible consequences for missteps, misdeeds, false statements in a way that doesn’t apply in politics.”
That distinction between politics and law was evident in a single 30-hour period this week.
Trump insisted on Fox News in an interview that aired Wednesday that the highly classified government records he had at Mar-a-Lago actually had been declassified, that a president has the power to declassify information “even by thinking about it.”
A day earlier, however, an independent arbiter his own lawyers had recommended appeared skeptical when the Trump team declined to present any information to support his claims that the documents had been declassified. The special master, Raymond Dearie, a veteran federal judge, said Trump’s team was trying to “have its cake and eat it,” too, and that, absent information to back up the claims, he was inclined to regard the records the way the government does: Classified.
On Wednesday morning, Letitia James, the New York State attorney general, accused Trump in a lawsuit of padding his net worth by billions of dollars and habitually misleading banks about the value of prized assets. The lawsuit, the culmination of a three-year investigation that began when he was president, also names as defendants three of his adult children and seeks to bar them from ever again running a company in the state. Trump has denied any wrongdoing.
Hours later, three judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit — two of them Trump appointees — handed him a startling loss in the Mar-a-Lago investigation.
The court overwhelmingly rejected arguments that he was entitled to have the special master do an independent review of the roughly 100 classified documents taken during last month’s FBI search.
That ruling opened the way for the Justice Department to resume its use of the classified records in its probe. It lifted a hold placed by a lower court judge, Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee whose rulings in the Mar-a-Lago matter had to date been the sole bright spot for the former president. She responded today by striking the parts of her order that had required the Justice Department to give Dearie, and Trump’s lawyers, access to the classified records.
Dearie followed up with his own order, giving the Trump team until Sept. 30 to identify errors or mistakes in the FBI’s detailed inventory of items taken in the search.
Between Dearie’s position, and the appeals court ruling, “I think that basically there may be a developing consensus, if not an already developed consensus, that the government has the stronger position in a lot of these issues and a lot of these controversies,” said Richard Serafini, a Florida criminal defense lawyer and former Justice Department prosecutor.
To be sure, Trump is hardly a stranger to courtroom dramas, having been deposed in numerous lawsuits throughout his decades-long business career, and he has demonstrated a remarkable capacity to survive situations that seemed dire.
His lawyers did not immediately respond today to a request seeking comment.
In the White House, Trump had faced a perilous investigation into whether he had obstructed a Justice Department probe of possible collusion between Russia and his 2016 campaign. Ultimately, he was protected at least in part by the power of the presidency, with special counsel Robert Mueller citing longstanding department policy prohibiting the indictment of a sitting president.
He was twice impeached by a Democratic-led House of Representatives — once over a phone call with Ukraine’s leader, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the second time over the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol — but was acquitted by the Senate on both occasions thanks to political support from fellow Republicans.
It remains unclear if any of the current investigations — the Mar-a-Lago one or probes related to Jan. 6 or Georgia election interference — will produce criminal charges. And the New York lawsuit is a civil matter.
But there’s no question Trump no longer enjoys the legal shield of the presidency, even though he has repeatedly leaned on an expansive view of executive power to defend his retention of records the government says are not his, no matter their classification.
Notably, the Justice Department and the federal appeals court have paid little heed to his assertions that the records had been declassified. For all his claims on TV and social media, both have noted that Trump has presented no formal information to support the idea that he took any steps at all to declassify the records.
The appeals court called the declassification question a “red herring” because even declassifying a record would not change its content or transform it from a government document into a personal one. And the statutes the Justice Department cites as the basis of its investigation do not explicitly mention classified information.
Trump’s lawyers also have stopped short of saying in court, or in legal briefs, that the records were declassified. They told Dearie they shouldn’t be forced to disclose their stance on that issue now because it could be part of their defense in the event of an indictment.
Even some legal experts who have otherwise sided with Trump in his legal fights are dubious of his assertions.
Jonathan Turley, a George Washington University law professor who testified as a Republican witness in the first impeachment proceedings in 2019, said he was struck by the “lack of a coherent and consistent position from the former president on the classified documents.”
“It’s not clear,” he added, “what Jedi-like lawyers said that you could declassify things with a thought, but the courts are unlikely to embrace that claim.”
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Raytheon $985 Mln Hypersonic Award Puts Them Far Ahead In Contracting Race
Raytheon $985 Mln Hypersonic Award Puts Them Far Ahead In Contracting Race https://digitalalabamanews.com/raytheon-985-mln-hypersonic-award-puts-them-far-ahead-in-contracting-race/
The Pentagon is seen from the air in Washington, U.S., March 3, 2022, more than a week after Russia invaded Ukraine. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts
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WASHINGTON, Sept 22 (Reuters) – The Pentagon on Thursday said it awarded Raytheon Technologies (RTX.N) a $985 million dollar contract to develop prototypes for a hypersonic attack cruise missile, putting the firm well ahead of rivals in the race to become lead developer of the strategic weapons.
Raytheon beat out Boeing (BA.N) and Lockheed Martin (LMT.N) to continue its development of the weapon. The award is a significant advance in the development of hypersonic weapons for the United States, and puts Raytheon in an early lead for a series of related, and high-value, contract awards in the years ahead.
Hypersonic weapons travel in the upper atmosphere at speeds of about 6,200 km per hour (3,853 mph), more than five times the speed of sound.
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The hypersonic attack cruise missile (HACM) is an air launched hypersonic weapon being developed in cooperation with the Australian government.
“With advanced threats emerging around the globe, the Hypersonic Attack Cruise Missile will provide our warfighters a much-needed capability,” said Wes Kremer, president of Raytheon Missiles & Defense.
The Air Force expects delivery in fiscal 2027.
The United States and China are engaged in an arms race to develop the most lethal hypersonic weapons, a top Air Force official acknowledged late last year, as Beijing and Washington build and test more and more of the high-speed next-generation arms. read more
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Reporting by Mike Stone in Washington; Editing by Chris Reese and Richard Pullin
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
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Reserve Street Camper With Warrants Gets Caught With Meth
Reserve Street Camper With Warrants Gets Caught With Meth https://digitalalabamanews.com/reserve-street-camper-with-warrants-gets-caught-with-meth/
On September 20th, 2022, Missoula Police Department officers responded to the report of a disturbance behind a building in the 4800 block of North Reserve Street. When the officer arrived, he met with the reporting party who said that he heard a male and female arguing loudly in the woods behind the construction site where he was working.
As the officer was speaking with the complainant, a male, later identified as 32-year-old Joshua Hensyel, walked out of the woods. According to Police Public Information Officer Lydia Arnold, Hensyel was yelling and was visibly upset.
“Officers spoke with him and when he calmed down, Joshua provided them with a name,” Arnold said. “Later in the investigation, Joshua stated he had provided a false name to the officers and a false date of birth. During the preliminary investigation, officers were able to speak with all involved parties and witnesses. They learned the argument was over camping.”
Court documents indicate the officer observed that there was blood on the bridge of Hensyel’s nose along with a small abrasion. Hensyel said that he and his girlfriend were living in the woods behind the work site and that they had woken up cold, which prompted arguing. He said that the argument was only verbal and that he had fallen as he was trying to leave the camp, causing the abrasion on his nose.
“One of the involved parties provided the real name of Joshua Hensyel and officers learned he had a warrant out for his arrest,” Arnold said. “During the investigation, Hensyel became worked up and uncooperative with officers. As officers placed him into handcuffs, a small bag of a crystalline substance, which officers recognized as methamphetamine, fell from Hensyel’s person.”
A true-Narc scan of the substance was performed, which returned presumptively positive for methamphetamine. The State is awaiting the chemical analysis from the State Crime Lab.
Hensyel is currently being charged with felony criminal possession of dangerous drugs and obstructing a peace officer. On September 21, 2022, Hensyel made his initial appearance in Missoula Justice Court, and his bail was set at $25,000.
The information in this article was obtained from sources that are publicly viewable.
20 Impressive Features at the New and Improved Missoula Airport
Missoula’s new airport will include large windows for loved ones to watch planes depart and arrive, and the only escalator on this side of Montana! Plus, a keggerator system for the Coldsmoke Tavern.
14 Destinations to Visit With Direct Flights From Missoula
Here’s a list of places to visit (and things to do while you’re there) with nonstop flights out of the Missoula Montana Airport.
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After Six Decades Of Civil Rights Activism Bob Zellner Is Still At It
After Six Decades Of Civil Rights Activism, Bob Zellner Is Still At It https://digitalalabamanews.com/after-six-decades-of-civil-rights-activism-bob-zellner-is-still-at-it/
FAIRHOPE, Ala. (WKRG) — At a time when most 83-year-olds might have long ago begun to take it easy, long-time civil rights activist Bob Zellner is still working.
“We do consulting with universities, colleges, political campaigns, and also people who are writing history, so that’s what we do full time,” said Zellner.
Zellner is partnered with his wife, Pamela Smith, to stay in front of what he calls a new era for civil rights. They work all over the country but right now, primarily in seven states in the south and midwest.
“The states that are very close in the vote between the Republicans and the Democrats, which we see as the progressives and the ones that want to go backward in American history,” he said.
And Zellner is no stranger to history. His book, ‘The Wrong Side of Murder Creek,’ tells his story of being a white man from the south — an Alabama native, Murphy High Graduate — and his involvement in the civil rights movement. The movie, Son of the South, is based on his book.
The height of the civil rights era was a worrisome time for Zellner. Today is no different, he says, with overt efforts of some to restrict access to the voting booth.
“So there’s a group in our country who want to do away with voting,” said Zellner. “That means doing away with democracy, but the majority don’t want that. And we’re about the business of organizing that majority to take back its power.”
And Zellner and Smith show no signs of slowing down, as long as there remain wrongs to be righted.
“I’ve tried to actually stop, but you can’t. We’re like the old horses that used to pull the fire engine, when the bell rings you charge out of the stable and go to where the fire is.”
And Zellner says right now, there are plenty of fires.
Stay ahead of the biggest stories, breaking news and weather in Mobile, Pensacola and across the Gulf Coast and Alabama. Download the WKRG News 5 news app and be sure to turn on push alerts.
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Weekend Predictions: Falcons Get First Win Bulldogs Roll Again
Weekend Predictions: Falcons Get First Win, Bulldogs Roll Again https://digitalalabamanews.com/weekend-predictions-falcons-get-first-win-bulldogs-roll-again/
I’ve done much better than 6-3, but I’m proud of myself for winning with three huge favorites: Georgia, Ole Miss and Tennessee. My season record is above .500 now. There is no chance it will plummet because I just can’t lay off the underdogs.
Georgia State let me down with an inexplicably poor effort in a home loss to previously winless Charlotte. I clowned 49ers coach Will Healy for saying people were underestimating his team. Joke’s on me. The worst part is that I missed out on my favorite thing in the world, backing a live ‘dog.
