Digital Alabama News

Trump News Latest: Vance Slated To ‘kiss Trump’s Ass’ As New Details Of McCarthy’s January 6 Call IV News https://digitalalabamanews.com/trump-news-latest-vance-slated-to-kiss-trumps-ass-as-new-details-of-mccarthys-january-6-call-iv-news/ – Advertisement – Tim Ryan calls JD Vance an ‘ass-magnet’ after Trump remarks Trump-backed Ohio Senate candidate JD Vance was ridiculed by his rival last night for “kissing aces” to gain the support of the former president. – Advertisement – In a televised debate, Vance’s Democratic rival Tim Ryan quoted Trump himself as describing how Vance went about gaining his support. Accusing Mr. Vance of “lack of courage”, Mr. Ryan declared: “I’m from Ohio, I don’t kiss anyone like him ass. Ohio needs a donkey, not an ass-kisser.” – Advertisement – Meanwhile, an excerpt from an upcoming book on the GOP’s support for Trump has revealed new details of House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s infamous call with Trump during the January 6 Capitol attack. According to Politico, when Mr. Trump told Mr. McCarthy that the people who stormed the building were “more upset” than his party about the alleged theft of the election, Mr. McCarthy responded: “More upset? They me. trying to kill! Kinzinger endorses state-level Democratic candidates Adam Kizinger, one of two Republicans sitting on the January 6 select committee, has issued a batch of endorsements — and is backing a list of Democrats. Notably, he is lagging behind nominees for the posts of state and secretary of governance, the two offices that hold the most power in each state to oversee and influence the execution and certification of election results. Among the states in which Mr. Kizinger weighs in is Pennsylvania, whose GOP governor nominee Doug Mastriano attended Donald Trump’s January 6 rally and repeatedly campaigned conspiracy theories about “stealing” the 2020 election. . Andrew Naughty11 October 2022 15:00 Cassidy Hutchinson reportedly testifies in Georgia election investigation The former White House aide, whose blustery testimony gave House committee members a window into former President Donald Trump’s actions on January 6, the day of the Capitol riot, reportedly played a key role in Trump’s push to reverse the 2020 election, based in Georgia. cooperating with criminal investigations. According to CNN, Cassidy Hutchinson, a former assistant to Mark Meadows, is now assisting Fulton County, Georgia, District Attorney Fannie Willis in an ongoing investigation into whether Mr. Trump or his aides began throwing ballots at Peach State officials after becoming Mr. Trump. had violated Georgia election laws by pressing for The first Republican to lose there in decades. Andrew Feinberg has the latest. Former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson reportedly testifies in Georgia election investigation Cassidy Hutchinson Is Reportedly Collaborating With the Office of the Fulton County District Attorney in Georgia Andrew Naughty11 October 2022 14:30 The GOP Is Trying to Weaken Democrats’ Grip on the Texas Border As Democrats begin another October blitz in their quest to flip America’s largest red state, Republicans are taking a swing of their own: making a play for the mostly Hispanic southern border on November 8, which is highly criticized by Democrats. Controlled area is after years of writing. , GOP pushes to weaken Democrats’ grip on Texas border Texas Democrats Are Starting Another October Blitz in a Quest to Overturn America’s Big Red State Andrew Naughty11 October 2022 14:00 The story behind Trump’s claim that Bush Sr. hid documents in a bowling alley Donald Trump accused former President George HW Bush of hiding confidential documents in a “bowling alley” during a rally in Arizona on Sunday. Mr Trump claimed that several former presidents had stored millions of pages of documents in warehouses “with damaged main doors”. The former president said the senior Bush “took millions and millions of documents to a former bowling alley teeming with an old and broken Chinese restaurant”. “They put them together. And the front door was cracked and the windows were broken. Plus it was pretty safe,” Mr. Trump said. Marosha Muzaffar has more. The story behind Trump’s claim that Bush Sr. hid documents in a bowling alley It was in an old bowling alley, that things from Bush’s life – ‘an old fielder’s mitt, the door of a Kuwaiti castle, even a great likeness of Bush’s head from a Republican convention’ – were collected. Went Andrew Naughty11 October 2022 13:30 Report: Trump lawyer now cooperating with DOJ in missing document case The right-wing TV anchor-turned-law for former President Donald Trump, who signed a false certification telling the Justice Department that the former president had turned over all classified documents in his possession, is now cooperating with federal prosecutors in the investigation. are. In Mr Trump. According to NBC News, attorney Christina Bob met with federal investigators and provided information about two other attorneys who had a hand in submitting statements to the government. Andrew Feinberg’s story. Trump’s lawyer cooperating with the Justice Department on missing documents Attorney Christina Bob is reportedly cooperating with prosecutors and met with them on October 7. Andrew Naughty11 October 2022 13:00 The most important races to watch in the midterm elections Election day is less than a month away and the 2022 midterm race is entering its final sprint. Republicans are still hoping that Americans’ frustration with inflation and the economy, as well as rising crime, will ease their worries about Supreme Court Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization reversal weed weed, Conversely, Democrats hope to make abortion a focal point of the election, but also to point to “MAGA Republicans” as a threat to democracy and highlight the January 6 uprising. Here are the most important polls to watch this cycle. The most important mid-term elections of one month from Election Day 2022 Nevada’s Senate race could go either way. Ron DeSantis and Greg Abbott are likely to run for re-election. And John Fetterman Still Leads In Pennsylvania, Writes Eric Garcia Oliver O’Connell11 October 2022 12:30 McCarthy told Trump on January 6 that rioters tried to kill him Politico had earlier dropped a new nugget from an upcoming book, Robert Draper. Weapons of Mass Illusion: When the Republican Party Lost Its MindWhich one? Sees Republican Party’s support for Trump. Notably, the outlet shared a previously unreported line from the now-infamous phonecall Kevin McCarthy made to Donald Trump during the January 6 riots. As explained in this morning’s playbook: A furious exchange took place on January 6, 2021. But Draper added a dramatic and fresh new detail about the House GOP leader’s side of the conversation, one that makes Trump even more outrageous afterward. From page 64 of the chapter titled “The Enabler”: “Well, Kevin,” President Trump told McCarthy by phone shortly before 3 p.m. on January 6, “I think these people are more upset than you are about the election.” “More upset?” McCarthy incredulously nodded back, according to an account he gave a few hours later to a Republican aide. “They’re trying to kill me s***ing!” Andrew Naughty11 October 2022 12:00 Ryan ridicules Vance as “ass-kiss” Representative Tim Ryan threw back former President Donald Trump’s words at his Republican rival J.D. Vance in his debate for Ohio’s open Senate seat on Monday evening. At the end of the debate, Mr Ryan attacked Mr Vance for seeking his support for Mr Trump. During a rally in Youngstown last month, Mr Trump pointed to Vance, whom he has supported, to bow down to him. “JD is kissing my ass, he wants my support,” Trump said at the time. “And that is bad, because it means Jedi Vance is going to do whatever he wants,” Mr. Ryan said. Tim Ryan calls JD Vance an ‘ass-magnet’ after Trump remarks at Ohio Senate debate ‘Ohio needs an ass-kicker, not an ass-kicker,’ says Ryan Andrew Naughty11 October 2022 11:39 Book reveals McCarthy claimed Trump was unaware of January 6 violence House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy told two police officers who were reportedly injured during the January 6 attack on the Capitol that then-President Donald Trump had no idea that a rioting crowd of his supporters would be involved in Joe Biden’s 2020 election. The US legislature was under attack for blocking the certification. Victory. Andrew Feinberg reports independent, McCarthy claims Trump didn’t know about January 6 violence, book reveals A new book by former DC police officer Michael Fanon shows Mr McCarthy undermining Mr Trump’s knowledge of the violence at the Capitol that day. Oliver O’Connell11 October 2022 11:30 Jimmy Kimmel wishes for Trump to go to jail Jimmy Kimmel on Monday called Mr Trump “spam coming to life” for making bizarre claims and spreading bizarre conspiracy theories at his rallies. “Some idiot tells him something, and he goes with it,” said Mr. Kimmel. “The whole point is pumping people up to riot when he inevitably goes to jail,” said Mr. Kimmel, “which I…hold on a second.” Then he pauses his monologue for a moment of prayer. “I’ll save it for tonight.” Alisha Rehman Sarkar11 October 2022 11:00 Read More…

Ski Resort In Saudi Arabia Will Host 2029 Asian Winter Games https://digitalalabamanews.com/ski-resort-in-saudi-arabia-will-host-2029-asian-winter-games/ But how do you make snow in such a place? Published October 11, 2022 10:22AM EDT I am waxing my snowboard in anticipation of jetting off to Trojena in Saudi Arabia and sliding down the roof of a new ski resort designed by Zaha Hadid Architects. I will do this without guilt because His Royal Highness Mohammed bin Salman said in a statement: “Trojena will redefine mountain tourism for the world by creating a place based on the principles of ecotourism, highlighting our efforts to preserve nature and enhance the community’s quality of life, which is aligned with the goals of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030. It also confirms our commitment to be part of the global effort to protect the environment.” Trojema lake and mountain. Neom Trojena is part of Neom, “an aspirational society that heralds the future of human civilization,” and not far from “The Line,” the linear city that I waxed effusive about recently. In addition to the ski resort, Trojena includes a giant lake, a “folded village,” an observatory, and a wildlife preserve. The ski resort has recently been chosen to host the 2029 Asian Winter Games, much to the surprise of the International Olympic Committee, which usually vets such things, and has been pushing to increase the sustainability of sports by reusing existing facilities. An IOC spokesperson tells Reuters: “For the Olympic Games, the IOC made it plain in Olympic Agenda 2020+5 that there is a clear priority for existing venues. If these do not exist, the use of temporary venues is encouraged.” Ski runs at Trojena. Neom But the facility is being designed by Zaha Hadid Architects, led by Patrik Schumacher, who doesn’t believe in reusing ratty old buildings when we can solve climate change through innovation. He told a conference organized by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat that “there is a big danger there because what we can never compromise [on] is growth and prosperity, which gives us the freedom to invest more in research.” Schumacher continued: “We need to allow prosperity and progress to continue, and that will also bring the resources to overcome [the climate crisis] through investment, science, and new technology.” That sounds just like the CEO of Neom, Nadhmi Al-Nasr, who said, “Trojena represents Neom’s values and bold plans as a land where nature and innovative technologies come together to form a unique global experience. This new development is a major contribution to achieving Neom’s long-term ambitions by adhering to the principles of sustainability and utilizing state-of-the-art technology and engineering, across various disciplines, to make Neom an all-round and attractive world-class destination.” Trojena Lake. Neom The water for snowmaking will come from the lake that is “the beating heart of Trojena.” Little skeptics like me might complain about the upfront carbon of all that concrete, but Trojea executive director Philip Gullett explained that it is all being done with the environment in mind: “We’ve got a significant volume of water to get up there, so the supply pipe is a meter in diameter. It’s desalinated water coming from the sea too. The height from the wadi floor to the prow of the bow is something like 150 meters and the Hoover Dam is 170 meters in height – so it’s a big structure. It’s achievable, but what we are planning pushes the boundaries. It’s not that we’re using technology that’s never been tested before. Although it’s on a big scale in a remote area, but the skills do exist to do it. One thing to say is all the excavated material removed carefully from the hillside to form The Vault will be recycled into the dam, so we’re not carting away tons and tons of material. It’s crushed down and used in the dam. So there’s a relationship between the lake, the bow, the dam and The Vault. Things will work in symbiosis.” Neom Treehugger emeritus Karin Kloosterman, the founder of the Green Prophet website that covers sustainability in the Middle East, knows something about the local weather and questions whether this will ever actually work. “The best temperatures for making snow are between -5°C (23°F) and -25°c (-13°F). Too warm, ski resort owners report and their machines are too expensive to run. The ideal conditions are dry and cold. Only for a short window, in January, do temperatures at the proposed Trojena site, dip below 0°C. Trojena advertises its skiing will be open December to March. Wellness season, adventure season and lake season, the rest of the year.” However, other sources note it is the wet-bulb temperature that matters most, and if the air is very dry, the snow guns can work at up to 0 degrees Celsius (32 degrees Fahrenheit), and money is no object here. But there is also the matter of a warming world—by 2029 it may not get down to freezing even in January. Ski Village covered in snow. Neom Kloosterman is also critical of those architects “who claim to be sustainable leaders and are laughing all the way to the bank.” She continued: “It’s reasonable that the prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman, Crown Prince and Chairman of Neom wants what he wants: endless opulence fuelled by oil money to dazzle the west with fake grandeur. The joke is that western architect firms participate in these scandals.” Lloyd Alter on his snowboard at Blue Mountain, Ontario. Emma Alter As for me, I doubt that I will be visiting. I haven’t actually used my snowboard in five years. I concluded that it wasn’t exactly sustainable to drive three hours to get electrically winched up a hill in order to slide down artificial snow. It will be much worse in Trojena. Imagine the footprint of desalinating water, pumping it up to the lake, then cooling it enough to work in snow guns shooting onto what are probably refrigerated slopes. It all seems a bit rich. Read More…

Here Are The Keys To Each Division Series https://digitalalabamanews.com/here-are-the-keys-to-each-division-series/ 12:23 AM UTC With the Wild Card Series over, the playoffs now kick into an even higher gear: The Division Series features eight teams that have what it takes to win it all. There are some surprises, some underdogs, some fascinating subplots … and surely much wildness to come. All four Division Series kick off Tuesday. Here’s a look at the primary storyline to watch for in Game 1 and beyond. Phillies at Braves Ranger Suárez vs. Max Fried 1:07 p.m. ET, FOX Phillies: Do they empty out the pitching tanks already? As much as some of us might have recommended the Phillies to save Aaron Nola for Game 1 of a potential NLDS after winning that odds-defying opener of their Wild Card Series against the Cardinals, the Phillies didn’t: They started Nola, they won Game 2, they’re here and it all worked out. But there isn’t a path to winning this series that doesn’t involve Nola and Zack Wheeler — now only available to start two of these games on full rest, rather than three — winning their starts and then cobbling together another win elsewhere. So in Game 1, you wonder how long the Phillies will stick with Suárez, a perfectly fine pitcher but, you know, not of the caliber of Nola or Wheeler. Converted starter Zach Eflin has surprisingly established himself as a closer late in the season, but you can see him being used earlier in a game like this, particularly if the Phillies have the lead. Might you even see Noah Syndergaard? Either way, the Phillies may start piecing together innings in Game 1 while assuming Wheeler and Nola will give them length later on. Braves: How do all the new guys look this postseason? It has become conventional wisdom that this Braves team is more talented, top to bottom, than the one that won the 2021 World Series. But that team went all the way thanks in large part to some super-clutch hitting by a bunch of people who are, uh, no longer with the club. The Braves’ NLDS Game 1 starting lineup is likely to feature five guys who weren’t in the lineup for the championship clincher last year: Ronald Acuña Jr., Michael Harris II, Matt Olson, Marcell Ozuna and Orlando Arcia. They’re all good players — the first three might even be classified as great — but they weren’t part of that magic last year. And as we all know: October is all about magic. Can they conjure up their own? Mariners at Astros Logan Gilbert vs. Justin Verlander 3:37 p.m. ET, TBS Mariners: Can Julio get it going and carry them? Look, once this series gets to Game 3, that T-Mobile Park crowd is going to have the Mariners soaring. They’ll have all the spark they need and then some come Saturday. But it sure would be helpful to have this series at least tied by then, and a great way to do that would be for Julio Rodríguez to carry Seattle. Most of the Mariners’ offense in the Wild Card Series came from players other than their rookie sensation: He went 1-for-7 and scored a couple of runs. He is the rare sort of talent that can win a game by himself, and now that his back appears to be OK, he has the opportunity to start making the sort of postseason memories for this franchise that could become rather common over the next decade or so. Astros: Will Justin Verlander keep dominating? Verlander has not pitched in a postseason game since the 2019 World Series, and it’s fair to say that a lot has happened since — with him, the Astros, baseball and the world. Verlander, after missing most of the past two seasons, has returned in glorious fashion this year, going 18-4 with a 1.75 ERA and putting himself in position to win his third AL Cy Young Award. He has been particularly excellent down the stretch as well, having not allowed a hit in three of his previous six starts. But this is the postseason, which has been a bit of a headache for Verlander since he won ALCS MVP in ’17, including two semi-rocky starts in that ’19 World Series. Guardians at Yankees Cal Quantrill vs. Gerrit Cole 7:37 p.m. ET, TBS Guardians: Can they score enough runs? So, you only scored three runs in 24 innings of baseball … and you still won both games! The Guardians’ pitching had a lot to do with besting the Rays in the Wild Card Series, obviously, but it’s fair to say that their offense needs to pick it up a bit: A .171/.222/.250 isn’t going to win you many postseason series. Having to face Cole in Game 1 isn’t ideal, but that’s October: You end up coming across a lot of aces. If you’re looking for someone specifically to get it going, how about Andrés Giménez? He went 1-for-8 with six strikeouts against the Rays. He might have quietly been the Guardians’ best player this year, and it’s tough to see how they win this series without him. Yankees: How much do they ride Cole? The Aroldis Chapman situation is more about the headlines than actual utility, because he Yankees weren’t going to have him pitching high-leverage innings this October given his performance this season. But there are some bullpen issues here. Clay Holmes should be back healthy, you’d hope, though we’re still talking about a shoulder problem, which is never good. But you need to value every inning he, Jonathan Loáisiga, Lou Trivino and Scott Effross throw. The good news for the Yankees (and every AL team) is that they get an extra off-day this series, which isn’t just good for the bullpen, it’s good for Cole: He can be back on regular rest for a Game 4, if needed. Padres at Dodgers Mike Clevinger vs. Julio Urías 9:37 p.m. ET, FS1 Padres: Can they slay the Dodgers monster? Whatever one’s thoughts are on the Padres’ moves the last couple of years, you have to admire that they have been this aggressive, particularly with the perpetual dominance of the Dodgers machine. They have never been intimidated by what the Dodgers have built, and they’ve gone right after their division rivals to the north. And now here they are, right in front of them — all they’ve got to do is win three of the next five games. Game 1 might be one of the toughest ones, with Mike Clevinger getting the start before San Diego cycles back to Yu Darvish. Clevinger represents one of the Padres’ many bold moves, but he’s been pretty pedestrian since arriving in from Cleveland in 2020, posting a 4.33 ERA this season after missing 2021 while recovering from Tommy John surgery. That said, he gives the Padres a puncher’s chance, and it sure feels like this series will be won or lost by what Juan Soto and Manny Machado do. They’re the stars. And this is a series full of stars. Dodgers: Do they have to win Game 1? The Dodgers have been the best franchise in baseball for nearly a decade now, but they have only one World Series title to their name during that span, something that earns them a ton of (unfair) skepticism. They won 111 games this year — 111! — and none of those wins will mean a thing if they don’t win this series, or really the whole thing. And there’s reason to worry if they lose Game 1. The Padres have Darvish, Blake Snell and Joe Musgrove looming — all of whom are as hot right now as any Dodgers pitcher — which makes the opportunity they have in Game 1 a tough one to miss out on. The Dodgers worked hard to earn the advantage that winning 111 games gives you in the postseason. And if they lose Game 1, that advantage is instantly gone. Read More…

