Digital Alabama News

Trump Escalates Attacks On McConnell With ‘DEATH WISH’ Post https://digitalalabamanews.com/trump-escalates-attacks-on-mcconnell-with-death-wish-post/ Former president Donald Trump is facing blowback for an inflammatory online message attacking Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) that many viewed as a threat. “He has a DEATH WISH,” Trump posted late Friday on his Truth Social platform, criticizing McConnell for agreeing to a deal to fund the government through December. He also disparaged McConnell’s wife, Elaine Chao, who served as Trump’s transportation secretary and was born in Taiwan, in racist terms, calling her “his China loving wife, Coco Chow!” The post marked a further escalation in an increasingly strained relationship between the two Republican leaders. Trump has repeatedly impugned McConnell’s negotiating positions and called on GOP senators to replace him as their leader. They often had a tense working relationship during Trump’s presidency and fell out in the aftermath of the 2020 election, when Trump refused to concede and tried to overturn the results, and the attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. McConnell’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment Saturday. A Trump spokesman said it was “absurd” to interpret the post as a threat or call for violence, suggesting the reference to a death wish was “political” rather than literal. “Mitch McConnell is killing the Republican Party through weakness and cowardice,” spokesman Taylor Budowich wrote in a statement. “He obviously has a political death wish for himself and Republican Party, but President Trump and the America First champions in Congress will save the Republican Party and our nation.” Incendiary statements from Trump have repeatedly inspired his supporters to turn to violence. Jan. 6 rioters, in the moment and in court proceedings, have said they believed they were acting on Trump’s wishes. Lawmakers of both parties have faced increasing threats after crossing Trump. More recently, following Trump’s attacks on the FBI in response to a search of his Mar-a-Lago resort, a gunman tried to breach the bureau’s Cincinnati office while posting about it on Truth Social. He was later killed by police. “He knows exactly what he’s doing, and his recklessness knows no bounds,” prominent Republican lawyer Robert Kelner wrote on Twitter, responding to Trump’s latest post about McConnell. “Despicable.” Chao resigned from Trump’s Cabinet shortly after the Jan. 6 attack, saying the assault “deeply troubled me in a way I simply cannot set aside.” McConnell, in a speech after the following month’s impeachment trial, condemned Trump as “practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of that day,” although he did not vote to convict. In this year’s primaries, McConnell tried unsuccessfully to recruit moderate Republican governors such as Chris Sununu of New Hampshire, Larry Hogan of Maryland and Doug Ducey of Arizona to run for the Senate. McConnell’s allies intervened in some races to oppose pro-Trump candidates, such as Eric Greitens in Missouri and Don Bolduc in New Hampshire, but did not weigh in against Trump-endorsed candidates such as Blake Masters in Arizona and Herschel Walker in Georgia. McConnell has publicly lamented that some of the party’s nominees are making it harder to win back control of the chamber, although he has lately expressed more confidence in the party’s chances. Read More…

AP News Summary At 1:37 P.m. EDT https://digitalalabamanews.com/ap-news-summary-at-137-p-m-edt-3/ Russia withdraws troops after Ukraine encircles key city KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia says it has withdrawn its troops from the once-occupied city of Lyman, as Ukraine’s eastern counteroffensive recaptures more territory. Russia’s Tass and RIA news agencies, citing the Russian defense ministry, made the announcement. Lyman is 160 kilometers (100 miles) southeast of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city. Ukrainian forces had pushed across the Oskil River as part of a counteroffensive that saw Kyiv retake vast swathes of territory beginning in September. Lyman, a key transportation hub, had been an important site in the Russian front line for both ground communications and logistics. Now Ukraine can push further potentially into the occupied Luhansk region, which is one of four regions that Russia annexed Friday. Ian leaves dozens dead as focus turns to rescue, recovery FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) — Rescuers continue to search for survivors in flooded homes in Florida after Hurricane Ian’s passage earlier this week. Meanwhile, authorities in South Carolina began assessing damage on Saturday morning. Ian made another landfall Friday on South Carolina’s coast and is now a post-tropical cyclone moving across parts of North Carolina, Virginia and New York. The powerful storm terrorized millions of people for most of the week and officials say it’s blamed for at least 27 deaths in Florida, three deaths in Cuba and one in North Carolina. But authorities say they expect the death toll to