Falcons (+½) at Seahawks
The Seahawks are 1-1 after replacing franchise legend Russell Wilson with Geno Smith. Say what you want about Smith, but he ended up being the best quarterback from the 2013 draft. It was among the worst quarterback classes ever, but still. After Seattle’s offense failed to score a touchdown in the past six quarters, coach Pete Carroll said it’s time to stop “counting on running the football” and let Smith loose. Too bad Carroll never figured that out when Wilson was his quarterback.
Last season, the Falcons were 7-2 in games decided by a margin of eight points or less. They are 0-2 this year. Luck plays a role in the results of close games. One example from last weekend: a pass glanced off Cordarrelle Patterson’s hand right into the hands of a Rams defender for an interception return that set up a touchdown. I’m counting on better luck this week for the Falcons, who win in Seattle.
ExploreMore AJC coverage of the Falcons
Kent State (+45) at No. 1 Georgia
We’ll know Georgia really has reached Alabama’s level when Bulldogs fans get bored by blowout home victories against overmatched opponents. Last season’s nonconference visitors were Alabama-Birmingham and Charleston Southern. This year they are Samford and Kent State. Next year Tennessee-Martin, Ball State and UAB are scheduled to play at Sanford Stadium. I’m not including Georgia Tech because I can’t imagine Bulldogs backers will ever get bored of seeing their team dominate the Yellow Jackets.
The Flashes were 33-point underdogs at Oklahoma two weeks ago and lost by 30. That ended a streak of six consecutive losses against the spread for Kent State vs. Power Five opponents. The Flashes were uncharacteristically solid on defense against Oklahoma, but made it to the red zone only twice in 12 full possessions. It will be another long day for Kent State against Georgia, which has yet to allow a point outside of garbage time. Bulldogs cover.
ExploreMore AJC coverage of the Bulldogs
Georgia Tech (+20½) at Central Florida
I chuckled at the headlines about UCF coach Gus Malzahn feeling the heat after the Knights lost at home to Louisville in Week 2. You think he’s bothered after being on the hot seat every other week at Auburn? Malzahn ended up at a program that competes at a lower level, beats Florida in a bowl game … and still gets roasted for losing to a Power 5 opponent. I miss the days of Malzahn winning just enough big games at Auburn to stick it to the people who wanted him gone.
The Jackets are in freefall. No ACC team has been such a big underdog against an opponent outside of the Group of Five. For normal people, that’s a signal of the decline of Tech football. For me, it means looking for reasons to take the points. I watched UCF struggle to score against Louisville’s bad defense. Tech’s D is much worse, though, so I can’t. … just kidding. I’m taking Tech and the points.
ExploreMore AJC coverage of the Yellow Jackets
Other college games of interest
Vanderbilt (+40½) at No. 2 Alabama
Alabama coach Nick Saban was asked about the challenges of defending Vanderbilt’s option-heavy offense: “Do you want me to tell you what we’re going to do so they know?” The funniest thing about that joke is the implication that it would make much difference if Saban did tell Vandy his plan. Saban’s team plays maybe three games per season in which it has a real chance of losing, and this isn’t one of them. I’ve learned my lesson about taking big ‘dogs against the Crimson Tide, so I’m backing them to cover.
No. 5 Clemson (-7) at No. 21 Wake Forest
Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said he connected with ex-Clemson QB Chase Brice after he beat Troy with a Hail Mary pass Saturday. “I called him and said he and I need to go to Vegas, like right now,” Swinney told Brice, per greenvilleonline.com. Finally, Swinney has an idea that I can support. Clemson’s defense is dominant as usual, and QB DJ Uiagalelei has been better than last season. The Tigers have burned me several times when I pick them as road favorites, but I’m doing it again.
No. 20 Florida (+10 ½) at No. 11 Tennessee
ESPN’s “College GameDay” is in Knoxville to set up a game with huge implications for the order of finish behind Georgia in the SEC East. Hey, don’t laugh. There’s a big difference between playing a low-stakes game in the Sugar Bowl versus the Citrus Bowl. The Volunteers own two decisive victories against Mid-American Conference teams and an overtime escape at Pitt. I don’t see the Gators scoring enough points to stay within two scores. Tennessee is the pick.
No. 10 Arkansas (+1½) vs. Texas A&M (Arlington, Texas)
Jimbo Fisher declared Kyle Field to be “the best place to play college football, bar none” because of the fans. I agree that College Station is a great atmosphere for games, especially if you’re into creepy displays of hyper-militarism. The Aggies followed their home loss to Appalachian State with a victory over Miami and now face the undefeated Razorbacks on a neutral field. I’m taking TAMU to cover.
Missouri (+7) at Auburn
Joseph Goodman of AL.com opines that Auburn coach Bryan Harsin isn’t taking responsibility for his team’s lopsided home loss to Penn State on Saturday. Writes Goodman: “The guy in charge apparently thinks he’s doing a good job of coaching his team, and that the players are the problem.” Harsin should pace himself with the excuses because the Tigers still must play at Georgia, Ole Miss and Alabama. Auburn is the pick.
ExploreWeek 4 college football schedule: How to watch all 66 FBS games
Other NFL games of interest
Packers (+1) at Buccaneers
Is there any way that Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers both can lose? Brady is annoying because of his constant whining to game officials and his refusal to just go away, already. Rodgers is grating because he makes ignorant statements, including dangerous misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines, and then plays the victim when smarter people criticize him for it. I’m taking the Bucs to cover, but I’d be OK with a scoreless tie.
Saints (-3) at Panthers
After managing a rare turnover-free game against the Falcons, Saints QB Jameis Winston was back to form in Week 2 with three interceptions in the fourth quarter of the loss to the Bucs. Winston told reporters he would focus on “staying mellow in the madness” and I don’t like it. Jameis should be Jameis so we can enjoy the comedy/drama. Winston is dealing with a back injury that’s bothered him since the Falcons game, so I’m taking the Panthers and the points.
Chiefs (-5½) at Colts
The Jaguars failed to score at Jacksonville on Sunday as Matt Ryan threw three interceptions and got sacked five times. It was the eight consecutive loss in Jacksonville for the Colts, which suggests there are forces at work that are outside of Ryan’s control. I believe he has some previous experience with that. I like the Colts at home with the points.
Last week: 6-3 (13-12 season)
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Jan. 6 Twitter Witness: Failure To Curb Trump Spurred ‘terrifying’ Choice https://digitalalabamanews.com/jan-6-twitter-witness-failure-to-curb-trump-spurred-terrifying-choice/
In an explosive hearing in July, an unidentified former Twitter employee testified to the House Jan. 6 committee that the company had tolerated false and rule-breaking tweets from Donald Trump for years because executives knew their service was his “favorite and most-used … and enjoyed having that sort of power.”
Now, in an exclusive interview with The Washington Post, the whistleblower, Anika Collier Navaroli, reveals the terror she felt about coming forward and how eventually that fear was overcome by her worry that extremism and political disinformation on social media pose an “imminent threat not just to American democracy, but to the societal fabric of our planet.”
“I realize that by being who I am and doing what I’m doing, I’m opening myself and my family to extreme risk,” Navaroli said. “It’s terrifying. This has been one of the most isolating times of my life.”
“I wouldn’t be doing this if I didn’t believe the truth matters,” she said.
Twitter banned Trump two days after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, citing fears he could incite further violence. By that time, he had sent more than 56,000 tweets over 12 years, many of which included lies and baseless accusations about election fraud. One month earlier, he had tweeted, “Big protest in D.C. on January 6th. Be there, will be wild!”
Navaroli, a former policy official on the team designing Twitter’s content-moderation rules, testified to the committee that the ban came only after months of her calls for stronger action against Trump’s account being rebuffed. Only after the Capitol riot, which left five dead and hundreds injured, did Twitter move to close his 88 million follower account.
Tech companies traditionally require employees to sign broad nondisclosure agreements that restrict them from speaking about their work. Navaroli was not able to speak in detail about her time at Twitter, said her attorney, Alexis Ronickher, with the Washington law firm Katz Banks Kumin, who joined in the interview.
But Navaroli told The Post that she has sat for multiple interviews with congressional investigators to candidly discuss the company’s actions. A comprehensive report that could include full transcripts of her revelations is expected to be released this year.
“There’s a lot still left to say,” she said.
Navaroli is the most prominent Twitter insider known to have challenged the tech giant’s conduct toward Trump in the years before the Capitol riot. Now in her 30s and living in California, she worries that speaking up about her role in pushing for Trump’s removal could lead to threats or real-world harm.
Committee member Rep. Jamie B. Raskin (D-Md.) cited those concerns to explain why Navaroli’s voice had been distorted to protect her identity in the segment of her testimony played during a nationally televised hearing in July. Raskin unveiled her name in a tweet Thursday, thanking her for her “courageous testimony” and “for answering the call of the Committee and your country.”
“She has constantly had to say to herself: This is important for the world to know, but it can compromise my safety. And she continually makes the patriotic choice,” Ronickher said. “The folks who do come forward and are willing to take these risks make such an impact for the rest of us.”
The hearings, which have been watched by millions, are expected to resume next week. The committee’s chairman, Rep. Bennie G. Thompson (D-Miss.), said Tuesday that the hearing could feature “significant witness testimony that we haven’t used in other hearings.”
Twitter for years dismissed calls to suspend Trump’s account for posts that many people argued broke its rules against deceptive claims and harassment; as a political leader, Twitter executives argued, Trump’s tweets were too newsworthy to remove.
But if Trump had been “any other user on Twitter,” Navaroli told the committee, “he would have been permanently suspended a very long time ago.”
The banning has helped fuel a conflict over tech companies’ rules that is likely to be settled in the Supreme Court. More than 100 bills have been proposed in state legislatures that would regulate social media platforms’ content moderation policies, and on Wednesday, Florida asked the Supreme Court to determine whether the First Amendment prevents states from doing so.
Twitter executives have argued that Navaroli’s testimony leaves out the “unprecedented steps” the company took to respond to threats during the 2020 election. The company said it worked to limit the reach of violent extremist groups and ban accounts from organizers of the Capitol riots.
The company is “clear-eyed about our role in the broader information ecosystem,” Jessica Herrera-Flanigan, Twitter’s vice president of public policy for the Americas, said in a statement in July.
Twitter did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday. A Trump representative also did not respond.
In the interview with The Post, Navaroli, who is Black, said she still remembers the first time she thought about the constant conflict between Americans’ rights of safety and free expression. She was a middle-school student, walking with her mother to a Publix grocery store near their home in Florida, when a man swerved his truck onto the sidewalk toward them, shouting racial slurs and demanding they go back to where they came from.
After the police arrived, she said, the officers refused to file charges, saying that no one had been hit and that his speech had been protected by the First Amendment.
“It was the first time I was understanding my identity could cause someone to … try to murder me,” Navaroli said. “And I was being told this man that tried to kill me did nothing wrong because this was his constitutional right. It didn’t make sense. So for a lot of my career and a lot of my life, I have been trying to understand this interpretation of this amendment and this right in a way that makes sense.”
In high school, she said, she became fascinated by constitutional questions in her debate class, which simulated mock congressional hearings — one of which took her, for the first time, to Washington, where years later she would sit and give congressional testimony.