Nissan Takes $687 Mln Loss As Sells Russian Business For 1 Euro https://digitalalabamanews.com/nissan-takes-687-mln-loss-as-sells-russian-business-for-1-euro/ Cars are parked near an automobile assembly plant of the Japanese carmaker Nissan in Saint Petersburg, Russia, October 11, 2022. REUTERS/Igor Russak Sale to Russian state-owned entity NAMI Nissan has right to buy back business within six years Renault sees 331 mln euro hit to H2 net income from move TOKYO, Oct 11 (Reuters) – Nissan Motor Co Ltd (7201.T) will hand over its business in Russia to a state-owned entity for 1 euro ($0.97), it said on Tuesday, taking a loss of around $687 million in the latest costly exit from the country by a global company. The Japanese automaker transfer its shares in Nissan Manufacturing Russia LLC to state-owned NAMI, it said. The deal will give Nissan the right to buy back the business within six years, Russia’s industry and trade ministry said. The deal makes Nissan the latest major company to leave Russia since Moscow sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine in February. It also mirrors a move by Nissan’s top shareholder, French automaker Renault (RENA.PA), which sold its majority stake in Russian carmaker Avtovaz (AVAZI_p.MM) to a Russian investor in May. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com The sale to NAMI will include Nissan’s production and research facilities in St Petersburg as well as its sales and marketing centre in Moscow, the ministry said. Nissan said it expected an extraordinary loss of around 100 billion yen ($687 million), but maintained its earnings forecast for the financial year ending in March. Renault, which owns 43% of Nissan, estimated the decision by its Japanese partner would lead to a 331 million euro hit to its net income for the second half of 2022. Nissan had suspended production at its St. Petersburg plant in March due to supply chain disruptions. Since then, the company and its local unit had been monitoring the situation, it said. But there was “no visibility” of a change to the external environment, Nissan said, prompting it to decide to exit. Junior alliance partner Mitsubishi Motors Corp (7211.T) is also considering exiting Russia, the Nikkei newspaper said. A spokesperson for Mitsubishi said nothing had been decided. The exit comes as Nissan has embarked on a major shift in its relationship with Renault. The two said on Monday they were in talks about the future of their alliance, including Nissan considering investing in a new electric vehicle venture by Renault. Those talks, which could prompt the biggest reset in the alliance since the 2018 arrest of long-time executive Carlos Ghosn, have also included the possibility of Renault selling some of its controlling stake in Nissan, two people with knowledge of the talks have told Reuters. Renault reportedly sold its stake in Avtovaz for one rouble ($0.02). The Nissan deal was “of great significance for the industry,” Russia’s Industry and Trade Minister Denis Manturov said in a statement. ($1 = 145.6200 yen) ($1 = 63.8500 roubles) Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Reporting by Gleb Stolyarov, Caleb Davis and Satoshi Sugiyama; Writing by Alexander Marrow and David Dolan; Editing by Louise Heavens and Mark Potter Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. Read More…

Milo’s Opening New Location In Clanton, With Peach Pie https://digitalalabamanews.com/milos-opening-new-location-in-clanton-with-peach-pie/ Business Published: Oct. 11, 2022, 9:16 a.m. Milo’s Hamburgers has 20 locations throughout Alabama — primarily in the Birmingham metro area, but also in Cullman, Decatur, Jasper, Montgomery, Prattville and Tuscaloosa. (Photo courtesy of Milo’s Hamburgers) Milo’s Hamburgers will open its newest location in Clanton on Thursday. It’s the Alabama burger chain’s 24th location, located just off Interstate 65 at exit 205. And given Clanton’s reputation as Alabama’s stop for peaches, Milo’s will debut a scratch-made peach pie unique to its Clanton menu. Milo’s CEO Tom Dekle said the company tested the Clanton market with its popular “Burger Bus” over the last year. “Our goal is to localize each store opening as much as possible and provide a ‘little something extra’ – whether giving back to the local community or customizing specific menu items,” Dekle said. Earlier this year, Milo’s opened in Sylacauga. The chain also announced it plans to open a new downtown Birmingham location early next year. Milo’s will occupy a 3,200 square-foot-space at 20 Midtown on 20th Street South in the building across from Publix, with indoor and outdoor seating and a drive-thru. For its grand opening week in Clanton, Milo’s will offer specials to the first 100 customers during its first three days of business. On Thursday, the first 100 customers will receive a bottle of Milo’s signature sauce and a coupon for a free cheeseburger. The first 100 customers on Friday will receive a Milo’s hat and a coupon for a free crispy chicken sandwich. The prizes Saturday are a Milo’s Tervis tumbler and a coupon for a free peach pie. During Milo’s first week of business in Clanton, the burger chain will donate 20 percent of all kids’ meals to support Butterfly Bridge Children’s Advocacy Center, a Clanton-based nonprofit organization for child victims of abuse or neglect. If you purchase a product or register for an account through one of the links on our site, we may receive compensation. Read More…

Russian Military ‘exhausted,’ Putin’s Judgment ‘flawed,’ U.K. Spy Chief Says https://digitalalabamanews.com/russian-military-exhausted-putins-judgment-flawed-u-k-spy-chief-says/ LONDON — The United Kingdom’s top spy chief warned in a rare public speech Tuesday that Russian forces in Ukraine are overstretched and “exhausted” — and that President Vladimir Putin is committing “strategic errors in judgment.” The assessment from Jeremy Fleming, head of the secretive GCHQ, Britain’s intelligence, cyber and security agency, comes after Putin drafted reservists to bolster his war effort and claimed a “massive strike” across Ukraine this week. The missile attacks hit energy facilities and civilian infrastructure across the country, including in the heart of Kyiv, in retaliation for a weekend explosion on Russia’s strategic Crimean Bridge. “Russia’s forces are exhausted. The use of prisoners to reinforce, and now the mobilization of tens of thousands of inexperienced conscripts, speaks of a desperate situation,” Fleming said in an address to the Royal United Services Institute think tank in London. “Far from the inevitable Russian military victory that their propaganda machine spouted, it’s clear that Ukraine’s courageous action on the battlefield and in cyberspace is turning the tide,” Fleming added. Ukraine’s military has launched successful counteroffensives with the help of Western weapons, recapturing swaths of land previously held by Russian forces. Putin’s “decision-making has proved flawed,” Fleming said, and he has “little effective internal challenge” from Russia’s military and political elite. “We know — and Russian commanders on the ground know — that their supplies and munitions are running out,” he said. Britain’s Defense Ministry has become a daily source of information since Russia invaded its neighbor in February, churning out frequent bite-sized updates on social media analyzing Moscow’s military strategy and war effort. The move to be more transparent with intelligence follows a strategically unusual decision by Western intelligence agencies, including the U.S. intelligence community, to publicly share information about Putin’s plans — although it ultimately was not enough to deter the invasion. By speaking out, Fleming told the BBC in an interview early Tuesday, his agency hopes to “illuminate the threat” and encourage public trust. He cautioned that the United Kingdom is not writing off the threat from Russia. The last 24 hours have proved Moscow still has a “very capable military machine,” he said, referring to the strikes on dozens of Ukrainian cities Monday. However, he added, Russia is running low on munitions and troops, and “it’s certainly running short of friends.” Putin last month announced a partial military mobilization of as many as 300,000 reservists for what he still terms Russia’s “special military operation” in Ukraine. The decision sparked public panic, sending thousands of eligible men fleeing to borders and scrambling for flights to avoid being called up for deployment to the front lines. Russians are “seeing just how badly Putin has misjudged the situation,” Fleming said. “They’re fleeing the draft, realizing they can no longer travel. They know their access to modern technologies and external influences will be drastically restricted. And they are feeling the extent of the dreadful human cost of his war of choice.” A little more than a month after the war started, Fleming warned that Russian soldiers were low on morale and weapons and had, at times, refused orders and sabotaged their own equipment — painting a picture of chaos on Russia’s front lines even then. Following this weekend’s attack on the Crimean Bridge, Moscow retaliated Monday by launching a wave of strikes that targeted parks, playgrounds and downtown areas far from the front lines, sparking outrage and killing at least 19 people, according to Ukrainian authorities. Yet the strikes were cheered by backers of Putin. Viktor Bondarev, head of the foreign affairs committee of Russia’s upper house of parliament, called Monday’s strikes the beginning of “a new phase” and promised more “resolute” action to come. Fleming also warned that Russia’s threats to use nuclear weapons to reverse its losses in Ukraine are “very dangerous” and could lead to a “catastrophe.” However, he stressed, so far there have been no indicators of their deployment, and Putin has been “staying within the doctrine of their use.” This is consistent with the views of U.S. officials, who say they think it unlikely that Putin will carry out his threats. President Biden nevertheless warned last week that Putin was “not joking” and called his nuclear threats the most serious “prospect of Armageddon” in 60 years. The United Kingdom has three main intelligence services: MI6, the foreign intelligence service, popularized by the fictional spies James Bond and George Smiley; MI5, the domestic agency; and Government Communications Headquarters, known as GCHQ, the eavesdropping service. The entire intelligence community is famously secretive. Fleming also spoke more broadly on global threats to security on Tuesday, singling out China’s bid to spread its influence through science and technology. Saying this could be a “sliding doors moment in history,” Fleming accused China’s ruling Communist Party of seeking to create “client economies and governments.” He said China aims to bring countries into its sphere of influence by encouraging them to buy Chinese tech and incur what he called “hidden costs.” Read More…

Trump Records Lawyer Meets With FBI In Mar-A-Lago Probe https://digitalalabamanews.com/trump-records-lawyer-meets-with-fbi-in-mar-a-lago-probe/ WASHINGTON (AP) — A lawyer for former president Donald Trump who signed a letter stating that a “diligent search” for classified records had been conducted and that all such documents had been given back to the government has spoken with the FBI, according to a person familiar with the matter. Christina Bobb told federal investigators during Friday’s interview that she had not drafted the letter but that another Trump lawyer who she said actually prepared it had asked her to sign it in her role as a designated custodian for Trump’s records, said the person, who insisted on anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation. The process is of interest to investigators because the Justice Department says the letter was untrue in asserting that all classified records sought by the government had been located and returned. Though the letter, and 38 documents bearing classification markings, were presented to FBI and Justice Department officials during a June 3 visit to Mar-a-Lago, agents returned to the Florida estate with a search warrant on Aug. 8 and seized about 100 additional classified records. According to a court filing last month, the signed certification letter presented to investigators who went to Mar-a-Lago on June 3 to recover classified material after earlier issuing a subpoena for them said that “a diligent search was conducted of the boxes that were moved from the White House to Florida” and that “any and all responsive documents accompany this certification.” The letter also included the caveat that the statements in it were true “based upon the information that has been provided to me.” At the time, the FBI was presented with an envelope containing 38 documents with classification markings, including at the top-secret level. But agents began to suspect that they had not received the entire stash of records, and returned two months later with a warrant. Bobb told the FBI that the letter was actually drafted and prepared by another of Trump’s lawyers, M. Evan Corcoran, and that he had asked her to sign it in her capacity as custodian, according to the person. Corcoran did not immediately return an email and phone message on Tuesday. Spokespeople for the FBI and Justice Department declined to comment, and Bobb did not immediately return a phone message seeking comment. The interview was first reported by NBC News. The person familiar with it said it was a voluntary discussion with investigators and did not take place before a grand jury, and that she is not regarded as a target of the investigation. The Justice Department has said that, beyond investigating possible crimes in the retention of the documents themselves, it is also investigating whether anyone sought to obstruct its probe. It is not clear if anyone will be charged. _____ Follow Eric Tucker on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/etuckerAP Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. Read More…

Hungary’s Orban Says Trump Is The ‘hope For Peace’ In Ukraine https://digitalalabamanews.com/hungarys-orban-says-trump-is-the-hope-for-peace-in-ukraine/ BERLIN — Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban on Tuesday accused the United States of perpetuating the war in Ukraine by providing it with weapons and said there should be U.S.-Russian negotiations to bring about a cease-fire. “The Ukrainians have endless resources because they get all that from the Americans,” Orban said at an event hosted by Germany’s Cicero magazine and the daily Berliner Zeitung during a visit to the German capital. President Biden, he said, had gone “too far” by saying that Russian President Vladimir Putin should not remain in power. “Hope for peace is named Donald Trump,” said the right-wing populist leader, a longtime ally of the former U.S. president. Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, Orban has been balancing his pro-Putin sympathies with being a member of the European Union. Hungary, also a member of NATO, has backed the bloc’s sanctions packages against Moscow and agreed on measures to reduce corruption as it risks losing of billions of dollars in funding from Brussels over concerns about its slide toward autocracy. Also on Tuesday, Hungarian President Katalin Novak, who is from the same party as Orban, joined his eastern European counterparts in condemning Putin’s bombardment of Ukrainian cities the day before. Orban has blamed the E.U. sanctions packages against Russia for surging energy prices and faltering economies. He repeated that European sanctions were a “catastrophe” on Tuesday. A day earlier, as Orban met with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Berlin, the Hungarian government announced that it had agreed to build a pipeline to supply Serbia with Russian oil. Unusually, there was no scheduled news conference for the two leaders following their meeting on Monday. During his visit, Orban also met with former German chancellor Angela Merkel. If Merkel was in power in Germany “we would not have a Ukraine war,” Orban said during the panel. There should be U.S.-Russian cease-fire talks, he said, because “anyone who thinks that this war will be concluded through Russian-Ukrainian negotiations is not living in this world.” Orban has won fans among U.S. Republicans for his positions against immigration, liberals and so-called fake news and spoke at CPAC in Dallas in August. He has attempted to present the two countries as a united front in a battle against progressives. “After my first day on Twitter, there’s one question on my mind. Where is my good friend, @realDonaldTrump?” Orban tweeted on Tuesday after joining the social networking platform. Read More…

