Digital Alabama News

NeoSystems To Host CMMC Day With Experts From The Department Of Defense, Coalfire, Deltek, Forvis And Holland & Knight https://digitalalabamanews.com/neosystems-to-host-cmmc-day-with-experts-from-the-department-of-defense-coalfire-deltek-forvis-and-holland-knight/ , /PRNewswire/ — NeoSystems, a full-service strategic outsourcer, IT systems integrator and managed services provider to the government contractor market, announced today that it will host an in-person CMMC Day with panel discussions featuring industry experts from the Department of Defense (DoD), Coalfire, Deltek, Forvis, and Holland & Knight and more, which also will be live streamed. When:  September 20, 2022 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. (CDT) In-person 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. (CDT) Live Stream Where:   In-person event: The Jackson Center, 6001 Moquin Dr NW, Huntsville, AL 35806 Register: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/cmmc-day-huntsville-tickets-385890257147 The event also will be live streamed. Register: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/live-stream-cmmc-day-huntsville-tickets-418251410227 NOTE: Media interested in attending either in-person or the live streaming event, should outreach to obtain a Media Pass. See contact information below. What:  Join the greater Huntsville GovCon community for a day of Q&A, program updates, success stories, audit preparation insights, discussions around the investment in a robust cybersecurity program, getting compliant, the CMMC Assessment Process (CAP) document, realistic pricing, and more. Agenda highlights include: 10:35 a.m. to 11:25 a.m.: Preparing for Achieving the DIBCAC: Small Business and Enterprise Ed Bassett, CISO, NeoSystems (Moderator) Joe Bennett, Head of IT and Security, COLSA John Ellis, Director of DIBCAC Jake Williams STR Matt Travis, President, Cyber AB 11:45 a.m. to 12:35 p.m.: The Business Decision of CMMC  Stuart Itkin, Coalfire Federal (Moderator) Bob Metzger, Partner, RJO Greg Powers, Director of Managed Security, Amy Williams, Senior Director of Proactive Services, BlueVoyant 1:30 p.m. to 2:20 p.m.: MSP, Legal, Pricing, and Cost Management Chris Knight, VP of Product – Cloud, Compliance, Security, Deltek (Moderator) Ed Bassett, CISO, NeoSystems Eric Crusius, Partner, Holland & Knight Jerry Leishman, EVP & National Security & Compliance Director at CORTAC Stacy Bostjanick, Director of CMMC, OUSD A&S, DoD CIO Amira Armond, President, Kieri Solutions 2:40 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.: Solution Paths to Audit-Readiness  Greg Powers, Director of Managed Security, NeoSystems (Moderator) Regan Edens, President, DTC Global Bill Walter, Managing Director, Forvis Tara Lemieux, Senior IT Auditor CMMC, Shellman Chris Knight, VP of Product – Cloud, Compliance, Security, Deltek 3:30 p.m.to 4:10 p.m.: Accelerating Industry/Government Collaboration For Audit Readiness Elizabeth Jimenez, Executive Director of Market Development, NeoSystems (Moderator) Stacy Bostjanick, Director of CMMC, OUSD A&S , DoD CIO John Ellis, Head of DIBCAC Matt Travis, President, Cyber AB 4:10 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.: Lightning round Q&A for all panelists  About NeoSystems NeoSystems, based in Reston, Virginia, is a full service strategic outsourcer, IT systems integrator and managed service provider for the government contracting market. NeoSystems provides core solutions to more than 600 client companies and their 100,000+ client employees with its outsourced services by implementing hundreds of fully integrated financial, business and cyber management systems through best-of-breed technology and in-depth domain expertise in Accounting & Finance, IT, HR, Security and Hosting (SSAE18 SOC1 & SOC2, ITAR). NeoSystems has been named one of America’s fastest growing private companies by Inc. Magazine. For more information, visit https://www.neosystemscorp.com. Follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn. SOURCE NeoSystems LLC Read More…

5 Auburn Football Home-And-Homes We’d Like To See https://digitalalabamanews.com/5-auburn-football-home-and-homes-wed-like-to-see/ Auburn is slowly working its way through those Power 5 opponents it has never played in the regular season, or at least those it hasn’t played in a while. The Tigers play the second half of a home-and-home with Penn State on Saturday at Jordan-Hare Stadium, having traveled to State College last season. Also on the agenda for future seasons are series with California (2023-24), Baylor (2025-26), UCLA (2027-28) and Miami (2029-30). But there are still several Power 5 programs Auburn hasn’t faced at all, or hasn’t played in a home-and-home setting or outside of a bowl game (or hasn’t done so in many years). Here are five we’d like to see the Tigers schedule (listed in alphabetical order): Arizona State mascot “Sparky” has never stepped foot in the state of Alabama for a football game. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)AP 1. Arizona State — The Sun Devils have never played a game in the state of Alabama, while the Tigers have traveled to the state of Arizona just once since 1976 — when they beat Oregon in 2011 BCS national championship game. Arizona State and Auburn seems like the kind of matchup that should have happened by now, one that sounds good on paper, but where neither is likely to be seriously overmatched. Maybe Bryan Harsin’s West Coast roots will result in more games against teams for that region. Bo Jackson faced Florida State three times during his four years at Auburn, but the Tigers and Seminoles have played only a handful of times since. (Birmingham News file photo by Charles Nesbitt)The Birmingham News 2. Florida State — The Seminoles and Tigers obviously faced off in the Rose Bowl for the BCS national championship at the end of the 2013 season, but there was a time not so long ago that this was a high-profile (and hotly contested) regular-season series. Auburn and Florida State played 11 times on each other’s campus from 1977-90, and also met in the 1989 Sugar Bowl in New Orleans. The Tigers won nine of those 12 meetings. Like Georgia Tech and Clemson, FSU is the kind of program Auburn should face on a semi-regular basis, partly because it would be such an easy trip for both teams’ fans. Michigan State and Auburn have played only once, in the Orange Bowl on New Year’s Day 1938. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)AP 3. Michigan State — Auburn has played numerous Big Ten teams in Florida-based bowl games in the last two decades, including Northwestern, Minnesota, Penn State and Wisconsin. In that same time frame, Michigan State has faced Georgia, Alabama and Florida in January in the Sunshine State. But the Tigers and Spartans haven’t played each other since the 1938 Orange Bowl, a 6-0 Auburn victory. That’s the only time these two proud programs have met in football, a situation that would be good to rectify. It’s difficult to imagine that two programs as tradition-rich as Notre Dame and Auburn have never met in football. (AP Photo/David Dermer)AP 4. Notre Dame — Along with Florida State-Texas and LSU-Michigan, Auburn-Notre Dame is one of the more prominent Power 5 matchups that has never happened. There might be other programs each with multiple national championships that have not played in football, but there can’t be many. At any rate, the Fighting Irish playing at Jordan-Hare and the Tigers playing in the shadow of Touchdown Jesus needs to happen soon. Had Notre Dame alum Allen Greene hung around longer as Auburn’s AD, it probably would have. The Ohio State marching band has never “dotted the i” in Jordan-Hare Stadium, something we’d like to see happen one day. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri).AP 5. Ohio State — The Buckeyes and Tigers have met just twice, once in a bowl game and once in the regular season. Most recently was the 1989 Hall of Fame Bowl, a 31-14 Auburn victory in Tampa. The regular-season meeting was in 1917, a scoreless tie in Montgomery. Penn State on Saturday will be the first Big Ten team to visit Auburn. Make Ohio State the second (or perhaps the third, counting UCLA in 2027-28). • Other Power 5 programs Auburn has never played (or is not yet scheduled to face): BYU, Illinois, Iowa, Iowa State, Oklahoma State, Pittsburgh, Stanford, Utah. (BYU is currently an FBS Independent, but will join the Big 12 in 2023). Creg Stephenson is a sports writer for AL.com. He has covered college football for a variety of publications since 1994. Contact him at cstephenson@al.com or follow him on Twitter at @CregStephenson. Note to readers: if you purchase something through one of our affiliate links we may earn a commission. Read More…

Post Politics Now: Biden Hosting White House Summit Targeting Hate-Fueled Violence https://digitalalabamanews.com/post-politics-now-biden-hosting-white-house-summit-targeting-hate-fueled-violence/ Today, President Biden is hosting a White House summit aimed at combating the kind of hate-fueled violence that emerged at a gay nightclub in Orlando in 2016, a Walmart in El Paso in 2019 and a supermarket in Buffalo earlier this year. Aides said Biden will deliver a speech calling for a “whole-of-society” response at the United We Stand summit, where several new actions are expected to be unveiled, including some measures from technology companies to address hate-based content. Earlier Thursday, the White House announced it had reached a “tentative” agreement to avert a national rail strike that had threatened the nation’s economy. In a statement, Biden said the agreement would guarantee “better pay, improved working conditions, and peace of mind around their health care costs” for workers. Your daily dashboard 10 a.m. Eastern time: Vice President Harris delivers welcoming remarks at the United We Stand summit. Watch live here. 12:15 p.m. Eastern: Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (N.Y.) and other Democrats hold a news conference on reproductive rights. 3:30 p.m. Eastern: Biden delivers the keynote speech at the United We Stand summit. Watch live here. 8:25 p.m. Eastern: Biden attends the 45th Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute Gala. Got a question about politics? Submit it here. After 3 p.m. weekdays, return to this space and we’ll address what’s on the mind of readers. Noted: Most Americans say politicians don’t know enough about abortion to make fair policies Return to menu Seventy percent of Americans — including large majorities in both major political parties — don’t believe politicians are informed enough about abortion to craft fair policies, a new 19th News-SurveyMonkey poll finds. The finding comes as lawmakers, particularly at the state level, are moving quickly to make new abortion policy in the wake of the Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade. Members of Congress are also pushing new measures. This week, for example, Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) unveiled legislation that would ban abortion nationwide after 15 weeks of pregnancy. Analysis: Democrats ramp up efforts to win over Hispanic voters Return to menu President Biden will address the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute’s annual gala this evening, as Democrats labor to win back Hispanic voters ahead of the midterm elections. They’ve got their work cut out for them, The Post’s Theodoric Meyer and Leigh Ann Caldwell write in The Early 202. Per our colleagues: Former president Donald Trump alarmed Democrats by making big gains with Hispanic voters — Hispanic men in particular — in 2020 even as he lost the presidency. The party suffered another blow when Republicans won the special election in June to fill the seat vacated by former Rep. Filemon Vela (D-Tex.), who represented a heavily Hispanic district. Republicans argue that Democrats have alienated Hispanic voters by moving to the left on social issues. Democrats are cautiously optimistic that stepped-up outreach to Hispanic voters, falling gas prices and anger over the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade can help them reverse their losses this cycle — or at least stop the bleeding. You can read the full analysis here. On our radar: Technology companies, former presidents, mayors to detail initiatives at Biden summit Return to menu At Thursday’s White House summit seeking to combat hate-fueled violence, President Biden plans to announce several new initiatives, some of them led by outside groups, including major technology companies. Among the new actions, according to a White House fact sheet: A group of former White House officials from both Democratic and Republican administrations is launching Dignity.us, an initiative to foster dialogue in local communities. The group is being supported by foundations and centers of former presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Gerald Ford. New Pluralists, a group of philanthropic leaders, is pledging $1 billion to increase support for programs “that build bridges among Americans of different backgrounds to foster unity.” More than 140 mayors have signed a new “Compact to Combat Hate and Extremism.” Service organizations, led by Interfaith America, the YMCA and Habitat for Humanity, are launching A Nation of Bridge Builders, a partnership to train 10,000 Americans to be “bridge builders” in their neighborhoods. Technology companies, including YouTube, Twitch, Microsoft and Meta, are announcing new actions that their platforms are taking to prevent hate-fueled violence. Few details were provided by the White House on Thursday morning. The latest: Biden says ‘tentative’ deal reached to avert rail strike Return to menu The White House announced Thursday morning it has reached a “tentative” agreement to avert a national rail strike that threatened the nation’s economy. The Post’s Jeff Stein and Lauren Kaori Gurley report that President Biden said in a statement that the agreement would guarantee “better pay, improved working conditions, and peace of mind around their health care costs” for the workers. Per our colleagues: Negotiators had until Friday at 12:01 a.m. to reach a deal to avoid a major impact to the economy. A Labor Department official confirmed that a deal “that balances the needs of workers, businesses, and our nation’s economy” was reached early Thursday morning after 20 consecutive hours of negotiations between rail companies and union negotiators. “Secretary Walsh and the Biden administration applaud all parties for reaching this hard-fought, mutually beneficial deal,” a Labor Department official said. “Our rail system is integral to our supply chain, and a disruption would have had catastrophic impacts on industries, travelers and families across the country.” You can read the full developing story here. Take a look: Rep. Pappas using abortion against new GOP opponent in N.H. Return to menu Among the latest examples of Democrats seeking advantage on the abortion issue is an effort by Rep. Chris Pappas (D-N.H.) to highlight the views of his newly minted opponent, Karoline Leavitt, a 25-year-old former Trump White House staffer, who prevailed in the GOP primary on Tuesday in the state’s 1st Congressional District. “Here in New Hampshire, we keep the government out of our homes and out of our doctor’s offices,” the narrator says in the 30-second spot, the first from Pappas of the general election. “But Karoline Levitt, if she gets to Congress, she’ll pass a nationwide abortion ban.” Noted: DHS watchdog criticized in Jan. 6 investigation touted support for Trump Return to menu Joseph V. Cuffari was so enthusiastic about what he called Donald Trump’s “huge win” in the 2016 presidential election that he applied for a job with the incoming administration within days. Cuffari, then an adviser in the Arizona governor’s office, floated the idea of serving as an undersecretary in the Defense Department or in the Air Force or as the U.S. marshal for Arizona, The Post’s Yvonne Wingett Sanchez, Maria Sacchetti and Lisa Rein report. Per our colleagues: “I am proud to be a supporter and very interested in helping the administration meet the many challenges it faces,” Cuffari wrote in a letter dated Nov. 15, 2016, to Vice President-elect Mike Pence, who was the chairman of Trump’s transition team, according to a copy obtained by The Post via a public-records request. Ultimately, Trump picked Cuffari as the Department of Homeland Security’s inspector general, a watchdog position that is considered nonpartisan and audits the department for fraud, waste and abuse. For weeks, key Democratic lawmakers have accused him of bungling the search for the Secret Service’s missing text messages from the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, one of the most consequential probes in U.S. history, and have called for him to step aside. Cuffari has refused. You can read the full story here. The latest: Supreme Court reverses course on religious school’s LGBTQ club in 5-4 vote Return to menu The Supreme Court reversed course Wednesday and said Yeshiva University in New York must for now comply with a state court’s order that it should recognize a campus gay rights organization. The Post’s Robert Barnes reports that on a 5-4 vote, the justices said the religious school for the time being should comply with a New York state trial court ruling that, as a public accommodation, Yeshiva was covered under the New York City Human Rights Law and required to provide the Pride Alliance the same access to facilities as dozens of other student groups. The group said that includes a classroom, bulletin boards and a club fair booth. Read More…

Analysis | Is The FBI Impartial? Over Half Of Republicans Say ‘no.’ https://digitalalabamanews.com/analysis-is-the-fbi-impartial-over-half-of-republicans-say-no/ Since the FBI executed a warrant to obtain White House documents from former president Donald Trump’s residence at Mar-a-Lago, Trump supporters have flooded the media with outrage. Much of that has been aimed at the FBI and at the Justice Department, which secured the warrant. But these attacks are only the most recent. Trump has been attacking the FBI as biased since early in his presidency. Evaluations of government branches and agencies have long been colored by citizens’ partisan affiliations. For instance, people tend to think more highly of the presidency when their party’s candidate is in office. But for the past 20 years — until before Trump’s election in 2016 — both Democrats and Republicans mostly supported the FBI. In fact, in keeping with their reputation as the party of law and order, Republicans supported the FBI more strongly than did Democrats, no matter who sat in the White House. That support has shifted starkly since 2016 — and, as we have found, in two waves of the American Institutional Confidence Poll. In fact, our polls suggest even more political polarization toward the FBI. How we did our research The AIC Poll is a nationally representative survey of adults, administered by YouGov using its online panel. Its two survey waves were conducted in 2018 and 2021, with 5,400 individuals interviewed in the first wave, and 4,070 last year. Of this latter number, nearly 2,400 were repeat respondents from the first wave, allowing us to chart opinion shifts among this sample. For all findings discussed in this article, we reweighted the survey results to align our samples to the general population. In each wave, we asked respondents what party they supported, if any, and how much confidence they felt in a variety of government institutions, on a scale from 1 to 4, with 1 meaning “No Confidence” and 4 indicating “A Great Deal of Confidence.” Confidence in the executive branch as a whole roughly flipped between Republicans and Democrats over the two waves, depending on which party held the White House, but confidence in most of the other institutions in the figure stayed about the same. Republicans in both waves held the FBI in much lower esteem than either local police or the military, considering the bureau closer to the reviled “press” and President Biden’s executive branch than to the other “law-and-order” institutions. We interpret these rankings as revealing respondents’ feelings about an institution’s competence and trustworthiness. We are interested in these numbers in part because low confidence in a government agency’s competence could erode support for democratic governance. Which Republicans believe the FBI is politically biased? That’s even more true when these feelings are combined with beliefs or accusations of political bias — which our findings suggest is currently true for much of the Republican Party. When asked whether they believe that the FBI treats both parties equally or whether it favors a particular party, over 34 percent of identified Republicans stated that the FBI “strongly favors the Democratic Party.” Another 26 percent of Republicans believe the organization “slightly” favors Democrats. This represents a majority of surveyed Republicans, and dwarfs the 8 percent of Democrats who believe the FBI favors their own party or the 21 percent that believe that the FBI favors the Republicans, either slightly or strongly. So which Republicans think the FBI is biased against their party? That belief is especially strong among tea party supporters, people with highly favorable views of Trump, early Trump endorsers, those who believe Trump really won the 2020 election, and those who viewed the storming of the U.S. Capitol in January 2021 as justified. Other Republicans are less likely to see the FBI as biased. While approximately 59 percent of Republicans told us last year that the FBI favored the Democratic Party, this perception of bias was 17 percentage points lower among those Republicans who condemned the Jan. 6 storming of the U.S. Capitol. In other words, it’s the Trump wing of the Republican Party that distrusts the FBI. Will Republican antipathy for the FBI continue? As Trump has been campaigning for candidates he favors, he often complains that he’s a victim of a politically motivated witch hunt. Republicans generally will be looking for issues that resonate with portions of their base as they attempt to take back control of Congress. The recent ruling requiring a special master to review the documents taken from Mar-a-Lago will probably draw out the Justice Department/FBI investigation, making it likely that Trump and his supporters will continue to denigrate the bureau for the foreseeable future. Democrats are unlikely to let the irony of an FBI-skeptical GOP slide. The White House Twitter account is already calling out specific Republican House members for demands to defund the FBI. This may further polarize attitudes toward the FBI, which would reduce confidence in the main federal institution of domestic law enforcement. At worst, that can lead to active violence, as happened in August, when an angry Trump supporter attacked an FBI office. We expect to continue tracking this trend, alongside attitudes toward other institutions and general trends in support for democracy. All data from the 2018 wave is available on the AIC website, and the 2021 data should be similarly so this fall. In the meantime, find replication data for our analyses here. Jan Zilinsky (@janzilinsky) is a postdoctoral research fellow at the Technical University of Munich and a research affiliate at the NYU Center for Social Media and Politics (CSMaP). Sean Kates is the associate director of programs in data analytics at the University of Pennsylvania and a core instructor at the Fels Institute of Government. Jonathan Ladd is an associate professor in the McCourt School of Public Policy and the department of government at Georgetown University. Funding for the American Institutional Confidence Poll was provided by John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at New York University, and by the Baker Trust, the Massive Data Institute and the McCourt School of Public Policy at Georgetown University. Read More…