rise further. Ian shows the risks and costs of living on barrier islands SANIBEL ISLAND, Fla. (AP) — Experts say that Hurricane Ian is shining a spotlight once again on the vulnerability of the nation’s barrier islands and the increasing cost of people living on them. Florida’s Sanibel Island was hard hit by the storm. Homes were destroyed. Two people have been confirmed dead. And Sanibel’s lone bridge to the mainland collapsed. Barrier island communities like Sanibel anchor tourist economies that provide crucial tax dollars. But the cost of rebuilding them is often high because they’re home to many high-value properties. Jesse Keenan is a real estate professor at Tulane University. He questions whether such communities can keep rebuilding as hurricanes become more and more destructive from climate change. Russia blindfolds, detains Ukraine nuclear plant chief KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine’s nuclear power provider says Russian forces blindfolded and detained the head of Europe’s largest nuclear power plant hours after Moscow illegally annexed a swath of Ukrainian territory. In a possible attempt to secure Moscow’s hold on the newly annexed territory, Russian forces seized the director-general of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, Ihor Murashov, around 4 p.m. Friday. Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday signed treaties to absorb Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions of Ukraine, including the area around the nuclear plant. The International Atomic Energy Agency said Saturday that Russia told it that “the director-general of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant was temporarily detained to answer questions.” Trump at center of Oath Keepers novel defense in Jan. 6 case WASHINGTON (AP) — The defense team in the Capitol riot trial of the Oath Keepers leader is relying on an unusual strategy with Donald Trump at the center. Lawyers for Stewart Rhodes are poised to argue that jurors cannot find him guilty of seditious conspiracy because all the actions he took before the riot were in preparation for orders he anticipated from the then-president. But those orders never came. Rhodes and four associates are accused of plotting for weeks to stop the transfer of presidential power, culminating with Oath Keepers in battle gear storming the Capitol alongside hundreds of other Trump supporters on Jan. 6, 2021. Opening statements in the trial are set to begin Monday. Supreme Court poised to keep marching to right in new term WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court begins a new term on Monday at a time of diminished public confidence and justices sparring openly over the institution’s legitimacy. The court seems poised to push American law to the right on issues of race, voting and the environment. Back in June, the conservative majority overturned nearly 50 years of constitutional protections for abortion rights. Now, the court is diving back in with an aggressive agenda that appears likely to split the six conservative justices from the three liberals. Joining the nine-member court is new Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, the court’s first Black woman. Cha-ching! Biden embraces his election-year fundraising role WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is picking up the pace of his high-dollar fundraisers for Democratic candidates and party committees in the closing weeks before Election Day in November. The events are one of the most visible ways Biden has been deployed this political season at a time when his approval ratings remain underwater and many Democrats aren’t eager to campaign with him. So far this year, Biden has headlined 11 receptions to raise cash directly for the Democratic National Committee, and those gatherings have brought in almost $20 million. Biden seems to particularly relish the in-person interactions that a private fundraiser offers. Women protesters demand more security after Afghan bombing KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — A group of Afghan women has protested a suicide bombing that killed or wounded dozens of students in a Shiite education center in the capital Kabul, demanding better security from the Taliban-run government. The demonstration Saturday was quickly broken up by Taliban police. The bomber struck an education center Friday packed with hundreds of students in a Shiite neighborhood, killing 19 people and wounding 27. Among the casualties were teenagers taking practice university entrance exams. The morning explosion at the center took place in Kabul’s Dashti Barchi neighborhood, an area populated mostly by ethnic Hazaras, who belong to Afghanistan’s minority Shiite community. Shying from Trump, ex-Maine Gov. Paul LePage seeks job back YARMOUTH, Maine (AP) — When then-Gov. Paul LePage endorsed Donald Trump for president in 2016, LePage credited himself as a prototype for the insurgent candidate. Now, with LePage running for a third term after a brief retirement to Florida, he rarely talks about Trump in campaign events and media interviews, and LePage’s advisers say his hiatus from