In the years afterward, she graduated from the University of North Carolina’s law school and got her master’s degree at Columbia University, where in 2013 she wrote a thesis titled “The Revolution will be Tweeted” on how constitutional legal principles had expanded to social media.
She later helped study issues of race and fairness with a technology research group in New York, worked on media and internet privacy campaigns for the civil rights advocacy group Color of Change, and taught basic principles of constitutional law to high school students in Harlem.
As the power and prominence of social media expanded during those years, she said she grew fascinated with how online content moderation rules were helping shape real-world social movements, from the inequality campaigns of Occupy Wall Street to the protests over racial justice and police brutality.
She had a strong bias for protecting speech, she said, but she often questioned where some companies were drawing the lines around speech and privacy and what effect that could have on people’s lives.
“Regulating speech is hard, and we need to come in with more nuanced ideas and proposals. There’s got to be a balance of free expression and safety,” she said. “But we also have to ask: Whose speech are we protecting at the expense of whose safety? And whose safety are we protecting at the expense of whose speech?”
By 2020, Navaroli was working on a Twitter policy team helping the company design rules for one of the internet’s most prominent gathering places for news and political debate, according to congressional testimony revealed this summer.
By then, Trump had become Twitter’s inescapable force, capturing global attention and news cycles with a constant stream of self-congratulatory boasts and angry tirades.
Starting in 2011, he used the site as a major propellent for the racist “birther” claim that former president Barack Obama was born in Kenya. In one 2014 tweet, Trump asked cybercriminals to “please hack Obama’s college records (destroyed?) and check ‘place of birth.’ ”
During the 2016 campaign, his jotted-off insults helped undermine his critics and sink his political rivals as he captured the Republican nomination and then the presidency. And once in the White House, his tweets became a constant source of surprise and anxiety for even his own administration.
He used Twitter to fire people and belittle America’s geopolitical antagonists, including tweeting in 2018 to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un that “I too have a Nuclear Button.” He also used it to announce sweeping executive actions, including his (failed) push to ban transgender people from the military. “Major policy announcements should not be made via Twitter,” the late Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said then.
Navaroli had argued that Twitter was acting too reluctantly to hold Trump to the same rules as everyone else and, by 2020, she had begun to worry that the company’s failure to act could lead to violent ends, she told congressional investigators.
After Trump told the Proud Boys, a far-right group with a history of violence, at a September 2020 presidential debate to “stand back and stand by,” Navaroli pushed for the company to adopt a stricter policy around calls to incitement.
Trump “was speaking directly to extremist organizations and giving them directives,” she told the committee. “We had not seen that sort of direct communication before, and that concerned me.”
She had also seen how his tweets were quickly sparking replies from other accounts calling for “civil war.” After Trump’s “will be wild” tw...
Trump Inadvertently Helps Judge Deny Mike Lindell's Bid To Get Seized Phone Back
Trump Inadvertently Helps Judge Deny Mike Lindell's Bid To Get Seized Phone Back https://digitalalabamanews.com/trump-inadvertently-helps-judge-deny-mike-lindells-bid-to-get-seized-phone-back/
Judge Eric C. Tostrud referenced the 11th Circuit Court’s ruling against the former president in deciding to allow the DOJ to retain the MyPillow founder’s phone
MyPillow Founder and CEO Mike Lindell won’t be getting his phone back, District Court Judge Eric C. Tostrud ruled on Thursday, citing, in part, the overturning of a restraining order previously granted to Trump in the Justice Department’s investigation of the former president’s document-hoarding in Mar-a-Lago.
Lindell had filed a complaint for a temporary restraining order and “return of property” after his phone was seized last week by the FBI in connection with an investigation into efforts to overturn the 2020 election results. Lindell argued that lack of access to his phone harmed both his pillow business and his personal health, noting that his phone was linked to his hearing aid.
Tostrud, who was appointed by Trump, denied the bid just hours after it was filed. In doing so, he referenced a decision handed down on Wednesday by the 11th Circuit Court that reversed a restraining order granted to Trump that temporarily barred the DOJ from using documents seized from Mar-a-Lago in their investigation. Two of the three judges on the panel that slapped down Trump’s effort to stymie the investigation were appointed by Trump himself.
Tostrud cited the decision in noting that “when the owner of seized property seeks injunctive relief for the return of property while the case remains in the investigative stage (i.e. before criminal charges are brought), the district court must also balance the government’s interest in retaining the property against the owner’s right to get it back.”
Mike Lindell’s motion to get his phone back and have a special master appointed was just denied by the court. The court cited the 11th Circuit’s reversal in the Trump case. Trump’s ridiculous motion helped Lindell lose his. So much winning on the Trump Train! pic.twitter.com/X3pJzX2DAu
— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) September 22, 2022
Lindell has found himself at the center of various lawsuits regarding his efforts to prove the 2020 election was rigged against Donald Trump, despite there being no actual evidence this was the case. Lindell’s phone was seized by the FBI at a Hardee’s drive-thru in Minnesota. “The FBI came after me and took my phone, they surrounded me at a Hardee’s,” Lindell said. “They took my phone that I run my business, that I run everything with.”
The MyPillow founder claimed, both at the time of the seizure and in his motion, that the FBI lacked the proper warrant to seize his device and that his First, Fourth, and Fifth Amendment rights were violated. The seizure reportedly pertained to Lindell’s relationship with Tina Peters, a Mesa County, Colorado, clerk who pleaded not guilty to charges of breaching voting machines in order to copy and share information with conspiracy theorists. Lindell has allegedly been bankrolling Peters’ legal defense to the tune of $200,000.
The DOJ has been investigating several schemes to overturn the results of the 2020 election, including a plot to provide an alternate set of electors for the Electoral College certification of Joe Biden’s win. Lindell has allegedly spent $25 million pushing claims that Trump won the election and remains a central player in the spread of conspiracies regarding election fraud.
Tostrud’s decision on Thursday means the DOJ can use Lindell’s phone in its investigation, and that the pillow mogul will have to contact the court to establish a hearing date.
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Michael Cohen: Fraud Lawsuit Will put An End To Trump Organization
Michael Cohen: Fraud Lawsuit Will ‘put An End’ To Trump Organization https://digitalalabamanews.com/michael-cohen-fraud-lawsuit-will-put-an-end-to-trump-organization/
(The Hill) – Former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen on Wednesday predicted New York Attorney General Letitia James’ (D) newly announced fraud investigation into former President Trump’s business will culminate in the Trump Organization’s downfall.
“It’s gonna put an end to the entire company,” Cohen said during an appearance on MSNBC’s “All in with Chris Hayes” on Wednesday evening.
“You think that?” Hayes followed up.
“I believe so,” Cohen responded.
James earlier on Wednesday announced the civil fraud suit, the culmination of her three-year investigation into the Trump family and their business practices.
The state attorney general alleges the Trump Organization at times inflated and deflated property values to misleadingly attract investors and gain tax and loan benefits, also exaggerating the former president’s net worth.
James during Wednesday’s announcement said her investigation began after Cohen testified before Congress about the Trump Organization.
“When she mentioned my name, I was obviously quite elated, to be honest, because I’m finally getting the recognition for what I’ve been sitting on the mountain tops yelling for three-and-a-half, four years, which is that the Trump Organization is a criminal enterprise, and that I got thrown under the bus by dear old Donald,” Cohen said on MSNBC.
Among James’ requests to the court are $250 million in penalties and a permanent barring of the former president and three of his adult children from serving as an officer or director in any New York-based corporation.
Cohen told Hayes he expects that figure to rise to roughly $750 million once they realize the full extent of the issues.
Trump and his two adult sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, have blasted the investigation as a witch hunt, noting James’s past promises to pursue an investigation into the family and her upcoming reelection contest in November.
James also on Wednesday indicated she referred alleged federal law violations, including conspiracy to falsify business records and commit insurance fraud, to the IRS and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.
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OPPONENT Q&A: Missouri Tigers https://digitalalabamanews.com/opponent-qa-missouri-tigers/
This Saturday is going to a game that Auburn fans may look back on and view as a turning point in the program’s history, and not in a Pat Dye “ain’t a damn thing you can do but go back and lay ‘em on the line again and again” type of way.
Auburn and Missouri might be the two worst teams in the league, and a loss puts Bryan Harsin squarely in the crosshairs of the firing gun. Nevermind that, though, let’s learn about Missouri from Rock M Nation’s Sammy Stava.
Are y’all excited to get a road conference win?
Other than the upcoming South Carolina game, this is probably Mizzou’s best chance at an SEC road win this season. Due to Auburn’s issues going on right now, this is certainly a “winnable” game for Missouri, no matter how badly Mizzou has played recently. That doesn’t mean they’ll get it done though. Having said that, I have no idea what to expect.
Missouri and Auburn have only met once in the regular season since the SEC expansion, there’s just not a ton of crossover between these two teams. However, Mizzou has a bunch of Auburn alums as part of the coaching staff in Drinkwitz, Al Pogue, Charlie Harbison, Curtis Luper, Ryan Russell, and Erik Link. What’s your impression of Drinkwitz through his first couple of seasons?
Missouri has just been a .500 program recently after their back-to-back SEC East titles. Not really bad, but not really good either. Just good enough to make bowl games here and there. Drinkwitz is undergoing a rebuild right now and he’s had bowl eligible records in his first two years as a head coach, so that’s at least respectable. He is an also an elite recruiter, as he’s produced the best recruiting classes in Mizzou Football history including five-star WR Luther Burden, so the fanbase needs to be patient with this process. At some point the recruiting needs to translate to better seasons, but he needs to have 100% of his recruited roster before I can make full judgments. Next season is make or break.
What happened against Kansas State?
Man, I don’t know. They just weren’t ready. Unprepared. QB Brady Cook was making his third career start on the road against a Power Five opponent, and it was a recipe for disaster. Just a game they need to totally forget about and move on, because I believe they are capable of playing a lot better football than that.
Auburn’s defense had trouble containing fast tailbacks last week, and the coverage has been suspect at times as well. Who does Missouri have that can exploit those deficiencies?
Missouri has some good running back depth led by Stanford running back transfer Nathaniel Peat. The problem is, Mizzou’s offensive line is the biggest weakness on the team that our running backs can’t generate any consistency. For example, Missouri has allowed the most tackles for loss among any Power Five team (26).
Defensively, who does Auburn need to avoid when they’ve got the ball?
Missouri’s defense has been a bright spot to start the season. Each unit has a Power Five transfer that can make a difference. On the defensive line, watch out for Oklahoma State transfer Jayden Jernigan. Among the linebacker group, Florida transfer Ty’Ron Hopper just might be their best player on the team. Just a stud. And in the secondary, Clemson transfer Joseph Charleston has made some big plays. Their not perfect, but Mizzou’s defense has the depth and experience that can give Auburn troubles.
What’s your outlook for the entire season for Missouri?
Before the season, I pegged Missouri at a 7-5 record. After what happened at Kansas State, I don’t know what to expect and this season could go downhill. Having said that, there are still winnable games on this schedule. If Mizzou wants to salvage bowl eligibility this season, this is a must win game got them. This might be the first must-win of Eli Drinkwitz’s career.