Kemp Grew His Fortune By Erasing Personal Debts While In Office https://digitalalabamanews.com/kemp-grew-his-fortune-by-erasing-personal-debts-while-in-office/ But a closer look at the figures shows his addition mostly came by subtraction. During his first term, Kemp’s assets — which include ownership stakes in apartment complexes, office buildings and agricultural properties, as well as other business ventures and investments — actually fell 24% in total value from about $11.6 million to $8.8 million. But he increased his overall net worth by erasing $6.3 million in debt, much of which came from his decision to divest himself from Hart AgStrong, a costly and controversial seed-crushing operation with plants in northeast Georgia and Kentucky. Kemp’s campaign said the governor used the proceeds from the sale of his share of the company to pay off bank notes, business loans and mortgage debt on investment properties, leaving just the $180,000 outstanding balance on his private residence in Athens. Doing the math, Kemp’s net worth grew 65% from $5.2 million in 2018 to $8.6 million on his most recent financial disclosure earlier this year, ahead of his rematch against Democrat Stacey Abrams. The AJC is committed to ensuring that Georgians are fully educated about the candidates for governor and others who seek public office. It is critical that voters know where each candidate stands on important issues, what moneyed interests might influence them and whether the candidates have behaved ethically. Today’s focus is on Republican Brian Kemp. The newspaper will, over the course of this election cycle, focus on each of the candidates. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution newsroom will: Conduct deep background investigations with an eye toward past behavior and any potential conflicts that might raise questions on or provide insight into how a candidate might perform. Publish profiles of each candidate aimed at understanding each candidate’s personal life, background, influences and qualifications. Attend forums and debates throughout the election cycle so you know how the candidates are staking out their positions and answering urgent questions. To access the newspaper’s ongoing coverage of politics, visit ajc.com/politics. Kemp managed all of this private business activity while simultaneously steering the state through a global pandemic and choppy economic waters. And, inevitably, sometimes the paths crossed. Last year, Specialty Stone Inc., a landscaping supply company in Jackson County that is half-owned by Kemp, received $38,137 in pandemic relief from the federal Paycheck Protection Program. In statements to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Kemp campaign spokesman Cody Hall at the time pointed to Kemp’s support for the PPP program and emphasized the governor was not a direct recipient of the aid and was not involved in the day-to-day operation of the store. In his personal financial disclosure, Kemp reported nearly $15,000 in losses in his investment in the store in 2020 and 2021. In more recent comments for this article, Hall touted the governor’s track record as a businessman while defending Kemp’s decision to continue to manage his assets while serving in public office. Combined Shape Caption Republican Gov. Brian Kemp and his Democratic opponent, Stacey Abrams, have both seen their net worth increase since their first race in 2018. Credit: AJC Credit: AJC Combined Shape Caption Republican Gov. Brian Kemp and his Democratic opponent, Stacey Abrams, have both seen their net worth increase since their first race in 2018. Credit: AJC Credit: AJC “Gov. Kemp has been a successful small businessman for over 35 years and still is to this day,” Hall said. “His business interests in construction, real estate and agribusiness do not conflict with his duties as governor and have been fully disclosed, reported on and discussed publicly for years now.” Abrams’ personal finances have come under the microscope, too, as her narrow loss in the 2018 race to Kemp helped catapult the Democrat into wider fame — and brought her new financial opportunities. An AJC review showed how her lucrative portfolio of books, speaking engagements, business interests and investments made her a multimillionaire. She’s said that if elected she would step down from public boards and wall herself off from financial decisions that could create a conflict of interest. And when asked by the AJC, the Abrams campaign confirmed that she would place her assets in a blind trust. It used to be common for Georgia governors to distance themselves from their private financial matters while in office. Govs. Joe Frank Harris, Zell Miller, Roy Barnes and Nathan Deal are recent examples of chief executives who placed their personal business in the hands of a trusted adviser. These blind trusts were meant to create separation between the governors’ personal lives and their service to the state, shielding them from claims of self-dealing. And it worked, most of the time. In the 1990 campaign for governor, Democrat Andy Young and Republican Johnny Isakson criticized Zell Miller for the 25% stake in a North Georgia bank held by him and his wife, Shirley. Young and Isakson said the banking stock created a conflict of interest for Miller, who would be called on to sign banking legislation. In response, Miller placed his financial interests in a blind trust, and two years later the trustee liquidated the stock without consulting him. “The point of a blind trust is not to have it the subject of (Miller’s) knowledge,” the trustee told The Associated Press at the time. Combined Shape Caption During the 1990 campaign for governor, Andy Young. far left, criticized fellow Democrat Zell Miller, second from left, for his investment in a North Georgia bank. Young said the banking stock created a conflict of interest for Miller, who would be called on to sign banking legislation. Miller responded by placing his assets in a blind trust. (Frank Niemeir / AJC file) Credit: AJC Staff Credit: AJC Staff Combined Shape Caption During the 1990 campaign for governor, Andy Young. far left, criticized fellow Democrat Zell Miller, second from left, for his investment in a North Georgia bank. Young said the banking stock created a conflict of interest for Miller, who would be called on to sign banking legislation. Miller responded by placing his assets in a blind trust. (Frank Niemeir / AJC file) Credit: AJC Staff Credit: AJC Staff Placing those interests in a blind trust didn’t entirely shield Miller from the fallout. When his trustee sold the bank stock, Miller was criticized for the $600,000 he received in the sale — a 31% return on the investment made eight years prior. But these are different times. Charles Bullock, a longtime political science professor at the University of Georgia with expertise in state politics, said Kemp’s decision to continue to manage his personal finances while in office likely does not shock or concern many voters in the current political environment. He invoked Donald Trump, who refused to sever ties with his real estate empire and other businesses after his 2016 election as president, putting him and his family in line to directly profit from his public service. “Trump lowered the bar dramatically in that area,” Bullock said. Rather than separate himself from his vast business holdings, Trump allowed his children to actively manage his assets. Critics — then and now — say that decision created countless conflicts of interest, especially with his real estate holdings, while his businesses profited. Kemp’s fortune, while substantial, is nowhere near that of Trump’s, and Bullock said voters may have lowered their expectations of what is proper financial behavior for politicians as a result. Even before Trump, concern over conflicts of interest has not been enough to sway voter opinion. Sonny Perdue eschewed tradition during his two terms as governor and remained popular with voters throughout. Elected in 2002, Perdue became the first governor since the 1970s to forgo the blind trust and actively managed his assets while in office. As a result, he was accused of using his position of power and influence to enrich himself, including signing legislation that gave him a $100,000 tax deferral on a controversial land deal. “He also left office very popular,” Bullock said. “If Georgia law had allowed it, he could have been elected a third time.” Despite his popularity, Perdue was heavily scrutinized for his decision to moonlight as a private businessman while serving in office. In contrast, Kemp has received relatively little attention or criticism, even from Democrats who haven’t chosen to make the Republican’s private business a campaign issue in 2022. State Rep. David Wilkerson, D-Powder Springs, said he would rather the governor put more distance between his personal finances and the business of the state, but you can’t build a campaign around it. “It’s not the best practice,” said Wilkerson, a certified public accountant. “But do voters typically punish someone for not doing that? They haven’t in the past.” Wilkerson said the decision of high-ranking politicians to continue to act as private investors or business people feeds into a narrative that politicians are crooked. “Every decision that gets made, you wonder if it is in the best interest of the state or their best interest,” he said. Combined Shape Caption Sonny Perdue, left, and Brian Kemp both managed their private businesses while also serving as governor. “It’s not the best practice,” said state Rep. David Wilkerson, a Democrat from Powder Springs and a certified public accountant. “But do voters typically punish someone for not doing that? They haven’t in the past.” HYOSUB SHIN / HSHIN@AJC.COM Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC Combined Shape Caption Sonny Perdue, left, and Brian Kemp both managed their private businesses ...

Auburn Bringing Toughness To Fight Against Penn State https://digitalalabamanews.com/auburn-bringing-toughness-to-fight-against-penn-state/ Celebrated from coast to coast by sports fans, bag men, mafia kings and mathematicians, Joe vs. the Pro and the Hero is the greatest resource for college football shenanigans on the internet. This is the 13th season for Joe vs. the Pro and the Hero in its various forms. Joe is the reigning king of the picks, but we could only find a jester’s cap ‘n’ bells for him to wear. Perhaps it is true, then, what William Shakespeare wrote in “King Lear.” “Jesters do oft prove prophets,” mused the Great Bard. We shall see in good time/through rotten reasoning or rhyme. “The Grand Experiment” is what we call this game of wits, and it’s produced by Joe for giggles and … banana splits. What is Joe vs. the Pro and the Hero? Consider it a gift to society. THE GRAND EXPERIMENT Joseph Goodman is the lead sports columnist for AL.com. What happens when a sportswriter picks some of the toughest games of the week and goes head-to-head against a sharp and a football expert with a Harvard education? It’s a gift for college football fans every week in the state where college football is like a religion. The Pro features his best picks on his website, ParamountSports.com, but he fearlessly picks the most difficult college games of the week against Joe and the Hero. Joe is just a hack and a slacker who everyone loves to hate. No one works harder than the Hero. Nobody. Abercrombie played football at Hoover High School and Harvard, and he’s working every day to regain his ability to walk. He’s a student at Harvard, and an inspiration to all. To thank him, we want everyone to stand up for Ben and show him some love. Show Joe no love at all. Besmirch his name at small dinner parties, and troll him on Twitter. Before we get started, check out last week! LAST WEEK Joe: 4-2 straight up, 2-3-1 against the spread Pro: 4-2 straight up, 2-3-1 against the spread Hero: 4-2 straight up, 1-4-1 against the spread Notes: Thank hog heaven for Arkansas. Everyone hit the Razorbacks’ cover against South Carolina. Joe and the Hero overestimated Alabama and Auburn in Week 2. Meanwhile, only Joe cashed with Kentucky’s manhandling of Anthony Richardson and the Gators. OVERALL Joe: 9-3 straight up, 6-5-1 against the spread Pro: 8-4 straight up, 2-9-1 against the spread Hero: 10-2 straight up, 5-6-1 against the spread Notes: The Pro got off the mat after going 0-6 in Week 1. Joe got the flu on his return flight from Texas. Miami quarterback Tyler Van Dyke leads the Hurricanes into College Station, Texas, on Saturday for a game against Texas A&M. (Photo by Samuel Lewis/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)Icon Sportswire via Getty Images No.13 Miami (2-0) at No.24 Texas A&M (1-1) When: 8 p.m., Sat. Where: Kyle Field, College Station, Texas TV: ESPN Series: Miami leads 2-1. Spread: Texas A&M by 5.5. Trendy: Texas A&M is 0-2 against the spread at home. SUPER STAT OF THE WEEK: Texas A&M had nine first downs in its loss to Appalachian State. Joe says: A late-night showcase game between the SEC and ACC. Are the Canes back? This is a big test for Miami with Texas A&M coming off the loss to Appalachian State. Texas A&M’s offense looks lost, and Miami’s defensive line is deep and tough. Advantage Miami. Mario Cristobal has put together a great staff and Canes have momentum. If the Canes win the turnover battle, then I think they’ll win this game. The Aggies were 2 of 8 on third-down conversations against Appalachian State. Joe’s pick: Miami 20, Texas A&M 18 Pro says: I never thought Texas A&M should have been ranked No.6 preseason but the loss last week might have woken up the sleeping dog. Everyone gets up to play Miami even though they haven’t done much for almost 20 years now. Aggies quarterback Haynes King will probably be on a short leash and I expect to see LSU transfer Max Johnson by the third series if all doesn’t go well. He probably should have been the starter from the beginning. Miami behind quarterback Tyler Van Dyke is getting better but is usually a slow starter. Pro’s pick: Texas A&M 27, Miami 20 Hero says: A&M lost in a huge upset last week to App State. The Aggies’ offense could only generate 168 yards and one touchdown against a Mountaineers’ defense that gave up 63 points the week before against North Carolina. I don’t know if replacing starting quarterback Haynes King is the answer to solving the Aggies’ offensive woes, but it is probably a good place to start. Meanwhile, Miami struggled early against Southern Miss but then pulled away for first-year coach Mario Cristobal’s second victory of the season. Miami brings in a balanced offense under experienced quarterback Tyler Van Dyke and a defense that has been very strong against the run so far. The Aggies have been known to bounce back after early season losses but after watching them the last two weeks I think they are going down to the Canes. Hero’s pick: Miami 24, Texas A&M 17 South Alabama running back La’Damian Webb carries the ball against Nicholls in the first half of a NCAA football game Saturday, Sept. 3, 2022, at Hancock Whitney Stadium in Mobile, Ala. (Mike Kittrell/AL.com) South Alabama (2-0) at UCLA (2-0) When: 1 p.m., Sat. Where: Rose Bowl, Pasadena, Calif. TV: Pac-12 Network Series: First meeting. Spread: UCLA by 15.5. Trendy: USA is 2-0 against the spread. SUPER STAT OF THE WEEK: The Sun Belt is 20-7-1 against the spread entering Week 3, notes the betting houses. Joe says: South Alabama was impressive on the road against Central Michigan, and the Jags have some weapons to sustain drives. UCLA has a good defense, but hard-driving USA running back La’Damien Webb is difficult for anyone to bring down. Jags receiver Jaylen Wade is a tough cover and I like what USA offensive coordinator Major Applewhite has done with Toledo transfer quarterback Carter Bradley. This isn’t going to be easy for UCLA, which carries some injuries on offense into the game. South Alabama has upset potential in its first game against a team in the Pac-12. Joe’s pick: UCLA 31, South Alabama 24 Pro says: Sun Belt teams are on a role but this might be asking too much to travel for a second straight week cross-country and beat or stay close to a high-level opponent. Jaguars quarterback Carter Bradley is a capable passer but he’ll be matched up against Bruins quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson. He might be one of the top dual-threat quarterbacks in the land already with three touchdown passes and two rushing touchdowns in just six quarters of action. With only Colorado on deck, I expect the Bruins to stretch their legs and try win easily and get ranked in the Top 25. Pro’s pick: UCLA 48, South Alabama 27 Hero says: The Jags appear to have turned the corner under second-year coach Kane Wommack. The team is led by a strong defense. UCLA is still trying to turn the corner under Chip Kelly, who brought in a new defensive coordinator and several new defensive assistants to improve the Bruins’ poor defense. UCLA has a powerful offense led by senior quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson and will be difficult for the Jags to contain, but South Alabama’s improved offense led by senior quarterback Carter Bradley should help the Jags keep the game close in the Rose Bowl. Hero’s pick: UCLA 35, South Alabama 27 Troy’s Rajaé Johnson stiff-arms Alabama A&M’s Marquez Beason as Farrell Hester pursues during a game at Troy’s Veterans Memorial Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 10, 2022. Troy plays UCLA in the Rose Bowl on Saturday. (Troy athletics photo) Troy (1-1, 0-0 Sun Belt) at Appalachian State (1-1, 0-0 Sun Belt) When: 2:30 p.m., Sat. Where: Kidd Brewer Stadium, Boone, N.C. TV: ESPN+ Series: Appalachian State leads 7-3. Spread: Appalachian State by 12.5. Trendy: Troy covered against Ole Miss in Week 1. Appalachian State upset Texas A&M in Week 2. SUPER STAT OF THE WEEK: ESPN College GameDay is in Boone for the first time. Joe says: They know how to have fun up at App State, and the mountain campus will be electric for this one with GameDay visiting. The high is 75 degrees on Saturday and the forecast is sunny. Perfect conditions. The Mountaineers have won seven straight SBC openers. Troy scored 10 points in each of its last two losses at App State. That’s awful. Last season, App State drilled Troy 45-7 at The Vet. I’d like to pick the upset here, but Troy is probably still a year or two away from regaining its mojo. Joe’s pick: Appalachian State 45, Troy 28 Pro says: Obviously App State will have a little bit of a hangover after their huge upset over No.6 Texas A&M last Saturday. Even if Troy comes to play the last two seasons the Mountaineers thrashed the Trojans 45-7 and 47-10. I don’t think you can make up that much of a difference in talent in one season. That and Troy can’t decide whether to go with holdover Gunnar Watson at quarterback or West Virginia transfer Jarret Doege. It might be close for a half, but expect App State to extend their lead with a deep stable of running backs. Pro’s pick: Appalachian State 35, Troy 20 Hero says: Troy brought back first-year coach Jon Sumrall from Kentucky to revive their program and make them relevant again in a solid Sun Belt Conference. The Trojans kept it relatively close in Week 1 against Ole Miss led by a strong defensive effort. Appalachian State shocked the college football world by beating A&M in College Station last week.  The Mountaineers could suffer a let down from last week but with ESPN College GameDay rolling into Boone, N.C, this week I don’t believe this is a good time to be playing the Mountaineers. Hero’s pick: App State 34, Troy 20 DeWayne McBride led the rushing attack with 177 yards and a score in UAB’s 21-14 loss to Liberty, but also had two fumbles. (UAB Athletics) Georgia Southern (2-0) at UAB (1-1) When: 2:30 p.m., Sat. Where: Protective Stadium, Birmingham, Ala. ...