politics changed him. LePage’s efforts at distancing himself from Trump are particularly notable because LePage once invited comparisons to Trump — and made them himself. LePage is seeking to unseat Democratic Gov. Janet Mills in November and become the longest-serving governor in Maine’s history. Two prophets, century-old prayer duel inspire Zion mosque ZION, Illinois (AP) — This week, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in Zion, Illinois, opened its doors to the city’s first mosque. Members view this as a significant event because of their faith’s century-old connection to Zion’s founder and faith healer John Alexander Dowie. The evangelist envisioned Zion as a Christian theocracy and made hostile remarks about Muslims. This drew the ire of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community’s founder Mirza Ghulam Ahmad. The Ahmadis view Zion as the site of a holy miracle where their founder defended Islam and defeated Dowie in a prayer duel that ended with the latter’s death in 1907.  They have named the mosque Fath-e-Azeem, which means “a great victory” in Arabic. Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Read More…

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson Joins Supreme Court Ahead Of Full Docket Including Cases About Race, Voting, And The Environment https://digitalalabamanews.com/justice-ketanji-brown-jackson-joins-supreme-court-ahead-of-full-docket-including-cases-about-race-voting-and-the-environment/ Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson was welcomed to the Supreme Court by her new colleagues on Friday, days before the Supreme Court begins a new term.  President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris attended the investiture ceremony on Friday. “Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson has already brought uncompromising integrity, a strong moral compass, and courage to the Supreme Court,” Biden tweeted. “This is a day for all Americans to be proud.” “She’s going to be a wonderful justice, has a delightful family, and I’m really looking forward to working with her,” Chief Justice John Roberts said at a judicial conference in September. Jackson will be the first-ever Black woman to ever serve on the bench, replacing Justice Stephen Breyer, who retired in June. Jackson is the first Justice appointed by President Biden to take the bench, and will sit alongside three former President Donald Trump appointees—Justices Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett—making for a very divided court of six conservatives and three liberals.  “It has taken 232 years and 115 prior appointments for a Black woman to be selected to serve on the Supreme Court of the United States. But we’ve made it,” Jackson said in a speech following her Senate confirmation in April. “We’ve made it. All of us.” The first case on the docket will be about the Clean Water Act, the primary law regulating water pollution; SCOTUS will determine what is protected under the Clean Water Act. The outcome could “gut our ability to protect wetlands and other waters. It’s a threat to the clean water our communities depend on for drinking, swimming, fishing and other uses,” according to Jon Devine, director of federal water policy at the Natural Resources Defense Council. This term, the Supreme Court is also expected to hear major cases regarding affirmative action, voting, free speech and gay rights. Last session, SCOTUS made a number of landmark rulings, perhaps none more divisive than the overturning of Roe v. Wade; according to the latest Gallup poll, 58% of U.S. adults, a record high, said they disapprove of the job the Supreme Court is doing, and a growing number of Americans distrust the nation’s high court. Read More…

ESPN’s ‘College GameDay’ Predictions: ‘Alabama Shows Up In Bad Mood;’ Auburn ‘is Burning Down’ https://digitalalabamanews.com/espns-college-gameday-predictions-alabama-shows-up-in-bad-mood-auburn-is-burning-down/ Lee Corso wasn’t in attendance Saturday when ESPN’s “College GameDay” made the trip to Clemson. It didn’t stop the guys from making their weekly picks with celebrity picker and former Clemson star Christian Wilkins joining the panel. He explained why the Clemson faithful shows disdain when Alabama is mentioned. The crew picked Alabama’s game with Arkansas. “Us Clemson people we have a love-hate relationship with Alabama,” Wilkins, now with the Dolphins, said Saturday. “Hate them because they are the only reason I don’t have four national championship rings, but I did get two off of them. Nick Saban is a legendary coach. This will actually be a close game, I feel. Like you said, I don’t think Arkansas is going to be able to hang with them late.” Desmond Howard points to one player who will be the difference in the game. “Slow start by Alabama, but I think KJ Jefferson, the quarterback for Arkansas, will make a crucial mistake in the second half,” Howard said. “The Alabama defense will capitalize. I’m going Bama. Roll Tide!” Pat McAfee looks to Alabama putting a narrative to rest for good. “With what happened with Arkansas last week, Alabama the next week is a tough one,” he