Keys for this game and a prediction?
Keys to the game for Mizzou is to take care of the ball and find some sort of improvement within the offensive line. They also need to score first. If those things can happen, Missouri wins a weird one. I’ll say 23-20 Mizzou on a GW FG as time expires by Harrison Mevis.
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Special Master Forces Trumps Hand In First Mar-A-Lago Ruling
Special Master Forces Trump’s Hand In First Mar-A-Lago Ruling https://digitalalabamanews.com/special-master-forces-trumps-hand-in-first-mar-a-lago-ruling/
The judge appointed to review the documents seized by the FBI in the bureau’s court-authorized search of Mar-a-Lago last month is demanding Donald Trump back up the wild claims he’s made on social media—or stop wasting everyone’s time.
On Thursday, Special Master Raymond Dearie, a Reagan appointee who was handpicked by Trump and his lawyers, set out a case management plan laying down the ground rules and a timetable.
Trump has put forth various conflicting excuses for why federal agents found hundreds of documents marked classified in a storage room at the Palm Beach resort where he now resides. He’s said they were planted by the FBI. He’s said he was just bringing work home, like all presidents do. He’s said he declassified them under a “standing order” that no one else from his administration seems to remember. He’s said the documents were covered by attorney-client privilege, and also that he had a right to them under the executive privilege he held while in office.
But Dearie isn’t having it. The plan he handed down Thursday insists on answers from Team Trump about the spurious claims they continue to float. On Wednesday evening, Trump added another one, telling Fox News pundit Sean Hannity that a U.S. president can declassify top secret material simply “by thinking about it.”
Dearie ordered Trump’s side to submit by Sept. 30 “a declaration or affidavit that includes each of the following factual matters: A list of any specific items set forth in the Detailed Property Inventory that Plaintiff asserts were not seized from the Premises on August 8, 2022,” asking for proof of Trump’s claims that the incriminating evidence found at Mar-a-Lago was part of an FBI frame job.
Dearie also ordered Trump’s counsel to submit a detailed list of any errors the former president claims were included in the FBI’s property inventory from the search, as to precisely where “specific items” were found, as well as an accounting of anything Trump claims was seized but not listed on the receipt.
The order requires the two sides to hire a vendor by Friday, who will convert the seized materials into a digital format. By Monday, Trump’s attorneys “shall provide the Special Master and the government with an annotated copy of [a] spreadsheet” that lays out, document-by-document, which, if any, are covered by attorney-client communication privilege, attorney work product privilege, and various forms of executive privilege.
“Plaintiff’s designations shall be on a document-by-document basis,” Dearie’s order states. “For any document that Plaintiff designates as privileged and/or personal, Plaintiff shall include a brief statement explaining the basis for the designation.”
But Trump is no longer president, and the idea of a former commander-in-chief asserting executive privilege is something that has never before been fully tested in court. (Trump has a “very weak argument” on this front, law professor Heidi Kitrosser told Reuters.)
Dearie has also appointed an assistant, James Orenstein, to help him with the monumental task at hand.
A former magistrate judge in the Eastern District of New York, where Dearie served as U.S. Attorney and sat on the federal bench, Orenstein will earn $500 an hour for his service. The bill, Dearie ordered, will be paid monthly—by Donald Trump.
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Trump's Team Using PAC Donations To Pay Melania's Fashion Designer
Trump's Team Using PAC Donations To Pay Melania's Fashion Designer https://digitalalabamanews.com/trumps-team-using-pac-donations-to-pay-melanias-fashion-designer/
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AP News Summary At 3:48 P.m. EDT https://digitalalabamanews.com/ap-news-summary-at-348-p-m-edt/
One day after Zelenskyy speech, US, Russia square off at UN
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United States has made its case at the U.N. Security Council for why Russia should face further censure and isolation over the Ukraine invasion. It comes the day after Ukraine’s president laid out a forceful case against Russia’s invasion at the United Nations. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke to Security Council members, detailing allegations of war crimes and other atrocities that Russia has committed against Ukraine. He urged them to “send a clear message” for Russia to stop its nuclear threats. Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, fired right back minutes later. he called the claims unfair and Ukraine to blame.
EXPLAINER: What’s behind referendums in occupied Ukraine?
Four occupied regions in eastern and southern Ukraine are set to start voting Friday in Kremlin-engineered referendums on whether to become part of Russia, setting the stage for Moscow to annex the areas in a sharp escalation of the nearly seven-month war. Ukraine and its Western allies have rejected the votes as illegitimate and neither free nor fair, saying they will have no binding force. The votes come as Russian President Vladimir Putin dramatically upped the ante by declaring a partial mobilization and declaring his readiness to use nuclear weapons. In 2014, Russia held a referendum in Ukraine’s Crimean region that also was denounced by the West as illegal and illegitimate. It later annexed the peninsula.
Trump docs probe: Court lifts hold on Mar-a-Lago records
WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal appeals court is allowing the Justice Department to resume its use of classified records seized from Donald Trump’s Florida estate in its ongoing criminal investigation. The ruling Wednesday clears the way for investigators to continue scrutinizing the documents as they evaluate whether to bring criminal charges over the storage of top-secret government records at Mar-a-Lago. The appeals court note that Trump presented no evidence that he had declassified the records. Trump claimed in a Fox News Interview Wednesday that “If you’re the president of the United States, you can declassify” material just by saying “It’s declassified” and “even by thinking about it.”
At least 9 killed as Iran protests over woman’s death spread
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U.S. And Russian Diplomats Clash At U.N. Over War In Ukraine
U.S. And Russian Diplomats Clash At U.N. Over War In Ukraine https://digitalalabamanews.com/u-s-and-russian-diplomats-clash-at-u-n-over-war-in-ukraine/
NEW YORK — Russian and Western diplomats clashed over alleged war crimes in Ukraine on Thursday during a heated meeting of the United Nations Security Council.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Russia’s withdrawal from the Ukrainian cities of Izyum and Bucha revealed gruesome torture and killing of Ukrainian civilians that could not be dismissed as the actions of a few bad actors.
“Wherever the Russian tide recedes, we discover the horror that’s left in its wake,” Blinken said. “We cannot, we will not allow President Putin to get away with it.”
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov denied the charges and accused Ukrainian forces of killing civilians in the eastern Donbas region “with impunity.”
He blamed the United States, France and Germany for not holding Ukraine accountable for alleged atrocities.
“The Kyiv regime owes its impunity to its Western sponsors,” he said.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba seized on Lavrov’s remarks, saying his comments made him an accomplice to crimes occurring in Ukraine.
“Russian diplomats are directly complicit because their lies incite these crimes and cover them up,” he said.
The meeting marked only the second time that Blinken and Lavrov have been in the same room since Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine. Moscow’s decision to attend the meeting surprised some U.S. officials who expected Russia to recoil at a topic designed to expose and condemn its plans to stage referendums and annex occupied territory in Ukraine.
In singling out Russia for blame, Blinken was joined by top diplomats from countries including France, Britain, Norway, Albania and Ireland, as well as U.N. Secretary General António Guterres, who accused the Kremlin of violating international law.
The meeting was attended by the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Karim Khan, who said his team was deploying to Ukraine in the coming days to investigate allegations in the country’s east, where residents of territory previously occupied by Russia have accused Russian forces of torture, forced disappearances and rape.
Without explicitly blaming Russia, Khan made clear the atrocities he has investigated during visits to war-scorched areas of Ukraine including the Kyiv suburb of Bucha and the northeastern city of Kharkiv were real and shocking.
“The bodies I saw were not fake,” he said.
French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna said that Russia has committed “unspeakable crimes” and that officials who committed, ordered or planned them must be held accountable.
Guterres called Moscow’s plan to stage referendums on joining Russia in occupied areas of Ukraine a “violation of the U.N. charter, and of international law and precedent.”
The world’s top diplomat also blamed Russian bombardments of urban areas for killing thousands of Ukrainian civilians, including hundreds of children.
“Almost every child in Ukraine has been scarred by the nightmare of war,” he said.
Lavrov entered the Security Council chamber just before his speaking slot. After condemning the West’s support for Ukraine, he left the room.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi urged restraint on both sides and emphasized the importance of the United Nations remaining impartial in the conflict.
India’s top diplomat, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, also avoided placing blame on either Russia or Ukraine, and simply endorsed investigations into war crimes.
Belarus, a close ally of Russia, alluded to Kremlin statements preceding the war, that the West’s stance on possible NATO membership for Ukraine and Kyiv’s efforts to align itself more closely with the West posed a threat to the region’s security balance.
“The tragic result of this arrogant position [is what] we’re seeing today in Ukraine. We have always repeated you cannot guarantee the security of one state by suppressing the security of another,” Belarus Foreign Minister Vladimir Makei said. “No one took this seriously. Today we are reaping the harvest of this.”
The statements during the Security Council session occurred with world leaders in New York for the United Nations’ annual high-level meetings. One theme many leaders, including President Biden, raised during their remarks to the global body’s General Assembly was the desire to maintain unity among nations that have taken extraordinary steps since February to support Ukraine, providing arms, imposing sanctions and lessening their reliance on Russian energy.
Leaders from Eastern Europe, on the front lines of the showdown between Russia and NATO, echoed U.S. hopes that the pro-Ukraine coalition will remain together despite the increasing strains it is expected to face in coming months, when high prices for energy and other goods probably will take a mounting toll on those countries’ populations.
Slovakian President Zuzana Caputova said her country, which borders Ukraine, would continue military aid to Kyiv, potentially including MiG fighter jets now that Poland and the Czech Republic have agreed to police Slovakian skies. But she acknowledged that some Slovaks just want an end to the conflict, no matter who prevails.
“It’s in our own interest to continue patiently explaining to our population that supporting Ukraine is not just some sort of charity,” she said in an interview, speaking through a translator. “It’s a national interest for Ukraine to defend itself and win this war.”
Support for Ukraine remains strong in Estonia, which borders Russia, said the country’s foreign minister, Urmas Reinsalu.
“Cowardice and courage are fighting inside every nation,” Reinsalu said in an interview. “Will our determination be stronger?”
Estonia is among the nations calling for stronger economic measures targeting Russia’s economy, including a far-reaching commercial embargo and a severance of Russia’s banking sector from the rest of the world, to starve the Kremlin of revenue.
Unlike countries elsewhere in Europe, Reinsalu said, Ukrainians have no viable choice but to continue their fight against Russia. He said that Moscow, perhaps unintentionally, had made the stakes of the conflict very clear to Ukrainians.
“They know that their alternative, if they give up or make compromises, it means that all the country will become Buchas,” he said.
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Senate Republicans Block Bill To Require Disclosure Of dark Money Donors
Senate Republicans Block Bill To Require Disclosure Of ‘dark Money’ Donors https://digitalalabamanews.com/senate-republicans-block-bill-to-require-disclosure-of-dark-money-donors/
Senate Republicans on Thursday blocked legislation that would have required super PACs and other groups to disclose donors who give $10,000 or more during an election cycle, a blow to Democrats’ efforts to reform campaign financing laws.