Stock Futures Are Little Changed Ahead Of A Fresh Batch Of Economic Data https://digitalalabamanews.com/stock-futures-are-little-changed-ahead-of-a-fresh-batch-of-economic-data/ Railroad stocks tick up following labor deal expected to avert strike Shares of railroad companies rose before the bell Thursday following a tentative, last-minute labor deal with the unions representing railway workers that is expected to avert a strike. CSX Corp. and Union Pacific rose 5.38% and 3.92% in early trading. Norfolk Southern also went up 1.5%. President Joe Biden’s announcement of the agreement comes amid a period of tumult within the railroad industry. The unions, which collectively represent about 60,000 workers, prepared a nationwide strike that was expected to have halted more than 7,000 trains and cost up to around $2 billion per day. Railroads account for about 40% of long-distance trade in the U.S. The White House had communicated with the unions and companies for several months, though they previously could not come to a consensus on sick time. Under the tentative agreement, rail employees will see a 24% wage increase between 2020 and 2024. The agreements must be ratified by each union. — Alex Harring, Leslie Josephs, Melodie Warner Crypto market is calm after ethereum merge is completed The long-awaited ethereum merge took effect overnight. The software upgrade switches the ethereum network to proof-of-stake from proof-of-work, a move that should significantly reduce energy consumption for the blockchain network. However, there did not appear to be an immediate reaction in crypto prices. Ether, the flagship token for the ethereum network, dipped 0.3% to $1,585.18 on Thursday morning. — Jesse Pound Netflix gets upgrade at Evercore ISI Netflix shares rose more than 2% after analysts at Evercore ISI upgraded the streaming giant to outperform from in line, saying the company’s new ad-supported subscriber tier can give the company a much-needed boost. “We believe these opportunities, especially the ad-supported service, constitute Growth Curve Initiatives (GCIs)—catalysts that can drive a material reacceleration in revenue growth,” the firm wrote. “We don’t believe these opportunities are factored into current Street estimates or into NFLX’s current valuation. Hence the upgrade.” CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here. — Sam Subin Europe markets higher as banks lead gains European markets rose in early trading Thursday, with banking stocks taking the lead. The pan-European Stoxx 600 opened in the red before moving to a 0.34% gain through the first hour of trading, as banking stocks added 1.75%. The euro zone bank index hit its highest level since June 10, Reuters reported. — Jenni Reid CNBC Pro: Morgan Stanley says the S&P 500 is set for a comeback by year-end. These are its top stock picks U.S. markets had a meltdown on Tuesday — the worst since June 2020 — following yet another hot inflation report. But that may not last for long, according to Andrew Slimmon of Morgan Stanley Investment Management, who says the S&P 500 could enjoy upside by year-end. He predicts the level that the S&P 500 will rise to by the year end, and also picks stocks to buy into the “fear.” CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here. — Weizhen Tan U.S. 2-year Treasury yields hits 3.8% again Inflation isn’t as bad as the data makes it seem, says Commonwealth’s McMillan This week’s CPI data was “terrible,” but there are signs some key components may improve shortly, according to Brad McMillan, chief investment officer at Commonwealth Financial Network. One of them is Wednesday’s producer price index report. “The headline number held steady at 0.2 percent, but the annual number dropped by much more, from 9.8 percent to 8.7 percent (a much bigger drop than the CPI),” he said. “Similarly, for the core PPI, while there was a gain from 0.2 percent to 0.4 percent, the annual number was down as well, from 7.6 percent to 7.3 percent. That’s still too high, but even if that monthly 0.4 percent figure held, there would be a decline in inflation going forward.” “As always, markets have reacted to a headline—although not about the headline number. But when you look at the details, things are not so bad,” he added. “The CPI and the market reaction suggest inflation will keep rising at an accelerating rate, but not all of the data agree. Even using much of the data as it stands, it still looks likely inflation will end the year lower than it is now.” — Tanaya Macheel Danaher shares rise after hours Danaher was one of the top stock movers in extended trading Wednesday evening after the medical company announced plans to spin off its environmental and applied solutions business to create an independent, publicly traded company. Its shares rose about 4%. Danaher also raised its third-quarter revenue guidance, according to FactSet. — Tanaya Macheel Stock futures open slightly higher Dow Jones Industrial Average futures opened 33 points, or 0.11%, higher Wednesday night. S&P 500 futures added 0.15%, while Nasdaq 100 futures advanced 0.14%. The moves came after all of the major averages ended a choppy trading day modestly higher. — Tanaya Macheel Read More…

Putin Praises Xi Over Ukraine, Scolds U.S. 'provocations' On Taiwan https://digitalalabamanews.com/putin-praises-xi-over-ukraine-scolds-u-s-provocations-on-taiwan/ Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Xi on first trip since COVID pandemic Putin praises Xi for ‘balanced’ Ukraine position Putin scolds U.S. for ‘provocations’ on Taiwan Xi and Putin discuss Ukraine and Taiwan SAMARKAND, Uzbekistan, Sept 15 (Reuters) – Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday praised China’s Xi Jinping for his “balanced” position on the conflict in Ukraine and scolded the United States for what the Kremlin chief said were provocations over Taiwan. Xi, on his first trip outside China since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, met Putin in the ancient Uzbek Silk Road city of Samarkand where they will attend a summit of The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO). Speaking at their first face-to-face meeting since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began, Putin praised Xi for his position on the war in Ukraine but also said he understood Beijing had “questions and concern” over the conflict. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com China has refrained from condemning Russia’s operation against Ukraine or calling it an “invasion” in line with the Kremlin, which casts the war as “a special military operation”. Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Samarkand, Uzbekistan September 15, 2022. Sputnik/Alexandr Demyanchuk/Pool via REUTERS. “We highly value the balanced position of our Chinese friends when it comes to the Ukraine crisis,” Putin said. “We understand your questions and concern about this. During today’s meeting, we will of course explain our position.” Putin explicitly backed China over Taiwan. China held blockade-style military drills around Taiwan after U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited the island last month. Taiwan’s government strongly rejects China’s sovereignty claims. “We intend to firmly adhere to the principle of ‘One China’,” Putin said. “We condemn provocations by the United States and their satellites in the Taiwan Strait.” Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Writing by Olzhas Auyezov and Guy Faulconbridge; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky, Tomasz Janowski and Jon Boyle Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. Read More…

Alabama AG: State May Prosecute Those Who Assist In Out-Of-State Abortions https://digitalalabamanews.com/alabama-ag-state-may-prosecute-those-who-assist-in-out-of-state-abortions/ It was the kindness of strangers and the assistance of various nonprofit organizations and women’s rights groups that helped Nancy Davis travel from Louisiana to New York City this week to terminate her pregnancy.  Davis learned 10 weeks into her pregnancy that her fetus was developing without a skull – a rare condition that leaves the baby unable to survive outside of the womb. She also learned that her hospital wouldn’t perform the procedure because of Louisiana’s new anti-abortion law, which didn’t clearly make an exception for Davis’s situation.  So, strangers and advocates stepped in to help, raising more than $40,000 online and helping with the arrangements to get her to a clinic in a state where abortion remains safe and legal.  In Alabama, the volunteers who help women like Davis could face jail time due to the state’s “accessory provisions” and “conspiracy provisions,” according to Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall.  Marshall made the comments during an August radio interview on FM Talk 106.5 in Mobile. His comments appear to be in response to a series of tweets and media statements made by Alabama Democrats, including former Alabama Democratic Party chairman Chris England and current House Minority Leader Anthony Daniels.  Both England and Daniels have discussed Alabama’s abortion law – the “Human Life Protection Act,” which is one of the nation’s most restrictive laws with no exceptions for rape or incest – and its numerous unintended consequences. And England brought up the fact that Alabama’s accessory laws could now be applied to anyone who aids a woman seeking an abortion in another state.  “Not only can anyone, even the woman seeking the abortion, be prosecuted, but also anyone can be prosecuted for conspiracy if they help someone either get or even plan to get an abortion in another state,” England wrote on Twitter. He also posted screenshots of the applicable laws. Those laws would also potentially be used to arrest the women who seek out abortions, charging them as part of the conspiracy.  England also noted that it would be “foolish” to expect that Alabama Republicans would not apply the law to its fullest extent in order to score “political points” by prosecuting those who assist women – and prosecute the women themselves – in obtaining out-of-state abortions.  Asked about the law and the comments from Alabama Democrats suggesting that Marshall’s office would prosecute those who assist women in obtaining abortions, Marshall confirmed that England was correct.  “There’s no doubt this is a criminal law and general principles would apply. Provisions related to accessory liability, provisions related to conspiracy would have applicability involving this particular act passed by the legislature,” Marshall said during the interview. “If someone was promoting themselves out as a funder of abortions out of state, that is potentially criminally actionable for us. If there are groups promoting this as part of their services, we will be taking a look at that.” Marshall noted that the law passed by the Alabama legislature doesn’t attempt to restrict women from crossing state lines to receive an abortion, but he quickly followed that by noting that those who assist the women could face felony charges.  “One thing that we will do when working with local law enforcement is making sure we fully implement this law,” Marshall said. “There is nothing about the law that restricts any individual from driving across state lines and seeking an abortion in another place. However, I would say that if an individual held themselves out as an entity or a group that is using funds that they are able to raise to facilitate those visits then that’s something that we’re going to look at closely.”  Marshall cited a “group out of Tuscaloosa” that he knew to be assisting women seeking abortions.  During a recent interview on the Alabama Politics This Week podcast, women’s rights activist Mia Raven, who operates the nonprofit POWER House in Montgomery, said attorneys she has consulted advised her not to offer assistance to any women seeking abortions in other states.  “I knew it was going to be horrific,” Raven said, “but I didn’t expect that they’d also take my rights to free speech too.” Read More…

Opinion | Dealing With Alabama’s Deadliest Drug https://digitalalabamanews.com/opinion-dealing-with-alabamas-deadliest-drug/ The deadliest drug problem in our state is soon to be addressed thanks to Alabama Rep. Matt Simpson, a former district attorney in Baldwin and Mobile counties. The fentanyl epidemic is a national problem that has come to our state causing over 1,000 deaths in Alabama in 2021 alone. That is more than a 130 percent increase over the prior year. Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid. It is treated differently than other drugs in Alabama in that a trafficking conviction does not require jail time. Presently, there is a $50,000 fine for people convicted of trafficking up to two grams of it. Rep. Simpson is proposing legislation in the next legislative session that would make selling, delivering, or manufacturing that amount carry a three-year prison sentence. His legislation will propose longer prison sentences for larger amounts of the drug, including a life sentence for eight grams of more. Fentanyl is cheaper than drugs such as cocaine and heroin, and dealers are mixing it with these and other drugs to maximize their potency. Many drug users are not even aware they are taking fentanyl, which could easily attribute to the substantial number of deaths among drug users. Drug dealers have even started making fentanyl in bright, pretty rainbow colors to intentionally attract and target young people. Few drug users realize that as little as two milligrams of fentanyl can be deadly. This particular drug, like so many others, seems to be coming from China and through Mexico into the United States. No matter where it’s coming from, it’s ending up in our state and wreaking havoc. Thanks Rep. Matt Simpson for recognizing this massive problem and adding further, more stringent penalties to those who are targeting our children and poisoning all those who use fentanyl knowingly or unknowingly. Read More…

This Morning https://digitalalabamanews.com/this-morning-3/ This morning’s top headlines: Thursday, Sept. 15 (11) updates to this series since Updated 31 min ago President Joe Biden’s popularity has improved substantially from his lowest point this summer, but concerns about his handling of the economy persist. That’s according to a poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Support for Biden recovered from a low of 36% in July to 45%, driven in large part by a rebound in support from Democrats just two months before the November midterm elections. The economy continues to be a weakness for Biden, with just 38% approving of his economic leadership as the country faces stubbornly high inflation and Republicans try to make household finances the axis of the upcoming midterms. President Joe Biden says a tentative railway labor agreement has been reached, averting a strike that could’ve been devastating to the economy before the midterm elections. Biden said Thursday the tentative deal will keep the “critical rail system” working. The president says it’s “an important win” for the economy, the American people, tens of thousands of rail workers and the railway companies. The Democratic president says the rail workers will get better pay, improved working conditions and “peace of mind around their health care costs.” A strike starting Friday could’ve shut rail lines across the country. The tentative agreement will go to union members for a vote. Thousands of mourners have lined up through the night to file past the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II in Parliament’s Westminster Hall. The queue to see the queen lying in state stretched for 2.6 miles (4.2 kilometers) Thursday morning along the south bank of the River Thames and then over a bridge to Parliament. King Charles III is spending the day in “private reflection” at his Highgrove residence in western England.  Prince William and his wife, Catherine, will visit the royal family’s Sandringham estate in eastern England to see some of the tributes left by well-wishers. The queen’s coffin will lie in state at Westminster Hall until the morning of her funeral on Monday. A plan to dismantle a 1-mile-long depressed freeway that was built in Detroit by demolishing Black neighborhoods 60 years ago is a big winner of federal money. The $104.6 million for the Interstate 375 project is the first Biden administration grant being awarded to tear down a racially divisive roadway. The grant is among $1.5 billion in transportation grants being handed out Thursday to 26 projects nationwide thanks to increased funding from the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure law. Advocates say the money is a key first step that will inspire dozens of citizen-led efforts underway in other cities to dismantle highways. When it came time to showcase its electric Chevrolet Equinox SUV to the public this year, General Motors decided against doing so at the big Detroit auto show, as it typically would have done in the past. Instead, it unveiled the Equinox six days earlier. GM’s decision symbolized just how much smaller this year’s auto show will be, with few new model debuts, less-glitzy displays, fewer journalists and possibly lower attendance. Though the pandemic is partly to blame, larger forces are at play, too: Automakers have figured out that new models can make a bigger splash when they’re unveiled to a digital audience on a day where they don’t have to share the spotlight with their rivals. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has made a rare foray outside Ukraine’s capital and highlighted Moscow’s embarrassing retreat from a Ukrainian counteroffensive. Hand on heart, Zelenskyy watched his country’s flag rise above the recaptured city of Izium on Wednesday. Russian forces left the city last week as Kyiv’s soldiers advanced in the northeastern Kharkiv region. Prosecutors found six bodies with traces of torture in recently retaken villages there. Moscow’s rout was its largest military defeat since Russian troops withdrew from the Kyiv area early in the war. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said after a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin he sees no signs from the Kremlin of any regrets. Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russia’s Vladimir Putin and leaders from India and Central Asian nations are gathering Uzbekistan for a summit of a security group seen by Beijing and Moscow as a counterweight to U.S. influence. The meeting of the eight-nation Shanghai Cooperation Organization comes at a time when Putin is isolated internationally following his invasion of Ukraine. Beijing’s relations with Washington, Europe, Japan and India are strained by disputes over technology, security and territory. A Russian official said Putin and Xi were due to hold a one-on-one meeting and discuss Ukraine. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has flown two planes of immigrants to Martha’s Vineyard, escalating a tactic by Republican governors to draw attention to what they consider to be the Biden administration’s failed border policies. His office says flights to the Massachusetts island are an effort to “transport illegal immigrants to sanctuary destinations.” The governor’s office didn’t elaborate on their legal status, but many migrants who cross the border illegally from Mexico are temporarily shielded from deportation to pursue asylum in immigration court _ as allowed under U.S law and international treaty _ or released on humanitarian parole. “Abbott Elementary” creator-star Quinta Brunson went on Jimmy Kimmel’s show two days after the comedian drew ire for pretending to lie drunk on the Emmys stage while she collected an award. Kimmel apologized and ceded the stage so Brunson could deliver a longer acceptance speech than the 45 second one she was allotted on Monday. Kimmel had been dragged onstage by co-presenter Will Arnett, who claimed Kimmel had too much to drink. When Brunson won the best comedy writing Emmy, Kimmel didn’t stand up. He was blasted online as being rude at the minimum for overshadowing Brunson’s Emmy moment. “Abbott Elementary” returns for its second season Sept. 21 on ABC. A federal jury in Chicago convicted R. Kelly on Wednesday of producing child pornography and enticing girls for sex after a monthlong trial in his hometown. It’s another legal blow to a singer who was once one of the world’s biggest R&B stars. Prosecutors won convictions on six of the 13 counts against him, with many of the convictions carrying long mandatory sentences. But the government lost the marquee count —  that Kelly and his then-business manager successfully rigged his state child pornography trial in 2008. Both of Kelly’s co-defendants, including longtime business manager Derrel McDavid, were acquitted of all charges. Canadian singer-songwriter Allison Russell tearfully accepted the album of the year award for her debut solo record “Outside Child” at the Americana Honors and Awards. Russell said during the ceremony in Nashville, Tennessee, on Wednesday that music had saved her after surviving an abusive childhood. Bluegrass guitarist Billy Strings won artist of the year, while six-time Grammy winner Brandi Carlile won song of the year for “Right on Time.”  Also honored with lifetime achievement awards were Don Williams, singer-actor Chris Isaak, gospel quartet The Fairfield Four, folk rock duo Indigo Girls, Stax Record executive Al Bell and the late country singer Don Williams. Things to know today: A new poll shows Biden’s approval rising sharply ahead of midterms; freight rail strike averted; highlights from Detroit auto show. Read More…

The Morning Dispatch: Partisanship Over Policy At Heritage https://digitalalabamanews.com/the-morning-dispatch-partisanship-over-policy-at-heritage/ Happy Thursday! We’re unfortunately too tired to come up with any witty banter to kick off today’s newsletter, but we trust you’ll give us some suggestions in the comments. The White House announced early Thursday morning it had brokered a tentative deal between rail companies and union officials to prevent a rail worker strike that was scheduled to begin today, which experts had feared would bring more turmoil to American supply chains. The move came after days of increasingly frantic political maneuvering: Senate Republicans had sought to pass a resolution by unanimous consent yesterday that would’ve forced unions and railroad companies to abide by the recommendation of a presidential emergency board established by President Joe Biden, but Sen. Bernie Sanders blocked it, claiming workers needed additional paid sick leave. The U.S. will release $3.5 billion of Afghan central bank funds—frozen after the Taliban seized control of the country—to a trustee-managed fund set up by the U.S., Switzerland, and Afghan economists. The fund is intended to help stabilize Afghanistan’s economy without turning the money over to Taliban-controlled institutions. U.S. officials said the funds could eventually be transferred to Afghanistan’s central bank, but that the U.S. currently doesn’t have confidence the bank could keep it out of criminal or Taliban hands. The Justice Department announced Wednesday it had filed criminal charges against three Iranians accused of cyberattacks against entities in the U.S., as well as in Russia, Israel, and elsewhere. A DOJ official said the Iranian government permitted—but didn’t sponsor—the attacks. The Treasury Department also announced sanctions against 10 individuals and two groups connected to the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps for alleged ransomware and other cyberattacks. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Wednesday that the Producer Price Index—a measure of what suppliers and wholesalers are charging their customers—decreased 0.1 percent in August on a seasonally adjusted basis, after decreasing 0.4 percent in July and increasing 1 percent in June. On an annual basis, PPI inflation continued to come down from record highs, but remained hot at 8.7 percent. Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts. (Screenshot via C-Span 2.) We’re not breaking any news to you when we note that the political right has undergone some pretty fundamental shifts over the last decade. Few institutions in Washington embody this realignment as well as the Heritage Foundation. Founded in the early 1970s and built out in the 1980s to develop and advance policy priorities for movement conservatives, Heritage has been a fixture in Republican politics for nearly half a century. Its central tenets: Free competitive enterprise, limited government, individual liberty and a strong national defense. But “Republican politics” have changed quite a bit in recent years, and Heritage’s leadership will be the first to admit they have changed right along with the party. In a piece for the site today, Audrey and Charlotte highlight how that shift in approach is manifesting itself at the think tank and the toll it’s taking on the institution. For many analysts and fellows at Heritage, the think tank’s approach to the war in Ukraine was the last straw. In the weeks after Russian tanks rolled across the Ukrainian border on February 24, Luke Coffey was busy crafting the Heritage Foundation’s proposed policy responses. As the think tank’s lead policy analyst on Ukraine, he saw the House’s $40 billion supplemental aid package to the country later that spring as the practical culmination of his research. “Let’s not blow it,” Coffey, then-director of the Heritage Foundation’s Douglas and Sarah Allison Center for Foreign Policy, tweeted on May 10. Coffey claims that within a day, Heritage senior leadership ordered him to delete the post. Heritage Action, the think tank’s 501(c)4 sister organization, had taken a different view. Executive Director Jessica Anderson implored House Republicans to sink the legislation, writing: “This proposed Ukraine aid package takes money away from the priorities of the American people and recklessly sends our taxpayer dollars to a foreign nation without any accountability.” The bill passed—albeit over the opposition of 57 Republicans in the House and 11 in the Senate. “I was not looped into the decision to put out that press release,” Coffey said in an interview. He ended his decade-long tenure at Heritage about a month after the statement’s circulation. Some former employees said that scholars are increasingly being cut out of the deliberation process. When Heritage Action came out against the Ukraine aid bill, for example, it contradicted the recommendations of some leading subject matter experts without notifying them beforehand. In April, Coffey had written a Heritage policy paper pushing for the U.S. to “ensure the free and unrestricted transfer of weapons, munitions, and other supplies to the Ukrainians, including a continuous flow of intelligence.” In another, he urged that the U.S. “establish a persistent and continuing presence” on NATO’s eastern front. The May legislation aimed to do that by replenishing available emergency funding to Ukraine for the 2022 fiscal year days before it was expected to run dry. In addition to the $19 billion in immediate security assistance—$9 billion of which was set aside to replenish the U.S. Defense Department’s own arsenal—the bill allocated $3.9 billion to support American forces stationed in Europe and $2 billion for NATO and Pentagon modernization initiatives. A further $16 billion went to economic support to Ukraine and global humanitarian aid programs. “The opposition to the Ukraine supplemental was irreconcilable with not only my views on U.S. support in Ukraine, but everything I’ve written on this matter for years, so I couldn’t be truthful and honest by remaining there,” Coffey said about his decision to leave.  Alexis Mrachek, a former policy analyst at Heritage who specialized in Russia and Eurasia, pointed to the institutional inconsistencies behind the decision to oppose the bill. “We had established a one-voice policy on Ukraine over the past several years,” she said. But Heritage Action “contradicted our one-voice policy on Ukraine and in the process created a new one-voice policy on Ukraine that I was not allowed to contradict.” Mrachek resigned from Heritage in July and joined the International Republican Institute.  “Our policy didn’t change,” Jim Carafano, who leads Heritage’s foreign policy and defense team, said. “We are for an independent Ukraine that can defend itself. We’re for government bills that are fiscally responsible, and we’re for plans that actually work.” Carafano pointed to the legislation’s investments in “so-called civil society programs,” arguing that they would “fuel fraud, waste, and corruption.” Interviews with more than a dozen current and former employees revealed restrictive workplace practices—particularly its restrictive “one-voice” policy—to keep scholars in line with positions favored by Heritage’s lobbying arm. With Heritage Action’s growing influence has come a wave of staff turnover from the rank-and-file to senior leadership. Fifty-one employees have departed the Heritage Foundation and 73 new employees have joined since January 1, a Heritage spokesperson confirmed. There are 275 staff members on the foundation’s payroll and 30 at Heritage Action as of Tuesday. “There are a lot of open positions, I guess because of COVID, and we have more people applying to Heritage than we have any hope of being able to hire, open positions,” Dr. Kevin Roberts—Heritage’s new president—told The Dispatch. He said he remains enthusiastic about the organization’s future. Asked by The Dispatch how many employees left the foundation in 2019, 2020, and 2021, a Heritage spokesperson declined to provide raw numbers. Several former employees cited Heritage’s departure from its foundational commitments —without the knowledge or consent of the scholars hired to translate them into policy positions—as their reason for leaving. Others pointed to one-on-one confrontations with the members of the leadership team over the organization’s ideological trajectory. Fights over who sets Heritage’s “one-voice policy”—which requires that all staff be publicly aligned on any given issue—have caused much of the friction. “The one-voice policy at Heritage has always—for 49 years—been difficult to implement,” Roberts said. “The difficulty is making sure that there is a conversation internally that gets us to a good spot. The nature of the one-voice policy is that there are always competing goods.” Several former experts and researchers detailed limitations on their intellectual freedom beginning in the Trump era, such as being told to delete tweets and ignore areas of agreement with perceived political opponents. In almost every case, the restrictive measures served a partisan end. “There were several instances where I was asked to scrub the phrase ‘President Trump’ from my pieces. I think it was to tamp down any suspected criticism,” said one former Heritage employee, speaking on the condition of anonymity to speak candidly about internal dynamics. “We were definitely discouraged from mentioning the Biden administration by name as well, unless we were attacking them.” Another former employee said staffers were also told to avoid referring to incoming President Joe Biden as the “president-elect” until electoral votes were certified on January 6, 2021, to avoid lending implicit legitimacy to the 2020 election. One former employee recalled being instructed by management not to quote or cite Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley because of his st...