SHARING THE SAME GOAL WITH FORMER PRESIDENT TRUMP https://digitalalabamanews.com/sharing-the-same-goal-with-former-president-trump/ The Strength of the Nation Author Luisa Plancher releases a book that will help the USA achieve greatness, once again. YORBA LINDA, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, October 11, 2022 /EINPresswire.com/ — “The Strength of the Nation” was written for former President Trump in the United States of America. And, since now we have President Biden, Luisa has added a section addressed to him. The objective of The Strength of the Nation is not only to make America great, but also to make all nations great, including Israel and the countries of the Middle East. There are also sections addressed to Russia, Iran, Syria, North Korea, China, and the Leaders of Central and South America Regarding the Middle East, the author is convinced that, as soon as the USA becomes great and strong again by uniting people from all nations into a workable Prototype of the Kingdom of God, Israel will repent for having killed Jesus, and will not only qualify to become the Leader of God’s Kingdom on Earth but, the Jewish People will also reconcile with the Arabs. That’s how we will have Peace in the Middle East. This book offers readers a glimpse into the author’s opinions on how to think like the ancient prophets. Nations that exchange knowledge can comprehend that it comes from a higher spiritual source. The book will pique the curiosity of readers who are fascinated by politics. People will learn historical details and data that can teach them how to succeed where others have failed by creating a great nation. The purpose of this is to persuade readers to behave as better citizens in order to save their nation. After getting married to an American citizen, Italian school teacher Luisa Mirella Plancher immigrated to the USA in 1970. The author’s success in obtaining a degree in political science and having a successful career in social work can be attributed to her lifelong interest in governmental matters. She and former President Donald Trump have been sharing the same goal to make America great again ever since he took office. Plancher has seen several tragic occurrences in the USA, which have made her believe that even ethical politics cannot provide a remedy. She hopes to be successful in this attempt by publishing The Strength of the Nation to educate every citizen for the sake of the United States of America, and all nations in the world. Read more about The Strength of the Nation by purchasing her book on Amazon, Barnes and Nobles, and other leading digital bookstores worldwide! About Inks & Bindings: Launching brilliant stars into the spotlight! Inks & Bindings is set to broaden horizons, revamp to perfection, and produce a masterpiece through the power of books. Inks and Bindings is a premier self-publishing company located at the heart of the Golden State. Aptly based where fashion, entertainment, and culture thrive, the team goes all out in bringing independent authors into the sweet California spotlight. JORELOU GABATO Inks & Bindings +1 (714) 352-4422 email us here Visit us on social media: Facebook Twitter Other You just read: EIN Presswire’s priority is source transparency. We do not allow opaque clients, and our editors try to be careful about weeding out false and misleading content. As a user, if you see something we have missed, please do bring it to our attention. Your help is welcome. EIN Presswire, Everyone’s Internet News Presswire, tries to define some of the boundaries that are reasonable in today’s world. Please see our Editorial Guidelines for more information. Submit your press release Read More…

Opinion | Attack Of GreeneTrack Missed Key Facts https://digitalalabamanews.com/opinion-attack-of-greenetrack-missed-key-facts/ The first step to solving any problem, particularly complicated ones, is understanding the problem that you’re trying to solve.  Conservative columnist Cameron Smith, whose columns appear at al.com, missed that step on Monday when he attempted in a column to vilify a lawful Alabama business owner who has, as far as I can tell, done everything possible to operate within the law.  What Smith did instead – and quite unintentionally – is prove without question that Alabama’s gambling laws are confusing, nonsensical and counterproductive.  In the column, Smith goes after GreeneTrack and its CEO Nat Winn for having the gall to reopen with electronic bingo machines despite the fact that the casino was shut down by the Alabama Supreme Court.  A couple of small problems here.  First, GreeneTrack wasn’t ordered closed by anyone. It voluntarily closed after an unfavorable tax ruling by the ALSC left it paying a 120-percent tax rate. (You’d think an anti-tax Republican would be ranting and raving every day about such a thing.) Second, and most importantly: GreeneTrack is not operating electronic bingo machines. At all.  Instead, Winn made the costly decision to replace every electronic bingo machine with historical horse racing machines – machines that operate using outcomes from previously held horse races. The Alabama Attorney General’s Office has twice issued opinions stating those machines are legal at dog tracks licensed to offer pari-mutuel wagering, which GreeneTrack is.  And on the issue of those back taxes, Winn told APR that he is also in the process of working out a plan with the Alabama Department of Revenue to repay any back taxes the race track owes. “We’re going to follow the law, and we’re going to be legal at GreeneTrack,” Winn said. Reading Smith’s column, however, you’d think Nat Winn was a rogue villain, defying the white-hatted lawmen and challenging them to a showdown at high noon.  Which is the goal of the anti-gambling right – to paint every casino owner as a modern-day crook and swindler, tricking trusting citizens out of their hard-earned dollars.  In reality, it’s 2022. We all know how casinos and gambling work.  GreeneTrack is a business. Same as VictoryLand, the Birmingham Race Course, the Mobile Greyhound Park and all three of the Poarch Creek Indians’ Wind Creek facilities. They’re no different than Alabama or Auburn football games, comedy clubs or movie theaters – they all sell entertainment to a willing audience.  The only difference is that our highest court, for purely political reasons, has attempted to undermine the Alabama Constitution, the Alabama Legislature and the will of the voters to prevent some of the casinos from offering some forms of entertainment. And in the process, a lot of the people involved in Alabama’s gambling mess have successfully muddied the waters to the point that the average person has no idea what’s going on. Which is very much the goal.  Because in such confusion, lies can flourish. And even columnists can get confused about the actual facts.  The reality is this: Electronic bingo is accepted as a form of bingo by federal authorities who regulate gaming on Native American lands. Other states also recognize it as a form of bingo.  As such, the Legislature, in the early 2000s, passed three constitutional amendments allowing for bingo in three counties – Lowndes, Greene and Macon. In all three cases, the debate was solely over electronic, “vegas-style” bingo games.  Following the amendments being passed, they were then approved by the voters of those counties. In each case, overwhelmingly so. And again, the debates leading up to the votes were over electronic games. Media ads from the time, along with flyers and signs, prove this to be undeniably true.  After all of that, however, the ALSC came along and determined that the games weren’t legal, because the justices had conjured up a “test” to define bingo. This occurred seven years after the casinos began operating the games, and more than a decade after the federal government approved electronic bingo games.  This is like a county approving liquor sales, and then a year later the ALSC determining that the definition of liquor is basically milk and nothing else. It’s absurd.  And to prove the absurdity, I’ll note that the AG’s office has determined that electronic horse racing is legal.  Making the issue even more confusing, the constitutional amendments for all three counties state that the county sheriffs are the constitutional officers charged with ensuring that the games meet certain guidelines for operation. In all three counties, the sheriffs have examined the machines in use and determined that they are legal. (It should be noted that the sheriffs actually inspect the machines and routinely deny the use of certain machines. Additionally, not a single circuit court has ever ruled against VictoryLand or GreeneTrack.) This process was good enough for former Gov. Robert Bentley, who issued an executive order that essentially eliminated the AG’s office from oversight of gambling operations at the dog track. Bentley gave all the oversight duties to the local sheriffs.  Gov. Kay Ivey has since stated that Bentley’s order on the matter remains in place.  Where does that leave us?  Who knows?  But one thing is for certain: these casinos, such as GreeneTrack, aren’t purposefully violating laws. In fact, in most cases, they’ve gone out of their way to remain in compliance.  And so, while it is certainly easy to be confused by Alabama’s convoluted gaming landscape, at least learn the problem before throwing stones at the legal businessmen who are forced to deal with it every day.  Read More…

Cathren Ayers Bonds https://digitalalabamanews.com/cathren-ayers-bonds/ Cathren Ayers Bonds was born on February 2, 1937, and passed away on October 7, 2022.  She was one of five children born to Granville Lee and Laura Lucille (Barron) Ayers on Feb. 2, 1937, in Chavies, AL.  Her family moved to Chattanooga, where she attended school and married Ben Bullock. To that union, they had one daughter, whom she referred to as her “masterpiece.”  She was preceded in death by her parents, Lee and Lucille Ayers, brother Ruel Ayers, nephew Mitchell Ayers, sister-in-law Peggy Ayers, Ben Bullock, and Austin Russell Bonds. Survivors include her daughter, Sherrill (Dennis) Altice of Decatur, AL. Two grandsons, Scott (Mina) Altice of Huntsville, AL and Adam Altice of Tampa, FL. One great-grandson, Cassidy Altice of Miami, FL. Two brothers Tommy Ayers and Charles (Alicia) Ayers and one sister, Debra (Jack) Love.  Nephews and Nieces: Matt (Jennifer) Ayers, David Ayers, Ruel Jr (Maryellen) Ayers, Alanna (Kelly) Callahan, Lisa Underwood and Angie (Jim) Tucker. Special friend, Micki Shumate of Chattanooga, TN. Her family is eternally grateful for the angels God sent to help care for her, Sheri Swoopes-Nash, Ramona Emerson and Mallory Johns. We also, appreciate her many friends and caregivers who gave their love and support. From humble beginnings, Cathren’s currency in life was love. She made time for people by lending a hand or sharing a story to better someone’s day.  She enjoyed life and was known for loving her family and friends to the fullest. She loved God, enjoyed studying the Bible, and was always willing to share her faith with others. She was an animal advocate and adopted many fur babies. Among her favorites were Will, Claudia, Pretty Girl, and Sheba. She was a giver, loved to laugh, and brought excitement and wonderment to those around her. In her younger years, she loved to dance and would light up a dance floor or bring a sparkle to any room she entered.  Cathren enjoyed many hobbies and shared her knowledge with enthusiasm. From Astrology to Poetry, Cathren had the heart and soul of an artist and loved to be creative. She was an avid reader and would escape for hours inside her world of books. In her early years, she fostered babies, and this was one of her most rewarding experiences.  She retired from Provident Life Insurance Company as an underwriter. Then, went on to teach Astrology classes at Chattanooga State Community College. After her retirement, she enjoyed being a caregiver for Hospice.   Visitation and a celebration of her life will be held on Saturday, Oct. 15, from 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m. at Chattanooga Funeral Home, 5401 Highway 153, Hixson, Tn. 37343.  Her final resting place service will be at 1:00 pm at Chattanooga Memorial Park (Duck Pond), 501 Memorial Drive, Chattanooga, Tn. 37415. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorials be made to:  – Hospice of North Alabama: 2457 Mall Road, Florence, AL.  35630 – Decatur Animal Shelter: 300 Beltline Road, SW, Unit A, Decatur, AL. 35601 – First Baptist Church of Decatur: 123 Church Street, NE, Decatur, AL. 35601 Arrangements are entrusted to Chattanooga Funeral Home and Hamilton Memorial Gardens, 5401 Highway 153, Chattanooga, Tn. 37343. Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.chattanooganorthchapel.com. Read More…

Post Politics Now: Biden Seeks To Make His Party’s Case In Prime-Time TV Interview https://digitalalabamanews.com/post-politics-now-biden-seeks-to-make-his-partys-case-in-prime-time-tv-interview/ Today, with the midterm elections only four weeks off, President Biden will seek to make his party’s case in a sit-down interview airing in prime time on CNN. The conversation with the network’s Jake Tapper offers Biden an opportunity to discuss the economy, abortion rights and other issues at top of mind for voters. Biden gives such interviews infrequently. Earlier, Biden is scheduled to participate in a virtual meeting of the Group of Seven nations — Britain, Germany, France, Japan, Italy, Canada and the United States — to discuss Russia’s latest aggressions and to renew support for Ukraine. The meeting comes at a critical point as Russian President Vladimir Putin attempts to escalate the conflict in Ukraine. Your daily dashboard 8 a.m. Eastern: Biden and other G-7 leaders hold a virtual meeting to discuss support for Ukraine. 1:15 p.m. Eastern: White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre briefs reporters. Watch live here. 2:30 p.m. Eastern: Biden delivers virtual remarks at the Summit on Fire Prevention and Control. Watch live here. 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. The latest: Ads try to help Abrams with undecided Black male voters Return to menu In an effort to boost support for Democratic gubernatorial nominee Stacey Abrams, People for the American Way is launching a new plan focused on undecided Black male voters in Georgia. The group is beginning a radio ad on Tuesday that starts with an extraordinary admission. “Look, I know she’s not your favorite,” one man says to the other in the spot, referring to Abrams. “But Brian Kemp? You gotta watch what he does, not just what he says.” Kemp, Georgia’s Republican governor, is campaigning for a second term as polls show he has an edge in the race. And polls show that Abrams, who is African American, is underperforming with Black men. Take a look: Son’s accusations about Herschel Walker are focus of new ad Return to menu A national Democratic group announced a new television ad Tuesday that features recent criticism that Republican Georgia Senate candidate Herschel Walker’s son leveled last week against his father. Georgia Honor, a group funded by the Senate Majority PAC, which is affiliated with Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), quotes a recent social media statement by Christian Walker, Herschel’s son, along with news coverage of the public family fallout. The ad was first reported by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The latest: Republican Kinzinger endorses Democrats in key races Return to menu Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.), a fierce critic of former president Donald Trump, is out with a list of a dozen candidates endorsed by his leadership PAC, Country First. Half of them are Democrats. Kinzinger, who opted not to seek reelection this year himself, endorsed four Democratic secretary of state candidates: incumbents Steve Simon in Minnesota and Jocelyn Benson in Michigan; and Adrian Fontes in Arizona and Cisco Aguilar in Nevada, both of whom are seeking open seats. The winners of these races will play a big role in administering elections in their states. Analysis: Biden faces new tests on Ukraine Return to menu The war in Ukraine is at a critical inflection point as Russian President Vladimir Putin attempts to escalate the conflict despite a hampered military, with Ukraine’s allies skittish about high energy prices ahead of winter and the United Nations set to vote on a draft resolution condemning Russia. Writing in The Early 202, The Post’s Theodoric Meyer and Leigh Ann Caldwell say that President Biden will attend a virtual meeting of the Group of Seven — Britain, Germany, France, Japan, Italy, Canada and the United States — Tuesday to discuss Russia’s latest aggressions and to renew support for Ukraine. Per our colleagues: On our radar: Biden to sit for prime-time interview with CNN Return to menu President Biden plans to sit for a one-on-one interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper that is scheduled to air Tuesday night in prime time. Biden, who grants such interviews infrequently, is expected to make his party’s case ahead of the November midterms, which are now just four weeks off. CNN plans to air the interview at 9 p.m. Eastern time. Biden has previously taken part in CNN-hosted town halls but has not granted the network a one-on-one interview. His most recent such interview aired last month on CBS’s “60 Minutes.” Noted: ‘Nobody should have to go to jail for smoking weed,’ Harris says Return to menu Vice President Harris on Monday urged both governors and Congress to take action in the wake of President Biden’s announcement last week that he is offering mass pardons to people convicted of a federal crime for simply possessing marijuana. “Nobody should have to go to jail for smoking weed, right?” Harris said during an appearance on NBC’s “Late Night with Seth Meyers.” Harris, a former prosecutor, reiterated Biden’s plea to governors to take similar actions at the state level, where the vast majority of marijuana-related convictions take place. On our radar: Abortion rights advocates eye ballot measures for 2024 Return to menu Abortion rights advocates are exploring ballot measures to enshrine access to the procedure in state constitutions in 2024, including in a handful of Republican-led states with restrictions on the books. The Post’s Rachel Roubein reports that the effort represents an emerging strategy for abortion rights advocates and a growing belief that public opinion is on their side. After the Supreme Court overturned the decision granting a constitutional right to abortion, activists know that appealing directly to voters is one of the only ways to counteract bans in conservative states and reshape access in a post-Roe America. Per Rachel: Noted: How Trump’s legal expenses consumed GOP donor money Return to menu Donald Trump’s political operation has spent more money since he left office on lawyers representing him and a pair of nonprofits staffed by former Cabinet members than it has on Republican congressional campaigns, according to a review of financial filings. The Post’s Isaac Stanley-Becker and Josh Dawsey report that Trump’s leadership PAC, Save America, has blitzed supporters in recent days with fundraising solicitations that focus on next month’s high-stakes contest for control of Congress. “It is IMPERATIVE that we win BIG in November,” blared an email last week. The latest: Ohio Senate candidates play to center in debate Return to menu Both of Ohio’s Senate candidates played to the center Monday at their first debate, attempting to define themselves as the common-sense alternative to ideologically extreme opponents. Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan (R) praised the trade and military funding policies of former president Donald Trump, while saying President Biden should not run again and Vice President Harris was “absolutely wrong” when she said the southern border was secure. He cast Republican J.D. Vance as an “extremist” supplicant to Trump. Noted: New book details how McCarthy came to support Trump after Jan. 6 Return to menu A new book details a Republican-wide campaign to whitewash the details of what happened on Jan. 6, 2021, in the aftermath of the second impeachment of President Donald Trump, including the role played by House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.). The Post’s Marianna Sotomayor reports on the book, “Unchecked: The Untold Story Behind Congress’s Botched Impeachments of Donald Trump,” by Washington Post reporter Karoun Demirjian and Politico reporter Rachael Bade. A copy was obtained by The Post ahead of its release next week. The latest: Biden scrambles to avert cracks in pro-Ukraine coalition Return to menu President Biden is pushing hard to hold together what has become a central mission of his presidency: maintaining the global and domestic coalition supporting Ukraine against Russia’s aggression. The Post’s Yasmeen Abutaleb and John Hudson report that as the war heads into its first winter, probably a bitter and brutal one, some U.S. allies face economic head winds propelled by the war, while at home some Republicans voice skepticism about the billions in aid going to Ukraine. Per our colleagues: These efforts face a major test Wednesday when the United Nations votes on a draft resolution condemning Russia’s annexation of four parts of Ukraine. Biden and U.S. officials have been working to convince nonaligned countries in Latin America, Asia and Africa to refrain from taking a neutral position and condemn the Kremlin outright, an effort analysts said might be bolstered by Russia’s barrage of missile attacks Monday on Kyiv and other major Ukrainian cities. U.S. leaders are hoping at least 100 of the 193 U.N. member states — the number that supported a 2014 U.N. resolution condemning Russia’s annexation of Crimea — will support the draft resolution, several senior administration officials said. You can read the full story here. Read More…