In a procedural vote Thursday morning, the Senate failed to advance the Disclose Act on a 49-49 vote along party lines. No Republicans voted for it. At least 60 votes would have been required for the Senate to end debate on the bill and advance it.
Spending in election cycles by corporations and the ultrawealthy through so-called dark money groups has skyrocketed since the 2010 Supreme Court decision Citizens United v. FEC, which allowed incorporated entities and labor unions to spend unlimited amounts of money to promote or attack candidates. Democrats have railed unsuccessfully against the ruling for more than a decade, saying the ability for corporations and billionaires to advocate for or against candidates anonymously through such groups has given them outsize influence in American politics. Republicans have defended the right of corporations to make political donations, even as some of them have called for greater transparency in campaign financing.
Before the vote Thursday, Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) noted that, when the Supreme Court handed down its decision in Citizens United, the dissenting justices had warned that the ruling “threatens to undermine the integrity of elected institutions across the nation.”
“Sadly, they turned out to be right,” Schumer said. “By giving massive corporations the same rights as individual citizens, multibillionaires being able to have their voice … drowning out the views of citizens, and by casting aside decades of campaign finance law and by paving the way for powerful elites to pump nearly endless cash, Citizens United has disfigured our democracy almost beyond recognition.”
“Now the choice before the Senate is simple. Will members vote today to cure our democracy of the cancer of dark money, or will they stand in the way and let this disease metastasize beyond control?” Schumer added. “Members must pick a side. Which side are you on? The side of American voters and ‘one person, one vote’ or the side of super PACs and the billionaire donor class rigging the game in their favor?”
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), the bill’s sponsor, compared such dark money groups to “a dark octopus of corruption and deceit” that had infiltrated democracy. And though federal law prohibits super PACs from coordinating with political campaigns when it comes to spending and content, Whitehouse added, “you can bet” that candidates — and lawmakers — get wind of that information anyway.
“This is the kind of phony fun and games the dark money allows to intrude into our democracy,” Whitehouse said.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) criticized the bill as “an insult to the First Amendment” and encouraged Republicans to vote against it Thursday.
“Today’s liberal pet priority is a piece of legislation designed to give unelected federal bureaucrats vastly more power over private citizens’ First Amendment rights and political activism, and to strip privacy away from Americans who speak out about politics in their private lives,” McConnell said before the vote.
Earlier this week, President Biden called on Republicans to join Democrats in supporting the Disclose Act. In remarks at the White House, Biden invoked the late senator John McCain (R-Ariz.), saying his “friend” supported campaign finance reforms as matter of fundamental fairness. He pointed out that currently advocacy groups can run ads until Election Day without revealing who paid for the ad, and that even foreign entities that are not allowed to contribute to political campaigns can use dark money loopholes to try to influence elections.
“And at its best, our democracy serves all people equally, no matter wealth or privilege,” Biden said then. “But here’s the deal: There’s much — too much — money that flows in the shadows to influence our elections … Dark money has become so common in our politics, I believe sunlight is the best disinfectant.”
Biden said that dark money groups were a problem for both Republicans and Democrats, but said that so far Republicans in Congress had not supported passing new campaign finance laws to address the issue.
“Ultimately, this comes down to public trust. Dark money erodes public trust,” Biden said. “We need to protect public trust. And I’m determined to do that.”
John Wagner and Azi Paybarah contributed to this report.
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Alabama State Federal Lawmakers Join Court Brief Backing Eagle Forum
Alabama State, Federal Lawmakers Join Court Brief Backing Eagle Forum https://digitalalabamanews.com/alabama-state-federal-lawmakers-join-court-brief-backing-eagle-forum/
More than four dozen organizations and public office holders have filed an amicus brief in federal court protesting a Justice Department subpoena issued to the Eagle Forum of Alabama.
The subpoena relates to the lawsuit against the state of Alabama challenging a law passed by the legislature earlier this year that blocked teen transgender treatments. The Eagle Forum supported the legislation and the subpoena is seeking documents and correspondence from the non-profit organization over the past five years relating to the law.
Related: Alabama GOP congressmen fight back on Eagle Forum subpoena in trans lawsuit
Related: Eagle Forum of Alabama: DOJ subpoena over trans medical care a ‘blatant attack on free speech’
Two days after the state’s six Republican members of Congress signed a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland objecting to the subpoena, the congressmen were part of the brief filed in federal court.
Altogether 53 organizations from across the country and Alabama state and federal lawmakers joined the brief. The congressmen supporting the brief were Gary Palmer of Hoover, Mike Rogers of Saks, Barry Moore of Enterprise, Jerry Carl of Mobile, Robert Aderholt of Haleyville and Mo Brooks of Huntsville.
State lawmakers who joined it: Sens. Chris Elliott, R-Fairhope and Jabo Waggoner, R-Vestavia Hills, Reps. Chip Brown, R-Mobile, Arnold Mooney, R-Birmingham, Matt Simpson, R-Daphne and Tim Wadsworth, R-Arley.
The brief asks for the subpoena to be quashed “in full.”
“I have joined several of my Alabama Congressional colleagues, members of the state legislature, and organizations from across the country in this amicus brief because what the Department of Justice has done in this case is beyond the pale,” Aderholt said in a statement. “Eagle Forum of Alabama is a private, non-profit organization that is being punished for simply exercising its First Amendment rights. This point cannot be overstated. The government of the United States is targeting, bullying, and trying to make an example of an organization the Biden Administration disagrees with.
“The purpose of DOJ’s action is clear – to send a shot across the bow of any organizations that if they dare exercise their First Amendment-protected right to petition the government, they too could become entangled in a costly and arduous legal battle. I’m joining this brief and calling on the DOJ to stand down.”
The brief argues that the subpoena can lead to suppression of free speech.
“All (joining the brief) agree that the United States’ subpoena in this case is a transparent use of the civil litigation process to chill the speech and political organizing of those who hold views contrary to those of the United States and the Department of Justice,” the brief said. “The subpoena harms not just members of the public across all ideological and political spectra, who will be inhibited from open discourse and petitioning, but also legislators themselves, who benefit from hearing from their constituents without those citizens fearing subsequent federal investigations seeking reams of protected materials.”
Eagle Forum has filed a motion in court to quash the subpoena. The Alabama law being challenged has been blocked by a preliminary injunction ordered by U.S. District Judge Liles Burke. The judge wrote in his order that the law is likely unconstitutional.
Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall has appealed the preliminary injunction.
The Alabama Vulnerable Child Compassion and Protection Act makes it a felony to provide the medications for minors, people younger than 19, as well as to perform surgeries to help transgender minors transition to the gender they identify with.
Burke did not block the ban on surgeries and also let some other parts of the law stand. The plaintiffs told the judge they were not challenging the ban on surgeries.
AL.com reporter Mike Cason contributed to this report.
Note to readers: if you purchase something through one of our affiliate links we may earn a commission.
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Ranked HBCU Teams Looking For More https://digitalalabamanews.com/ranked-hbcu-teams-looking-for-more/
There are nationally-ranked HBCU teams in all four black college conferences as play moves into Week Four of the 2022 season.
Three of the teams are 3-0. One, Albany State is 2-1. All four will be looking to add to their great starts in games this weekend.
HBCU teams: Virginia Union in the CIAA
At 3-0, Virginia Union is the ranked team in the CIAA as the Trojans get ready to travel to 2-1 Fayetteville State Saturday (4 p.m.).
The Panthers, after a big win over nationally-ranked Valdosta State two weeks ago, moved into Div. II polls after their 42-6 win over Livingstone Saturday.
VUU is 22nd in the AFCA poll and 20th in the D2football.com poll. It’s the first time Dr. Alvin Parker’s Panthers have been ranked since 2019.
VUU vs. Fayetteville State
The game against FSU Saturday could certainly be a preview of the Nov. 12 CIAA Championship Game on November 12 in Salem, Va.
FSU is the four-time defending CIAA South Division champ and appears ready to make it five in a row. With three-time North Division and league champion Bowie State sitting at 1-2, VUU looks to be the North Division favorite.
VUU and FSU did not meet in 2021.
The player to watch is Div. II rushing leader Jada Byers of VUU. Byers currently leads D2 in rushing yards (616) and rushing yards per game (205.3). He is tied with teammate Curtis Allen and Jesse Sherwood of Southeast Minnesota State for the lead in rushing touchdowns with six.
Jada Byers has rushed for 98, 313, and 199 yards in three VUU victories this season.
Elsewhere in CIAA inter-divisional play Saturday Lincoln (Pa.) is at JC Smith (12 noon), Elizabeth City State visits Shaw and Bowie State visits St. Augustine’s (1 p.m.). Virginia State plays at Livingstone (4 p.m.) and Chowan entertains Winston-Salem State (6 p.m.).
HBCU teams: Jackson State in the SWAC
Jackson State didn’t move up but stayed at 11th in the AFCA and STATS Perform national FCS polls despite its blowout 66-24 home win over Grambling State Saturday.
JSU quarterback Shedeur Sanders threw for 359 yards and four TDs in the win over GSU. Three of the scoring throws went to wideout Dallas Daniels, a Western Illinois transfer.
Delaware State transfer running back Sy’veon Wilkerson had 141 rushing yards and two TDs for the Tigers. It was the second straight strong rushing performance by Wilkerson and the JSU offense. WIlkerson had 81 yards on 15 carries in the 16-3 win over Tennessee State.
JSU QB Shedeur Sanders
Sanders has thrown for just under 1,000 yards, 955 in three games, an average of 318.6 per game. His passing yardage is fifth-best in the FCS while the passing yards per game is sixth. His ten passing TDs is tied for fourth nationally.
JSU vs. Mississippi Valley State
JSU stays home this week to face Mississippi Valley State (1 p.m., ESPN+).
Last season, MVSU head coach Vincent Dancy’s Delta Devils led JSU at the half and into the third quarter. The Tigers eventually pulled out a close 28-19 win. JSU head coach Deion Sanders said MVSU “had us on the ropes last year. I know they will be prepared.”
In other SWAC games Saturday, Grambling State travels to Bethune-Cookman (2 p.m., ESPN+), Prairie View A&M visits Alabama State (5 p.m.), Alabama A&M is at Florida A&M (6 p.m., ESPN+) and Alcorn State entertains Arkansas-Pine Bluff (6 p.m., HBCUGO/The Grio).
HBCU teams; NC Central in the MEAC
North Carolina Central (3-0), led by QB Davius “Pee Wee” Richard’s two rushing TD and a passing TD, vaulted into the FCS Top 25 after knocking off New Hampshire 45-27. UNH was in the Top 25, at 25th last week, in the FCS poll.
NCCU debuts at No. 25 in the STATS Perform poll but did not get into the AFCA Coaches poll.
Through three games, Richard has completed 63.6 percent of his passes (53 of 83) for 607 yards with four TDs and just one interception.
NC Central QB Davius Richard
“Pee Wee (Richard), he’s outstanding,” NCCU head coach Trei Oliver said Monday on the MEAC Coaches Teleconference. “He continues to improve. The biggest thing I’m pleased with is how he takes care of the ball. We’re not turning the ball over.”