explained of Arkansas’ loss to Texas A&M a week ago. “A 98-yard fumble recovery to the house. A kicker kicking the ball off the top of the upright. Absolute heart break for the Hogs last week. Now, Alabama putting all that, ‘We suck on the road’ stuff to bed today. I like Alabama a lot today.” Preparation and memories of last year’s game will have the Tide ready for the Razorbacks, Herbstreit said. “KJ Jefferson threw for 326 last year against a Nick Saban defense,” he said. “It’s been a tough week of practice to get Alabama’s defense ready. I think they show up in a bad mood. Maybe close early, but Bama and Bryce Young win it.” Meanwhile, Auburn hosts LSU, and Wilkins – as a Clemson guy – was the only person to pick Bryan Harsin’s teams. “I like Auburn in the game,” Wilkins said, adding the game features junior varsity Tigers, noting Clemson is the real Tigers. “Not going with LSU because this is the real Death Valley. McAfee pointed to culture and Auburn has none right now. “That place is burning down right now,” he explained. “LSU seems to be figuring it out. So, give me (LSU coach) Brian Kelly and the dogs with LSU.” Herbstreit and Howard agreed. Auburn’s down to their third quarterback,” Herbstreit said. “They can’t run the ball with Tank Bigsby. I pick LSU comfortably.” Desmond added: “I tell you what. With all the problems going on down there with Auburn with Bryan Harsin, I don’t even see how he can field a team that is a competitive, but he does every week. I just think LSU will be too much for Auburn.” Here are this week’s picks: Navy-Air Force Howard: Air Force Wilkins: Navy McAfee: Air Force Herbstreit: Air Force Michigan-Iowa Howard: Michigan Wilkins: Michigan McAfee: Iowa Herbstreit: Michigan Kentucky-Ole Miss Howard: Ole Miss Wilkins: Ole Miss McAfee: Kentucky Herbstreit: Kentucky Alabama-Arkansas Howard: Alabama Wilkins: Alabama McAfee: Alabama Herbstreit: Alabama Auburn-LSU Howard: LSU Wilkins: Auburn McAfee: LSU Herbstreit: LSU Oregon State-Utah Howard: Utah Wilkins: Utah McAfee: Oregon State Herbstreit: Utah Iowa State-Kansas Howard: Iowa State Wilkins: Kansas McAfee: Kansas Herbstreit: Kansas Texas Tech-Kansas State Howard: Texas Tech Wilkins: Kansas State McAfee: Kansas State Herbstreit: Kansas State Oklahoma State-Baylor Howard: Baylor Wilkins: Oklahoma State McAfee: Baylor Herbstreit: Baylor Wake Forest-Florida State Howard: Florida State Wilkins: Wake Forest McAfee: Florida State Herbstreit: Florida State Clemson-NC State Howard: Clemson Wilkins: Clemson McAfee: NC State Herbstreit: No pick Mark Heim is a sports reporter for The Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Mark_Heim. If you purchase a product or register for an account through one of the links on our site, we may receive compensation. Read More…

AP News Summary At 12:43 P.m. EDT https://digitalalabamanews.com/ap-news-summary-at-1243-p-m-edt/ Russia withdraws troops after Ukraine encircles key city KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia says it has withdrawn its troops from the once-occupied city of Lyman, as Ukraine’s eastern counteroffensive recaptures more territory. Russia’s Tass and RIA news agencies, citing the Russian defense ministry, made the announcement. Lyman is 160 kilometers (100 miles) southeast of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city. Ukrainian forces had pushed across the Oskil River as part of a counteroffensive that saw Kyiv retake vast swathes of territory beginning in September. Lyman, a key transportation hub, had been an important site in the Russian front line for both ground communications and logistics. Now Ukraine can push further potentially into the occupied Luhansk region, which is one of four regions that Russia annexed Friday. Ian leaves dozens dead as focus turns to rescue, recovery FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) — Rescuers continue to search for survivors in flooded homes in Florida after Hurricane Ian’s passage earlier this week. Meanwhile, authorities in South Carolina began assessing damage on Saturday morning. Ian made another landfall Friday on South Carolina’s coast and is now a post-tropical cyclone moving across parts of North Carolina, Virginia and New York. The powerful storm terrorized millions of people for most of the week and officials say it’s blamed for at least 27 deaths in Florida, three deaths in Cuba and one in North Carolina. But authorities say they expect the death toll to rise further. Ian shows the risks and costs of living on barrier islands SANIBEL ISLAND, Fla. (AP) — Experts say that Hurricane Ian is shining a spotlight once again on the vulnerability of the nation’s barrier islands and the increasing cost of people living on them. Florida’s Sanibel Island was hard hit by the storm. Homes were destroyed. Two people have been confirmed dead. And Sanibel’s lone bridge to the mainland collapsed. Barrier island communities like Sanibel anchor tourist economies that provide crucial tax dollars. But the cost of rebuilding them is often high because they’re home to many high-value properties. Jesse Keenan is a real estate professor at Tulane University. He questions whether such communities can keep rebuilding as hurricanes become more and more destructive from climate change. Russia blindfolds, detains Ukraine nuclear plant chief KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine’s nuclear power provider says Russian forces blindfolded and detained the head of Europe’s largest nuclear power plant hours after Moscow illegally annexed a swath of Ukrainian territory. In a possible attempt to secure Moscow’s hold on the newly annexed territory, Russian forces seized the director-general of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, Ihor Murashov, around 4 p.m. Friday. Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday signed treaties to absorb Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions of Ukraine, including the area around the nuclear plant. The International Atomic Energy Agency said Saturday that Russia told it that “the director-general of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant was temporarily detained to answer questions.” Trump at center of Oath Keepers novel defense in Jan. 6 case WASHINGTON (AP) — The defense team in the Capitol riot trial of the Oath Keepers leader is relying on an unusual strategy with Donald Trump at the center. Lawyers for Stewart Rhodes are poised to argue that jurors cannot find him guilty of seditious conspiracy because all the actions he took before the riot were in preparation for orders he anticipated from the then-president. But those orders never came. Rhodes and four associates are accused of plotting for weeks to stop the transfer of presidential power, culminating with Oath Keepers in battle gear storming the Capitol alongside hundreds of other Trump supporters on Jan. 6, 2021. Opening statements in the trial are set to begin Monday. Supreme Court poised to keep marching to right in new term WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court begins a new term on Monday at a time of diminished public confidence and justices sparring openly over the institution’s legitimacy. The court seems poised to push American law to the right on issues of race, voting and the environment. Back in June, the conservative majority overturned nearly 50 years of constitutional protections for abortion rights. Now, the court is diving back in with an aggressive agenda that appears likely to split the six conservative justices from the three liberals. Joining the nine-member court is new Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, the court’s first Black woman. Cha-ching! Biden embraces his election-year fundraising role WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is picking up the pace of his high-dollar fundraisers for Democratic candidates and party committees in the closing weeks before Election Day in November. The events are one of the most visible ways Biden has been deployed this political season at a time when his approval ratings remain underwater and many Democrats aren’t eager to campaign with him. So far this year, Biden has headlined 11 receptions to raise cash directly for the Democratic National Committee, and those gatherings have brought in almost $20 million. Biden seems to particularly relish the in-person interactions that a private fundraiser offers. Women protesters demand more security after Afghan bombing KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — A group of Afghan women has protested a suicide bombing that killed or wounded dozens of students in a Shiite education center in the capital Kabul, demanding better security from the Taliban-run government. The demonstration Saturday was quickly broken up by Taliban police. The bomber struck an education center Friday packed with hundreds of students in a Shiite neighborhood, killing 19 people and wounding 27. Among the casualties were teenagers taking practice university entrance exams. The morning explosion at the center took place in Kabul’s Dashti Barchi neighborhood, an area populated mostly by ethnic Hazaras, who belong to Afghanistan’s minority Shiite community. Shying from Trump, ex-Maine Gov. Paul LePage seeks job back YARMOUTH, Maine (AP) — When then-Gov. Paul LePage endorsed Donald Trump for president in 2016, LePage credited himself as a prototype for the insurgent candidate. Now, with LePage running for a third term after a brief retirement to Florida, he rarely talks about Trump in campaign events and media interviews, and LePage’s advisers say his hiatus from politics changed him. LePage’s efforts at distancing himself from Trump are particularly notable because LePage once invited comparisons to Trump — and made them himself. LePage is seeking to unseat Democratic Gov. Janet Mills in November and become the longest-serving governor in Maine’s history. Two prophets, century-old prayer duel inspire Zion mosque ZION, Illinois (AP) — This week, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in Zion, Illinois, opened its doors to the city’s first mosque. Members view this as a significant event because of their faith’s century-old connection to Zion’s founder and faith healer John Alexander Dowie. The evangelist envisioned Zion as a Christian theocracy and made hostile remarks about Muslims. This drew the ire of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community’s founder Mirza Ghulam Ahmad. The Ahmadis view Zion as the site of a holy miracle where their founder defended Islam and defeated Dowie in a prayer duel that ended with the latter’s death in 1907.  They have named the mosque Fath-e-Azeem, which means “a great victory” in Arabic. Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Read More…