Democracy Is At Stake In This Year’s Midterms. Will You Leave It In The Hands Of MAGA Enablers? | Editorial https://digitalalabamanews.com/democracy-is-at-stake-in-this-years-midterms-will-you-leave-it-in-the-hands-of-maga-enablers-editorial/ This editorial was produced as part of the Democracy Day journalism collaborative, a nationwide effort to shine a light on the threats and opportunities facing American democracy. Read more at usdemocracyday.org. If We The People are to place any faith in the leaders we choose, it only seems fair for them to agree to a minimal set of rules. One is that they should avoid allegiance with anyone seeking to overthrow the government and hang elected officials. Another is condemning anyone who enflames an assault on the seat of our democracy that leads to the death of cops. Others include rejecting provable lies about rigged elections, denouncing goons who threaten public servants, and agreeing to the peaceful transfer of power. And maybe they should summon some intellectual curiosity when there is evidence that the leader of their party has stolen nuclear secrets. At a time when more than two-thirds of all Americans believe democracy is in danger, voters deserve to know how candidates from the party of Donald Trump feel about these rules. So today, on Democracy Day 2022, we are beholden to ask: Will the Republican contenders in New Jersey’s key congressional races – four men who will ask for our vote in 54 days – acknowledge that these rules are sacred, or will they follow the MAGA wing of the party, now that it has jumped the rails of constitutional democracy and the factual universe? Because like it or not, an allegiance to democracy itself must be the new litmus test for the people we send to Washington. “These are the exact questions we all need to be asking about the future of our democracy,” said Micah Rasmussen, the director of the Rebovich Institute at Rider University. “We can understand why candidates for office would not want to take positions that are controversial. But if our representatives won’t put some of their own skin in the game, we are in deeper trouble than we think. What could be more essential to the legitimacy of our nation than knowing who should and should not be accountable to our laws and our norms and values?” The candidates in those four swing districts would not respond to direct questions about their party’s persistent narrative about voter fraud that doesn’t exist; or about the lie involving a stolen 2020 election and the violence that erupted from it; or about the resulting investigations of a disgraced president. n the 7th District that is represented by Rep. Tom Malinowski, challenger Tom Kean Jr., who has been actively dodging the media for more than two years, was mute again. Paul DeGroot, running against Rep. Mikie Sherrill in the 11th, has “raised questions” about the 2020 election on Facebook, according to FiveThirtyEight.com. Bob Healey, challenging Rep. Andy Kim in the 3rd, has said “repeatedly….that Biden won,” a spokesman told us, and that “in terms of January 6, he believes Trump handled it poorly and should have done more to stop it.” We’re more interested in what he would do to prevent a recurrence, because the best predictor of a successful coup is a failed coup in which there is no accountability. And Frank Pallotta, the opponent of Rep. Josh Gottheimer in the 5th District, also refused to answer direct questions, but he said “Joe Biden is the legitimate president” and that he will “support the (2024) Republican nominee” in a spikey email that was mostly about the bias of newspapers. Days later, Pallotta told NJ Spotlight News that he is “not a Trump Republican,” but conceded that Trump’s policies “were spot-on.” It’s true that a Republican cannot win in New Jersey if he comes across as anti-Trump, as Seton Hall political scientist Matthew Hale reminds us. “If they want to win, they simply can’t afford to have the 10-to-20% of New Jersey’s Republican voters who are Trump supporters stay home,” he explained. “The best thing for them to do is put marbles in their mouths and mumble responses when Trump comes up.” A serious candidate, however, should want to address threats to democracy with candor and clarity. It just has no chance of happening in this cycle, when the majority of Republican candidates throughout the country are determined to vulgarize and falsify the American story until the bare lies shine through, as the William Burroughs poem goes. The bottom line: These New Jersey’s GOP candidates refuse to denounce a president who inspired a brutal mob that put a knife to the throat of our democracy and then called these knuckle-draggers “patriots.” New Jersey voters should have a problem with that, because Qui Tacet Consentit — silence means consent. Or maybe voters characterize this election as Malinowski did last week, when he said the choice we face on Nov. 8 is between candidates who “get sh*t done” and candidates who are “bat-sh*t crazy,” because a Republican majority allows MAGA to run amok. Either way, we agree with President Biden’s assertion that democracy is facing an existential threat, and that our candidates should be capable of pledging their commitment to its preservation or to a party that is driven by lies. Because truth matters, even when it’s not Democracy Day. If we do not consider these midterms as our last, best chance to renew democracy’s principles, we will likely lose it forever. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Bookmark NJ.com/Opinion. Follow on Twitter @NJ_Opinion and find NJ.com Opinion on Facebook. Note to readers: if you purchase something through one of our affiliate links we may earn a commission. Read More…

On Democracy Day, Newsrooms Draw Attention To A Crisis In The U.S. System Of Government – Idaho Capital Sun https://digitalalabamanews.com/on-democracy-day-newsrooms-draw-attention-to-a-crisis-in-the-u-s-system-of-government-idaho-capital-sun/ A recent poll found that 69 percent of both Democrats and Republicans think democracy in the United States is in danger of collapse.  Almost two years after Donald Trump falsely claimed that voter fraud cost him the election and inspired a web of supporters and “big lie” candidates to also believe the election was rigged, a majority of Americans are worried that democracy, our system of government in which political decisions are determined by the will of the people, is unstable.  Yet most U.S. news organizations don’t convey that level of concern and do very little to equip Americans with practical information about what they can do to save democracy. Many newsrooms in 2022 grapple with limited resources and staff, making it difficult for the media to dedicate the time and space required to an issue as vast as the precarious nature of our democracy.  Without adequate attention on the issue, egregious claims from far-right candidates could become normalized and the news cycle moves on. Other important issues take over top stories.  But this week, for one day, news organizations including States Newsroom are going to try to demonstrate the scope of the problem.  On Thursday, a collaboration of organizations including Montclair State University’s Center for Cooperative Media, the Institute for Nonprofit News, and audience and engagement company Hearken want to show what it looks like to give democracy the attention it is due.  Coinciding with International Day of Democracy, roughly 386 media partners will publish stories drawing attention to the crisis facing U.S. democracy and sounding the alarm that democracy is on the cusp of collapse. “We tend to take democracy, at least in this country, as a given,” said Joe Amditis, associate director of the Center for Cooperative Media, who is helping to organize Democracy Day. “We say that word so much, and we hear that word so much, that it loses its meaning in many contexts. It’s important, especially with all the anti-democratic activity that’s happening at every level of the government, to really stop and consider what it means to be a democracy, what it looks like to be a democracy, and really understand and grapple directly with why it’s so important to maintain and preserve that.”  States Newsroom’s 29 outlets will all participate in Democracy Day, with stories on a range of issues from threats to election officials to continued false narratives about the stolen 2020 election.  Reporters and editors with Colorado Newsline will discuss how election workers have taken their personal security into their own hands and will look into a new law that raises the standards for disseminating election material in languages other than English. Newsline will also take a deeper dive into Colorado’s enviable voter turnout numbers and examine the disparities among different demographics.  The Wisconsin Examiner will get congressional candidates on the record, talking about whether they believe the false claim that the 2020 election was stolen, and will discuss how that narrative has affected the administration of elections.  The Minnesota Reformer and Source New Mexico will fact-check their GOP candidates for secretary of state, who have both denied the results of the 2020 election.  And the Oregon Capital Chronicle will look into threats being made to county election offices over alleged election issues, requiring them to retain documents and distracting them from doing the work necessary to administer the upcoming election.  Other outlets will discuss voter registration campaigns targeting Asian American and Pacific Islander communities and get-out-the-vote efforts on both sides of the aisle.  The stories by States Newsroom’s outlets and other participating news organizations will inform the public about the scope of the problem and give readers practical information about what they can do.  While Americans often believe that our democracy is strong and unassailable, researchers find that we have actually become a backsliding democracy, Amditis said.  “That in itself should raise alarm bells and what better institution to raise those alarm bells and to shine light on solutions than the so-called Fourth Estate?” he said. “If we can get everyone to work together on a single day to publish at least one story looking into these issues, we think that’s a good starting point.” Read More…

Dozens Of Migrants Arrive On Martha's Vineyard Via Charter Flights https://digitalalabamanews.com/dozens-of-migrants-arrive-on-marthas-vineyard-via-charter-flights/ A Massachusetts state senator said Wednesday that dozens of migrants arrived on Martha’s Vineyard Wednesday afternoon via charter flights.Julian Cyr, the state representative serving Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard, and Nantucket, claimed that the charter flights arrived from Texas. The group of approximately 50 Venezuelan migrants, some of them children, were brought to Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School where they were given snacks and shelter. They were being cared for Wednesday night by two shelters in Edgartown. “We’re going to take care of you,” Dukes County Sheriff Robert Ogden told the migrants, according to The Maratha’s Vineyard Times.”My understanding is there was no advance communication or notice that this plane and these people were arriving,” Cyr told WCVB. “The officials on Martha’s Vineyard, municipal and county officials, scrambled but did a pretty remarkable job to welcome these families.”Barb Rush and others at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church on Summer St. in Edgartown have been working all day to help the families she says are from Venezuela, some with children as young as 2.”Many of them seem overwhelmed,” Rush said. “We’ve received calls from restaurants , offering food, people trying to help. It’s amazing.””Florida can confirm the two planes with illegal immigrants that arrived in Martha’s Vineyard were part of the state’s relocation program to transport illegal immigrants to sanctuary destinations,” a statement from Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ office obtained by WCVB sister station WESH in Orlando said.”States like Massachusetts, New York, and California will better facilitate the care of these individuals who they have invited into our country by incentivizing illegal immigration through their designation as ‘sanctuary states’ and support for the Biden Administration’s open border policies,” the statement said. Online flight records show at least two private planes that began the day in San Antonio, Texas, that also made stops in Florida’s panhandle, before later arriving on the island.It was not immediately clear who paid for the private charter flights to the island, however, the statement from the governor’s spokesperson said the Florida Legislature appropriated $12 million to implement a program to facilitate the transport of undocumented immigrants from the state. DeSantis, who is running for reelection this year and is a potential 2024 presidential contender, has repeatedly criticized President Joe Biden’s immigration policies.”The Baker-Polito Administration is in touch with local officials regarding the arrival of migrants in Martha’s Vineyard,” a written statement from Gov. Charlie Baker’s office said. “At this time, short-term shelter services are being provided by local officials, and the administration will continue to support those efforts.””This is an island that is in the business of welcoming people,” Cyr said. “But it’s pretty disgusting that a state or a governor or whoever this is would capitalize on the unfortunate, dire circumstances of these families who are just looking for a better life. To capitalize that for a political stunt or for a ‘gotcha’ moment. That’s just disgusting.””Gov. Ron DeSantis could learn a lesson from Massachusetts on what patriotism and liberty really look like if he weren’t so busy using humans as props in a cruel stunt to buoy his pathetic political aspirations,” Massachusetts U.S. Senator Ed Markey wrote in a post on social media. “To those who’ve just landed: we gladly embrace you.”WCVB has also reached out to U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s office for comment.Information from WESH and the Associated Press was used in this report. TISBURY, Mass. — A Massachusetts state senator said Wednesday that dozens of migrants arrived on Martha’s Vineyard Wednesday afternoon via charter flights. Julian Cyr, the state representative serving Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard, and Nantucket, claimed that the charter flights arrived from Texas. The group of approximately 50 Venezuelan migrants, some of them children, were brought to Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School where they were given snacks and shelter. They were being cared for Wednesday night by two shelters in Edgartown. “We’re going to take care of you,” Dukes County Sheriff Robert Ogden told the migrants, according to The Maratha’s Vineyard Times. “My understanding is there was no advance communication or notice that this plane and these people were arriving,” Cyr told WCVB. “The officials on Martha’s Vineyard, municipal and county officials, scrambled but did a pretty remarkable job to welcome these families.” Barb Rush and others at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church on Summer St. in Edgartown have been working all day to help the families she says are from Venezuela, some with children as young as 2. “Many of them seem overwhelmed,” Rush said. “We’ve received calls from restaurants , offering food, people trying to help. It’s amazing.” “Florida can confirm the two planes with illegal immigrants that arrived in Martha’s Vineyard [Wednesday] were part of the state’s relocation program to transport illegal immigrants to sanctuary destinations,” a statement from Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ office obtained by WCVB sister station WESH in Orlando said. “States like Massachusetts, New York, and California will better facilitate the care of these individuals who they have invited into our country by incentivizing illegal immigration through their designation as ‘sanctuary states’ and support for the Biden Administration’s open border policies,” the statement said. Online flight records show at least two private planes that began the day in San Antonio, Texas, that also made stops in Florida’s panhandle, before later arriving on the island. It was not immediately clear who paid for the private charter flights to the island, however, the statement from the governor’s spokesperson said the Florida Legislature appropriated $12 million to implement a program to facilitate the transport of undocumented immigrants from the state. DeSantis, who is running for reelection this year and is a potential 2024 presidential contender, has repeatedly criticized President Joe Biden’s immigration policies. “The Baker-Polito Administration is in touch with local officials regarding the arrival of migrants in Martha’s Vineyard,” a written statement from Gov. Charlie Baker’s office said. “At this time, short-term shelter services are being provided by local officials, and the administration will continue to support those efforts.” “This is an island that is in the business of welcoming people,” Cyr said. “But it’s pretty disgusting that a state or a governor or whoever this is would capitalize on the unfortunate, dire circumstances of these families who are just looking for a better life. To capitalize that for a political stunt or for a ‘gotcha’ moment. That’s just disgusting.” “Gov. Ron DeSantis could learn a lesson from Massachusetts on what patriotism and liberty really look like if he weren’t so busy using humans as props in a cruel stunt to buoy his pathetic political aspirations,” Massachusetts U.S. Senator Ed Markey wrote in a post on social media. “To those who’ve just landed: we gladly embrace you.” WCVB has also reached out to U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s office for comment. Information from WESH and the Associated Press was used in this report. Read More…

Talks To Avert Crippling US Rail Strike Continue Overnight https://digitalalabamanews.com/talks-to-avert-crippling-us-rail-strike-continue-overnight/ New York (CNN Business)Talks aimed at averting a freight railroad strike that could cripple US supply chains continued overnight into Thursday. If the strike goes ahead early Friday, it could send prices higher for goods from gasoline to food to cars. Two rail unions, representing more than 50,000 engineers and conductors who make up the two-person crews that make the trains run, are threatening the first rail strike in 30 years as of 12:01 am ET Friday. Union leaders and the railroads’ labor negotiators began meeting with Labor Secretary Marty Walsh at his Washington, DC, office at 9 a.m. ET on Wednesday. The talks were still underway 18 hours later at 3 a.m. ET Thursday, a Labor Department spokesman told CNN. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters aboard Air Force One on Wednesday that “all parties need to stay at the table, bargain in good faith to resolve outstanding issues and come to an agreement. A shutdown of our freight rail system is unacceptable outcome for our economy and the American people, and all parties must work to avoid just that.” The Labor Department asked both management and labor not to comment on the state of the talks, and neither responded to a request for comment. Nearly 30% of the nation’s freight moves on the nation’s railroads. Many vital sectors — including oil refining, agriculture, auto and other manufacturing, plus the imports of consumer goods — depend on the railroads to operate. While a short strike would have a limited effect, economists say a strike lasting a week or more could have severe economic consequences. The railroads announced last Friday that they had stopped accepting shipments of hazardous material, including fertilizer, as well as security-related materials, due to concerns that trains will immediately stop wherever they are once the strike begins. On Wednesday many stopped accepting shipments of agricultural products. Members of Union Pacific (UNP) train crews were informed by the railroad late Tuesday that if they’re in the middle of a trip when the strike begins at 12:01 am EST Friday they should park and secure their train and wait for transportation. Freight railroad Norfolk Southern (NSC) is planning to use management employees to operate a limited number of trains in the event of a strike Friday. That could allow critical materials to reach their destinations, like chlorine to water treatment plants. “We’ll have some capability. Not a very good capability, but we’ll have some if it comes to that,” Norfolk Southern spokesman Connor Spielmaker told CNN Business Wednesday. “How we’re going to utilize them is still being planned out.” Spielmaker said the railroads still hope to reach a deal with the unions and avert such a situation. Freight railroads CSX, BNSF and Union Pacific declined to say if they’ll be using management employees to operate trains in the event of a strike. The threat of the strike could snarl commutes across the country. Many Amtrak and local commuter trains travel on railways owned by freight companies. If striking engineers park their trans midroute Friday morning, commutes could be disrupted. Amtrak on Wednesday said it canceled all long-distance trains starting Thursday, and it announced 10 additional routes would be shut down Thursday evening. Amtrak said additional delays or cancellations are possible. Strike threat has White House under pressure The effort to avert a strike is a major test for President Joe Biden and his White House, which has positioned itself as one of the most pro-labor administrations ever. At the same time, it also wants to avoid any potential shocks to the economy, especially with the midterm elections just seven weeks away. Railroad workers are governed by a different labor law than most workers, one that limits their freedom to strike and allows for more governmental intervention. In July Biden issued an order that prevented a strike at that time and created a panel, known as a Presidential Emergency Board (PEB), to try to find a solution to the dispute. It also imposed a 60-day cooling off period during which the unions could not strike and management could not lock out workers. But Biden cannot order the railroads to keep operating once the cooling off period ends Friday. Only Congress can act to keep workers on the job if there is no deal. Sen. Richard Durbin, the second highest ranking member of the Democrats’ Senate leadership, told CNN this week that Congressional action is unlikely, despite business groups calling on Congress to act. The Senate is in recess on Friday, and many members of Congress are flying to London to attend Queen Elizabeth’s funeral. Fight not over wages The PEB’s recommendations called for workers to get an immediate 14% pay raise, plus back pay dating back to 2020. It also called for a 24% increase in pay during the five-year life of the contract from 2020 to 2024, and cash bonuses of $1,000 a year. But it did not address the staffing shortages and scheduling rules that have become the key sticking point in the dispute. The engineers’ and conductors’ unions say the railroads are requiring their members to be “on call” and ready to report to work on short notice as often as seven days a week. Leadership of the two unions say their members would not accept a contract without changes to those work rules. There are more than 50,000 other unions members at the railroads who maintain tracks, operate signals, dispatch trains and work as mechanics, among other jobs. But they are not subject to the same work rules, and those unions already accepted tentative deals with the railroads based on the PEB’s recommendations. One of those unions, the Machinists, announced Wednesday that its members voted to reject its tentative labor deal. There are about 5,000 members of the union at the railroads working as locomotive machinists, track equipment mechanics and facility maintenance personnel. Their rejection of the proposed contract is not an immediate setback in efforts to avoid the strike. The union said it will not go on strike before the end of the month, as it tries to reach a change in the tentative agreement that its members will accept. But it is a sign of the complexity the railroads are facing in reaching deals with a dozen different unions that are also acceptable to rank-and-file membership. Two other unions, the Brotherhood of Railway Carmen and the Transportation Communications Union, which between them have 11,000 members, ratified deals on Wednesday. — CNN’s Matt McFarland, Ali Zaslav, Kate Sullivan, Phil Mattingly, Maegan Vazquez and Andrew Millman contributed to this report Read More…