Four Takeaways From Ohio's US Senate Debate – ABC17NEWS https://digitalalabamanews.com/four-takeaways-from-ohios-us-senate-debate-abc17news/ By Dan Merica, CNN The debate between Democrat Tim Ryan and Republican J.D. Vance in Ohio’s closer-than-expected Senate contest began with a testy exchange on the economy and quickly devolved from there into a contentious — and at times personal — clash. This race was not a contest Republicans believed would require as much money and attention as it has, given the Republican tilt of the state, which former President Donald Trump comfortably carried twice. Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales rates the seat “Lean Republican,” while top-tier Senate campaigns in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Georgia, and Nevada are all still seen as more competitive. Still, Ryan’s bid to replace retiring Republican Sen. Rob Portman has proven a strong match for an underfunded GOP nominee that Trump pulled through the primary. Monday night’s acrimony highlighted the urgency of the moment for both candidates. For Ryan, millions in ads will be spent against the congressman in the coming weeks, testing the so far relatively resilient Democratic campaign in a state that’s trending red. For Vance, the Republican has found his footing after a tough summer, leaning on the natural political lean of the state by accusing his Democratic opponent of faking his moderate bona fides. In a debate where neither candidate was afraid to directly go after his opponent — Ryan called Vance an “ass kisser,” while Vance compared Ryan to a toddler — it was clear both candidates felt they had ground to make up in the race with less than four weeks to go until Election Day. Here are four takeaways from Ohio’s first Senate debate: Abortion was a flash point Abortion has come to shape political campaigns across the country in the wake of the Supreme Court overturning national abortion protections, and the Ohio Senate contest has been no different. Ryan sought to cast himself as the moderate on the issue in Monday’s debate, saying he backed “going back to Roe v. Wade” and arguing for “some moderation on this issue.” He then turned the issue on Republicans, calling efforts to pass stricter abortion laws “the largest government overreach in the history of our lifetime.” Vance, who said he was “pro-life” but “always believed in reasonable exceptions,” responded by delivering one of his most scathing lines of the night, seemingly blaming Ryan for the rape of the 10-year-old Ohio girl who sought an abortion in neighboring Indiana by noting she was allegedly raped by an undocumented immigrant and that Ryan had voted against border wall funding. “If you had done your job, she would have never been raped in the first place,” Vance said, turning to Ryan. “Do your job on border security, don’t lecture me about opinions I don’t actually have.” Later in the debate, Ryan said he supported walls along the US-Mexico border where it made sense but not one wall from “sea to shining sea.” Ryan seeks distance from Democratic Party As he has done on the campaign trail and in paid ads, Ryan sought throughout the debate to tout his independent bona fides, noting how he broke from his own party and at times backed Trump on trade. “I think everybody is to blame,” Ryan said when asked if President Joe Biden is to blame for rising inflation. “Kamala Harris is absolutely wrong on that,” he added when asked if the vice president was correct when she said the border was secure. Ryan then used this argument to hammer his opponent, arguing that he “can’t stand up to anyone” because even after Trump said at a recent campaign rally that Vance was “kissing my ass” to get him to campaign for him, the Republican nominee didn’t stand up to the former President after he took his “dignity from him.” “He was called an ass kisser by the former President,” Ryan said, adding later, “Ohio needs an ass kicker, not an ass kisser.” Vance went with a timely response. After noting Halloween is close, he added, “Tim Ryan has put on a costume where he pretends to be reasonable moderate.” And the Republican did little to distance himself from Trump, his party’s standard bearer. When asked if Trump had done anything that concerns him, Vance urged letting “the criminal investigation play out” on the mishandling of classified documents stored at Mar-a-Lago and criticized the focus on past scandals around the former President. Vance paints Ryan as a creature of Washington Vance closed the debate by contrasting his personal choice two decades ago — to enlist in the Marines — with Ryan’s decision to successfully run for Congress. To Vance, the race between him and Ryan is a referendum on “failed leadership” in Washington, positioning that allows the Republican to carry himself as the political outsider and Ryan as the career politician. “He has been failing at his basic job for 20 years,” Vance said of Ryan, who was first elected to Congress in 2002. “Talks a big game but the record of accomplishment just isn’t there.” Although Ryan pushed back against this narrative — “I’m not going to apologize for spending 20 years slogging away to try to help one of the hardest economically hit regions of Ohio,” the Democrat said — Vance’s strategy was clear. “Ohioans deserve certain things from their federal leadership,” Vance said, capturing his entire electoral argument. “They deserve to go to the grocery store and be able to afford food without it breaking the bank. They deserve streets you can walk down safely. They deserve a country that has a border.” Wide gulf between candidates on foreign policy Some of the biggest differences of the night came on foreign policy. When asked how the United States should respond to the potential Russian use of nuclear weapons, Ryan said it would call for an “aggressive response” but added, “I don’t think we are at that point where (Russian President) Vladimir Putin will.” Ryan than tried to turn the issue on Vance, noting that the Republican once said he doesn’t “really care what happens to Ukraine.” “J.D. Vance would let Putin roll right through Ukraine,” Ryan said, noting the large Ukrainian population in Ohio. “J.D. Vance is weak on this.” Vance, however, did not shy away from those comments, saying, “The answer is that no one knows how we would respond,” and mocking Ryan for saying the use of nuclear weapons would call for an “aggressive response.” “What exactly does that mean? Does that mean we should be in a nuclear shooting war?” Vance said, accusing Ryan of being part of the “bipartisan foreign policy establishment.” The-CNN-Wire & © 2022 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved. Read More…

New Zogby Poll Shows Biden Much Stronger Among Dems Than Thought And Beating Trump https://digitalalabamanews.com/new-zogby-poll-shows-biden-much-stronger-among-dems-than-thought-and-beating-trump/ Biden Challenger Jerome Segal Also Beats Trump, Gets 1/5 of Democrats Against Biden 47% want Biden: , /PRNewswire/ — A new poll by John Zogby Strategies showed that 47% of Democrats want President Biden as their nominee in 2024, 23% do not, and 30% are undecided. Previous polls had showed that a majority of Democrats did not want the President to run again. In July, a New York Times – Siena College poll reported that 63% of Democrats preferred that the nominee be someone other than Biden, and in September a Washington Post – ABC poll found that among Democrats and Democrat-leaning Independents, by 56% to 35%, voters preferred that he not be the candidate. The new poll surveyed 1006 likely voters on-line. It was conducted Oct 5th and has a margin of error of +/- 3.2 % for all voters and +/- 5.3 % for when only Democrats were queried. The poll was commissioned by “2024 – Segal For President” the campaign committee of social philosopher and peace activist Jerome Segal who is challenging Biden for the Democratic nomination. Commenting on these results Segal said, “The new data make clear that it will be more difficult than previously thought for anyone to prevent Biden from getting the nomination, if he decides to run. And this may discourage some from deciding to challenge him. On the other hand, 47% is not a strong showing; less than half of Democrats want a sitting president to run again. The 30% who said they were “undecided” were mostly saying, “It depends on who the alternative is.” “Also, the poll did not measure depth of support. In 2020, Biden won the nomination because it was widely believed that he had the best shot at beating Trump. He needs to show that he can do it again, both against Trump or any other likely Republican candidate. If other candidates show they can also beat Trump, they will have strong support; and if someone shows that they are stronger against Trump or DeSantis than Biden, it’s a whole new ball game.” Biden beats Trump 45% to 41%: The poll gave Biden the critical element that he needs to retain party support, that he can beat off a challenge by former President Trump. Biden won, 45% to 41%, with 7% saying they would vote for “other” and “6.5%” saying they were unsure. Segal also beats Trump:  The poll also examined how Segal would do against Trump. It showed Segal beating the former President by 40% to 39%. Trump actually got fewer votes against Segal than against Biden, declining from 41% to 39%. Segal’s margin of victory was narrower because those choosing “unsure” almost doubled, going to 12.7%, from 6.5% in the Biden v Trump contest. Segal commented: “This for me is the big news. It puts the campaign in an entirely different light. If you say to voters, “Here are two Democrats, both of them can beat Trump, which one do you prefer?” it totally transforms the race, as it undermines the primary reason Democrats coalesced around Biden. That was his main selling point. No one is really passionate about him.” Segal gets 22% against Biden: The poll also pitted Segal in a head-to-head contest with Biden. The President won handily. Segal got 22% of the Democratic vote to Biden’s 56%, with another 22% undecided.  Segal commented: “If it had been known that I could beat Trump, my vote total against Biden would have, at least, been doubled. Democrats overwhelmingly support the new kind of socialism I am advocating. I’m held back because the assumption is that a socialist, especially one without wide name recognition, can’t beat Trump. Once it’s clear that I can, attention will focus more on what I’m for than on Trump.” Democrats Support Socialism: Segal is the founder of bread and roses socialism. In the poll this was described to voters as: “A new set of ideas that blends Bernie Sanders type policies with a key goal of simple living: being able to meet basic needs with a modest income so that one is free to reduce the amount of time one puts in at the job. This would involve a cultural shift towards lives with more leisure time, or more meaningful work, rather than more money and more stuff. Under this approach, everyone would have a legal right to a 3-day job. And with policies such as higher minimum wages and strong limits on the costs of meeting core needs of healthcare, education, housing, transportation and childcare, everyone could have a vibrant life even without a super job. The other 4 days a week could be devoted to pursuing our passions, whatever they might be, with or without pay, or just having more time with friends and family.” Asked how they felt about this new form of socialism, 62% of Democrats said they either “love it” or “like it” and only 12% saying “dislike” or “hate it.” Even among Republicans, 33% said “love or like,” and 46% said “dislike or hate.” Segal commented: “This again shows the real potential of the campaign. With this underlying support for my policies, as I get better known, and as it is clear that I can beat Trump, support will surge.” Separate releases will detail voter preferences that were surveyed on eight separate questions about bread and roses socialism and its policy agenda, as well as on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, both central aspects of Segal’s program. For more information contact Dr. Segal at [email protected] or 445-216-3846 SOURCE Jerome Segal Read More…

Warm And Dry Today; A Few Strong Storms Possible Wednesday https://digitalalabamanews.com/warm-and-dry-today-a-few-strong-storms-possible-wednesday/ Scattered showers and storms return to central Alabama Wednesday. A few storms could be strong or briefly severe. Check the video forecast for the latest.WAITING FOR THE RAINThis week’s rain may be more disappointing than it sounds on the surface. Yes, it will rain, but no, it will not rain in every North and Central Alabama community. It stays completely dry for one more day (Tuesday) before a cold front triggers the scattered, hit-or-miss showers and thunderstorms for Wednesday.A severe storm could develop Wednesday; however, limited fuel and wind shear means the chance is slim – one of those ‘watch it’ situations as opposed to expecting major problems. Much of central Alabama is currently under a marginal risk to see a few strong or briefly severe storms. The main hazard would be damaging wind gusts near 60 mph. If models start to trend toward the best instability and wind shear overlapping, then an isolated tornado can’t be ruled out. There could be a severe threat with the afternoon storms and then again Wednesday night at the front moves through. Stay tuned for further updates.It’s been 15 days since rain fell in Birmingham, and it’s been 35 days since the last truly impactful rain: 0.39” on September Fifth. Most of Alabama is entering a short-term drought; that’s the effect of the recent dry spell. It would take about 1-2″ on average this week over the northern half of the state to stave off drought. That seems rather unlikely with this incoming cold front.SEVEN DAY FORECASTExpect some heavy thunderstorms in the area on Wednesday afternoon and evening followed by a few more dry days: most of Thursday, Friday and Saturday.Another strong front arrives on Sunday night, and that one could bring some more showers as well as some of the coolest weather so far by early next week. There is a slim chance frost may be a little more common by next Tuesday/Wednesday as well: especially northeast of the Birmingham area.—STAY WEATHER AWAREGet the free WVTM 13 app and turn on the alerts for the latest weather updates.For the latest Birmingham weather information and central Alabama’s certified most accurate forecast, watch WVTM 13 News.Current Weather ConditionsHourly Forecast | 10-Day ForecastInteractive RadarBirmingham SkycamsLive Doppler RadarSign Up For Email Weather AlertsDownload the WVTM 13 AppDon’t forget to follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Scattered showers and storms return to central Alabama Wednesday. A few storms could be strong or briefly severe. Check the video forecast for the latest. WAITING FOR THE RAIN This week’s rain may be more disappointing than it sounds on the surface. Yes, it will rain, but no, it will not rain in every North and Central Alabama community. It stays completely dry for one more day (Tuesday) before a cold front triggers the scattered, hit-or-miss showers and thunderstorms for Wednesday. A severe storm could develop Wednesday; however, limited fuel and wind shear means the chance is slim – one of those ‘watch it’ situations as opposed to expecting major problems. Much of central Alabama is currently under a marginal risk to see a few strong or briefly severe storms. The main hazard would be damaging wind gusts near 60 mph. If models start to trend toward the best instability and wind shear overlapping, then an isolated tornado can’t be ruled out. There could be a severe threat with the afternoon storms and then again Wednesday night at the front moves through. Stay tuned for further updates. It’s been 15 days since rain fell in Birmingham, and it’s been 35 days since the last truly impactful rain: 0.39” on September Fifth. Most of Alabama is entering a short-term drought; that’s the effect of the recent dry spell. It would take about 1-2″ on average this week over the northern half of the state to stave off drought. That seems rather unlikely with this incoming cold front. SEVEN DAY FORECAST Expect some heavy thunderstorms in the area on Wednesday afternoon and evening followed by a few more dry days: most of Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Another strong front arrives on Sunday night, and that one could bring some more showers as well as some of the coolest weather so far by early next week. There is a slim chance frost may be a little more common by next Tuesday/Wednesday as well: especially northeast of the Birmingham area. — STAY WEATHER AWARE Get the free WVTM 13 app and turn on the alerts for the latest weather updates. For the latest Birmingham weather information and central Alabama’s certified most accurate forecast, watch WVTM 13 News. Current Weather Conditions Hourly Forecast | 10-Day Forecast Interactive Radar Birmingham Skycams Live Doppler Radar Sign Up For Email Weather Alerts Download the WVTM 13 App Don’t forget to follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Read More…