Trump Calls McConnell’s Wife ‘Coco Chow’ In Social Post https://digitalalabamanews.com/trump-calls-mcconnells-wife-coco-chow-in-social-post/ U.S. President Donald Trump (C) talks to reporters during a cabinet meeting with (L-R) Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao and others in the Cabinet Room at the White House October 17, 2018 in Washington, DC. Photo credit (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) Former President Donald Trump called current Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s wife Elaine Chao “Coco Chow” in a Friday Truth Social post. As of Saturday morning, it had more than 17,000 likes. “He has a DEATH WISH,” said Trump of McConnell, a fellow Republican who represents Kentucky in the Senate. “Must immediately seek help and advise from his China loving wife, Coco Chow!” McConnell is married to Elaine Chao, who served as the U.S. secretary of transportation when Trump was president and as the secretary of labor under former President George W. Bush. Chao moved to the U.S. from Taiwan when she was 8 years old, Business Insider reported. Although Taiwan has been governed independently of mainland China since 1949, the People’s Republic of China “views the island as a renegade province and vows to eventually ‘unify’ Taiwan with the mainland,” according to the Council on Foreign Relations. This August, the Louisville Courier Journal reported that Trump called Chao “crazy” said she and McConnell were trying to “get rich on China!” According to the Stop AAPI Hate organization, incidents of race-related name-calling can “be traumatizing and damaging.” Trump began his post with “is McConnell approving all of these Trillions of Dollars worth of Democrat sponsored Bills, without even the slightest bit of negotiation, because he hates Donald J. Trump, and he knows I am strongly opposed to them, or is he doing it because he believes in the Fake and Highly Destructive Green New Deal, and is willing to take the Country down with him? In any event, either reason is unacceptable.” This message came after both the Senate and the House of Representatives passed legislation to keep the government funded through mid-December. McConnell voted in favor of the bipartisan legislation, which included funding for Ukraine, disaster relief and a low income heating program. CNN described it as a “direct attack” at McConnell ahead of the midterm elections. While McConnell’s term runs through 2027, other Republican legislators are running to keep their seats in November. Read More…

Cal Thomas: Meloni Baloney About Italy's New Leader https://digitalalabamanews.com/cal-thomas-meloni-baloney-about-italys-new-leader/ FILE PHOTO: Leader of Brothers of Italy Giorgia Meloni speaks at the party’s election night headquarters, in Rome, Italy September 26, 2022. REUTERS / Guglielmo Mangiapane Italy has elected its first female prime minister. Normally that would be cause for celebration by those who promote diversity, but press reaction in Europe and the United States is treating Giorgia Meloni as the second coming of Italian dictator and Adolf Hitler ally, Benito Mussolini. Cal Thomas Commentary Tribune graphic The leftist press labels those whose policies they oppose as “right wing,” “extremist” and in Meloni’s case, a woman with “fascist” associations and political roots. A Washington Post editorial calls her a “firebrand ethno-nationalist” whose party “arose from the ashes of post-World War II Italian fascism.” Having already smeared her, the Post then contradicts itself, writing: “In fact, it would be a stretch to regard Ms. Meloni … as a fascist.” Meloni’s political positions are opposed to the secular progressive agenda. She is passionately pro-life, opposes the LGBTQ political agenda, and wants to restrict immigration. Market Realist News says: “Much like many far-right politicians in the U.S., Meloni has utilized her Christian views to serve as a backbone of her politics.” And secular progressives don’t do the same? Meloni’s Brothers of Italy party, which she co-founded in 2012, and which CNN.com repeatedly described as “far right,” so you get their drift, evolved from a neo-fascist movement, a movement begun decades ago. Meloni says her views are not those of that older organization. For the left, one can evolve in their direction, but never the opposite. It is always best to hear someone speak for themselves without the filtration of a hostile media. Three years ago, Meloni spoke before The World Congress of Families in Verona. She began with self-deprecating humor: “I’ve just arrived … I was doing the ironing. Then I found 10 minutes to come and talk politics with you.” Meloni said of the