Booker T. Jones Performs At Stax, Ahead Of Milestone https://digitalalabamanews.com/booker-t-jones-performs-at-stax-ahead-of-milestone/ Published Thursday, Sept. 15, 2022 | 1:08 a.m. Updated 1 hour, 38 minutes ago MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Wearing a blue suit, black hat and multi-colored socks, master keyboardist Booker T. Jones leaned away from the Hammond B3 organ, tilted back his head and worked the keys and foot pedals as he played the funky and familiar hit “Green Onions” for a head-bobbing, toe-tapping crowd at the Stax Museum of American Soul Music. The intimate performance by Jones and a tight backup band Wednesday was part of an event at the Memphis, Tennessee, museum that previewed its year-long 20th anniversary celebration planned for 2023. Built on the site of the former Stax Records, the museum celebrates the influential soul music born from the studio where Otis Redding, Booker T. and the MGs, Isaac Hayes, the Staple Singers, Carla Thomas, Wilson Pickett, Sam & Dave and others recorded some of American popular music’s most memorable songs. “Right here in this space, you are on hallowed ground,” said Pat Mitchell Worley, president and CEO of the Soulsville Foundation, which oversees the museum. Jones’ rousing renditions of “Hip Hugger,” “Time is Tight,” “Soul Limbo,” and the 60-year-old “Green Onions” followed a video announcing events celebrating the museum’s opening two decades ago. They include a year’s worth of free field trips for students, a concert series featuring performances by national acts, and a mobile “pop-up” vehicle that will take Stax music, merchandise and more to locations like Austin’s SXSW, Nashville’s Americana Fest and New Orleans’ Essence Festival. A Memphis native, Jones, 77, said he feels fortunate to have been able to develop his musical talent just a few blocks from his house, at Stax. Jones said he feels “an openness” when he walks into the Stax building. “I guess you can say that there are locations on the Earth, some more conducive to art than others,” Jones told reporters before his performance. “This is a location that is conducive to art.” The museum is a top attraction in Memphis, where Graceland, Sun Studio, Beale Street and the Memphis Rock N’ Soul Museum also treat tourists to the music created in the Mississippi River city. Stax fostered a raw sound born from Black church music, the blues and rock ‘n’ roll. It featured tight rhythm sections, powerful horn players, and singers who could be sexy and soulful in one tune, loud and forceful in another. Some of Stax’s musicians grew up near the studio, which moved into the old Capitol Theatre in 1960. They called it “Soulsville U.S.A.” — a name that stuck to the surrounding working class neighborhood, now called Soulsville. Jones was a member of Booker T. and the M.G.s, a biracial quartet that served as the recording studio’s house band, backing up many of the studio’s hitmakers. Along with the multiracial Memphis Horns, they provided the foundation for songs that became to soul music what Motown was to rhythm and blues. “Working at Stax was like giving a daily sermon to the world, of being open with loving emotions to others regardless of who they were or looked like,” said David Porter, who wrote hits such as Sam & Dave’s “Soul Man.” Stax Records enjoyed massive success into the late 1960s. But Redding and four members of the Bar-Kays died in a plane crash in 1967, and the assassination of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968 intensified racial division in Memphis and around the country. By the mid-1970s, Stax was out of business due to financial turmoil and legal problems. The building that housed the studio was demolished. The museum opened in May 2003. It offers self-guided tours and includes a film detailing the studio’s history, exhibits chronicling the origins and development of Memphis soul music, listening stations and memorabilia such as Hayes’ flashy Cadillac car. Adjacent to the museum is the Stax Music Academy, an after-school program where teenagers from some of Memphis’ poorest neighborhoods learn how to dance, sing and play instruments. The Soulsville Foundation operates the museum, the academy and a charter school. Porter, who co-wrote “Hold On I’m Comin” after songwriting partner Isaac Hayes called for him to hurry up while Porter was in the bathroom, is among several Stax ambassadors for the anniversary. Others include guitarist and songwriter Steve Cropper, former Stax Records executive and owner Al Bell and singer-songwriter Eddie Floyd, of “Knock on Wood” fame. Read More…

The Weekender, September 16-20: ComicCon, Glendi, CelebratED And More | Manchester Ink Link https://digitalalabamanews.com/the-weekender-september-16-20-comiccon-glendi-celebrated-and-more-manchester-ink-link/ MANCHESTER, NH – As we’ve made our way to the middle of September, some of New Hampshire’s favorite events are coming back around. Take a look at the list we curated to spend some time at your favorite annual event, or attend one you haven’t been to before. There’s something for everyone! Don’t see what you’re looking for? Check out our searchable comprehensive Community Calendar below. Know of an upcoming event? Add it – it’s free! Multi-Day Events September 12-18 City Wide Arts Fest, Manchester NH – Manchester Citywide Arts Festival is continuing on until September 18. A weeklong celebration will be full of all the thriving parts of the art community in Manchester through the Cultural District and downtown Manchester Community. Take a look at the schedule of events to plot out all the wonderful art events that you will want to be a part of! September 16-18 New Hampshire Highland Games, Lincoln NH – The New Hampshire Gathering of Scottish Clans, Inc. (NHSCOT) is hosting their Highland Games for the 47th year at Loon Mountain Resort. This is a weekend full of athletics, dancing, seminars, and so much more! Check out the Festival Guide for more information, how to get there and buy tickets before arriving! Glendi, Manchester NH – A beloved Manchester tradition is back for its 43rd Anniversary. Glendi is a Grecian festival to celebrate Greek Heritage with food, drinks, jewelry, raffles and more. Glendi is hosted at St. George Greek Orthodox Cathedral with shuttle drop-off and pick-up points at McDonough School/Derryfield Park and Bridge & Highland Streets (parking lot on the right). Check here for more information on this event! Granite State ComicCon, Manchester NH – Granite State ComicCon is celebrating 20 years at the DoubleTree by Hilton in Downtown Manchester! Purchase your tickets, take a look over the list of guests expected to attend and check out the schedule of events for a weekend full of comic books and pop culture.  September 17-18 Oktoberfest at Candia Road Brewing Co., Manchester NH – Candia Road Brewing Co. will be celebrating Oktoberfest! Live music from 5-7PM on Saturday with Borscht Music along with food specials and CRBC’s festbier all weekend. For more information, check out their Instagram page. September 16 Park(ing) Day, Manchester NH – The Office of Major Joyce Craig is partnering with Queen City Bike Collective and the Southern New Hampshire Planning Commission for Park(ing) Day. Park(ing) Day is an international day for artists, community members, non-profits, and other organizations to repurpose public parking spaces to help support conversations around how to best utilize public spaces in cites. Along with Park(ing) Day, Queen City Bike Collective will be offering free valet bike parking on Saturday and Sunday at City Hall Plaza. You can park your bike at the Opera Block on Hanover St. (between Elm St. and Chestnut St.) from 10 AM to 9 PM on Saturday, September 17th and 10 AM to 4 PM on Sunday, September 18th. September 17 Outdoor Ceramics Exhibition, Deerfield NH – Kelley Stelling Contemporary is presenting an outdoors ceramics exhibition in partnership with the NH Potter’s Guild at Al Jaegar’s studio. Attendees of this event are invited to watch and share excitement in seeing newly fired pieces being removed directly from the kiln. The event will help to raise funds for a kiln replacement. You can purchase your tickets here ahead of time as well as view more information on this event. CelebratED MHT, Manchester NH – For the second year in a row, Manchester Proud will be hosting their CelebratED MHT festival in Veteran’s Memorial Park to celebrate and support Manchester’s public schools and community. You can find out more information on this event here! Wags 2 Whiskers, Merrimack NH – The Humane Society of Greater Nashua will be hosting their Wags 2 Whiskers Festival at the Biergarten in Merrimack. This will be a day full of demos, dog agility areas, dog friendly vendors, games for the kids, food trucks, beer and more! You can purchase your tickets here for New England’s Largest Pet Dog Event! Earth Eagle Sausage Fest, Portsmouth NH – Earth Eagle Brewing is hosting their 8th annual sausage fest. For just a $5 admission fee, you can partake in the fun Oktoberfest activities including food, beer and music. Check out their website for more info! Museum Day, New England – An annual celebration hosted by Smithsonian Magazine, participating museums all across the country will be providing free entry to anyone presenting their Museum Day Ticket. You can check to see which museums will be participating in Museum Day here. Derryfest, Derry NH – The Greater Derry Arts Council is once again hosting their Derryfest at MacGregor Park. This will be a Saturday full of food, entertainment, crafts, games and more. You can check out the list of events for the day, as well as find out where to park in Downtown Derry. Lowell Irish Festival, Lowell MA – The Lowell Irish Festival will be held at the Lowell Memorial Auditorium. This is a ticketed event that will feature live music, food trucks, craft tents, craft beer and more!  September 18 Fall Market Stroll, Salem NH – Tuscan Village is hosting their Fall Market Stroll to honor the first weekend of Fall. There will be live music, vendors, face painting and more! Jazz & Groove Lunch, Portsmouth NH – The Grim Bros Duos will be performing a Jazz & Groove Lunch at Rooftop at the Envio. Reservations are encouraged to ensure you get a spot on this beautiful rooftop to enjoy some wonderful music! Concord Multicultural Festival, Concord NH – The Concord Multicultural Festival at Keach Park will feature live performances, food, craft vendors, artists, a parade of flags and more to celebrate more than 70 cultures from around the globe and represented by those who live and work in the surrounding Concord community. You can get ready for this event by purchasing food vouchers in advance or tickets for a Global Food tour! Pitbull Poker Ride, Auburn NH – Second Chance Ranch Rescue is hosting their 2nd Annual Pitbull Poker Ride. This ride will include traveling a beautiful scenic route in Southern New Hampshire with lunch at Auburn Pitts with games, music and more. This is a ticketed event for those who want to participate.  September 20 New Hampshire International Seminar, Durham NH – The International Affairs Program at UNH will be hosting their NH International Seminar to help create community wide dialogue on some critical global issues. Check out further information about this event at the Durham campus. Planning Ahead? September 24: To Share Oktoberfest, Manchester NH September 29 – October 2: Deerfield Fair, Deerfield NH October 15: Red Arrow 100 Years Celebration, Manchester NH Read More…

Fetterman, Oz Agree To Oct. 25 Debate, But Feud Over Terms https://digitalalabamanews.com/fetterman-oz-agree-to-oct-25-debate-but-feud-over-terms/ News Democratic Senate candidate John Fetterman of Pennsylvania says he has agreed to an Oct. 25 televised debate against his Republican rival, Dr. Mehmet Oz. The debate, coming two weeks before the general election, follows weeks of cajoling by Oz. He has raised questions about the severity of Fetterman’s lingering effects from a May stroke and pushed for as many as seven debates. By MARC LEVY Associated Press HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Democratic Senate candidate John Fetterman of Pennsylvania said Wednesday that he has agreed to an Oct. 25 televised debate against his Republican rival, Dr. Mehmet Oz, although the men feuded about its terms in what has become a flashpoint in the high-stakes campaign. The debate, coming two weeks before the general election, follows weeks of cajoling by Oz, who has raised questions about the severity of Fetterman’s lingering effects from a May stroke and pushed for as many as seven debates. It will be held in the studio of a Harrisburg TV station. Oz’s campaign said in a statement that Fetterman had agreed to the debate only “after being hit with massive criticism from state and national editorials and commentators for ducking.” Nevertheless, Oz will be at the debate “to share his vision for a better Pennsylvania and America, and he is ready (to) expose Fetterman’s record as the most far-left Senate candidate in America,” Oz campaign manager Casey Contres wrote in a statement. Fetterman, the state’s lieutenant governor, and Oz, a celebrity heart surgeon endorsed by former President Donald Trump, are vying to replace retiring Republican Sen. Pat Toomey in a race Democrats see as one of their best chances nationally to flip a Republican-held seat. The winner could help decide the chamber’s partisan control next year. Fetterman’s campaign has said Oz was operating in bad faith by insisting on so many debates and said Oz’s motivation is to mock Fetterman for having a stroke. Fetterman still speaks haltingly and struggles to quickly respond to words he hears. To accommodate that, Fetterman asked the station for closed-captioning during the debate and two practice sessions in the studio ahead of time. In response, Oz’s campaign issued three requests. It wants a moderator to tell the audience that Fetterman is using closed captioning to explain delays in his responses; practice sessions to not use actual debate questions; and the debate to be 90 minutes, instead of 60, because of closed-captioning delays. Fetterman’s campaign said it had no problem with telling the audience about the closed captioning and said the practice sessions are simply walkthroughs that are routine before any debate. But Fetterman’s campaign insisted that the debate be 60 minutes and said Oz’s campaign had already agreed. “For weeks Oz and his team have wet the bed about debates,” Fetterman’s campaign said. “Enough already, we are debating on the 25th, either show up or don’t, but now let’s get back to talking about the issues that matter, like how Oz would vote on the Senate abortion ban.” In Pennsylvania’s last four U.S. Senate contests, debates have not been a major feature. All the debates took place in mid- to late October, with two debates in each race — except for the 2012 contest, which had one debate. Fetterman has been recovering and was off the campaign trail for most of the summer following his May 13 stroke, which required surgery to implant a pacemaker with a defibrillator and prompted a revelation that he had a serious heart condition. Fetterman has provided no access to his doctors or health records and has said he almost died. He has done just a handful of media interviews and no press conferences since the stroke and has used closed-captioning in video interviews with reporters. Fetterman’s campaign maintains that his doctors have said he is expected to make a full recovery. Follow Marc Levy on Twitter at https://twitter.com/timelywriter. Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. Read More…

Pundit Accused Of Taking $200K Meant For Ukraine Body Armor https://digitalalabamanews.com/pundit-accused-of-taking-200k-meant-for-ukraine-body-armor/ Pro-Trump pundit John Cardillo is known for his pugnacious Twitter commentary, once dubbing Joe Biden’s relationship with his son Hunter “creepy.” A former Newsmax TV host, Cardillo is prominent enough on the right to recently dine at the Florida governor’s mansion with potential 2024 contender Ron DeSantis. But Cardillo has a little-known second job as an arms dealer operating in the former Eastern bloc, selling ammunition and body armor under the name M42 Tactical from his Fort Lauderdale home. According to a recently filed lawsuit, he doesn’t always deliver and now stands accused of stiffing Ukraine’s embattled government on a delivery of almost $200,000 in body armor. In court papers, the company describes itself as an importer and wholesaler of “rifle and handgun ammunition.” On its website, the company touts its access to Serbian and Russian-made small arms ammunition. For Florida resident Michael Bogachek, those credentials made M42 Tactical a natural fit for a contract in the weeks after Russia invaded Ukraine. The Ukrainian-born Bogachek was shocked by tales of Russian atrocities committed during the first days of the war, and wanted to support his homeland. According to Bogachek, Cardillo said he could obtain body armor from Serbia and send it to Ukraine. On March 11, Bogachek contracted with Cardillo’s company to buy 250 body-armor kits capable of withstanding an AK-47 shot for $196,250 and deliver them to the Ukrainian police. M42 Tactical promised to deliver it to the Ukrainian police by April 20, according to an invoice. By late May, though, the body armor still had not reached Ukraine, according to court papers filed by Bogachek. On May 27, Bogachek sued Cardillo and his company in Florida.The suit alleged that the conservative pundit had made off with his nearly $200,000 payment, leaving Ukrainian police officers without the protection he purchased for them. Cardillo claimed in a court filing that he couldn’t fulfill the order because Bogachek couldn’t provide an end-user certificate, a legal document often required in the arms trade to ensure that weapons or armor will go to their intended destination. Bogachek’s lawyer, José M. Ferrer, disputed that defense, pointing out that the invoice doesn’t mention an “end-user certificate.” The invoice states that “end to end logistics” were already included in the order price, which Ferrer argues means includes the price of any end-user certificate. “We will be pursuing vigorous discovery to find out how M42 actually used the money,” Ferrer told The Daily Beast. Cardillo’s lawyers fired back, claiming that he met his contractual obligations. In their telling, the body armor exists and has been waiting at the manufacturer’s loading dock for months. “Mr. Cardillo has been asking Mr. Bogachek for over six months to provide a final delivery address and End User Certificate,” Cardillo’s lawyers, Tom Mersch and Dennis Klein, said in a statement. The lawyers representing the former Newsmax host went on in their statement to reiterate the claim that Bogachek has failed to provide the necessary paperwork. “As a result, Ukrainians go without protection that could have and should have reached them months ago,” the statement said. “The fault for THAT rests firmly on the shoulders (and conscience) of Mr. Bogachek and his attorney Mr. Ferrer.” “We intend to vigorously defend our client from these baseless allegations,” they concluded. M42 Tactical is facing other financial issues. The arms company sued one of its suppliers in a New York federal court last month, alleging that the supplier had botched a September 2021 deal, costing M42 Tactical a $47 million contract for 180 million bullets and even causing “the global destabilization of the ammunition market.” This isn’t the first time Cardillo or a business he owns or controls has ended up in court after allegedly failing to meet his business obligations. In 2015, Cardillo, a former New York Police Department officer, was incensed by comments film director Quentin Tarantino made about police during a rally in New York City. Cardillo and a former ex-NYPD officer agreed to split the $17,500 cost of a tabloid ad calling on Tarantino to change his views about police by going on a ride-along. But Cardillo’s partner later accused the radio host of stiffing him on his share of the bill for the ad, successfully suing Cardillo for a final judgment for $10,803.76. In 2016, iHeartMedia sued a business owned by Cardillo for $16,274.28 in debts related to his talk radio show. The radio giant won the case, and eventually secured a writ garnishing the Cardillo business’ bank accounts until the judgment was paid. Then Cardillo wouldn’t pay his own lawyer in the iHeartMedia case, according to a lawsuit filed by his lawyer. That attorney then turned on his one-time client and sued Cardillo himself in 2017 for unpaid legal bills worth $8,684.83. The outcome of that case is unclear—as of November 2021, the lawyer was struggling to serve Cardillo with court papers. “iHeart’s attorney and our attorney, we never filed a response because iHeart owed us some money for clips they were using,” Cardillo told The Daily Beast. “Their attorney agreed with us. They actually owned us a little more than we owed them. We decided to just wash our hands of each other and call it a day.” In tweets to his nearly 300,000 Twitter followers, Cardillo often alludes to trips to Serbia, which he describes as a hotbed of MAGA sentiment. In February, he tweeted that “a bunch of millennials” in a Serbian bar bought him shots of alcohol before toasting in former President Donald Trump’s honor. While Cardillo cut a deal to provide armor to the Ukrainian government, he’s been less than supportive of the embattled country in the past. As Russian troops massed on Ukraine’s border in February, Cardillo tweeted that he “couldn’t care less” whether Russia invaded. “Just send us their hot women and call it a day,” Cardillo wrote. Read More…