Ukraine Leader To Ask G7 For Air Defence Weapons After Russian Strikes https://digitalalabamanews.com/ukraine-leader-to-ask-g7-for-air-defence-weapons-after-russian-strikes/ G7 leaders to discuss Ukraine later on Tuesday Expected to review Kyiv’s request for air defence systems May also warn Belarus against closer involvement Russia says it will respond to greater Western aid KYIV, Oct 11 (Reuters) – President Volodymyr Zelenskiy will ask the leaders of the G7 group of nations to urgently supply Ukraine with air defence weapons on Tuesday, after Russia rained down cruise missiles on cities across the country. New missile strikes killed at least one person in the southeastern town of Zaporizhzhia and left part of the Western city of Lviv without power, officials said, after Ukraine woke up to the wailing of air raid sirens for a second day. Other parts of the country remained blacked out after the cruise missile attacks on Monday which officials said killed 19 people in the biggest air raids since the start of the war. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Russian President Vladimir Putin, under domestic pressure to ramp up the conflict as his forces have lost ground since the start of September, said he ordered the strikes as revenge for an explosion that damaged Russia’s bridge to annexed Crimea. Kyiv and its allies condemned Monday’s attacks, which mainly hit civil infrastructure such as power stations. Missiles also landed in parks, tourist sites and busy rush hour streets. U.S. President Joe Biden and other G7 leaders will convene virtually later on Tuesday to discuss what more they can do to support Ukraine and to listen to Zelenskiy, who has called air defence systems his “number 1 priority”. Biden has already promised more air defences. The broad avenues of the capital Kyiv were largely deserted after air raid sirens resounded as the morning rush hour was beginning – the same time that Russian missiles struck on Monday. Residents took cover again deep in the underground Metro, where trains were still running. Viktoriya Moshkivski, 35, her husband and their two sons were among hundreds of people waiting for the all-clear in the Zoloti Vorota station, near a park where a missile ripped a crater next to a playground on Monday. “(Putin) thinks that if he scares the population, he can ask for concessions, but he is not scaring us. He is pissing us off,” she said as her sons, Timur, 5, and Rinat, 3, sat by her side on a sleeping bag, the younger playing with a King Kong action figure. MORE STRIKES Russia said it continued to launch long-range air strikes on Ukraine’s energy and military infrastructure on Tuesday, although the attacks did not seem as intense as the day before. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said the main targets were energy facilities. “They’ve hit many yesterday and they hit the same and new ones today. These are war crimes planned well in advance and aimed at creating unbearable conditions for civilians — Russia’s deliberate strategy since months,” he wrote on Twitter. The governor of the southern town of Mykolayiv said Russia seemed to have changed tactics. “They launch rockets more than once so that our people can wait and our air defence can work, but at intervals they launch significantly fewer rockets and keep people in shelters. What is this if not terror?” he said on national television. People shelter inside a subway station during a Russian missile attack in Kyiv, Ukraine October 11, 2022. REUTERS/Viacheslav Ratynskyi In Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine’s sixth-largest city, apartment blocks have been struck overnight at least three times in the past week, killing civilians while they slept. Moscow has denied intentionally targeting them. The city remained under Ukrainian control after Russia occupied most of the surrounding province, among four partially occupied regions that Moscow claims to have annexed this month. In an overnight video address from the scene of one of the attacks in Kyiv, Zelenskiy promised that Ukraine would keep fighting. “We will do everything to strengthen our armed forces. We will make the battlefield more painful for the enemy.” As many as 301 settlements in the regions of Kyiv, Lviv, Sumy, Ternopil and Khmelnytsky remained without electricity on Tuesday. Faced with blackouts, Ukraine has halted electricity exports to neighbouring Moldova and the European Union, at a time when the continent already faces surging power prices. BELARUS FEARS G7 leaders are also expected to issue a warning to Belarus, Moscow’s closest ally, after Minsk said on Monday it was deploying soldiers with Russian forces near Ukraine in response to what it called a threat from Kyiv and its Western allies. Belarus, whose troops have not yet crossed into Ukraine, could face more sanctions if it gets more involved in the Ukraine conflict, French Foreign Affairs Minister Catherine Colonna told French radio. Russia had violated the rules of war with Monday’s attacks, she added. Moscow has accused the West of escalating the conflict by supporting Ukraine. “We warn and hope that they realise the danger of uncontrolled escalation in Washington and other Western capitals,” Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov was quoted as saying by RIA news agency on Tuesday. Since Ukrainian forces broke through Russia’s front lines in September, Putin has not only announced the annexation of Ukrainian territory but also called up hundreds of thousands of reservists and repeatedly threatened to use nuclear weapons. The director of Britain’s GCHQ spy agency said it would expect to see signs if Russia was considering deploying nuclear arms but that its ground forces were running out of supplies. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Russia would not turn down a meeting between Putin and Biden at a forthcoming G20 meeting and would consider the proposal if it receives one. Putin on Tuesday met the president of the United Arab Emirates, a member of the group of oil producers known as OPEC+ that rebuffed the United States last week by announcing steep production cuts. State news agency WAM had said President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan would push for “military de-escalation”. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Reporting by Reuters bureaux; Writing by Stephen Coates, Andrew Osborn, Peter Graff; Editing by Philippa Fletcher and Nick Macfie Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. Read More…

MedVet Offers Scholarships And Career Opportunities For Aspiring ER Veterinarians https://digitalalabamanews.com/medvet-offers-scholarships-and-career-opportunities-for-aspiring-er-veterinarians/ This is an opportunity for veterinary students to receive substantial financial support to wrap up veterinary school while also jump-starting a fulfilling career in emergency medicine after graduation with the team that is Leading Specialty Healthcare for Pets. WORTHINGTON, Ohio (PRWEB) October 11, 2022 MedVet has opportunities for aspiring emergency medicine veterinarians in the class of 2023 to receive a scholarship, signing bonus, and guaranteed position in MedVet’s profession-leading Emergency Clinician Mentorship Program (ECMP) after graduation. Candidates who sign at an eligible location by Dec. 31, 2022, will receive a $15,000 scholarship for their last semester of veterinary school (amount not to exceed the total for tuition and fees). They’ll also receive a signing bonus of up to $35,000 which varies by location. Eligible hospital locations include Akron (OH), Asheville (NC), Cincinnati (OH), Chicago (IL), Diley Hill (OH), Indianapolis (IN), Lexington (KY), Mobile (AL), Norwalk (CT), Pittsburgh (PA), and Toledo (OH). “This is an opportunity for veterinary students to receive substantial financial support to wrap up veterinary school while also jump-starting a fulfilling career in emergency medicine after graduation with the team that is Leading Specialty Healthcare for Pets,” said Dr. Jon Fletcher, Director of Post-Graduate Medical Education at MedVet. Following graduation, accepted candidates will join MedVet as ECMP doctors. The ECMP is an accelerated training program that allows new veterinarians to enhance their diagnostic and therapeutic capabilities, advance clinical decision-making and technical skills, and hone their communication. At the center of the program is a mentor-mentee relationship that ensures a smooth transition into emergency medicine. “The ECMP is the premier training program for developing ER veterinarians. They are entrusted with all the duties of an emergency veterinarian, but with their mentor by their side, they are never left alone or lost in the shuffle. This program is tailor-made to fit the unique needs and goals of the mentee and, as a result, they show unbelievable clinical growth,” explained Dr. Mackenzie Ruehl, Medical Director at MedVet Hilliard and ECMP Training Director. To apply, veterinary students in their final year of veterinary school should contact Amanda Purcell at Amanda.purcell@medvet.com or 614.368.2568. Candidates can also learn more about MedVet and the ECMP on medvet.com. About MedVet: MedVet is the leading veterinarian owned and led family of specialty and emergency hospitals dedicated to delivering exceptional care and a deeply supportive experience to pets and their loving families, referring veterinarians, and team members. For more than 30 years, MedVet’s empathetic, insightful, and driven team of expert caregivers has helped the organization grow to be the preferred choice for high quality, compassionate care, proudly serving more than 500,000 patients each year in communities throughout the United States. To learn more about MedVet and its mission of Leading Specialty Healthcare for Pets, visit medvet.com.  ### Share article on social media or email: Read More…

ALDS Game 1: Cleveland Guardians At New York Yankees Odds, Picks And Predictions https://digitalalabamanews.com/alds-game-1-cleveland-guardians-at-new-york-yankees-odds-picks-and-predictions/ Kevin Erickson  |  Sportsbook Wire The Cleveland Guardians and the New York Yankees meet in Game 1 of an AL Division Series at Yankee Stadium Tuesday. First pitch of the best-of-5 series is scheduled for 7:37 p.m. ET (TBS). Let’s analyze Tipico Sportsbook‘s lines around the Guardians vs. Yankeesodds with MLB picks and predictions. Regular-season series: Yankees won 5-1 The Guardians picked up a 2-game sweep of the Tampa Bay Rays in the AL Wild Card Series, including an epic 15-inning, 1-0 win Saturday. The Guardians were consistent in the regular season, going 46-35 both at home and on the road. The Yankees were 7 games clear of the Toronto Blue Jays for the AL East Division title, winning 99 games in the regular season. New York was 57-24 at home. Play our free daily Pick’em Challenge and win! Play now ! Guardians at Yankees projected starters RHP Cal Quantrill vs. RHP Gerrit Cole Quantrill (15-5, 3.38 ERA) had a 1.21 WHIP, 2.3 BB/9 and 6.2 K/9 through 186 1/3 IP across 32 regular-season starts. Was 6-5 with a 3.53 ERA and .282 opponent batting average with 54 K across 74 IP over 13 road outings Hasn’t lost since July 5, a span of 17 starts, while winning 10 consecutive decisions Cole (13-8, 3.50 ERA) made 33 regular-season starts. He had a 1.02 WHIP, 2.2 BB/9 and 11.5 K/9 through 200 2/3 IP. Managed a 5-5 record, 3.20 ERA and 14 HR allowed with 17 BB and 136 K across 101 1/3 IP in 16 home starts Went 2-0 with a 1.42 ERA and a 1.63 opponent BA and 15 K across 12 2/3 IP in 2 starts vs. Cleveland in the regular season Guardians at Yankees odds Provided by Tipico Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated at 7:30 a.m. ET. Moneyline (ML) : Guardians +175 (bet $100 to win $175) | Yankees -220 (bet $220 to win $100) Run line (RL)/Against the spread (ATS) : Guardians +1.5 (-130) | Yankees -1.5 (+105) Over/Under (O/U) : 6.5 (O: -130 | U: +105) Claim your risk-free bet up to $350. Catch the excitement and start betting with Tipico Sportsbook! New customer offer in CO and NJ. 21+, see Tipico.com for Terms and Conditions. Bet now! Guardians at Yankees picks and predictions Prediction Yankees 6, Guardians 2 Moneyline The Yankees (-220) will cost you more than 2 times your potential return, and that’s just too expensive. New York could be a little rusty, and Cleveland comes in with a little momentum. PASS. Run line/Against the spread YANKEES -1.5 (+105) is a better value. While there might be a little rust for New York and we could see a slow start, the Guardians had a whale of a time trying to score runs against Cole in the regular season. Cleveland may have won its 2 games against Tampa Bay but it scratched out just 3 runs of offense across 24 total innings in the process. Over/Under OVER 6.5 (-130) is worth playing lightly. Quantrill was money away from home for most of the season, and he hasn’t lost since early July. The Yankees won’t find it easy to get to him, at least early on. Cole dominated the Guardians during the regular season, and Cleveland has had trouble scoring against plenty of teams lately. However, look for the offense to pick up in the latter half of the game, as New York pours it on late against the Cleveland bullpen. Want action on this game or any other MLB contests? Bet legally online with a trusted partner: Tipico Sportsbook, SportsbookWire’s official sportsbook partner in CO and NJ. Bet now! If you’re looking for more sports betting picks and tips, access all of our content at SportsbookWire.com and BetFTW, or try out our USA TODAY Parlay Calculator. Please gamble responsibly. Follow Kevin J. Erickson on Twitter. Follow SportsbookWire on Twitter and like us on Facebook. Additional MLB coverage: BaseballHQ Fantasy Baseball BaseballPress.com: Your source for every MLB lineup Read More…

Washington U. Economics Professor Awarded Nobel Prize For Insights On Financial Crises https://digitalalabamanews.com/washington-u-economics-professor-awarded-nobel-prize-for-insights-on-financial-crises/ Washington University professor Philip Dybvig was among three economists awarded a Nobel Prize on Monday, Oct. 10, 2022. ST. LOUIS — Three economists were awarded a Nobel Prize on Monday for research on financial crises, including a Washington University professor whose work on bank runs has become foundational in the field of economics. The winners were recognized for papers published in the early 1980s that helped shape the way economists think about banks and their roles in times of financial calamity. Washington University professor Philip Dybvig and University of Chicago finance professor Douglas Diamond were awarded the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences for a paper they co-authored on bank runs, when depositors believe a bank is about to fail and rush en masse to withdraw money. They received the prize alongside Ben Bernanke, who chaired the Federal Reserve during the Great Recession. Bernanke was awarded for a 1983 paper on the role of banks in the Great Depression. Dybvig and Diamond’s paper cast bank runs as not just a symptom of economic damage but a contributor. The work delves into the instability they create and the role of protections like deposit insurance. “People, before that time, largely thought of bank runs as manias or psychological phenomena,” Dybvig said in an interview Monday. But bank runs are based on rational fears, he said, and with appropriate measures in place, they can be prevented. The “Diamond-Dybvig model” has become one of the basic frameworks economics students are taught about financial institutions, said Gaetano Antinolfi, a Washington University economics professor. The ideas in the paper have gone on to generate “a colossal literature,” he said. Dybvig, 67, was raised in Kettering, Ohio, outside of Dayton. He received a bachelor’s degree from Indiana University, where he double-majored in math and physics. He said he chose the school in part because of its music program — Dybvig is a classically trained piano player and still enjoys playing blues and jazz on the keyboard. He went on to earn a master’s degree and Ph.D. from Yale University. The Journal of Political Economy published the Nobel Prize-winning paper in 1983, when Dybvig was in his late 20s. Dybvig joined Washington University’s Olin Business School in 1988. He said Robert Virgil Jr., then dean of the business school, played a large part in bringing him to St. Louis. Over the years, people have suggested that the oft-cited paper on bank runs could receive a Nobel Prize, Dybvig said. But winning the prize with Bernanke, who “took what academics were doing and used it to help steer the country through some really difficult times,” was a welcome surprise, he said. Bernanke’s paper showed that the banking crisis both contributed to the Great Depression and extended the downturn. “People didn’t think of the financial system as being an important part of the business cycle, an important part of what was driving the economy,” Bernanke said Monday at the Brookings Institution, a nonprofit public policy organization in Washington. “As one professor told me when I gave this paper, ‘The financial system is just a veil. It just tells you who owns what.’” The Nobel Prize has been awarded to 26 people at Washington University — most in the fields of physiology and medicine. Dybvig is the second to receive the prize for economics. The late Douglass North, a Washington University professor, received the 1993 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences alongside Robert Fogel, a University of Chicago economist. The business news you need Get the latest local business news delivered FREE to your inbox weekly. Read More…