The Eagles have a winless but dangerous opponent as they host winless Virginia-Lynchburg Saturday (4 p.m., ESPN+).
Non-conference action in the MEAC also has Delaware State hosting Merrimack and Norfolk State hosting Saint Francis (on ESPN+) both at 2 p.m.
Defending conference champ S. C. State plays at N. C. A&T at 7 p.m. (on ESPN+).
HBCU team: Albany State in the SIAC
Albany State RB Marcuis Fulks
Defending SIAC champ Albany State (2-1), with its only loss to Florida A&M, is 17th in the D2 poll and 20th in the AFCA poll.
In its 42-20 win over Shorter last week, QB Dionte Bonneau threw for 248 yards and two scores while RB Marcuis Fulks ran for 117 yards and a TD. Fulks, a 5-10, 180-pound junior, is averaging 5.8 yards per carry, 94.0 rushing yards per game and has scored four TDs.
Gabe Gardina’s Golden Rams of Albany State play at 1-1 Clark Atlanta Saturday (6 p.m., ESPN+).
In other SIAC games, Miles is at Central State (12 noon), Allen plays at Tuskegee (1 p.m.). Fort Valley State is at 3-0 but unranked. The Wilcats are at Bluefield State (1 p.m.). Edward Waters is at Lane and Savannah State is at Morehouse at 2 p.m., and Kentucky State is at 3-0 but unranked Benedict at 6 p.m.
Non-HBCU conferences
Hampton is not ranked but is 3-0 headed into its big date at 3-0 Delaware (6 p.m.) of the CAA Saturday. Langston is 3-0 as it plays at Arkansas Baptist (7 p.m.) Saturday.
GAMES THIS WEEK
SEPTEMBER 24, 2022
Eddie McGirt Classic
Johnson C. Smith vs Lincoln in Charlotte, NC 12n
West Virginia State vs. Notre Dame (OH) in Institute, WV 12n
Tuskegee vs. Allen in Tuskegee, AL 1p
Bluefield State vs. Fort Valley State in Bluefield, WV 1p
Saint Augustine’s vs. Bowie State in Raleigh, NC 1p
Shaw vs. Elizabeth City State in Durham, NC 1p
Lane vs. Edward Waters in Jackson, TN 2p
Northeastern State vs. Lincoln (MO) in Tahlequah, OK 2p
Wayland Baptist vs Texas College in Plainview, TX 2p
Delaware State vs. Merrimack in Dover, DE 2p
Morehouse vs. Savannah State in Atlanta, GA 2p
Texas-San Antonio vs. Texas Southern in San Antonio, TX 2:30p
Fayetteville State vs. Virginia Union in Fayetteville, NC 4p
Livingstone vs. Virginia State in Salisbury, NC 4p
Alabama State vs. Prairie View A&M in Montgomery, AL 5p
Benedict vs. Kentucky State in Columbia, SC 6p
Chowan vs. Winston-Salem State in Murfeesboro, NC 6p
Arkansas Baptist vs. Langston in Little Rock, AR 7p
STREAMING OR TV GAMES
Central State vs Miles in Wilberforce, OH – ESPN+ 12n
Jackson State vs. Miss. Valley State in Jackson, MS – ESPN+ 1p
Bethune-Cookman vs. Grambling State in Daytona Beach, FL – ESPN+ 2p
Norfolk State vs. Saint Francis (PA) in Norfolk, VA – ESPN+ 2p
NC Central vs VA-Lynchburg in Durham, NC – ESPN+ 4p
Alcorn State vs. Arkansas-Pine Bluff in Lorman, MS – HBCUGO 6p
Clark Atlanta vs. Albany State in Atlanta, GA – ESPN+ 6p
Delaware vs. Hampton in Newark, DE – FloSports 6p
Florida A&M vs. Alabama A&M in Tallahassee, FL – ESPN+ 6p
NC A&T vs. SC State in Greensboro, NC – ESPN+ 7p
Ranked HBCU teams looking for more
Davius Richard, Deion Sanders, Dionte Bonneau, Dr. Alvin Parker, featured, Gabe Gardina, Jackson State, Jada Byers, Marcuis Fulks, NC Central, Shedeur Sanders, Sy’Veon Wilkerson, Trei Oliver, Virginia Union
Read More…
Match Preview: Rowdies Vs Birmingham https://digitalalabamanews.com/match-preview-rowdies-vs-birmingham/
Matchday Info:
Tampa Bay Rowdies vs Birmingham Legion FC
Friday, September 23, 7:30 pm ET
Al Lang Stadium, St. Petersburg, FL
Tickets: Fans can purchase tickets for the match here or at the Al Lang box office starting at 4 pm on matchday.
Pre-Game Show: Get ready for the match with the pre-game show hosted by The Unused Substitutes podcast. The show kicks off at 6:30 pm ET on Twitch.TV/RowdiesGG.
Legacy Night Giveaway: The first 2,000 fans through the gates on Friday night will receive a commemorative newspaper front page celebrating the Rowdies 2012 championship.
Watch: Fans can stream the match on ESPN+.
Follow Along: Live updates on Twitter at @RowdiesGameday.
The Tampa Bay Rowdies return to Al Lang Stadium this Friday on the back of two narrow defeats on the road. They face a Birmingham Legion FC side on a good run of form and sit even with the Rowdies at 54 points in the Eastern Conference standings. Tampa Bay still holds an important game in hand on Birmingham.
“Every year, like ourselves, Birmingham has kept the real core of their team. I think right their core is at its peak. Because of their consistency, their quality, they’re just in a really good spot. They’re a difficult opponent because they’re trying to get where we’ve been and I’m sure their guys are highly motivated for it.
Friday is the first of Tampa Bay’s final five matches before the start of the USL Championship preseason. The Rowdies will play four of those final matches right at home, only having to travel out to the west coast for a matchup with Monterey Bay next Saturday. A homestand to end the season gives the Rowdies an excellent chance to pick up points heading into the postseason. The Rowdies have not suffered a defeat at home since April 30.
Points are at a premium for the Rowdies, who are still jockeying to finish as high up in the standings as possible in order to guarantee home field advantage in the first round, at least. They sit in a precarious position at the moment as the third place team in the East, only two points ahead of 5th-place Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC.
“We wanna win a game on Friday night,” said Collins. “We’re very much focused on being in the moment we’re in, and that’s Birmingham at home and performing well. The best way to go into the playoffs playing well, full of confidence. Right now I’m just focused on how we get a good performance on Friday because I think that’s most important.”
Cochran’s Season Comes to an End
The Rowdies will face the rest of the season without their regular starter in net. Keeper CJ Cochran is out for the rest of the year after undergoing successful surgery this week for a fractured tibia suffered in last week’s loss to Detroit. With Cochran out for Friday’s match, Phil Breno is set to make his first start for the Rowdies since joining the club on loan from USL League One side Forward Madison FC in July. Prior to signing with Forward Madison at the start of 2021, Breno made ten appearances in the USL Championship with the Charleston Battery
2012 Championship Reunion
The 2012 Rowdies team that claimed the club’s second ever outdoor league title is set to reunite at Al Lang on Friday night. The team will participate in a pre-match autograph session before being honored during an on-field halftime ceremony. recognizing their memorable victory in the second leg of the 2012 NASL Soccer Bowl Final.
75/10 Club Unveiling
On Friday, the Rowdies are also set to unveil the new “75/10 Club,” which will honor and recognize individuals who have helped establish the Rowdies as an iconic name in soccer through their contributions on the field and in the community. Mike Connell, Perry Van der Beck, and Keith Savage will be the first members inducted into the 75/10 Club. During the induction at halftime of Friday’s match, each player will have their names enshrined on the stands at Al Lang.
Upcoming Milestones
Sebastian Guenzatti is one goal away from setting a new Rowdies all-time scoring record. He is now tied with Georgi Hristov at 60 goals for the Green & Gold.
Forward Kyle Greig is nearing 15,000 minutes played in the USL Championship regular season. He currently sits at 14,816 minutes played heading into the weekend.
Leo Fernandes and Hilton are both nearing 30 regular season assists in the USL. Both are currently at 28 assists.
Leo Fernandes is nearing his 150th appearance for the Rowdies. He is at 148 heading into Saturday’s match.
Lewis Hilton is nearing his 200th USL Championship regular-season appearance. He is currently at 198 appearances.
Injury Report
OUT: Jake Areman, Thomas Vancaeyezeele, CJ Cochran, Robert Castellanos
Match Preview: Rowdies vs Birmingham – Tampa Bay Rowdies
Republic FC Recalls Midfielder Mario Penagos from FC Cincinnati 2 – Sacramento Republic FC
Battery Add Charleston Natives Caden Theobald, Joel Bunting to Roster – Charleston Battery
Match Preview: Republic FC v San Antonio FC – Sacramento Republic FC
Battery Host Rio Grande Valley at Patriots Point on Friday – Charleston Battery
What to Watch for with LouCity vs. Memphis 901 FC – Louisville City FC
Monterey Bay F.C. Draws in 3-3 Shootout with Phoenix Rising FC at Cardinale Stadium – Monterey Bay FC
Phoenix Rising Snatch 3-3 Draw from Monterey Bay FC – Phoenix Rising FC
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
Read More…
Why Are Online Death Hoaxes So Popular? https://digitalalabamanews.com/why-are-online-death-hoaxes-so-popular/
Here at Snopes, we have had no shortage of death hoaxes to debunk. These are false announcements of the death of a public figure, usually on the internet. This form of junk news, designed to get gullible readers to pay attention because a famous person is involved, is often clickbait, if not an outright phishing scam, and in rare cases simply misreporting based on a misunderstanding.
Many of the hoaxes tell an outlandish story about a famous person’s death, like the time Jeff Goldblum or Tony Danza fell off cliffs (on separate occasions), or when Wayne Knight got into a car accident, or when a number of actors died while snowboarding. In the case of Queen Elizabeth II, who was around 96 years old and ailing anyway, the “news” spread months before her actual death in September 2022.
Sources of Death Hoaxes
These stories proliferate across the internet and have wide ranging sources. Around a decade ago, celebrity death hoaxes were being credited to Fake a Wish, a “celebrity fake news hoax generator” that allowed anyone to create junk news and attribute it to a website known as “Global Associated News.”
Users could enter a celebrity’s name and choose a fake story, which would be redirected to Global Associated News, which generated a plausible-looking page. The site had a disclaimer at the bottom stating that everything was “100% fabricated.” Even so, the story would then spread, without disclaimers, on sites like Twitter. Rich Hoover, the man behind this, made money off of running a range of websites like this. In 2012 he told E! News that these were meant to be harmless pranks.
“It started off as a practical joke machine seven years ago,” he said. “People can just plug in anybody’s name so then they’ll prank their friends. But people don’t read the fine print, and sure enough, it spreads like mad.”
He did get a few cease-and-desist letters, but he insisted that for some celebrities it was “free press.” He pointed out that some fake death rumors were in poor taste but he did not have a suicide template on his site.