stereotypes associated with the family organization: “They said all sorts of things about this congress. They said we want to go back to the past. That we’re losers. That we’re embarrassing. That we’re un-enlightened. They said it’s scandalous for people to defend the natural family founded on marriage, to want to increase the birth rate, to want to place the correct value on human life, to support freedom in education and to say no to gender ideology.” The same has been said by critics of conservatives and their organizations in the U.S., but her platform is in tune with many Americans. Like Donald Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, she is not shy about firing back at her critics, some of whom were protesting outside the venue: “I say the losers are those who have nothing better to do than come here and insult us.” She has proposed free nursery schools for mothers who work outside the home. She describes Europe’s low birth rate (much of it thanks to liberal abortion policies) as “the biggest problem facing Europe.” Not energy? Not Russia’s war against Ukraine? Nope. “If we do not address this,” she says, “everything else is pointless.” Meloni also has a searing response to critics who claim she wants to return Italy to the Middle Ages: “The Middle Ages was also the time of the cathedrals and the abbeys, the founding of the comuni (small Italian administrative units), the universities, the parliament, the epoch of Dante, Petrarch, Boccaccio, Saint Francis, Saint Benedict. People who don’t know where Matera is, let’s not expect them to read history books.” How about this zinger: “I believe in a society where every choice has consequences and you accept responsibility for them. I reject a society where every desire becomes a right.” That once was considered normal and admirable in America and in Europe. You can understand why secular progressives hate her and fear her message. Perhaps she will soon visit the U.S. and put some backbone into the Republican Party. This Cal Thomas commentary is his opinion. He can be reached at cthomas@wctrib.com. Commentary logo Tribune graphic Read More…

Ian Recovery Efforts Begin In Florida And The Carolinas | CNN https://digitalalabamanews.com/ian-recovery-efforts-begin-in-florida-and-the-carolinas-cnn/ CNN’s John Berman flew above storm damage. This is what he saw 03:23 Residents of Florida and the Carolinas are picking up the pieces after Ian left a path of destruction in its wake. At least 45 people have died from the storm, and nearly 2 million customers in multiple states still don’t have power. In an area of low connectivity? Bookmark CNN’s lite site. Sigue nuestra cobertura en vivo en español aquí. Nearly 100 members of the Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Florida Task Force One continue conducting field reconnaissance in Sanibel Island by going to the roads on foot and stopping door-to-door to check on those who have been trapped inside their homes and need assistance.   The task force, along with other search and rescue squads, have been loading up survivors and pets, and transporting them to the Sanibel Fire Station, where helicopters are on standby to assist in the evacuation operations, according to MDFR. Here’s what the scene looked like on Thursday: Miami-Dade Fire Rescue also said today it is in Cape Coral, making rescues and assisting people — especially the elderly — with food and water. North Port Fire Chief Scott Titus said his community still has 7 to 8 feet of flooding in some areas, and there will be a “long, long recovery period.” North Port is located on the southern end of Sarasota County. The fire chief told CNN’s Boris Sanchez that a compromised levee further north in the county only affected one community, essentially “went into a bowl” and does not pose a threat to the rest of the county. “The levee that had an issue, actually that water went into a bowl,” Titus said. “It affected a number of homes in that area [Hidden River community], but it doesn’t go any further on than that. … When that began to happen though, they needed to get those residents out quickly. They coordinated those efforts, and they did that over in the nighttime hours last night.” There are other “significant infrastructure issues,” he said, with thousands of homes that have water in them. Crews rescued about 150 people overnight, bringing them to shelters, he said. “It appears that we have just kind of reached the crest today, and water will begin going down. But we’ve got 7, 8 feet on some street levels down there of water, up into the homes. We are accessing houses with boats, with high-water vehicles, and trying to get people out of those affected areas that don’t have water, don’t have food. We have been balancing that with the emergency calls, trying to get into them,” he said. “It’s been quite an operation. Some of our major thoroughfares have become impassable even as the water recedes, there is washouts. So we’ve got a long, long recovery period,” Titus said. As post-tropical cyclone Ian continues to weaken near the Virginia-North Carolina border, the National Hurricane Center warns that “major to record” river