The Pressing Issue Auburn's Offense Must Resolve Against No. 9 Ole Miss https://digitalalabamanews.com/the-pressing-issue-auburns-offense-must-resolve-against-no-9-ole-miss/ Auburn’s offense was left searching for more answers after its meandering performance last weekend against Georgia, and one of the most pressing issues the unit needs to resolve entering Week 7 — with a trip to Ole Miss on the itinerary — is finding a way to sustain drives. The Tigers have struggled to do that in SEC play, and it was particularly notable during the team’s 42-10 loss to rival Georgia last weekend. “You want to keep the ball in your offense’s hands,” Auburn coach Bryan Harsin said. “I think that’s one of the things that hurt our defense (against Georgia).” Read more Auburn football: Bryan Harsin left searching for answers, “hope” after blowout loss to Georgia Bryan Harsin justifies failed fake punt attempt against Georgia Statistically speaking: Auburn’s defense folding in the red zone Auburn had 14 possessions during its loss to Georgia, with nine of those drives ending in punts, including six three-and-outs. The Tigers had just one drive longer than 39 yards — the fourth-quarter drive in which Jarquez Hunter scored a 62-yard touchdown — and only one possession that exceeded 4 minutes (that one ended in a punt after eight plays), as the Bulldogs dominated time of possession between the hedges, particularly in the second half, when they controlled the clock for twice as long as Auburn did. Auburn simply was unable to keep its offense on the field for sustained periods of time against Georgia. Its longest drive of the day was the aforementioned eight-play possession, which covered just 28 yards and resulted in Oscar Chapman’s sixth punt of the afternoon. The offense struggled to find success in the run game, and its passing game was sporadic, with Robby Ashford completing just 13-of-38 passes. Of course, the Tigers did themselves no favors, committing 10 penalties on the day, with seven of them coming on offense and impacting drives while putting themselves behind the chains. Of the seven drives on which the offense committed a penalty, Auburn punted on five of them. Another ended after a failed fake punt attempt, while the other — the Tigers’ most promising drive of the first half — ended in a fumble. In all, Auburn’s average distance to gain on third downs against Georgia was 8.1 yards. The Tigers converted just five of their 17 third-down attempts for the game. “That’s the consistency piece of execution, over and over, giving our guys the best chance by our play-calls to keep ourselves on the field, put ourselves in manageable situations,” Harsin said. “The penalties, we need to eliminate those, because that creates a more difficult situation, just down-and-distance.” Having those problems moving the ball against Georgia, the nation’s top-ranked team and the defending national champion, is one thing. It’s another thing for those issues to recur week in and week out, as has been the case for Auburn in SEC play this season. Auburn had early success on offense against both Missouri and LSU, but outside of those early touchdowns, Harsin’s offense struggled to sustain drives in both of those games. In the SEC opener against Missouri, Auburn had 12 possessions in regulation, punting on eight of them, with four of them resulting in three-and-outs. There was also a turnover on downs that capped a five-play drive and a missed field goal at the end of a four-play possession. Half of Auburn’s possessions in regulation gained fewer than 10 yards, with two of them actually losing yardage. Outside of the opening drive, when Auburn scored a touchdown after 14 consecutive rushing attempts, the offense had just two possessions that exceeded 4 minutes. Auburn’s average distance to gain on third downs against Missouri was 9.4 yards. The following week against LSU, Auburn had 13 possessions. Four of them ended in punts, with three three-and-outs. Auburn had two drives that lasted longer than 3 minutes; one ended in an interception, the other in a missed field goal. The team’s average starting field position was its own 28-yard line. Auburn averaged 8.4 yards to go on third downs. “Sustaining drives is huge,” Harsin said. “Creating field position is huge, and then ultimately those drives turning into points, and that’s got to be something we do a much better job of.” That will certainly be true this weekend, when Auburn (3-3, 1-2 SEC) travels to Oxford, Miss., to take on No. 9 Ole Miss (6-0, 2-0). The Rebels have one of the nation’s top scoring offenses, averaging 39.7 points per game (17th nationally, third in the SEC)—despite touting the lowest time of possession among all FBS teams. In other words: Ole Miss scores often, and it scores in a hurry. The longer Auburn’s offense can stay on the field, and certainly the more points it can put up after sustained drives, the more time the Tigers’ defense will have to regroup — and, of course, keep Ole Miss’ offense on the sideline. “We want to sustain drives, stay on the field and really balance out the time of possession,” Harsin said. “The one thing for Ole Miss, they go fast. They’re not going to talk about time of possession, and that’s not always the key factor in the game. But for us, it’s just about execution, it’s about staying on the field and putting the ball in a position where we can sustain those drives, execute those third downs, create field position and ultimately get in the red zone and find ways to score.” Tom Green is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Tomas_Verde. If you purchase a product or register for an account through one of the links on our site, we may receive compensation. Read More…

Donald Trump Backs Cory Mills In CD 7 https://digitalalabamanews.com/donald-trump-backs-cory-mills-in-cd-7/ The former President had not backed anyone in the GOP Primary. Former President Donald Trump on Monday endorsed Republican nominee Cory Mills in an open Central Florida congressional race. Mills, an Army veteran and cable news fixture, won the Republican nomination in Florida’s 7th Congressional District in August. While multiple candidates in that competitive Primary were accused of inferring the former President’s support, Trump never actually backed any Republican over another in that contest. But now that Mills faces Democratic nominee Karen Green in the Nov. 8 General Election, Trump made clear he thinks the GOP nominee deserves to win. “A wonderful patriot, Cory Mills, is running for Congress in Florida’s 7th Congressional District as a Pro-America, Pro-Law Enforcement, and Pro-Trump Champion for our beloved Make America Great Again movement,” said Trump in a statement released by his Save America PAC. “Cory has long been a great fighter for our Country, and he is a decorated U.S. Army combat Veteran who has fought bravely all over the World. He has served in Iraq, Afghanistan, Kosovo, and has even traveled to Ukraine recently to provide information for USAID and State Department officials. When everyone else is running away from the tough fights, Cory Mills is willing to stay back and fight. He loves our Country, loves the Great State of Florida, and he will never let us down. Cory Mills has my Complete and Total Endorsement!” Capitalization in the statement is Trump’s own. Mills publicized the support on social media and promoted his own message on the need for a Republican-controlled House of Representatives. “In 21 months, the Dems have caused record inflation, cost of living increases, increased crime, begging OPEC for oil and emptying SPR, and tens of billions of taxpayer’s money in a foreign war that has led to nuclear war threats,” Mills tweeted. “We must stop out of control spending by Dems.” The race offers a critical pickup opportunity for Republican efforts to retake a majority. U.S. Rep. Stephanie Murphy, a Winter Park Democrat who chose not to seek re-election, currently represents the district. On a new congressional map signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, the district shifts more Republican. Under the old lines, in which Murphy won election three times, Democrat Joe Biden won over Trump in the 2020 election by 10 percentage points, but under the new boundaries, more than 52% of voters went for Trump and fewer than 47% voted for Biden. Post Views: 0 Read More…

MARC HYDEN:: To The Dismay Of Partisans, Georgia Has Legitimate Elections https://digitalalabamanews.com/marc-hyden-to-the-dismay-of-partisans-georgia-has-legitimate-elections/ Oct. 11—Over the past several years, Republicans and Democrats have both questioned the validity of election results that didn’t go in their favor. These claims have particularly cast a shadow over the Peach State’s handling of its elections, given its key role in determining the 2020 presidential winner and controversies around the 2018 governor’s race. While a host of these allegations have already been litigated ad nauseam, a slow-moving case centered around Georgia’s elections — Fair Fight Action vs. Raffensperger — has finally been decided in federal court. And it turns out that Georgia’s elections are in better shape than many might believe. The case arose following Georgia’s 2018 gubernatorial election in which then-Secretary of State Brian Kemp, a Republican, eked out a narrow victory. The election was quickly mired in controversy and tainted with claims of illegitimacy, and it became a flashpoint as some of those on the political left claimed that the election had been stolen. The Atlanta Journal Constitution found that “no evidence emerged of systematic malfeasance — or of enough tainted votes to force a runoff election.” Nevertheless, plaintiffs led by Fair Fight Action, which is a darling of the political left, sued the state. It alleged serious, racially discriminatory impediments to voting. The group “challenged Georgia’s absentee ballot provisions, oversight of voter rolls and the state’s “exact match” law, which mandates that a voter’s name on their voter application be identical to their government identification,” wrote the New York Times. After presenting their cases, both parties awaited the court’s decision, and just days ago, it finally came down. U.S. District Court Judge Steven Jones rejected all of Fair Fight Action’s claims. “Although Georgia’s election system is not perfect, the challenged practices violate neither the constitution nor the Voting Rights Act,” Jones ruled. Ultimately, Jones determined that the plaintiffs failed to show “direct evidence of a voter who was unable to vote, experienced longer wait times, [or] was confused about voter registration status.” Before anyone impugns Jones and accuses him of being some sort of right-wing judicial activist, it’s important to remember that he was a nominee of President Obama. He’s not the kind of person you’d expect to rule against Fair Fight Action without good reason, but the legal fight came at a cost. The Georgia Attorney General’s office reportedly expended more than $6 million defending the state, and it would appear that the attorney general believes the vindication was worth it. “This ruling confirms what I have said all along: There is not one single eligible Georgian in 2018 who was prohibited from voting,” Attorney General Chris Carr, a Republican, explained. Meanwhile, Fair Fight Action lambasted Jones’ decision — calling it a “significant loss for the voting rights community in Georgia and across the country.” Love the decision or hate it, this was one of just many cases in which the courts have upheld the validity of our elections despite Republicans and Democrats increasingly claiming that they are rigged. However, these allegations aren’t limited to just Georgia’s statewide contests — far from it. Most notably, former President Trump became one of history’s most prominent election deniers after losing his re-election bid. “[The 2020] election is about great voter fraud, fraud that has never been seen like this before. … It’s about ballots that poured in and nobody but a few knew where they came from. … It’s about machinery that was defective,” Trump complained. He honed his ire particularly on states like Georgia, which flipped in favor of his opposition, but after audits, dozens of lawsuits, and expert analyses, no evidence has emerged to prove his claims that he won re-election. In fairness to Trump, he wasn’t the first national figure to chart this path, although he took it to extreme lengths. After Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton lost her presidential bid in 2016, she suggested that the election had been “stolen” and called Trump an “illegitimate president.” “I believe [Trump] understands that the many varying tactics they used, from voter suppression and voter purging to hacking to the false stories — he knows that — there were just a bunch of different reasons why the election turned out like it did,” she asserted. Like Trump’s claims, Clinton’s don’t seem to hold any water either. While it is critically important to safeguard our elections and investigate legitimate claims of fraud and voter suppression, increasing numbers of politicians are instead using the media and courts as outlets to vent their anger over losing fair and square, which undermines faith in voting. Thankfully, the courts have been a steadfast firewall against unfounded elections claims that threaten the fabric of our form of government, and to date, we’ve learned that faith in Georgia’s elections isn’t misplaced. Read More…

Analysis | Biden Faces New Tests On Ukraine https://digitalalabamanews.com/analysis-biden-faces-new-tests-on-ukraine/ Good morning, Early Birds! Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson will sit down with CNN’s Jake Tapper tonight at 9 p.m. ET. Who plans on watching? Oh yeah, he’s also talking to President Biden. Tips: earlytips@washpost.com. Thanks for waking up with us. In today’s edition …  Isaac Stanley-Becker and Josh Dawsey examine how Trump’s legal expenses consumed GOP donor money … Ryan and Vance squared off in a fiery debate … What we’re watching: The Court is back in session today …  but first … Biden works to maintain coalition on Ukraine as Russia escalates its attacks The war in Ukraine is at a critical inflection point as Russian President Vladimir Putin attempts to escalate the conflict despite a hampered military, with Ukraine’s allies skittish about high energy prices ahead of winter and the United Nations set to vote on a draft resolution condemning Russia. President Biden will attend a virtual meeting of the Group of Seven — Britain, Germany, France, Japan, Italy, Canada and the United States — today to discuss Russia’s latest aggressions and to renew support for Ukraine. Biden is “pushing hard to hold together what has become a central mission of his presidency: maintaining the global and domestic coalition supporting Ukraine. As the war heads into its first winter, probably a bitter and brutal one, some U.S. allies face economic head winds fueled by the war, while at home some Republicans voice skepticism about the billions in aid going to Ukraine.” our colleagues Yasmeen Abutaleb and John Hudson report. Biden’s “efforts face a major test Wednesday when the United Nations votes on a draft resolution condemning Russia’s annexation of four parts of Ukraine. Biden and U.S. officials have been working to convince nonaligned countries in Latin America, Asia and Africa to refrain from taking a neutral position and condemn the Kremlin outright, an effort analysts said might be bolstered by Russia’s barrage of missile attacks Monday on Kyiv and other major Ukrainian cities,” Yasmeen and John write. The challenges for Biden aren’t just abroad: “cracks are showing in political support at home for the billions in aid the United States is sending Ukraine. Those fissures are likely to widen significantly if Republicans recapture the House on Nov. 8.” “So far, the White House has been able to maintain bipartisan support for several multibillion-dollar aid and weapons packages to Ukraine, but some Republicans aligned with former president Donald Trump have begun raising questions about why the United States is spending so much money on a distant war overseas. And a decision last week by a Saudi- and Russian-led coalition to slash oil production is likely to send gas prices climbing again, which could sour the public even further.” Biden’s coalition strengthening efforts comes as Ukraine is pushing for more military support after a series of Russian attacks on Ukrainian cities, including the capitol Kyiv on Monday where at least 14 people have been killed. Putin has said it was in retaliation for the explosion of a key bridge. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky gave an address to his nation Monday night where he said 84 missiles hit Ukrainian cities and he reassured Ukrainians “that the country was working to get modern air-defense systems and strengthen its forces,” The Post’s Praveena Somasundaram reports.  “Ukraine cannot be intimidated,” he said. “We are united even more instead.” Zelensky will also address the G7 virtual meeting today, and “Ukraine’s calls for additional military aid are also set to be discussed this week at two meetings in Brussels, one involving NATO defense ministers and the other the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, a collection of about 50 countries created to provide assistance to Ukraine,” The Post’s Emily Rauhala, Rick Noack, Loveday Morris and Alex Horton report. The New York Times‘ Valerie Hopkins and Anton Troianovski write: “With his escalation, Putin is also betting that Russian elites — and the public at large — do indeed see it as a sign of strength rather than a desperate effort to inflict more pain on Ukrainian civilians in a war that Russia appears to be losing militarily.” How Trump’s legal expenses consumed GOP donor money Follow the money: “Donald Trump’s political operation has spent more money since he left office on lawyers representing the former president and a pair of nonprofits staffed by former Cabinet members than it has on Republican congressional campaigns,” according to financial filings reviewed by our colleagues Isaac Stanley-Becker and Josh Dawsey. “Trump’s leadership PAC, Save America, has blitzed supporters in recent days with fundraising solicitations that focus on next month’s high-stakes contest for control of Congress.” “It is IMPERATIVE that we win BIG in November,” blared an email last week. “The group has contributed about $8.4 million so far directly to Republican campaigns and committees, while devoting $7 million to Trump’s lawyers and another $2 million to the nonprofits, which employ former members of his administration, including former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows. Legal fees are expected to climb, Trump advisers say, as he employs a growing retinue of lawyers to fend off federal, state and county-level investigations.” Save America sent — $3-million — its single biggest check in the last 20 months “to a Florida law firm representing the former president in the Justice Department’s investigation of his handling of government documents at Mar-a-Lago and its probe of the riot on Jan. 6, 2021, aimed at keeping Trump in power.” Ryan and Vance square off in fiery debate Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan and Republican J.D. Vance aggressively attacked each other in a much anticipated Ohio Senate campaign debate Monday night over abortion, the border and Vance’s charity. “Vance said Ryan had supported policies that led to a 10-year-old girl in Ohio being raped. Ryan said Vance had started a “fake nonprofit” to help people overcome addiction issues. The two accused each other of being beholden to their party, with Ryan echoing a comment from former president Donald Trump in calling Vance an “a — kisser” and Vance saying Ryan’s 100% voting record with President Biden means he’s not the reasonable moderate he says he is,” Julie Carr Smyth of the Associated Press writes. Partisans on Twitter reacted to the back and forth like professional wrestling fans amazed at the rehearsed attack lines they were witnessing: Holy shit, @JDVance1 just KO’d Tim Ryan!!! “You voted so many times against border wall funding…If you had done your job, she would have never been raped in the first place. Do your job on border security, don’t lecture me about opinions I don’t actually have.” #OHSenDebate pic.twitter.com/MzDLevzKeI — Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) October 10, 2022 From The Post: “During a heated exchange at a debate Monday night, [Ryan] accused [Vance] of ‘running around’ with extremists and supporting rioters who broke into the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 … ‘You’re running around with Marjorie Taylor Greene, who is the absolute looniest politician in America,’ Ryan added. ‘This is a dangerous group.’” The congressman also said Vance fundraised for “the insurrectionists.” “Those people are election deniers, who call into question the most fundamental act we have — the foundation of this country,” Ryan said. “He’s called into question the presidential election. That’s a threat to our democracy.” Vance attempted to link the abortion and border security debates in an attack on Ryan. “ “Vance agreed with Ryan that a 10-year-old Ohio rape victim should not have had to leave the state for an abortion, but he said the fact the suspect was in the country illegally was a failure of weak border policies. ‘You voted so many times against the border wall funding, so many times for amnesty, Tim,’ Vance said. ‘If you had done your job, she would have never been raped in the first place,’ Smyth writes. Ryan went after Vance’s charity, questioning whether it did any good or was a cynical attempt to boost his profile. Our former colleague David A. Fahrenthold looked into the charity recently for another news organization. The Supreme Court is back after a holiday weekend and will hear two cases today: Reed v. Goertz: The case, which considers an appeal from Texas death row inmate Rodney Reed, focuses on the statute of limitations for DNA testing of crime-scene evidence. National Pork Producers v. Ross: This case revolves around animal welfare and how farmers should raise their pigs. “A Supreme Court ruling in favor of the pork producers could more broadly undermine states’ rights,” per E&E News’s Niina H. Farah. Russia’s nuclear weapons, visualized: “As Russia’s military retreats on the battlefield, Putin’s rhetoric about using nuclear weapons is escalating,” our colleague Karoun Demirjian reports. “It is very unlikely that Russia would use its most powerful nuclear weapons to settle scores with Kyiv; Moscow is far more likely, experts agree, to use a smaller nuclear weapon in the hopes of achieving a specific battlefield objective … [that] likely candidate is the 9K720 Iskander missile system, classified by NATO as the SS-26, which is a ground-based ballistic missile.” Early reeeads While you were asleep – maybe Thanks for reading. You can also follow us on Twitter: @theodoricmeyer and @LACaldwellDC. Read More…