On Democracy Day, Newsrooms Draw Attention To A Crisis In The U.S. System Of Government – Ohio Capital Journal https://digitalalabamanews.com/on-democracy-day-newsrooms-draw-attention-to-a-crisis-in-the-u-s-system-of-government-ohio-capital-journal/ A recent poll found that 69% of both Democrats and Republicans think democracy in the United States is in danger of collapse. Almost two years after Donald Trump falsely claimed that voter fraud cost him the election and inspired a web of supporters and “big lie” candidates to also believe the election was rigged, a majority of Americans are worried that democracy, our system of government in which political decisions are determined by the will of the people, is unstable. Yet most U.S. news organizations don’t convey that level of concern and do very little to equip Americans with practical information about what they can do to save democracy. Many newsrooms in 2022 grapple with limited resources and staff, making it difficult for the media to dedicate the time and space required to an issue as vast as the precarious nature of our democracy. Without adequate attention on the issue, egregious claims from far-right candidates could become normalized and the news cycle moves on. Other important issues take over top stories. But this week, for one day, news organizations including States Newsroom are going to try to demonstrate the scope of the problem. Today, a collaboration of organizations including Montclair State University’s Center for Cooperative Media, the Institute for Nonprofit News, and audience and engagement company Hearken want to show what it looks like to give democracy the attention it is due. Coinciding with International Day of Democracy, roughly 386 media partners are publishing stories drawing attention to the crisis facing U.S. democracy and sounding the alarm that democracy is on the cusp of collapse. “We tend to take democracy, at least in this country, as a given,” said Joe Amditis, associate director of the Center for Cooperative Media, who is helping to organize Democracy Day. “We say that word so much, and we hear that word so much, that it loses its meaning in many contexts. It’s important, especially with all the anti-democratic activity that’s happening at every level of the government, to really stop and consider what it means to be a democracy, what it looks like to be a democracy, and really understand and grapple directly with why it’s so important to maintain and preserve that.” States Newsroom’s 29 outlets will all participate in Democracy Day, with stories on a range of issues from threats to election officials to continued false narratives about the stolen 2020 election. Reporters and editors with Colorado Newsline will discuss how election workers have taken their personal security into their own hands and will look into a new law that raises the standards for disseminating election material in languages other than English. Newsline will also take a deeper dive into Colorado’s enviable voter turnout numbers and examine the disparities among different demographics. The Wisconsin Examiner will get congressional candidates on the record, talking about whether they believe the false claim that the 2020 election was stolen, and will discuss how that narrative has affected the administration of elections. The Minnesota Reformer and Source New Mexico will fact-check their GOP candidates for secretary of state, who have both denied the results of the 2020 election. And the Oregon Capital Chronicle will look into threats being made to county election offices over alleged election issues, requiring them to retain documents and distracting them from doing the work necessary to administer the upcoming election. Other outlets will discuss voter registration campaigns targeting Asian American and Pacific Islander communities and get-out-the-vote efforts on both sides of the aisle. The stories by States Newsroom’s outlets and other participating news organizations will inform the public about the scope of the problem and give readers practical information about what they can do. While Americans often believe that our democracy is strong and unassailable, researchers find that we have actually become a backsliding democracy, Amditis said. “That in itself should raise alarm bells and what better institution to raise those alarm bells and to shine light on solutions than the so-called Fourth Estate?” he said. “If we can get everyone to work together on a single day to publish at least one story looking into these issues, we think that’s a good starting point.” GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Our stories may be republished online or in print under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. We ask that you edit only for style or to shorten, provide proper attribution and link to our web site. Please see our republishing guidelines for use of photos and graphics. Read More…

Obituaries In Hutchinson, KS | The Hutchinson Daily News https://digitalalabamanews.com/obituaries-in-hutchinson-ks-the-hutchinson-daily-news/ Alan (Al) Eugene Vogts, 62, passed away on September 12, 2022 at Wesley Medical Center in Wichita, KS. Al was born in Newton, KS on St. Patrick’s Day in 1960 to Edward W. Vogts and Kathryn (Schrag) Vogts. Al grew up in Moundridge, KS and was known to his friends and family for his fun-loving personality, strong Christian faith, competitive drive, and long skinny legs. He left Moundridge on an athletic scholarship and graduated from Tabor College in Hillsboro, KS where he played baseball, basketball, and football. After graduating from Tabor in 1982, Al started his family and career. On August 14, 1982, he married Ellen Herr at Parkview Mennonite Brethren Church in Hillsboro, KS. Together Al and Ellen had three daughters; Emily, Amber, and Avery who they raised in Newton, KS. He later married Jennifer Lee Hansen on November 23, 2005 adding Al’s three step-children Jamie, Jeremy and Josh to create a fun and lively blended family. Al put his business degree to work following in his father and brother’s footsteps as an entrepreneur. He has spent the last 40 years coming up with wild and innovative business ideas that spanned across construction companies, rental units, real estate developments, an event center, athletic training club and lots of other creative notions he had high hopes of impacting his community with. In the last few years, Al retired from several of these business ventures and filled his extra time playing pickleball. Pickleball became a way for Al to put his competitive drive to use and build new friendships. Al sought out to be “the best pickleball player of his age division” and recently began building a pickleball court in his backyard. The court will be completed in his honor by his family. Al attended several different churches over his lifetime but his commitment to living a life of faith remained consistent. For over ten years, Al has been a committed attendee of NewSpring Church services and loved sending out group texts of Mark Hoover’s sermons to his family. Al is survived by his mother, Kathryn Vogts (Moundridge, KS); his wife of almost 17 years, Jennifer Vogts (Newton, KS); his three daughters, Emily Metcalf and husband Chris Metcalf (Wichita, KS), Amber Vogts and husband Matthew Wilder (New Orleans, LA), Avery Vogts and husband Ethan Oltean (Wichita, KS); his step-children, Jamie Hansen and fiancée Vanessa Lashinske (Kansas City, MO) and Josh and Jeremy Hansen (Wichita, KS); his brother Mark Vogts and wife Joyce Vogts (Moundridge, KS); his sister Jenny Loyd and her husband Scot Loyd (Canton-Galva, KS); and his grandchildren Oliver and Jack Metcalf, as well as many nieces and nephews. Al was preceded in death by his father, Edward William Vogts. The family will be receiving friends from 2-5 p.m. Sunday (September 18th) at the Petersen Funeral Home in Newton, KS. Church Services will be held at 2 p.m. Tuesday (September 20th) at NewSpring Church in Wichita, KS. The Service will be followed by a burial at the Mound Township Cemetery in Moundridge, KS and Al’s favorite “Breakfast for Dinner” at the Meridian Center in Newton at 5:30 p.m. (if space becomes limited, priority will be given to family members). Memorial Contributions can be made to Trinity Heights United Methodist Church in Newton, KS or to Newton Recreational Commission and can be left in care of Petersen Family Funeral Home. Posted online on September 14, 2022 Published in Hutchinson Daily News Service Information Visitation Petersen Funeral Home Newton, KS September 18, 2022 at 2:00 PM – 5:00 PM Church Services NewSpring Church Wichita, KS Burial to follow at the Mound Township Cemetery, Moundridge, KS September 20, 2022 at 2:00 PM Read More…

Russian Forces Strike Dam, Flooding Parts Of Kryvyi Rih City; President Zelenskyy Involved In Car Accident https://digitalalabamanews.com/russian-forces-strike-dam-flooding-parts-of-kryvyi-rih-city-president-zelenskyy-involved-in-car-accident/ Russian forces have targeted a dam on the Inhulets River near Kryvyi Rih — President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s home city — with eight cruise missiles, according to Ukrainian officials, leading to flooding in parts of the city and residents being evacuated. Oleksandr Vilkul, the head of the Kryvyi Rih military administration, said on Telegram last night that Russian missiles had hit a “very large hydrotechnical structure,” widely reported as a dam near the city. Rising water levels on the river led a city official to ask residents to leave parts of the city. In other news overnight, Zelenskyy was involved in a car accident, the president’s office said late last night, but was unhurt in the incident that took place in Kyiv. Presidential Press Secretary Serhii Nykyforov said last night that “a car collided with the car of the President of Ukraine and escort vehicles” and that law enforcement officers would “find out all the circumstances of the accident.” Earlier on Wednesday, he said the country’s armed forces were moving forward “towards victory” as he praised the return of the Ukrainian flag to recaptured territory. 112 houses flooded, 11 people rescued but no casualties after Kryvyi Rih flooding Ukrainian officials have released more details on the flowing in the city of Kryvyi Rih in central Ukraine, which was targeted by Russian missile strikes yesterday. Kyrylo Timoshenko, deputy head of the office of President Zelenskyy, posted on Telegram that after the strikes by Russian missiles, which targeted a major dam on the Inhulets river, 112 houses were flooded and rescuers had to save 11 people. No deaths have been reported. The local authorities organized four collection points for citizens to evacuate to in order to reach a safe zone, he added as he detailed how the river level rose after the dam was damaged. “As a result of such a breach, the water level in the Ingulets River rose from 100cm to 190cm,” he said, saying that in order to lower the water level, it was necessary to blow up part of the hydraulic structures downstream. After what he described as “the exhausting work of this long night,” the water level in the river has already dropped by 40cm, a detail also noted by the head of Dnipropetrovsk Regional Military Administration Valentyn Reznichenko. “The water level in the Ingulets River has already dropped by 40 centimeters at the moment and continues to fall. Thank you to the rescuers, emergency services and everyone who worked through the night and continues to work now. Each of you did an incredible job,” Reznichenko said. — Holly Ellyatt European Commission chief visits Kyiv European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen delivers the State of the European Union address to the European Parliament, in Strasbourg, France, on Sept. 14, 2022. Yves Herman | Reuters European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is in Kyiv on Thursday to discuss how to progress Ukraine’s membership bid to join the European Union. “In Kyiv, for my 3rd visit since the start of Russia’s war. So much has changed,” von der Leyen said on Twitter. “Ukraine is now a candidate” for EU membership, she said, adding that she would hold talks with President Zelenskyy and Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal about progressing its membership application. The Ukraine’s membership bid was formally accepted earlier this year but it’s expected that it will take years for it to join the union. — Holly Ellyatt Russians’ flight from Kharkiv region shows ‘breakdowns in command and control’ The manner in which Russian forces withdrew, and fled, from the region of Kharkiv on northeastern Ukraine suggests a breakdown in command structures, the U.K. said in its latest intelligence update Thursday. A damaged military vehicle is seen after the withdrawal of Russian forces in Balakliia, Kharkiv Oblast, Ukraine, on Sept. 13, 2022. Anadolu Agency | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images “Ukrainian forces continue to consolidate their control of newly liberated areas of Kharkiv Oblast. Russian forces have largely withdrawn from the area west of the Oskil River,” Britain’s Ministry of Defense said on Twitter. “The way in which Russian forces have withdrawn in the last week has varied. Some units retreated in relatively good order and under control, while others fled in apparent panic,” it said. “Such abandonment highlights the disorganised retreat of some Russian units and likely localised breakdowns in command and control.” High-value equipment abandoned by withdrawing Russian forces included capabilities essential to enable Russia’s artillery-centric style of warfare, the ministry noted, including at least one Zoopark counter-battery radar and at least one IV14 artillery command and control vehicle. — Holly Ellyatt ‘Active hostilities’ in Kherson amid reports of shelling and looting by Russian forces De-occupied settlements in the region of Kherson in southern Ukraine are coming under Russian fire, a regional official warned on Thursday as he told residents to evacuate. “The situation in the de-occupied settlements of the Kherson region is extremely difficult,” Yaroslav Yanushevych, head of the Kherson Regional Military Administration, said on Telegram, noting that one town had seen all of its houses damaged or destroyed while another had seen 80% of its properties destroyed. Ukraine recently launched a counteroffensive in southern Ukraine to reclaim Russian-occupied territories. Unlike its counterattack in northeastern Ukraine, which has seen most of the region of Kharkiv de-occupied, a significant part of Kherson — the region above Russian-annexed Crimea — remains occupied by Russian forces although Ukraine has launched a series of counterattacks there and has made some gains. A destroyed house following a missile strike in Mykolaiv on Aug. 29, 2022, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Dimitar Dilkoff | Afp | Getty Images Yanushevych said the first thing Ukraine’s armed forces did when they liberated settlements from Russian occupation was to advise residents to leave immediately in expectation of Russian reprisals and attacks. Yesterday Yanushevych said the “situation in the Kherson region remains extremely difficult, active hostilities continue.”  The region’s infrastructure was being subjected “to devastating destruction every day due to shelling by the occupiers. In the temporarily occupied settlements, the Russians continue to seize administrative premises and loot,” he said. CNBC was unable to verify the information in the official’s post. — Holly Ellyatt Zelenskyy tells Crimeans that Ukraine is coming Video source: Metin Aktas | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited a key city recently liberated by Ukrainian troops and had a message for residents of Crimea: “We will arrive.” Zelenskyy spoke to reporters after visiting scenes of destruction inflicted by Russian troops and helping to hoist Ukraine’s flag at Izyum, which only a week ago was held by invading forces. A Ukrainian counteroffensive sent Russian troops into a retreat and reclaimed the city on Sept. 10. “We will come,” Zelenskyy said, addressing residents of Crimea. “I don’t know when. And nobody knows when. But we have plans. So we’ll come, because…it’s our land, and it’s our people.” Zelenskyy expressed concern about the cumulative effect of televised Russian propaganda on Crimean children who have never known what it’s like to be part of Ukraine. Russia’s military seized the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine in 2014. “The information war is very strong, and Russia attacked [Crimeans] by television, media … and of course, it will be very difficult for children when we come,” Zelenskyy said. — Ted Kemp Russians target dam near Kryvyi Rih, causing flooding and evacuation of parts of the city Russians have shelled a dam on the Inhulets River near Kryvyi Rih — President Zelenskyy’s home city — leading to flooding in parts of the city and residents being evacuated. Oleksandr Vilkul, the head of the Kryvyi Rih military administration, said on Telegram last night that Russian missiles had hit a “very large hydrotechnical structure,” widely reported as a dam near the city. “Dear residents of Kryvyi Rih, Russia has committed another terrorist act. They hit a very large hydrotechnical structure in Kryvyi Rih with eight cruise missiles. The attempt is to simply wash away a part of our city with water. We are monitoring the situation, the response efforts are underway, all services are involved, everyone is on the site. But the water level in the Inhulets River has risen,” Vilkul said. He then named streets that citizens were being asked to evacuate as “the water in the Inhulets River has risen.” Kyrylo Tymoshenko, the deputy head of Zelenskyy’s office, said eight Russian cruise missiles had attacked Kryvyi Rih, calling it a “terrorist act.” “After all, rockets are aimed at buildings that are critically important for people’s livelihood,” he said in a post on Telegram with a video showing high water levels on the river and partially submerged trees on the banks. “Today, the Russian troops directed the maximum number of their weapons to hydrotechnical structures. The goal is obvious — an attempt to create an emergency situation. It is not important to them whether people will remain without water or whether the city will be flooded. They need us to panic so it would be difficult for us to make decisions. So let’s not panic,” he said. — Holly Ellyatt President Zelenskyy involved in car accident, is unhurt Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy attends a flag-hoisting ceremony in Izium after Ukrainian forces took control of the city from Russian forces in Kharkiv, Ukraine, on Se...

Teacher Shortages Are Real, But Not For The Reasons You Heard – Los Angeles Sentinel https://digitalalabamanews.com/teacher-shortages-are-real-but-not-for-the-reasons-you-heard-los-angeles-sentinel/ Timothy Allison, a collaborative special education teacher in Birmingham, Ala., talks to students at Sun Valley Elementary School on Thursday, Sept. 8, 2022. (AP Photo/Jay Reeves) Everywhere, it seems, back-to-school has been shadowed by worries of a teacher shortage. The U.S. education secretary has called for investment to keep teachers from quitting. A teachers union leader has described it as a five-alarm emergency. News coverage has warned of a crisis in teaching. In reality, there is little evidence to suggest teacher turnover has increased nationwide or educators are leaving in droves. Certainly, many schools have struggled to find enough educators. But the challenges are related more to hiring, especially for non-teaching staff positions. Schools flush with federal pandemic relief money are creating new positions and struggling to fill them at a time of low unemployment and stiff competition for workers of all kinds. Since well before the COVID-19 pandemic, schools have had difficulty recruiting enough teachers in some regions, particularly in parts of the South. Fields like special education and bilingual education also have been critically short on teachers nationwide. Related Stories Track Star Alexis Love Thrives After Retirement UPDATE: WNBA Players Express Reluctance to Play Overseas As Brittney Griner Negotiations Continue For some districts, shortages have meant children have fewer or less qualified instructors. In rural Alabama’s Black Belt, there were no certified math teachers last year in Bullock County’s public middle school. “It really impacts the children because they’re not learning what they need to learn,” said Christopher Blair, the county’s former superintendent. “When you have these uncertified, emergency or inexperienced teachers, students are in classrooms where they’re not going to get the level of rigor and classroom experiences.” While the nation lacks vacancy data in several states, national pain points are obvious. For starters, the pandemic kicked off the largest drop in education employment ever. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of people employed in public schools dropped from almost 8.1 million in March 2020 to 7.3 million in May. Employment has grown back to 7.7 million since then, but that still leaves schools short around 360,000 positions. “We’re still trying to dig out of that hole,” said Chad Al It’s unknown how many of those positions lost were teaching jobs, or other staff members like bus drivers — support positions that schools are having an especially hard time filling. A RAND survey of school leaders this year found that around three-fourths of school leaders say they are trying to hire more substitutes, 58% are trying to hire more bus drivers and 43% are trying to hire more tutors. Still, the problems are not as tied to teachers quitting as many have suggested. Teacher surveys have indicated many considered leaving their jobs. They’re under pressure to keep kids safe from guns, catch them up academically and deal with pandemic challenges with mental health and behavior. National Education Association union leader Becky Pringle tweeted in April: “The educator shortage is a five-alarm crisis.” But a Brown University study found turnover largely unchanged among states that had data. Quit rates in education rose slightly this year, but that’s true for the nation as a whole, and teachers remain far more likely to stay in their job than a typical worker. Hiring has been so difficult largely because of an increase in the number of open positions. Many schools indicated plans to use federal relief money to create new jobs, in some cases looking to hire even more people than they had pre-pandemic. Some neighboring schools are competing for fewer applicants, as enrollment in teacher prep programs colleges has declined. The Upper Darby School District in Pennsylvania has around 70 positions it is trying to fill, especially bus drivers, lunch aides and substitute teachers. But it cannot find enough applicants. The district has warned families it may have to cancel school or switch to remote learning on days when it lacks subs. “It’s become a financial competition from district to district to do that, and that’s unfortunate for children in communities who deserve the same opportunities everywhere in the state,” Superintendent Daniel McGarry said. The number of unfilled vacancies has led some states and school systems to ease credential requirements, in order to expand the pool of applicants. U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona told reporters last week that creative approaches are needed to bring in more teachers, such as retired educators, but schools must not lower standards. Schools in the South are more likely to struggle with teacher vacancies. A federal survey found an average of 3.4 teaching vacancies per school as of this summer; that number was lowest in the West, with 2.7 vacancies on average, and highest in the South, with 4.2 vacancies. Rochester City School District teacher applicants apply during a recruitment event at the Mercantile On Main, in Rochester, NY, Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2022. (AP Photo/Carolyn Thompson) In Birmingham, the school district is struggling to fill around 50 teaching spots, including 15 in special education, despite $10,000 signing bonuses for special ed teachers. Jenikka Oglesby, a human resources officer for the district, says the problem owes in part to low salaries in the South that don’t always offset a lower cost of living. The school system in Moss Point, a small town near the Gulf Coast of Mississippi, has increased wages to entice more applicants. But other districts nearby have done the same. Some teachers realized they could make $30,000 more by working 30 minutes away in Mobile, Alabama. “I personally lost some really good teachers to Mobile County Schools,” said Tenesha Batiste, human resources director for the Moss Point district. And she also lost some not-so-great teachers, she added — people who broke their contracts and quit three days before the school year started. “It’s the job that makes all others possible, yet they get paid once a month, and they can go to Chick-fil-A in some places and make more money,” Batiste said. A bright spot for Moss Point this year is four student teachers from the University of Southern Mississippi. They will spend the school year working with children as part of a residency program for aspiring educators. The state has invested almost $10 million of federal relief money into residency programs, with the hope the residents will stay and become teachers in their assigned districts. Michelle Dallas, a teacher resident in a Moss Point first-grade classroom, recently switched from a career in mental health and is confident she is meant to be a teacher. “That’s why I’m here,” she said, “to fulfill my calling.” Read More…