“It is dark comedy, done in poor taste, I’m guilty of that but the intent is not to be hurtful to one’s character,” he added. “I try to make it very easy to dispel the myth, like, ‘hey I’m alive and I’ll be on Letterman tonight or attending my movie premiere.’ The fans do get upset and get their feathers ruffled more than the celebrities.”
Another source of death hoaxes was schoolteacher Tommaso Debenedetti, who even fooled the New York Times. He fabricated the death of author Cormac McCarthy by creating a fake Twitter account for McCarthy’s publisher, Alfred A. Knopf, and the supposed deaths of numerous other famous people. But this earned him the notice of authors like Mario Vargas Llosa, who wrote, “He really is a hero of our times […] He excuses his behavior with the nice paradox: ‘I lied, but only to tell a truth.’”
“[McCarthy’s fake death] story reveals the terrible situation of media,” Debenedetti told The Washington Post in 2016. “The account was not reliable and was created minutes before the news of the death, but a lot of important sites believed it. Incredible!”
But death hoaxes have other reasons for existing, too, beyond being a dark joke. In the past, we’ve uncovered scammy YouTube ads claiming celebrity deaths that ended up funneling users to sales pitches for CBD and keto diets. Indeed CBD product schemes have often used unauthorized images of celebrities to pretend that they are endorsing them. In one investigation, we found that a page claiming Whoopi Goldberg’s death would redirect to a supposed CBD product line, which in turn would hide the scam by being replaced by disclaimers or terms of service agreements when users tried to refresh or return to the page later. Another scammy YouTube ad about Jim Carrey’s supposed death turned out to be just clickbait.
Why Do They Spread?
The celebrity death hoax proliferates across the internet mainly because it feeds on a number of more basic instincts among users, such as “performing” their grief on social media. In the 2019 paper “Death by Twitter: Understanding false death announcements on social media and the performance of platform cultural capital,” from researchers at the University of Melbourne, the commentary on the falseness of the news is as much a part of the growth of the junk news in the first place:
The prevalence of commentary on fake death and digital culture is understandable given false death announcements have become routine enough to be a mundane occurrence, and the gloss of surprise and shock is dulled by suspicion. In another sense, social media commentaries about false deaths may be deployed by users as a way to understand the phenomenon and one’s relationship to such forms of social media communication. In this way, social commentary also appears to be used to signal one’s identity as a savvy Twitter user familiar with communicative events and cultural tropes in response to them, and in turn used to distance oneself from and critique those fooled by the culture of ‘viral performativity’ in public mourning.
In the delivery of a knowing and ironic engagement, we can see a performative display of personal identity, a disposition that signals to other users one’s cultural knowledge and technical authority in recognising the phenomenon and its platform specificity — or what we have called “platform cultural capital”.
The paper concludes that “the affordances of social media together with the typical cycle of user responses, facilitates widespread sharing of false reports through affective participation and ‘viral performativity’ around public mourning.”
And scammers on the internet use this proliferating tendency to generate clickbait with shocking headlines, photographs and graphics. The more well known a celebrity, the more clicks stand to be gained. The more egregious examples ask you to download something, or click on more suspicious links that allow spammers to harvest your data.
How to Identify a Hoax
We have written numerous pieces on how to identify suspicious material online, including noticing dubious or unidentified sources, spelling and grammatical errors, website URLs, satirical disclaimers and more.
In the case of online death notices, one should also ask the following questions:
Is the announcement coming from a verified source like an official spokesperson, family member, or a celebrity’s verified social media account?
Is the webpage coming from a website that appears to be mimicking a real news site? Keep an eye out for typos, changes in the logo, font, or an unusual URL (compare it with the URL of the real news site it appears to be mimicking).
Does the website/social media page have a disclaimer about its own veracity? Some sites state outright that they are satirical in nature.
Where do the photographs in the story come from? If you do a reverse Google image search, the results are often pulled from older, unrelated stories.
What does your own research tell you? If no legitimate news sites are talking about it, then it is likely fake.
Regardless of what you see or read, never give out your own information or click on suspicious links that ask for more details from you. A celebrity’s purported death might be interesting to some, but it is just clickbait and a dark joke to others.
Sources:
“Brad Pitt, Other Celebrity Death Hoaxes on Facebook Could Be Phishing Scam.” CBS News. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/brad-pitt-other-celebrity-death-hoaxes-on-facebook-could-destroy-your-computer/. Accessed 22 Sept. 2022.
Considine, Austin. “One Comeback They Could Skip.” The New York Times, 19 Sept. 2012. NYTimes.com, https://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/20/fashion/celebrity-hoax-death-reports.html. Accessed 22 Sept. 2022.
Couch, Aaron. “Eddie Murphy Latest Victim of Snowboarding Death Hoax.” The Hollywood Reporter, 4 Feb. 2012, https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/eddie-murphy-death-hoax-snowboarding-287140/. Accessed 22 Sept. 2022.
“Did Oprah Winfrey Endorse Whoopi Goldberg’s CBD Line?” Snopes.Com, https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/winfrey-goldberg-cbd/. Accessed 22 Sept. 2022.
“Hoaxing 101: How to Fake a Celebrity Death.” E! Online, 1 Apr. 2012, https://www.eonline.com/news/218336/hoaxing-101-how-to-fake-a-celebrity-death. Accessed 22 Sept. 2022.
“H.W. Bush Mistakenly Announces Death of Nelson Mandela.” USATODAY, 1 Sept. 2013, https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2013/09/01/bush-mandela-death/2752933/. Accessed 22 Sept. 2022.
“Jeff Goldblum Alive and Well.” E! Online, 25 June 2009, https://www.eonline.com/news/131264/jeff_goldblum_alive_well. Accessed 22 Sept. 2022.
“Jim Carrey Is Not Dead, Despite Death Hoax in YouTube Ad.” Snopes.Com, https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/jim-carrey-is-not-dead/. Accessed 22 Sept. 2022.
“Meet the Internet’s ‘Greatest Liar,’ Whose Twitter Death Hoaxes Have Fooled Millions.” Washington Post. www.washingtonpost.com, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2016/06/29/meet-the-internets-greatest-liar-whose-twitter-death-hoaxes-have-fooled-millions/. Accessed 22 Sept. 2022.
Nansen, Bjorn, et al. “‘Death by Twitter’: Understanding False Death Announcements on Social Media and the Performance of Platform Cultural Capital.” First Monday, Dec. 2019. firstmonday.org, https://doi.org/10.5210/fm.v24i12.10106. Accessed 22 Sept. 2022.
“Queen Elizabeth Death Hoaxes Accelerated as World Awaited News.” Snopes.Com, https://www.snopes.com/news/2022/09/08/queen-elizabeth-death-hoaxes/. Accessed 22 Sept. 2022.
“Red Flags: How to Identify Suspicious Rumors.” Snopes.Com, https://www.snopes.com/articles/401830/red-flags-suspicious-rumors/. Accessed 22 Sept. 2022.
“Untangling the Drama Behind Queen Elizabeth II’s Death Hoax.” E! Online, 24 Feb. 2022, https://www.eonline.com/news/1320786/untangling-the-drama-behind-qu...
Tish James Got The Goods On The Trump Family GriftNow What?
Tish James Got The Goods On The Trump Family Grift—Now What? https://digitalalabamanews.com/tish-james-got-the-goods-on-the-trump-family-grift-now-what/
While it’s nice to learn more about the crimes Trump & Co. committed, what many of us really want is to know when he’ll be held accountable.
September 22, 2022
On Wednesday, New York Attorney General Letitia James unveiled a 222-page civil complaint against Donald Trump, the Trump Organization, Don Jr., Ivanka, Eric, and a number of others involved in Trump’s business dealings in New York. The lawsuit alleges a raft of financial misdealings, fraud, and misrepresentations carried out by Trump, his family, and his cronies.
The public has known for some time about the fraud at the heart of Trumpworld. Trump fixer Michael Cohen testified before Congress way back in 2019 (under questioning by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez) that Trump would habitually overvalue his company’s assets. These lies were not the mere puffery of a carnival barker trying to secure a spot on reality television. They were made to secure loans and minimize the Trump empire’s tax bills.
But the specific instances of misrepresentation and fraud uncovered by James are new, shocking, and darkly hilarious. Trump (allegedly) said that his Trump Tower apartment was 30,000 square feet, when in fact it is only 10,996 square feet, and then used that lie to get his apartment valued at $327 million, in 2015, a time when only one apartment in New York City had ever sold for as much as $100 million. He massively overvalued his golf clubs, in some cases adding 30 percent to the valuation based on his estimation of the Trump “brand.” And he claimed as personal “cash” assets that were actually held by partnerships he had no distribution rights over.
There are a lot of allegations in this thing. I’ve just highlighted the ones from paragraph 15 of the 838-paragraph complaint. But, for most normal people, the idea that Trump is a fraud who lies about how wealthy he is has been obvious for some time. We don’t want to know more about the crimes he committed; we want to know when he’ll be held accountable for any of them. Trump’s apartment might be a third of the space he claims, but it seemingly exists above the law. The story people want to read is Crime and Punishment, not If I Did It.
The hopeful news is that James’s lawsuit does have real teeth. She’s asking the court to order Trump and his organization to disgorge an estimated $250 million in fraudulent profits. She wants Trump and his co-conspirator children to be banned from running a business in New York, and banned from conducting real estate transactions in New York for a period of five years. Perhaps most important, she wants Trump and his organization to be banned from applying for loans from any financial institution registered in New York for five years.
Should any of this come to pass, Trump would be well on his way to another bankruptcy, a financial status with which he is well acquainted. He might even have to get on camera and say, “Russia, if you’re listening, send cash now.”
But look, real talk, Trump is never going to be “broke.” He’s never going to have to get a real job or know the fear of living on a fixed income while Republicans threaten to cut Medicare and Medicaid. Trump has a near-endless supply of dupes willing to fork over what little they have to support his bottomless need for attention and self-tanner. Con men do not go hungry.
James’s lawsuit is a serious, meticulous, legally compelling case that Trump and his cronies committed major financial crimes, but I for one am so desperate to see Trump in the prison he so richly deserves that all attempts at civil liability feel flat to me. If Trump is found guilty and punished appropriately, these charges will devastate Trump’s businesses and basically turn his misuse of campaign contributions into his only viable source of income. And that should be enough for me, but it’s not because I want this man behind bars for the crimes he’s committed and the atrocities done in his name. I want him in prison, and I want his 2024 campaign ads to be done during his hour of yard time each day. It’s all well and good to “get Al Capone for tax evasion,” so long as tax evasion puts Capone in jail. With Trump, mere fines, even really big fines, do not feel like justice.