Arch Therapeutics’ AC5® Advanced Wound System To Be Presented With Honors At 2022 Symposium On Advanced Wound Care (SAWC) Fall https://digitalalabamanews.com/arch-therapeutics-ac5-advanced-wound-system-to-be-presented-with-honors-at-2022-symposium-on-advanced-wound-care-sawc-fall/ Awarded Highest Scoring Poster Abstract in Case Series / Study Category October 11, 2022 06:45 ET | Source: Arch Therapeutics, Inc. FRAMINGHAM, Mass., Oct. 11, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Arch Therapeutics, Inc. (OTCQB: ARTH) (“Arch” or the “Company”), a marketer and developer of novel self-assembling wound care and biosurgical products, today announced that two abstracts highlighting the role of the Company’s AC5® Advanced Wound System (AC5) in clinical cases were accepted for Poster Presentations at the upcoming 2022 Symposium on Advanced Wound Care (SAWC) Fall—with one receiving the honor for “Highest Scoring Poster Abstract in Case Series/Study Category”—a distinction awarded by a panel of expert judges during a blind-review. The SAWC Fall conference takes place at Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, Nevada from October 13-16, 2022. AC5 is a proprietary self-assembling, synthetic wound care product that provides multi-modal support to clinicians and has utility across all phases of wound healing. AC5 is indicated for the management of partial and full-thickness wounds, such as pressure sores, leg ulcers, diabetic ulcers, and surgical wounds. The following clinical cases, which examine the use of AC5 in patients with acute, chronic, and challenging wounds, will be presented. The Use of a Synthetic Self-Assembling Peptide Matrix in a Limb Salvage Setting Christopher Gauland, DPM – East Carolina University, Brody School of Medicine, Greenville, NC Poster Number: CS-046 Honor: Highest Scoring Poster Abstract in Case Series/Study Category Treatment of Hard to Heal Acute and Chronic Wounds with a Synthetic Self-Assembling Peptide Matrix Terry Treadwell, MD, FACS, FAAWC and Lyudmila Nikolaychook, DO – Institute for Advanced Wound Care, Montgomery, AL Poster Number: CS-140 In addition to the Poster Presentations by wound care experts Dr. Christopher Gauland and Dr. Terry Treadwell, key opinion leader Dr. Brock Liden will also present case studies utilizing AC5 at the prestigious Innovation Spotlight on October 16, 2022, between 11:20 AM to 12:20 PM PT. The slides for Dr. Liden’s presentation will be available on the Company’s website in the “Investors” section under the subheading “Investor Relations” at https://ir.archtherapeutics.com at the time of the presentation. Representatives from Arch will be available at SAWC booth #534 in the exhibit hall for inquiries. Dan Yrigoyen, Vice President of Sales for Arch Therapeutics, stated, “We believe the ongoing observations by wound care experts regarding the utility of the AC5® Advanced Wound System continues to demonstrate the significant impact this technology could have on improving outcomes and lowering the overall costs of managing challenging, chronic and non-healing wounds.” Over 1,000 wound care specialists—physicians, nurses, physical therapists, researchers, scientists, and podiatrists—are registered to attend SAWC Fall. The agenda is focused on sharing best practices to improve patient outcomes. Registration for the symposium can be found at https://www.sawcfall.com/. About Arch Therapeutics, Inc. Arch Therapeutics, Inc. is a biotechnology company with a novel approach to stop bleeding (hemostasis), control leaking (sealant) and manage wounds during surgery, trauma, and interventional care. Arch is developing wound care and biosurgical products based on an innovative self-assembling peptide technology platform with the goal of improving healing outcomes for patients. Arch has received regulatory clearance to market AC5® Advanced Wound System in the United States and AC5® Topical Hemostat in Europe. Arch’s development stage product pipeline includes AC5-GTM for endoscopic resection of gastrointestinal tumors, AC5-V® for hemostasis during vascular surgery and AC5 Surgical HemostatTM for general surgical hemostasis, among others.1,2 Notice Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This news release contains “forward-looking statements” as that term is defined in Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Statements in this press release that are not purely historical are forward-looking statements and include any statements regarding beliefs, plans, expectations, or intentions regarding the future. Such forward-looking statements include, among other things, references to novel technologies and methods, our ability to recruit additional field sales representatives and their effectiveness, our business and product development plans and projections, or market information. Actual results could differ from those projected in any forward-looking statements due to numerous factors. Such factors include, among others, the inherent uncertainties associated with developing new products or technologies and operating as a development stage company, our ability to retain important members of our management team and attract other qualified personnel, our ability to raise the additional funding we will need to satisfy our existing obligations and continue to pursue our business and product development plans, our ability to obtain required regulatory approvals, our ability to produce commercial quantities of our products within projected timeframes, our ability to obtain the inclusion of our AC5® Advanced Wound System on targeted federal supply schedules, our ability to develop and commercialize products based on our technology platform, and market conditions, and our ability to establish additional commercialization partnerships and build a critical mass of field sales representatives. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this news release, and we assume no obligation to update the forward-looking statements, or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Although we believe that any beliefs, plans, expectations, and intentions contained in this press release are reasonable, there can be no assurance that any such beliefs, plans, expectations, or intentions will prove to be accurate. Investors should consult all of the information set forth herein and should also refer to the risk factors disclosure outlined in the reports and other documents we file with the SEC, available at www.sec.gov. 1 AC5-G, AC5-V, and AC5 Surgical Hemostat are currently investigational devices limited by law to investigational use. 2 AC5, AC5-G, AC5-V and associated logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Arch Therapeutics, Inc. and/or its subsidiaries. Contact: ARTH Investor Relations Toll Free: +1.855.340.ARTH (2784) (US and Canada) Email: investors@archtherapeutics.com Website: www.archtherapeutics.com or Michael Abrams Chief Financial Officer Arch Therapeutics, Inc. Phone: 617.431.2333 Email: mabrams@archtherapeutics.com Read More…

War In Ukraine: No Sign Russia Considering Nuclear Weapons – GCHQ https://digitalalabamanews.com/war-in-ukraine-no-sign-russia-considering-nuclear-weapons-gchq/ Image source, EPA Image caption, A destroyed tank near Izyum in the Kharkiv area of Ukraine By Gordon Corera Security correspondent, BBC News There are no current signs that Russia is considering the use of nuclear weapons in the Ukraine war, the head of GCHQ has said. Like other US and western officials recently, Sir Jeremy Fleming did not suggest there had been any signs of suspicious activity. Speaking on Radio 4’s Today programme, Sir Jeremy warned that any talk of nuclear weapons was “very dangerous”. GCHQ would hope to see “indicators” if Russia planned to use them, he said. “Any talk of nuclear weapons is very dangerous and we need to be very careful of how we are talking about that. “It’s clear to me that whilst we might not like and in many ways abhor the ways the Russian military machine and President Putin are conducting this war, they are staying within the doctrine that we understand for their use, including for nuclear weapons.” He added: “I’m sure Putin’s worried about the dangers of escalation. He thinks about those in different terms. But I think it is a sign that he has not reached for these other forms of waging war.” The comments come as the head of the intelligence agency plans to say in a speech on Tuesday that Ukraine is turning the tide against “exhausted” Russian forces. He will say President Vladimir Putin’s decision-making has proved “flawed”. “We know – and Russian commanders on the ground know – that their supplies and munitions are running out,” Sir Jeremy will say in his speech at the annual Royal United Services Institute security lecture. He will argue that the mobilisation of prisoners and inexperienced men “speaks of a desperate situation” – and will also directly criticise President Putin as isolated and making mistakes. Speaking on Radio 4’s Today programme about the state of the Russian military, Sir Jeremy said it was “running short of munitions” and “is certainly running short of friends”. “The word I have used is desperate,” he said. “We can see that desperation at many levels inside Russian society and Russia’s military machine.” But he warned that the missile attacks on targets across Ukraine on Monday showed Russia was still “very capable” of causing damage. He added: “Russia’s military machine can launch weapons, it has deep stocks and expertise. And yet, it is very broadly stretched in Ukraine.” Media caption, ‘No indicators’ Putin considering nuclear weapons – GCHQ chief The intelligence chief will also assert that the UK and its allies are at a defining moment when it comes to China. The director of the intelligence, cyber and security agency will say the costs to Russia of the war in Ukraine – in terms of both people and equipment – are “staggering” as early gains are now reversed. “With little effective internal challenge, his decision-making has proved flawed. It’s a high stakes strategy that is leading to strategic errors in judgement.” Sir Jeremy also claims the Russian people are now starting to understand the problems caused by what he describes as Putin’s “war of choice”. “They’re seeing just how badly Putin has misjudged the situation,” he will say. “They’re fleeing the draft, realising they can no longer travel. They know their access to modern technologies and external influences will be drastically restricted.” In a speech in March, Sir Jeremy said intelligence had showed some Russian soldiers in Ukraine had refused to carry out orders, sabotaged their own equipment and accidentally shot down one of their own aircraft. Image source, Getty Images Image caption, Sir Jeremy Fleming will warn against buying in Chinese technology with “hidden costs” The bulk of his lecture on Tuesday focuses on China. He will describe the UK as being at a “sliding doors moment” in which different paths taken will define the future. He argues the Chinese Communist Party is aiming to manipulate the technology that underpins people’s lives to embed its influence at home and abroad and provide opportunities for surveillance. But the intelligence chief said he would not stop children using TikTok – which is owned by Chinese firm ByteDance – but said young people should be more aware of their personal data and how it could be shared. “No, I wouldn’t (stop children from using TikTok), but I would speak to my child about the way in which they think about their personal data on their device,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. “I think it’s really important from a very early age that we understand that there is no free good here. When we are using these services we are exchanging our data for that and if it’s proportionate and we’re happy with the way that data is safeguarded then that’s great. “Make the most of that, make those videos, use TikTok – but just think before you do,” he added. He will also warn that China is seeking to create “client economies and governments” by exporting technology to countries around the world, saying these countries risk “mortgaging the future” by buying in Chinese technology with “hidden costs”. He will say this includes areas like: new standards for the internet which could provide tracking methods and greater government control; Chinese digital currencies – which could be used to monitor the transactions of users and try to evade the type of sanctions imposed on Russia; and plans for a Chinese satellite system, citing fears it could be used to track individuals. Chinese control of these areas is not inevitable, he will say, adding: “Our future strategic technology advantage rests on what we as a community do next.” Read More…

Kurt Angle Says “underrated” WWE Star Is Not Being Used Properly In Company https://digitalalabamanews.com/kurt-angle-says-underrated-wwe-star-is-not-being-used-properly-in-company/ Hall of Famer Kurt Angle said WWE isn’t treating superstar Bobby Roode fairly, who he feels is an underrated star. Bobby Roode, who has been a part of WWE since 2016, featured first in NXT and then later on the main roster in 2017. The veteran star is a former United States Champion, while he has also won the RAW and SmackDown Tag Team titles. While speaking on The Kurt Angle Show, the Olympic gold medalist stated that Roode is one of the top ten stars he has worked with in his long and illustrious pro wrestling career. He feels that the Glorious One is supremely talented and has to be given more opportunities, calling the former NXT Champion an underrated star. “Bobby Roode is the most underrated wrestler there. They are not doing right by Bobby. He is so talented. He, I have to say, for me working with, you know, I’ve worked with thousands of talent. Bobby is in my top ten. Definitely is in my top ten,” said Angle. [H/T WrestlingInc] Angle predicted last year that Roode will one day become a world champion in WWE. WWE star Bobby Roode recently underwent surgery Roode recently revealed on social media that he has undergone surgery in Birmingham, Alabama. “Heading home after what is hoped to be a successful trip to Birmingham AL . Big thank you to @southlakeortho and @andrews_sports_medicine for taking great care of me this week. Especially to the first class medical staff of Dr Micheal Ellerbusch , Dr Andrew Cordover and Dr Charles Carnel,” said Roode. The former NXT superstar didn’t disclose what injury he has sustained in his social media post. Roode hasn’t wrestled on television since June 2022, when he faced Omos in an episode of Saturday Night’s Main Event. Do you think Robert Roode should get more opportunities in the company? Sound off in the comments below. Find out which big wrestling project The Rock is currently involved in right here. Edited by Jeevak Ambalgi Thank You! Read More…