Ethereum's Massive Software Upgrade Just Went Live — Here's What It Does https://digitalalabamanews.com/ethereums-massive-software-upgrade-just-went-live-heres-what-it-does/ Ethereum’s biggest-ever upgrade just took effect, in what industry experts are calling a game changer for the entire crypto sector. Thus far, all signs suggest the so-called merge — which is designed to cut the cryptocurrency’s energy consumption by more than 99% — was a success. The very first proof-of-stake block of transactions has finalized with a nearly 100% client participation rate. This was, by far, the best-case scenario. The overhaul to the ethereum network fundamentally alters the way the blockchain secures its network and verifies transactions. Most of these changes are happening under the hood and the hallmark of a successful upgrade is if the end user doesn’t feel a difference in the hours and days ahead. Cryptocurrencies such as ethereum and bitcoin are often criticized for the process of mining to generate new coins. Before the merge, both blockchains had their own vast network of miners all over the planet running highly specialized computers that crunched math equations in order to validate transactions. Proof-of-work uses a lot of energy, and it is one of the industry’s biggest targets for critiques. But with the upgrade, ethereum has migrated to a system known as proof-of-stake, which swaps out miners for validators. Instead of running large banks of computers, validators leverage their existing cache of ether as a means to verify transactions and mint new tokens. This requires far less power than mining and experts say it will make the protocol both more secure and more sustainable. The price of ether jumped following the merge. It is trading at around $1,640, up more than 3% in the last hour. Nine teams and more than 100 developers worked on the merge for years. In the hours ahead, this decentralized network of programmers spread out across the planet will monitor the rollout and, if needed, debug as fast as possible. Danny Ryan, a core developer based in Denver who has been working on the merge for five years, tells CNBC that they will be watching for any irregularities via both automated and manual monitoring systems. If issues come up, the corresponding team will debug and release a patch to users, but Ryan says they are pretty confident going into the merge given all the successful dry runs in the last few months. “There might be some sort of small fire that gets put out very quickly,” said Ryan. “But the network as a whole — because of the redundancy across all this different software — will very likely be stable and fine.” What changes Part of why the merge is such a big deal has to do with optics. Last week, the White House released a report warning that proof-of-work mining operations could get in the way of efforts to mitigate climate change. Slashing energy consumption by roughly 99.95% will not only establish greater sustainability for the network, but it will also go a long way toward lowering the barrier to entry for institutional investors, who struggled with the optics of contributing to the climate crisis. Bank of America said in a note on Sept. 9 that the significant reduction in energy consumption post-merge “may enable some institutional investors to purchase the token that were previously prohibited from purchasing tokens that run on blockchains leveraging proof of work (PoW) consensus mechanisms.” Analysts have said that institutional money entering the digital asset space at scale is critical to its future as an asset class. The upgrade also changes the tokenomics around ethereum’s native coin, ether. “Ether itself becomes a productive asset,” said Ryan. “It’s not something you might just speculate on, but it’s something that can earn returns.” In this post-merge era, ether takes on some of the characteristics typical of a traditional financial asset, such as a certificate of a deposit, which pays interest to holders. “It’s probably the lowest risk return inside of the ethereum ecosystem,” explained Ryan, who added that yield in other corners of decentralized finance, or DeFi, involve taking on smart contract risks and other types of counter-party risk. The upgrade will also result in a significantly reduced supply of ether tokens in circulation, which could pave the way for ether to become a deflationary currency in the weeks and months ahead. Some investors say this could also help drive up the price of the token. That reduced supply is the result of the new verification model that replaces miners with “validators.” The rewards for validators are much smaller than those that went to proof-of-work miners, meaning that less ether will be minted as a result of this upgrade. Validators are also required to lock up their tokens for a prolonged period of time, pulling ether out of circulation. Additionally, as part of an upgrade that went into effect August 2021, the network is already “burning” or permanently destroying a portion of the digital currency that would otherwise be recycled back into circulation. Read more about tech and crypto from CNBC Pro Developers say that enhanced network security is another critical feature of the upgrade. “There are changes to the security guarantees of the chain,” said Sean Anderson of Sigma Prime. Take a 51% attack, in which someone or a consortium of people control 51% or more of a cryptocurrency and subsequently weaponize that control to make changes to the blockchain. Anderson says that it is much easier to recover from a 51% attack on a proof-of-stake network, because there are built-in mechanisms to financially punish malicious actors by reducing their stake. “Because that economic asset is inside of the protocol, you get much better recovery mode, so you end up with a better kind of security profile,” Ryan told CNBC.  Next few hours, days are key The next few hours and days will be key to gauging the health of the ethereum network post upgrade. Behind the scenes, developers will be monitoring metrics like the participation rate of validators to determine how things are going. But coders tell CNBC that in an ideal world, users would be totally oblivious to the upgrade. “If everything goes perfectly, then an end user wouldn’t notice a difference,” said Anderson. “If anyone who’s trying to transact on ethereum doesn’t realize it, then it was smooth.” The upgrade doesn’t immediately make ethereum faster, cheaper or more scalable. But those features come with future upgrades that are now possible post-merge. Scalability, in particular, is something that Ryan says is desperately needed for the network going forward. At the moment, layer two technologies such as sharding and roll-ups are working to address just that. “More scalability, more ability to process user transactions is coming online in parallel through layer two constructions called roll-ups, but the scale is not being enhanced at the core protocol itself,” continued Ryan. That comes in subsequent upgrades instead. Katie Talati, head of research at asset management firm Arca, says that her team is closely watching anything in the layer two space, especially the projects that are trying to offer scalability. “The biggest issue right now is that it’s very fragmented,” said Talati. “You end up with these people who are now on ethereum, but they’re siloed from each other, because the L2s don’t necessarily talk to each other very easily. And so it’s just not a seamless experience,” she said. Read More…

Queen Elizabeth II Lies In State As Throngs Pay Respects https://digitalalabamanews.com/queen-elizabeth-ii-lies-in-state-as-throngs-pay-respects/ LONDON (AP) — The coffin of Queen Elizabeth II left Buckingham Palace for the last time Wednesday, borne on a horse-drawn carriage and saluted by cannons and the tolling of Big Ben, in a solemn procession through the flag-draped, crowd-lined streets of London to Westminster Hall. There, a steady stream of mourners paid their respects to Britain’s longest-reigning monarch. As the cortege left the palace, her son, King Charles III, and his siblings and sons marched behind the coffin, which was topped by a wreath of white roses and her crown resting on a purple velvet pillow. The military procession underscored Elizabeth’s seven decades as head of state as the national mourning process shifted to the grand boulevards and historic landmarks of the U.K. capital. At 900-year-old Westminster Hall, where the queen will lie in state until her funeral Monday, crowds shuffled past her coffin well into the night. They moved silently down the steps of the hall under a great stained glass window, then past the coffin that was covered with the Royal Standard and had been placed on a raised platform known as a catafalque by eight pallbearers. There were couples and parents with children, veterans with medals clinking on navy blue blazers, lawmakers and members of the House of Lords. Some wore black or suits and ties, others jeans and sneakers, and all had waited hours to stand in front of the coffin for a few moments Many bowed or curtseyed and some were in tears. Thousands who had waited for the procession for hours along The Mall outside the palace and other locations along the route held up phones and cameras, and some wiped away tears, as the casket rolled by. Applause broke out as it passed through Horse Guards Parade. Thousands more in nearby Hyde Park watched on large screens. The coffin was topped with the Imperial State Crown — encrusted with almost 3,000 diamonds — and a bouquet of flowers and plants, including pine from the Balmoral Estate, where Elizabeth died on Sept. 8 at the age of 96. Two officers and 32 troops from the 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards in red uniforms and bearskin hats walked on either side of the gun carriage. The 38-minute procession ended at Westminster Hall, where Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby led a service attended by Charles and other royals. “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you,” Welby read from the Book of John. After a short service, the captain of The Queen’s Company 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards, assisted by a senior sergeant, laid the royal standard of the regiment on the steps of the catafalque. Four officers from the Household Cavalry -– two from the Life Guards and two from the Blues Royals -– began the vigil, taking their places at each corner and bowing their heads. Thousands had queued up along the banks of the River Thames, waiting to enter the hall and pay their respects to the only monarch most Britons have ever known after her 70 years on the throne. Esther Ravenor, a Kenyan who lives in the U.K. said she was humbled as she watched the procession. “I love the queen, I love the royal family, and you know, I had to be here,” she said. “She is a true role model. She loved us all, all of us. Especially someone like me, a migrant woman coming to the U.K. 30 years ago, I was allowed to be here and to be free and safe, so I really honor her. She was a big part of my life.” Maj. Gen. Christopher Ghika, of the Household division, who organized the ceremonial aspects of the queen’s funeral, said it was “our last opportunity to do our duty for the queen, and it’s our first opportunity to do it for the king, and that makes us all very proud.” Troops involved in the procession had been preparing since the queen died. So had the horses of the King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery. Sgt. Tom Jenks said the horses were specially trained, including how to handle weeping mourners, as well as flowers and flags being tossed in front of the procession. Heathrow Airport temporarily halted flights, saying it would “ensure silence over central London as the ceremonial procession moves from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall.” President Joe Biden spoke Wednesday with Charles to offer his condolences, the White House said. Biden recalled “the Queen’s kindness and hospitality” she hosted them and the first lady at Windsor Castle in June, the statement said. “He also conveyed the great admiration of the American people for the Queen, whose dignity and constancy deepened the enduring friendship and special relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom.” Crowds have lined the route of the queen’s coffin whenever it has been moved in its long journey from Scotland to London. On Tuesday night, thousands braved a typical London drizzle as the hearse, with interior lights illuminating the casket, drove slowly from an air base to Buckingham Palace. Earlier, in Edinburgh, about 33,000 people filed silently past her coffin in 24 hours at St. Giles’ Cathedral. The line of people snaking along the banks of the River Thames to enter Westminster Hall, the oldest building in Parliament, was nearly 3 miles long in the afternoon, according to a government tracker. The hall is where Guy Fawkes and Charles I were tried, where kings and queens hosted magnificent medieval banquets, and where ceremonial addresses were presented to Queen Elizabeth II during her silver, golden and diamond jubilees. Chris Bond, from Truro in southwest England, was among those waiting to see the queen’s coffin. He also attended the lying in state of the queen’s mother in 2002. “Obviously, it’s quite difficult queuing all day long, but when you walk through those doors into Westminster Hall, that marvelous, historic building, there was a great sense of hush and one was told you take as much time as you like, and it’s just amazing,” he said. “We know the queen was a good age and she served the country a long time, but we hoped this day would never come,” he added. Chris Imafidon, secured the sixth place in the queue. “I have 1,001 emotions when I see her,” he said. “I want to say, God, she was an angel, because she touched many good people and did so many good things.” —- Associated Press writer Sylvia Hui contributed. ___ Follow AP coverage of Queen at https://apnews.com/hub/queen-elizabeth-ii Read More…

Where Bobby Petrino's Downfall Ranks Among Biggest 'What Ifs' In Arkansas Football History https://digitalalabamanews.com/where-bobby-petrinos-downfall-ranks-among-biggest-what-ifs-in-arkansas-football-history/ As it has every year since 2005, with the exception of the weird 2020 COVID year, the Arkansas football program will host an FCS team for a non-conference game Saturday. Usually a cupcake that the Razorbacks put away easily before the band’s halftime performance, this year’s matchup brings not only a tough opponent — Missouri State is No. 5 in the FCS rankings — but also intriguing storylines. The Bears are coached by Bobby Petrino, who was the head coach at Arkansas from 2008-11 and is the subject of one of the biggest “what if” questions in school history. With a palpable buzz surrounding the game, Best of Arkansas Sports decided to try to put some perspective on that aspect and figure where “What if Petrino hadn’t wrecked his motorcycle?” slots in among the biggest “what if” events in Arkansas football history. For the purpose of this list, we’ve limited it to just football — otherwise we’d have to include not hiring Bill Self in basketball and the ill-fated foul pop up in the 2018 College World Series — and events that happened away from the gridiron. That means alternatate history pathways like reversing the result of the 1969 Shootout or the Reggie Fish muffed punt are not included. Without further ado, here is our top five… 1. What if… Arkansas successfully hired Bear Bryant in 1941 — or 1952? Until Nick Saban’s current run at Alabama, many considered Paul “Bear” Bryant the greatest college football coach of all-time. His 323 career wins still rank third among Division I coaches, while his six national titles were a record until recently being surpassed by Saban. Most of Bryant’s success was with the Crimson Tide, but he twice came close to being the head coach at Arkansas. The two instances were about a decade apart. The first came in 1941. The Fordyce, Ark., native was a hot-shot assistant at Vanderbilt and folks in his home state were calling for him to return home for his first head coaching gig. The Razorbacks had just posted their fourth straight losing season and were 56-61-10 overall under 13-year head coach Fred Thomsen. Bryant was quickly identified as the No. 1 candidate when it became clear that Arkansas would move on from Thomsen, so when he hopped in the car to drive from Nashville to Fayetteville, he felt like he was on his way to a “slam-dunk job interview,” as AL.com put it. That was Dec. 7, 1941. About the time Bryant got to Memphis, he heard news about the attack on Pearl Harbor over the radio. He turned around and joined the Navy instead. “The Japanese chose an opportune time to strike for Fred Thomsen, Arkansas coach, (and) an inopportune time for Bear Bryant, Vandy’s able line mentor,” a brief in the Tennessean on Dec. 18, 1941, read. “Had the Japs waited 10 days, it is almost certain that Arkansas would have bought up Thomsen’s contract and awarded the job to Bryant — if Bear wanted it.” After World War II, Bryant got his first head coaching job at Maryland. He was there for one season before leaving to take the same position at Kentucky. The Wildcats quickly became a solid program and actually won their first and only SEC title in 1950 under Bryant. However, Kentucky was — and always has been — a basketball school. That’s why Houston Nutt’s father played there around this time. But when Adolph Rupp’s squad got caught up in a point shaving scandal in 1951, Bryant started looking for an exit strategy. Once again, Arkansas seemed like a logical landing spot. In 1952, Otis Douglas was on his way out after a last-place finish in the SWC and Arkansas flew Bryant in as a potential replacement. He was wined and dined by several people, including Little Rock businessman Jack Stephens. Included in his offer was stock in an oil company. It was “a chance to get in on the ground floor,” Bryant later wrote in his memoir, Bear. “If I had taken it, I’d be worth $40 million now. I should have. I should have just said the hell with it and left, which is what I eventually did.” Of course, there were also reports that one of Bryant’s stipulations was he didn’t want to be subservient to anyone. Arkansas even tried to make that happen, with a state legislative council actually voting 8-4 in favor of eliminating John Barnhill’s position of athletics director. As fate would have it, though, Bryant once again didn’t take the job. He spent one more year at Kentucky before leaving for Texas A&M. He led the Aggies to an SEC title with a perfect 6-0 conference record just two years after going 0-6 in conference play. Alabama, his alma mater, eventually called him home in 1958, the same year Arkansas hired its own legend, Frank Broyles. Who knows how things would have turned out had Bryant been with the Razorbacks at the time, but he almost certainly would have provided more stability from 1941-57, when they went through seven coaches in 17 years. 2. What if… Bobby Petrino hadn’t wrecked his motorcycle? One of college football’s best offensive minds, Bobby Petrino needed just three years to get Arkansas football in its first — and only — BCS bowl. In 2010, the Razorbacks went 10-2 and earned a spot in the Sugar Bowl. He followed it up with an 11-win season capped by a win in the Cotton Bowl. It was the first time in more than two decades that Arkansas had back-to-back seasons with double-digit wins and, with guys like Tyler Wilson, Cobi Hamilton, Chris Gragg, Chris Smith and Trey Flowers coming back and Knile Davis returning from injury, the Razorbacks had their sights set on a national title in 2012. However, what started out like a sick April Fool’s joke quickly turned into Arkansas’ worst nightmare, as Petrino was involved in a motorcycle wreck on April 1 that set in motion his eventual firing. Not only did the accident reveal his affair with Jessica Dorrell, but also the fact that he hired her as part of his staff. To make matters worse, Petrino then lied about it to athletics director Jeff Long. Nine days later, on April 10, Long announced his decision to fire Petrino. Arkansas football fans don’t need to be reminded about what unfolded next, as the Razorbacks toiled in mediocrity at their best and hit the lowest of lows at their worst over a decade until current head coach Sam Pittman revived the program. The drop off was immediate, as the Razorbacks went from preseason top-10 to out of the polls following an embarrassing Week 2 loss to ULM. That left fans to wonder how that 4-8 season might have been different under Petrino’s leadership and whether or not his success was sustainable. After all, it wasn’t until his second stint at Louisville that Petrino finally got a Year 5 — and it resulted in him being fired amid a 2-10 season in which the Cardinals had the third-worst scoring defense in the country. Listen to Chuck Barrett’s conversation with former Arkansas quarterback Tyler Wilson about Bobby Petrino at the 4:50 mark: 3. What if… Houston Nutt, Gus Malzahn and the Springdale 5 made it work? There is a lot to unpack with this situation, so we’ll just touch on the basics. In 2005, Gus Malzahn was the head coach at nationally-ranked Springdale High. The Bulldogs, led by national player of the year Mitch Mustain, dominated their competition on the way to a state title and ended the year ranked as high as No. 2 in the country. Mustain was a five-star prospect and top-10 recruit, ranked ahead of the likes of future Heisman Trophy winners Tim Tebow and Sam Bradford. He and four teammates — Ben Cleveland, Andrew Norman, Bartley Webb and Damian Williams — made up what was known as the “Springdale 5.” There was a lot of drama surrounding the recruitment of those players, who played just up the road from Fayetteville. With Mustain reportedly leaning toward leaving the state, Williams and Cleveland initially committing to Florida, and Webb committing to Notre Dame, plus back-to-back losing seasons by the Razorbacks, there was a lot of pressure on Houston Nutt. In an era before social media, message boards were abuzz with speculation. Nutt eventually hired Malzahn as his offensive coordinator in an effort to reinvigorate his offense and land the heralded recruits. It seemingly worked, as all but Webb eventually signed with the Razorbacks and they joined forces with Darren McFadden, Felix Jones, Peyton Hills and others. After a season-opening loss to USC, they ripped off 10 straight wins — the first eight of which came with Mustain as the starting quarterback. However, Mustain was eventually benched and Arkansas ended the season with a three-game skid in which it Reggie Fish’d the SEC Championship away. Everything fully unraveled after the season, as Malzahn left for the OC job at Tulsa and three of the four Springdale kids (Cleveland was the only holdover) transferred out. Joining a loaded quarterback room at USC, Mustain never panned out, but Williams was a very good receiver for the Trojans. He earned first-team All-Pac-12 honors in 2009, became a third-round pick and had a five-year NFL career. Malzahn, meanwhile, enjoyed success at every stop. That includes winning a national championship as Auburn’s offensive coordinator in 2010, a conference championship as Arkansas State’s head coach in 2012 and two SEC West titles as Auburn’s head coach, including an appearance in the BCS National Championship following the 2013 season. Including a 1-1 start at UCF this year, he has a career record of 87-43 as a head coach. Nutt ended up coaching one more season at Arkansas, in which McFadden finished runner-up for the Heisman Trophy a second straight year, but the Razorbacks went just 8-5. Dealing with numerous controversies and an increasingly unhappy fanbase, he resigned and took the Ole Miss job. Had things worked out, a common line of thinking among Arkansas football...