Unfortunately for me, satisfying my feelings is not in Tish James’s job description. Unfortunately for democracy, the people in charge of prosecuting criminals in Manhattan do not seem to have the appetite to take on Trump. James is using the powers vested in her office appropriately, and with Trump that involves civil liability. If Trump’s financial crimes rise to the level of criminal culpability, that is for district attorneys to decide. If his financial misdeeds are also federal crimes, that is for the United States attorney general to decide.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg seemed to abandon the possibility of charging Trump with crimes for financial fraud earlier this year. Bragg, despite running on a platform of holding even the powerful accountable, pulled the plug on a potential grand jury indictment shortly after taking office, causing the lead prosecutors working on the Trump case to quit. Bragg has never explained himself, and my guess is that he won’t until it’s time to run for election again. Everything James knows, Bragg knows, or could know, now. While he said in a statement that the investigation into Trump is “ongoing,” he’s yet to show the proof.
At the federal level, James has made a criminal referral to prosecutors for the Southern District of New York. The current US Attorney for the Southern District is Damian Williams; he was appointed by President Joe Biden and confirmed by the Senate last October. He happens to be the first African American to serve in this role, and he also happens to be the former law clerk of his current boss, Attorney General Merrick Garland.
Whether these men have the courage to do what is necessary remains to be seen. But we know that James (and Georgia’s Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis) are showing that Trump can be prosecuted for crimes just like any other person in the country. We know that they will continue to treat Trump as a suspect as opposed to a king. Hopefully, that will be enough.
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Maggie Haberman: Trump Confidantes Say His Heart Isnt In Campaigning Again
Maggie Haberman: Trump Confidantes Say ‘His Heart Isn’t In’ Campaigning Again https://digitalalabamanews.com/maggie-haberman-trump-confidantes-say-his-heart-isnt-in-campaigning-again/
New York Times correspondent and CNN analyst Maggie Haberman says confidantes of former President Donald Trump believe his “heart is not in” politics or campaigning, amid the news of a fraud case in New York.
On Wednesday night’s edition of CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360, anchor Anderson Cooper asked Haberman what effect, if any, NY Attorney General Letitia James‘ fraud suit would have on Trump’s political plans.
Haberman said she hears Trump is not enthusiastic about running but added she doesn’t know if he’d want to give up the attention — and the fundraising:
COOPER: Maggie, obviously, this is not the only bad legal news the former President got today. What impact, if any, do you think this would have or do you think it would have any decision on whether or not he would run again?
HABERMAN: You mean, the decision in New York?
COOPER: You’re right, in New York. Yes.
HABERMAN: Yes. I mean, look, Anderson, I think that you can look at this in two different ways. Number one, a lot of people have talked to the former President say that they don’t think that his heart seems to be in politics and running and campaigning the way it once was that having been said. The second that he says that he is not running, he loses a lot of attention.
He loses the same ability to fundraise politically, and he loses potentially, if he were to run the protections that the office affords a sitting President in terms of investigations, and all of that is something that he is aware of.
I think that, you know, the people I have spoken to close to him were very relieved, still, as they have been over and over that there was no criminal charge related here. There was a criminal referral that was discussed, but this is a civil action and I think that you’re going to see them fight it on the same grounds that you have seen them quite a lot.
I will say, there were a couple of very new details related to Trump’s financial habits in this filing and there were — you know, there were certainly a lot of descriptions that the Attorney General used of his practices.
She put together a comprehensive filing, a lot of it, and that this is what the Trump folks are pointing to repeatedly. It is stuff that has largely been known. The question is going to be whether it gets heard differently in a Court this time.
—
Have a tip we should know? tips@mediaite.com
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Trump's Presidential Comeback Looks Snuffed Out As Legal Problems Mount Social News XYZ
Trump's Presidential Comeback Looks Snuffed Out As Legal Problems Mount – Social News XYZ https://digitalalabamanews.com/trumps-presidential-comeback-looks-snuffed-out-as-legal-problems-mount-social-news-xyz/
By Ashe O
Washington, Sep 23 (SocialNews.XYZ) Former US President Donald Trump’s efforts at making a comeback for the White House seems “derailed” and “snuffed out” with his legal perils becoming insurmountable, media reports said.
New York Attorney General Letitia James has sued him for tax fraud and an appeals court in Atlanta has granted the Department of Justice resumed access to classified documents for FBI to further investigations in what’s feared that documents may come under the purview of the espionage act.
Trump’s legal perils have become insurmountable and could snuff out the former US president’s hopes of an election-winning comeback, according to political analysts and legal experts, says the Guardian.
On Wednesday, Trump and three of his adult children were accused of lying to tax collectors, lenders and insurers in a “staggering” fraud scheme that routinely misstated the value of his properties to enrich themselves. In another case in Atlanta, the court of appeals granted permission to the DOJ to resume accessing the classified documents seized by the FBI at Mar-a-Lago in national security interests, overturning Judge Aileen Cannon’s stay on DOJ until a special master Raymond Dearie reviewed all the files.
The special master himself told Trump lawyers to show those files that were declassified by the ex-President.
“You can’t have the cake and it too,” Judge Dearie said when the lawyers resisted saying it might open up the scene for fresh indictment against Trump.
The civil lawsuit, filed by New York’s attorney general, came as the FBI investigates Trump’s holding of sensitive government documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida and a special grand jury in Georgia considers whether he and others attempted to influence state election officials after his defeat there by Joe Biden.
The former US president has repeatedly hinted that he intends to run for the White House again in 2024. But the cascade of criminal, civil and congressional investigations could yet derail that bid, the Guardian said. Trump has accused incumbent President Joe Biden of launching a “witch hunt” against him with the democrats.
“He’s done,” said Allan Lichtman, a history professor at American University, in Washington, who has accurately predicted every presidential election since 1984.
“He’s got too many burdens, too much baggage to be able to run again even presuming he escapes jail, he escapes bankruptcy. I’m not sure he’s going to escape jail.”
After a three-year investigation, Letitia James, the New York attorney general, alleged that Trump provided fraudulent statements of his net worth and false asset valuations to obtain and satisfy loans, get insurance benefits and pay lower taxes. Offspring Don Jr, Ivanka and Eric were also named as defendants.
Meanwhile, Former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen on Wednesday predicted New York Attorney General Letitia James’s newly announced fraud investigation into former President Trump’s business will culminate in the Trump Organization’s downfall.
“It’s going to put an end to the entire company,” Cohen said during an appearance on MSNBC’s “All in with Chris Hayes” on Wednesday evening. “You think that?” Hayes followed up.
“I believe so,” Cohen responded.
Source: IANS
About Gopi
Gopi Adusumilli is a Programmer. He is the editor of SocialNews.XYZ and President of AGK Fire Inc.
He enjoys designing websites, developing mobile applications and publishing news articles on current events from various authenticated news sources.
When it comes to writing he likes to write about current world politics and Indian Movies. His future plans include developing SocialNews.XYZ into a News website that has no bias or judgment towards any.
He can be reached at gopi@socialnews.xyz
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Sedalia Police Reports For September 22, 2022 https://digitalalabamanews.com/sedalia-police-reports-for-september-22-2022/
This article is compiled from the Sedalia Police Department reports.
Early Thursday morning, Officers observed a dark colored KIA SUV fail to maintain its lane several times while westbound on West Broadway Boulevard. Officers initiated a traffic stop on it at the Dollar General Store, 2400 West Broadway Boulevard. The driver had a Failure to Appear warrant from the City of Knob Noster (Not listed in Casenet) holding a cash or surety bond of $300. Lamper Lambert Deitas, 41, of Sedalia, was arrested on the warrant and transported to the Pettis County Jail.
Sedalia Police observed an SUV driving without a front license plate in the area of West Broadway Boulevard and South Carr Avenue late Wednesday night. It turned northbound onto South Carr Avenue, and Officers initiated a traffic stop on it. It failed to yield, and continued approximately 830 feet at a slow rate of speed before stopping. The driver was found to be intoxicated. Amanda Nicole Randall, 30, of Sedalia, was arrested, taken to the Pettis County Jail, and then booked in pending release to a sober person. State charges of Driving While Intoxicated and Failure to Yield to an Emergency Vehicle are pending.
Officers were driving west on West Main Street near West Avenue early Thursday morning. They observed a dark colored vehicle that was backed up into a building in the 2500 block of West Main Street. Officers contacted the occupant, who was inside a blue Toyota Prius with no license plates. After further investigation, the occupant was placed under arrest for Driving While Revoked. After running the VIN, Communications advised the vehicle was entered as stolen out of Sedalia. The theft stemmed from a burglary into a business. Ratliff T. Meseky, 18, of Sedalia, was transported to the Pettis County Jail and placed on a 24 hour hold pending charges of Stealing of a Motor Vehicle, Burglary in the 2nd Degree, Stealing from a Building, and Driving While Revoked.
Wednesday evening, Officers conducted a traffic stop on a vehicle after it made several lane and moving violations. The stop took place near the area of West 16th Street and Water Tower Road. During the duration of the stop, the operator of the vehicle was displaying dealer license plates that expired in 2021. Neftali P. Lopez was issued citations for Failing to Register a Motor Vehicle and Improper Lane Usage. The dealer plate was seized and placed into evidence for safe keeping.
Sedalia Police Officers came across an abandoned air compressor in the roadway near West 4th Street and South Park Avenue late Wednesday night. The air compressor is being held at the Sedalia Police Department for safe keeping.
On the afternoon of September 14th, Officers were dispatched to the Eagle Stop store, 1515 Thompson Boulevard in reference to a theft. Officers spoke with the manager, Stephanie Sons, who reported an internal theft. The suspect was later contacted, and they admitted to the theft. Charges are being submitted to the Pettis County Prosecutor’s Office for review.
Wednesday evening, an unnamed subject brought a phone to the Police Headquarters that was found in the area of Hubbard Park, 601 North Missouri Avenue. Officers took custody of the phone and placed it into evidence as found property.
Sedalia Police responded to a hit and run accident that occurred in the area of West 16th Street and South Limit Avenue on the afternoon of September 16th. Officers spoke with Leyton G. Shireman, who stated an accident occurred in the intersection and a white Chevrolet Silverado left the scene. At the time of the report, a suspect was not identified.
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Art Of The Steal: Trump Faces Greatest Legal Peril Yet As NY AG Sues Trumps & Docs Probe Resumes Free Speech TV
Art Of The Steal”: Trump Faces Greatest Legal Peril Yet As NY AG Sues Trumps & Docs Probe Resumes – Free Speech TV https://digitalalabamanews.com/art-of-the-steal-trump-faces-greatest-legal-peril-yet-as-ny-ag-sues-trumps-docs-probe-resumes-free-speech-tv/
Former President Donald Trump is facing his greatest legal peril yet, as New York Attorney General Letitia James filed a civil lawsuit Wednesday against Trump, three of his children and his family business for widespread financial fraud. The suit alleges they overvalued assets by billions of dollars in order to secure more favorable financial arrangements, then deflated those values to pay less in taxes. If the lawsuit is successful, the Trump Organization could be barred from conducting business in the state of New York. “He’s gotten away with this for decades. Now he’s going to have to answer in civil court,” says award-winning reporter David Cay Johnston, who has covered Trump for years. Also on Wednesday, a three-judge federal appeals panel, including two who were appointed by Trump, allowed the Justice Department to continue reviewing the documents seized by the FBI from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate.
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David Cay Johnston Democracy Now! Justice Department Letitia James NY AG sues Trump
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