Missiles Hit Ukrainian City; Alarms Elsewhere Keep Up Fear https://digitalalabamanews.com/missiles-hit-ukrainian-city-alarms-elsewhere-keep-up-fear/ KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A new round of missile attacks struck the southern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia Tuesday, as the death toll from the previous day’s widespread Russian missile barrage across Ukraine rose to 19. Missiles struck a school, a medical facility and residential buildings in Zaporizhzhia, city council secretary Anatoliy Kurtev said. The State Emergency Service said 12 S-300 missiles slammed into public facilities, setting off a large fire in the area. One person was killed. The S-300 was originally designed as a long-range surface-to-air missile. Russia has increasingly resorted to using repurposed versions of the weapon to strike targets on the ground. The morning’s air raid warnings extended throughout the country, sending some residents back into shelters after months of relative calm in the capital and many other cities. That earlier lull had led many Ukrainians to ignore the regular sirens, but Monday’s attacks gave them new urgency. U.S. prepares response to Russia. (CNN, TWITTER, TPYXANEWS, @MATTIA_N, @ECHOMADMAN, @GERASHCHENKO_EN, NORWEGIAN GOVERNMENT, STATE EMERGENCY SERVICE, CHAD J. MC) Beside the usual sirens, residents in the capital, Kyiv, were jolted early Tuesday by a new type of loud alarm that blared automatically from mobile phones. The caustic-sounding alert was accompanied by a text warning of the possibility of missile strikes. The state emergencies service said 19 people died and 105 people were wounded in Monday’s missile strikes that targeted critical infrastructure facilities in Kyiv and 12 other regions. More than 300 cities and towns were without power, from the Ukrainian capital all the way to Lviv on the border with Poland. Many of the attacks occurred far from the war’s front lines. With Ukrainian forces growing increasingly bold following a series of battlefield successes, a cornered Kremlin is ratcheting up Cold War-era rhetoric and fanning concerns it could broaden the war and suck in more combatants. Russia’s deputy foreign minister, Sergei Ryabkov, warned Tuesday that Western military assistance to Kyiv including training Ukrainian soldiers in NATO countries and feeding Ukraine real-time satellite data to target Russian forces has “increasingly drawn Western nations into the conflict on the part of the Kyiv regime.” Ryabkov said in remarks carried by the state RIA-Novosti news agency that “Russia will be forced to take relevant countermeasures, including asymmetrical ones.” He said that although Russia isn’t “interested in a direct clash” with the U.S. and NATO, “we hope that Washington and other Western capitals are aware of the danger of an uncontrollable escalation.” Russia has retaliated for what it claimed was a Ukrainian terrorist attack. (Credit: CNN Newsource) Ryabkov’s warning follows Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko’s announcement that he and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin have agreed to create a joint “regional grouping of troops” to thwart what Lukashenko claimed is a potential Ukrainian assault on Belarus. The Ukrainian army general staff said Tuesday it has not seen evidence of troop movements or a buildup of offensive forces in Belarus but warned that Russia could continue to strike “peaceful neighborhoods” and critical infrastructure in Ukraine with missiles. “The enemy is not able to stop the successful counteroffensive of the Defense Forces in the Kharkiv and Kherson directions, so it is trying to intimidate and sow panic among the population of Ukraine,” the military’s general staff said. The Washington-based Institute for the Study of War said it’s unlikely a joint Russian-Belarus force would launch an attack on Ukraine from the north. Analysts at the think tank said the Russian component of such a force would “likely be comprised of low-readiness mobilized men or conscripts who likely will not pose a significant conventional military threat to Ukraine.” One use for the joint force could be to keep some Ukrainian troops bogged down around Kyiv to defend the capital, preventing them from being deployed to more active fronts where they can press their counter-offensive, the institute said. Deadly explosions rocked Ukraine overnight. (Source: CNN) Although Ukrainian officials said Russia’s missile strikes on Monday made no “practical military sense,” Putin said the “precision weapons” attack was in retaliation for what he claimed were Kyiv’s “terrorist” actions — a reference to Ukraine’s attempts to repel Moscow’s invasion, including an attack Saturday on a key bridge between Russia and the annexed Crimean Peninsula. Putin alleged the bridge attack was masterminded by Ukrainian special services. Putin vowed a “tough” and “proportionate” response if further Ukrainian attacks threaten Russia’s security. “No one should have any doubts about it,” he told Russia’s Security Council by video. Putin’s increasingly frequent descriptions of Ukraine’s actions as terrorist could portend even more bold and draconian actions. But in Monday’s speech, Putin — whose partial troop mobilization order last month triggered an exodus of hundreds of thousands of men of fighting age — stopped short of escalating his “special military operation” to a counterterrorism campaign or martial law. That didn’t stop the speaker of the lower house of the Russian parliament on Tuesday from likening Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to deceased al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden. He also said Western politicians supporting Ukraine “are effectively sponsoring terrorism” and that “there can be no talks with terrorists.” Zelenskyy has repeatedly called on world leaders to declare Russia a terrorist state because of its attacks on civilians and alleged war crimes. ___ Follow the AP’s coverage of the war at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. Read More…

Larry Summers Wants To Spend Trillions On Climate https://digitalalabamanews.com/larry-summers-wants-to-spend-trillions-on-climate/ Larry Summers — who spent the last year-and-a-half warning about easy money and inflation — is calling on the World Bank to loosen its lending limits to combat climate change and think in the “trillions not the billions.” The big picture: Summers wants the U.S. to increase its capital contribution to the bank by $5 billion. With a total of $30 billion in new capital from across the globe, along with a revamped financial model, Summers argues that the bank could lend some $100 billion per year, with much of it directed towards energy projects. Why it matters: The World Bank is front and center in the debate on how far and how fast industrialized economies can push developing countries to transition to green energy. Driving the news: The former Treasury secretary and top White House economist told Axios ahead of this week’s annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank that the bank should take “the immense opportunity to catalyze finance and greatly accelerate the green energy and green agricultural transition.” His comments follow an op-ed published Monday in Project Syndicate. The intrigue: Summers, a candidate to lead the bank under President Obama, will be interviewed Tuesday at 1:30p ET as part of the annual meetings by embattled bank president David Malpass, whom former Vice President Al Gore last month labeled a “climate denier.” Malpass’s term ends in April of 2024, meaning a decision about his replacement will likely be made in the summer of 2023. A holdover from the Trump administration, Malpass had appeared to question that burning fossil fuels was warming the planet. He later clarified his remarks in an interview with CNN and an internal bank email. White House officials condemned Malpass’s comments, but removing him would be exceedingly difficult and could end the informal agreement giving the World Bank’s presidency to the Americans and the IMF to the Europeans. Don’t forget: Summers has vexed the White House for suggesting that Biden stoked inflation by spending too big in his first year as president. But now he’s on the side of bigger investments. He’s calling for more funding for the World Bank and wants it to use its leverage to finance trillions of dollars in new projects. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen also wants to work with shareholders to help the bank develop a new roadmap to include a greater emphasis on climate. Zoom in: Summers’ op-ed calls attention to what he sees as the bank’s underutilized lending capacity: “Given the magnitude of global challenges over the next decade, we should be thinking in the trillions not the billions for the Bank.” He told Axios that the bank “shouldn’t focus on overly broad restrictions such as lending to natural gas power plants” and “they need to focus on what they can do, and to take the immense opportunity to catalyze finance and greatly accelerate the green energy and green agricultural transition.” The bottom line: Now that President Biden has passed some $370 billion in new domestic climate spending, officials are shifting their focus to the international arena to reduce global carbon emissions. Summers wants bank reform to be a central part of that discussion. Read More…

January 6 Was Entirely Predictable — it Was Planned In Broad Daylight https://digitalalabamanews.com/january-6-was-entirely-predictable-it-was-planned-in-broad-daylight/ Everyone knows how the day unfolded: Trump’s speech in which he urged “if you don’t fight like Hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore.”  Swarms of incensed rioters at the Capitol, police officers and rioters killed and injured, and so many other details of that day that will remain etched in the memory of those who lived through it. It was the ultimate, real-life manifestation of the Far Right 2.0’s uninterrupted online activity, with each corner of the movement represented in some way or another as they converged in D.C. There were shirts, flags and hats with QAnon mantras like “Trust the Plan” and emblems of militia movements like the Three Percenters and the Oath Keepers. There were Confederate flags and rope nooses. Inside the Capitol building, a man with a shirt reading “CAMP AUSCHWITZ…WORK BRINGS FREEDOM” stormed through the halls beside another individual in a TRUMP 2020 hat, helping hold up a broken piece of a nameplate reading, “SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE NANCY PELOSI.” And with the United States still sifting through the rubble of that day, we watched the same maddeningly familiar script play out once more. Many unanswered questions about the January 6 Capitol siege remain: Why were the Capitol Police so severely unprepared? Why was the National Guard so delayed in being deployed? But one thing is certain: this didn’t come out of the blue. All the planning that went into the January 6 riot—the zip ties, the incitements, the movement-wide sense of direction, the coordination—happened in broad daylight on sites like TheDonald.win. As the Wall Street Journal reported in the siege’s aftermath, “The SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors extremist groups, sent more than two dozen alerts between Dec. 23 and Jan. 7 noting the rising risk of violence related to the coming gathering.”  Those alerts went to all of our law enforcement partners. And that was just from us; other monitors were also raising red flags. The government’s lack of preparation was not a failure of intelligence, as some said of 9-11 at the time. This was a failure to act on available intelligence—one far worse than any I’d seen in decades of sharing intelligence. This was a failure to act on available intelligence—one far worse than any I’d seen in decades of sharing intelligence. Sure, some coordination happened on apps like Facebook Messenger, but TheDonald.win, Parler, 8kun, and the like is where the real mobilization took place. Posts on TheDonald.win indicate that this was where many seemed to have found their way into the private chats to begin with. It was the same story of an internet-fueled terrorist catastrophe we’d been following in recent years.  Only on a much larger scale. On January 8, amid new public scrutiny on Parler’s role in the Capitol siege, both Apple and Google delivered ultimatums to the company for “moderation improvement” plans. Parler CEO John Matze wasn’t having any of it. “We will not cave to pressure from anti-competitive actors!” he wrote on the platform.  “We will and always have enforced our rules against violence and illegal activity. But we WONT cave to politically motivated companies and those authoritarians who hate free speech!” The next day, Apple and Google removed Parler from their app stores, citing an “ongoing and urgent public safety threat” and the company’s lack of “adequate measures” to address it.  The same day, Amazon Web Services announced it would be cutting off its services to Parler on January 10, claiming that the platform “cannot comply with our terms of service and poses a very real risk to public safety.”  It marked the first such move against Parler by Amazon, whose two years of hosting services to the platform reportedly evolved into a $300,000-a-month source of revenue.  The Far Right 2.0 needed a new home: somewhere with appealing features and a proven track record of little to no moderation. You may have already guessed where I’m going with this. “Telegram is the only viable alternative at the moment,” wrote popular white nationalist activist Nick Fuentes, known for starting the America First Political Action Conference (AFPAC), for which at least one banner was seen during the Capitol siege.  Far-right 4chan users likewise wrote the day after Parler’s removal, “COME TO TELEGRAM NOW” while listing far-right channels.  QAnon users said the same, writing that “patriots need to gather under one banner on Telegram.” So began yet another mass-online migration to Telegram by users too extreme for other mainstream social media platforms. In November 2020, a Proud Boys-associated chat group had less than 2,000 members. But after branding itself as “Parler Lifeboat” when the platform was removed, the Telegram chat group reached well over 13,000 members by the end of January 2021. Similar surges were seen across all the Far Right 2.0’s overlapping submovements after Parler went down. A QAnon group chat with 468 members in late December 2020 similarly shot up to over 4,000 by late January. The overtly white nationalist Proud Boys: Uncensored Telegram channel went from 16,000 subscribers at the beginning of January to nearly 45,000 by the end of the month. With that, this increasingly influential channel directed fellow white nationalists to cater to these new Parler refugees pouring into Telegram: “Parler being shut down has sent tens of thousands (or more) of people to telegram. All of them are seeking refuge and looking for answers since their Q-bullshit lied to them. Maga people are demoralized. “Now is our opportunity to grab them by the hand and lead them toward ideological truth. Join their normie chats and show them love and unity…Introduce videos that will open their eyes (you know which ones).” Want a daily wrap-up of all the news and commentary Salon has to offer? Subscribe to our morning newsletter, Crash Course. Neo-Nazis on Telegram also had their eyes on this new wave of recruitment prospects. Many circulated the lengthy “Comprehensive Redpill Guide,” detailing how to radicalize those energized by the Capitol siege and providing templates of how to reach out to such prospects without scaring them away with blatant anti-Semitism and racism. The guide concluded, “Big Tech made a serious mistake by banishing conservatives to the one place where we have unfettered access to them, and that’s a mistake they’ll come to regret!” Like ISIS, the Far Right 2.0 was born and exists largely on the internet. These developments didn’t seem to factor into many lawmakers’ responses to the Capitol siege, though. Congress began calling for hearings and investigations in the months that followed, with many Democrats seeking to scrutinize Parler for its role in the January 6 siege. Republicans, meanwhile, seemed to take more issue with Google, Apple, Amazon and other companies cutting off Parler.  None of it mattered, though, because Parler registered its site with Epik in January and by February was fully operational again. It even took the cyber security services of the Russia-based DDoSGuard, the same company that protected VanwaTech so that it could help provide servers for 8chan and a dozen QAnon sites. Meanwhile, founders of TheDonald.win broke away from Williams, who was quickly distancing himself from the site he had cocreated. All that was connected to Williams was the domain registration, so to bring TheDonald.win back up, all the remaining unapologetic admins had to do was change the domain to “Patriots.win.” Upon doing so, these new admins boldly declared in a statement on the landing page, “The Donald has evolved to Patriots.win. Don’t worry, everything else is the same.” Like ISIS, the Far Right 2.0 was born and exists largely on the internet. But by January 6, 2020, evolutionary paths of the Far Right and ISIS had diverged. Both of these global movements received enormously different treatments. One side was all but smothered to death online, while the other was able to survive long enough to inject itself into other extremist movements. One side was shunned by societies around the globe, while the other infused itself into mainstream political discussion. One side prompted consensus among governments, tech companies, and societies that it was a danger to the world, while the other found refuge with “free speech”–preaching companies that hardly seemed to apply the same rationale toward jihadi extremists. One of my primary goals in recent years has been to show as vividly as possible the oxygen that keeps modern-day extremist movements like ISIS or the Far Right 2.0 alive and thriving. In 2007, I testified twice before Congress that the government could eliminate all the al-Qaeda leaders and training camps it wanted to, but if they didn’t address the online havens of these threats they would continue to grow, just as they had been doing so dramatically after 9/11. As I urged, “If I come with one thing, one theme, after my brief testimony, I hope that it will be that the internet is a crucial battleground in the war on terror that must be contested in a more effective way.” Fifteen years later, I find even more relevance and urgency in my assertion. Read More…

Democrats' Abortion Ad Blitz https://digitalalabamanews.com/democrats-abortion-ad-blitz/ Note: Democratic groups include DNC, DSCC and DCCC. Republican groups include RNC, NRSC and NRCC; Data: Bully Pulpit Interactive; Chart: Erin Davis/Axios Visuals Democrats are pouring millions into Facebook ads about reproductive rights leading up to this year’s midterms, according to new data, while Republicans are focused on the economy and Donald Trump. Why it matters: Abortion rights have proven to be a hot-button issue for Democrats down-ballot, helping the party rally voters amid attacks about inflation and the economy. Driving the news: Democrats have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on Facebook ads about abortion in the past three months, according to an analysis by Axios using data from Bully Pulpit Interactive. The data measures ad spending from the three major Democratic committees (DNC, DSCC, DCCC) compared to the three major Republicans committees (RNC, NRSC, NRCC). Democrats began spending heavily on reproductive rights messaging with a blitz in late June following the Supreme Court’s vote to overturn Roe v. Wade. The data shows a steady increase in spend leading up to the election. Between the lines: Facebook ads are typically used for fundraising and list-building, and as a result, far more money is typically spent on local broadcast ads to actually persuade voters. But data suggests Democrats’ focus on abortion extends to TV. New data from the Wesleyan Media Project, a university-backed political ad research group, finds that the top issue mentioned in ads in Senate races across broadcast TV nationally from September 19 through October 2nd was abortion. Data from AdImpact, an ad analysis firm, analyzed by Politico, found that Democratic candidates, party committees and allied super PACs have spent nearly $18 million to air more than 100 abortion-centered broadcast TV ads in battleground states through the end of September. The other side: While Democrats focus their messaging on abortion, Republicans are trying to remind voters about the state of the economy. According to Wesleyan Media Project, the top issues referenced in Republican Senate ads on television have been the budget and taxes. The GOP has also been leaning into ads about public safety and crime in key battleground states, per NBC News. Neither party is wasting many dollars talking about Joe Biden. Republican committees have largely stopped buying Facebook ads talking about Biden, per the Bully Pulpit data. Democrats have also distanced themselves from the President on Facebook, the data shows. The big picture: Democrats have out-aired their Republican counterparts on broadcast television across nine of the top 10 most of the most competitive Senate races, thanks to an unprecedented level of outside spend from super PACS and outside groups, according to the Wesleyan Media Project. From September 19 to October 2, the top six Senate candidates by total spend across all mediums (digital and television) were Democrats, per the report. Republicans have a slight lead over the number of TV ads aired in competitive House races. When it comes to gubernatorial races, Democrats still lead Republicans in terms of spend across broadcast TV across competitive gubernatorial races, but the advantage is less consistent, per Wesleyan Media Project. While Beto O’Rourke is supported by an outsized number of broadcast ads in Texas, thanks to large investments from outsized groups, Charlie Crist has seen hardly any investment compared to Republican Ron DeSantis in Florida. What to watch: More political ad dollars are rapidly shifting to streaming, where candidates can use data to target voters more narrowly. Read More…