Exclusive: Mark Meadows Complied With DOJ Subpoena In January 6 Probe – ABC17NEWS https://digitalalabamanews.com/exclusive-mark-meadows-complied-with-doj-subpoena-in-january-6-probe-abc17news/ By Pamela Brown, Evan Perez, Jeremy Herb and Kristen Holmes, CNN Former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows has complied with a subpoena from the Justice Department’s investigation into events surrounding January 6, 2021, sources familiar with the matter tell CNN, making him the highest-ranking Trump official known to have responded to a subpoena in the federal investigation. Meadows turned over the same materials he provided to the House select committee investigating the US Capitol attack, one source said, meeting the obligations of the Justice Department subpoena, which has not been previously reported. Last year, Meadows turned over thousands of text messages and emails to the House committee, before he stopped cooperating. The texts he handed over between Election Day 2020 and Joe Biden’s inauguration, which CNN previously obtained, provided a window into his dealings at the White House, though he withheld hundreds of messages, citing executive privilege. In addition to Trump’s former chief of staff, one of Meadows’ top deputies in the White House, Ben Williamson, also recently received a grand jury subpoena, another source familiar with the matter tells CNN. That subpoena was similar to what others in Trump’s orbit received. It asked for testimony and records relating to January 6 and efforts to overturn the 2020 election. Williamson previously cooperated with the January 6 committee. He declined to comment to CNN. Meadows’ compliance with the subpoena comes as the Justice Department has ramped up its investigation related to January 6, which now touches nearly every aspect of former President Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss — including the fraudulent electors plot, efforts to push baseless election fraud claims and how money flowed to support these various efforts, CNN reported this week. An attorney for Meadows declined comment. The Justice Department did not respond to CNN requests for comment. Federal investigators have issued at least 30 subpoenas to individuals with connections to Trump, including top officials from his fundraising and former campaign operation. As White House chief of staff, Meadows was in the middle of Trump’s efforts to overturn the election in the two months between Election Day and Biden’s inauguration. Meadows communicated with numerous officials who tried to find election fraud and pushed various schemes to try to overturn the election, according to text messages obtained by CNN that Meadows turned over to the House select committee. Meadows also shared baseless conspiracy theories with Justice Department leaders as Trump tried to enlist DOJ’s help in his push to claim the election was stolen from him. After Meadows stopped cooperating with the House committee, Congress referred him to the Justice Department for contempt of Congress. DOJ declined to prosecute him for contempt earlier this year. It’s not yet clear whether the Justice Department will seek more materials from Meadows as part of the ongoing criminal investigation, which could lead to a legal fight over executive privilege. Following last month’s FBI search of Trump’s Florida residence and resort, Meadows handed over texts and emails to the National Archives that he had not previously turned over from his time in the administration, CNN previously reported. Last year, Meadows spoke with Trump about the documents he brought to Mar-a-Lago that the National Archives wanted returned. Trump has been counseled to cut contact with Meadows, and some of Trump’s attorneys believe Meadows could also be in investigators’ crosshairs and are concerned he could become a fact witness if he’s pushed to cooperate, CNN reported last month. Still, Trump and Meadows have spoken a number of times, according to a source familiar with their relationship. Another source described their relationship as “not the same as it once was” while in the White House, but said they still have maintained a relationship, even as Trump has complained about Meadows to others. The-CNN-Wire & © 2022 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved. Read More…

Donald Trump, Mar-A-Lago Raids, And Previous Cases Of Missing Classified Documents https://digitalalabamanews.com/donald-trump-mar-a-lago-raids-and-previous-cases-of-missing-classified-documents/ Former US President Donald Trump is facing a number of active lawsuits, including the case involving missing White House documents. Accused by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) of stashing classified material at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, Trump was asked to return what he took. Instead, his team returned only some of the documents, with the rest discovered by the FBI during a search of the property this August. It is unclear whether more documents are still in his possession. The FBI recovered more than 11,000 government documents and photographs during its search as well as 90 empty folders labelled as “classified,” according to unsealed court records. The agency found that at least 18 documents were labelled top secret, 54 were marked as secret and 21 were deemed confidential. For both taking the documents and refusing to surrender them, Trump faces multiple investigations. The documents In May 2021, just four months after leaving office, Trump was notified by the NARA that he had failed to turn over at least two dozen boxes of original records. In December, his team told the Archives that they had located some of the records and proceeded to return them. In February this year, the US House of Representatives announced that they were launching an investigation into the matter. In April, the Justice Department (DOJ) followed suit and later that month, the White House Counsel’s Office formally requested that the NARA give the FBI access to the documents they recovered in December. In June, Federal investigators served Trump with a grand jury subpoena, seizing more documents from his private estate. However, even that failed to uncover all that was taken. On August 8, Federal agents executed a search warrant at Trump’s Florida property after receiving reports that the former president had not been forthcoming with authorities. They found more than twice the amount of documents than Trump voluntarily parted with. Some of the material was so sensitive that the FBI and Justice Department officials conducting the search required special clearances to review it. The Justice Department included a photo of documents seized from former President Donald J. Trump’s Florida home in its court filing. (Department of Justice) Two weeks later, Trump asked the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida for an independent arbiter to review the documents. Earlier this month, the Court ruled on his behalf, blocking government agencies from accessing the material retrieved until an arbiter assessed them. The judge in question was appointed by Trump. Despite that temporary respite, the judge’s decision is likely to be overturned on appeal and once the investigation resumes, Trump could be criminally charged. What rules did Trump break and what punishment could he face for it? The main charge levied against Trump is violation of the Presidential Records Act (PRA), a piece of legislation passed to prevent former president Richard Nixon from destroying classified information related to the Watergate scandal after he resigned from office. Under the PRA, every presidential document is supposed to go directly to the NARA as the material is considered to be the property of the American people. Anne Weismann, a lawyer who represented watchdog groups that have sued Trump over violations of the Presidential Records Act, told CBS News that the former president “clearly violated” the Presidential Records Act in “multiple ways,” including by ripping up records. But “the real problem is there’s absolutely no enforcement mechanism in the Presidential Record Act and there’s no administrative enforcement provision,” she said. Although the PRA itself doesn’t specify any penalties, violations could trigger two federal statutes that make it a penalty to mishandle government property. The first law states anyone who “willfully injures or commits any depredation against any property of the United States” faces a fine or up to one year imprisonment if convicted. The second law states anyone who “willfully and unlawfully conceals, removes, mutilates, obliterates or destroys … any record, proceeding, map, book, paper, document, or other thing, filed or deposited … in any public office” is subject to a fine or up to three years in prison if convicted. Additionally, the Justice Department is investigating if Trump violated the Espionage Act by gathering, transmitting, or losing national defence information. Trump for his part has argued that he didn’t violate any federal laws because he declassified the documents in question before leaving office. However, even if he did, and there is no evidence of the same, he could still be charged for removing or destroying them. Richard Painter, chief White House ethics lawyer under George W Bush, argues that the declassification of documents for an improper purpose could be a crime in and of itself. Beyond criminal prosecution for violating federal law, the Justice Department could pursue civil lawsuits against Trump. They could also drop the charges altogether. Depending on the severity of the findings, Trump could face a lengthy jail term. He could also potentially be prohibited from running from office again. However, it’s worth noting that although the law pertaining to destroying government documents stipulates that a convicted offender would be disqualified from holding office, many legal scholars point out that the Constitution may supersede legislation. As per Constitutional requirements for presidential candidates, being behind bars does not preclude them from running. Why did Trump take the documents? According to veteran journalist Timothy L. O’Brien, there are three potential reasons why Trump would want to keep top secret information to himself. The first stipulates that Trump took the documents simply because he was careless, indifferent to legal procedures and/or unaware of what he was doing. There is some precedent from his time in office that this may be the case. During his presidency, Trump was alleged to have blurted out classified information provided by Israel during a meeting with two high level government officials. Two years later, he tweeted a sensitive photo of a failed Iranian rocket launch despite being advised against doing so by his advisors. Trump also demonstrated a flagrant disregard for record keeping. In 2018, Politico reported that Trump had a habit of tearing up official papers that were handed to him after he was done with them. The problem became so bad that multiple civil servants were reportedly tasked full time with repairing the documents with scotch tape to comply with the PRA. In February, The Washington Post reported that Trump’s team routinely used burn bags to incinerate a wide range of records based on personal discretion. Additionally, The New York Times wrote that staff periodically found clumps of documents clogging White House toilets. They later released photos of some of the alleged found documents. According to O’Brien, another reason why Trump could have stolen the documents was to satiate his lifelong “unfettered greed.” O’Brien writes that Trump’s financial pressures raise alarms “for any rational observer concerned that Trump might have been inspired to use the powers and access to records that his presidency provided to rake in lucre by peddling classified information after he left the White House.” Lastly, according to O’Brien, Trump could have been motivated by a desire to preserve his own reputation. Amongst the missing documents there is believed to be communications between Trump and a litany of foreign leaders including North Korea’s Kim Jong Un, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Given that his exchanges with the latter led to the first of his two impeachment proceedings, Trump may have been trying to cover up evidence that would further implicate him. Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida (file) Trump for his part has denied all the allegations, arguing at different times that he declassified the documents, that he took them with him to work from home, that the FBI search was a witch hunt, and that former president Barack Obama also kept 33 million documents after leaving office. While all those claims are dubious, the last was blatantly debunked by the National Archives. Has this happened before? The most obvious example of presidential misconduct pertains to Richard Nixon and the Watergate scandal. Nixon was believed to have complied with requests to turn in information after leaving office. Democratic President Lyndon Johnson’s national security advisor held onto records for years before turning them over to the Johnson Presidential library. Those records showed that the campaign of his successor (Nixon), was secretly communicating with the South Vietnamese government in the final days of the 1968 presidential race in an effort to delay the opening of peace talks to end the Vietnam war. Confident of his impending victory, Nixon’s team was believed to have wanted to stall talks until he assumed the presidency so that he could claim all the credit. It is worth noting that the PRA was not in operation at that time and before it was activated, former presidents were free to handle official documents as they saw fit. After the act was passed, it was violated by Fawn Hall, a secretary in Ronald Reagan’s administration. Hall testified that she altered and helped shred documents related to the infamous Iran-Contra affair to protect Oliver North, her boss at the White House National Security Council. Similarly, Sandy Berger, national security advisor under Bill Clinton, pleaded guilty in 2005 to removing and destroying classified records ...

Why It’s Time To Declassify Documents From Trump’s Basement | NewsClick https://digitalalabamanews.com/why-its-time-to-declassify-documents-from-trumps-basement-newsclick/ Whatever your feelings about former President Donald Trump, there are reasons to be sceptical when government officials say it was necessary to raid his Florida home to recover classified documents that threatened national security. Like the former president, I was once accused by the government of mishandling classified information connected to my representation of a detainee at Guantanamo Bay. There was nothing in my client’s file that posed any danger to national security. My client was an innocent shopkeeper who was sold to the Americans back in 2003 when the US was paying bounties to corrupt Afghan warlords to turn in Al Qaeda or Taliban fighters, and then shipping those men 8,000 miles to our newly built prison camp in Cuba. The government decided to classify every document in the detainee files as “secret,” not to protect national security, but so it could lie with impunity and tell the American people that the prisoners at Gitmo were the “worst of the worst,” and “terrorists” captured on the battlefield. I never revealed any classified information. I got into trouble after writing an article criticising the government’s practice of classifying certain evidence above the security clearance level of the detainee’s lawyer, making it impossible to challenge. Following a hearing at the Department of Justice, I was allowed to keep my security clearance long enough to see my client released back to his home and his family after 12 years of unjust imprisonment. I was never in serious legal jeopardy. But the experience opened my eyes to the ways that our government abuses its power to classify information as “secret” to protect its own officials from embarrassment or criminal exposure. Since 9/11, the people most aggressively pursued for mishandling classified materials are whistleblowers, not traitors. Chelsea Manning and Julian Assange revealed official crimes such as the murder of unarmed Iraqi civilians and journalists. Daniel Hale revealed that our drone assassination program regularly slaughters innocent civilians, contrary to public statements about surgical strikes. John Kiriakou revealed inconvenient facts about our torture program. Edward Snowden revealed an illegal mass surveillance program. All these truth-tellers were aggressively pursued under the Espionage Act. Assange may die in prison for telling the truth about the crimes of our leaders. While Trump may not fit the mould of a selfless whistleblower, there is still cause for concern. First, the official justifications for the raid on Mar-a-Lago are highly suspect. Initially we were told that Trump possessed “classified documents relating to nuclear weapons” that he might sell to a foreign government like Saudi Arabia. This shocking accusation has been quietly dropped. Now we are told that the government has “grave concern” that Trump might blow the cover on “clandestine human sources” described in the mainstream media as the “lifeblood” of our intelligence community. “Disclosure could jeopardize the life of the human source,” a former legal adviser to the National Security Council told the New York Times. This second justification—to protect sources—is also dubious. The DOJ has been in negotiation with Trump’s lawyers since he left the oval office with his boxes of documents. If the government was just concerned about protecting its informants, a deal could have easily been struck wherein government lawyers would go to Mar-a-Lago and redact the lines in the documents that identify informants without the need for a full-blown raid. The sudden concern in the mainstream media about protecting informants in order to take down Trump is short-sighted. The US has a long and sordid history of using corrupt, lying informants to launch disastrous policies like the Iraq War. In 2002-03, we were told by Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, and Powell that the government had “solid intelligence” that the Iraqi regime possessed mobile production facilities for biological and chemical weapons. Had ordinary Americans then had access to the intelligence reports—leaked years later, after the disastrous war was in full flight—we would have learned that the “solid intelligence” about mobile weapons labs came from a single informant named “Curveball,” who had been described by his handlers as “crazy” and “probably a fabricator” and his intelligence as “highly suspect.” Had some brave patriot leaked these reports in real time, millions more Americans would have taken to the streets in 2002 to stop the planned invasion of Iraq. The media should be demanding more information from our government, especially about its use of informants, and not more secrecy. It is a basic rule of journalism that governments lie, and they often bribe (and sometimes torture) informants to support those lies. Many innocent men, including my client, were sent to Guantanamo Bay on the word of informants who were bribed with large cash rewards. If these informants are the lifeblood of our intelligence service, then that service should be defunded. A more plausible explanation for the Mar-a-Lago raid was provided by two high-level U.S. intelligence officials who told Newsweek’s William M. Arkin that the true target of the raid was a personal “stash” of hidden documents that Justice Department officials feared Donald Trump might weaponise. This stash reportedly included material that Trump thought would exonerate him of any claims of Russian collusion in 2016 or any other election-related charges. “Trump was particularly interested in matters related to the Russia hoax and the wrong-doings of the deep state,” one former Trump official told Newsweek. This explanation is corroborated by former senior director for counterterrorism, Kash Patel, who prepared a key House report that revealed “significant intelligence tradecraft failings” in connection with the Intelligence Community’s Assessment on Russian interference. But the CIA has blocked the release of Patel’s report by classifying it as “secret.” Kash Patel, who is a current board member of Trump Media and Technology Group (TMTG), began his career in government under President Obama as a national security prosecutor and later held several positions in the Trump administration. In April 2017, he was picked to lead a team of investigators for the House Intelligence Committee, chaired by Republican Devin Nunes (now CEO of TMTG), and tasked with evaluating the “Intelligence Community Assessment” (ICA) on Russian interference. Although the media touted the ICA as the consensus view of all 17 US intelligence agencies, it was in fact a rushed job completed in the final days of the Obama administration by a small group of CIA analysts led by then-CIA Director John Brennan. Patel’s team obtained and reviewed the key documents underlying the ICA’s conclusions, and interviewed around 70 witnesses under oath. His demands that intelligence agencies produce relevant documents caused a stir among deep state officials unaccustomed to being called to account for their actions. As the Washington Post reported, “Democrats criticized the unusual direct requests to the agencies” by Patel’s team of investigators. Patel, a former public defender, apparently believed that even the intelligence community should be subject to the rule of law. In March 2018, Patel’s team produced a report that found serious flaws in the CIA’s Russia investigation and called into question the intelligence community’s key claims that Russia ordered a cyber-hacking and interference campaign to help Trump. The CIA’s response to Patel’s report was to classify it as secret and block its release. During the next three years, Patel and others, including then-President Trump and Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe, pushed for declassification of Patel’s report on the ICA. But the heads of the intelligence agencies continued to obstruct, claiming that releasing the report “would compromise intelligence sources and methods” and cause “harm… to national security, including specific harm to the military.” Trump eventually backed down. Then in December 2020, according to the Post, Trump tried to fire Gina Haspel as CIA director for “resisting efforts by Trump and Patel to declassify” Patel’s report. But once again, Trump backed down and the document still remains under lock and key. Not surprisingly, in its article about Patel’s battle with the intelligence community, the Washington Post sides with the CIA, describing CIA Director Haspel and her colleagues, who demanded that Patel’s report criticizing their work be kept secret, as “courageous officials who sought to protect the government.” Patel has publicly voiced his frustration with the CIA for blocking release of his report on the ICA. “I think there were people within the IC [Intelligence Community], at the heads of certain intelligence agencies, who did not want their tradecraft called out, even though it was during a former administration, because it doesn’t look good on the agency itself,” Patel said in an interview. Patel also said he has been threatened with criminal prosecution just for talking to the media about his classified report. The power of government officials to say, ‘we have classified your report and if you even talk about it to the media we might put you in jail,’ is the power of a despot. In an interview with the Grayzone’s Aaron Maté, Patel disputed the claim that releasing his report harms national security, noting that his committee released similar reports of its other investigations and “we didn’t lose a single source, we didn’t lose a single relationship, and no one died by the public disclosures we made, because we did it in a systematic and professional fashion.” For example, in January 2018, Patel authored a report that s...