flooding could continue through next week in areas of Florida. Heavy rain and gusty winds will impact portions of the Mid-Atlantic region and New England coast Saturday, the National Weather Prediction Center said, and “limited flash, urban, and small stream flooding” is possible across the central Appalachians and southern Mid-Atlantic this weekend, according to the NHC. Here’s what we know right now: Deaths: At least 45 people have been killed after Hurricane Ian tore through Florida from Wednesday through Friday. This is the current CNN death toll by county in Florida: Lee County: 16 Charlotte County: 12 Collier County: 8 Volusia County: 4 Sarasota County: 2 Lake County: 1 Manatee County: 1 Polk County: 1 Power outages: About 1.7 million customers are still without power in four states, including more than 1.2 million in Florida alone. More than 337,000 customers in North Carolina have lost power, mostly in the central region of the state. In South Carolina, about 57,000 customers are without power along the northeast part of the state. In Virginia, more than 91,000 customers have lost power. A spokesperson for Florida Power & Light said it could take weeks to restore power in Florida’s hardest-hit southwestern areas. Damage: This week, Ian left a trail of destruction felt most intensely in Florida’s southwestern coastal communities, including Fort Myers and Naples. Tampa, Orlando and cities along Florida’s northeastern coast were also impacted by downpours, flooding and high winds. “I made it about two-thirds down the island and I’d say 90% of the island is pretty much gone,” Fort Myers Beach Town Councilman Dan Allers said. “Unless you have a high-rise condo or a newer concrete home that is built to the same standards today, your house is pretty much gone.” Sanibel and Captiva islands have been cut off from the mainland after parts of a causeway were obliterated by the storm. See striking before-and-after images here. Storm surge also set records for the highest water levels ever observed in multiple locations, such as Fort Myers and Naples. Radar estimates suggest well over 12 inches of rain fell in just 12 to 24 hours in a wide swath from Port Charlotte to Orlando. In some of the hardest-hit locations, Hurricane Ian produced 1-in-1,000-year rainfall, according to data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Authorities in South Carolina began cataloging damage on Pawleys Island, a coastal town roughly 70 miles north of Charleston. The biggest concern there, according to the mayor, is how to remove debris so the island can be safe again. “It was a Category 1 hurricane, but we experienced tremendous storm surge today, probably beyond what most people anticipated,” Mayor Brian Henry told CNN’s Jake Tapper on Friday. Recovery: As residents go back to homes that in some cases have been splintered or flooded out due to the storm, hundreds of rescues have taken place as federal, state and local crews work to help recovery efforts. The US Coast Guard has rescued more than 275 people in Florida, according to Rear Adm. Brendan McPherson, and hundreds of additional rescues were being performed by teams from FEMA and local and state agencies. But post-storm conditions remain a huge challenge, he told CNN on Friday. “We’re flying and we’re operating in areas that are unrecognizable. There’s no street signs. They don’t look like they used to look like. Buildings that were once benchmarks in the community are no longer there,” he said. In a speech Friday at the White House, President Biden said it could take years for some places to rebuild. “We’re just beginning to see the scale of that destruction,” he said. Storm debris litters a street in the wake of Hurricane Ian in Sarasota, Florida, on September 28. (Sean Rayford/Getty Images) Sarasota County Sheriff’s deputies and Sarasota County Fire personnel went door-to-door Saturday morning advising residents in the Hidden River community, a private airpark community located 15 miles east of Sarasota, of potential flooding due to a possible levee break, according to a release from the sheriff’s office. A countywide notification was issued to residents just before 3 a.m. ET, indicating the compromise of the levee, which the sheriff’s office said will only impact homes on the east side of the Hidden River community. Residents there are encouraged to consider evacuation. According to the sheriff’s office, the levee compromise should not impact any other areas in Sarasota County, including Venice or North Port. “This is a localized area, and the entire county is not under a flood threat from this situation,” the National Weather Service said in a press release Saturday morning. CNN’s Mike Saenz contributed to this report. A lineman works to restore power in Ft. Myers, Florida, on September 30. (Tannen Maury/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock) There are more than 1.7 million customers in Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia without power, as the remnants of Ian continue to affect the East Coast, according to PowerOutage.us. Ian, now a post-tropical cyclone, moved farther inland overnight and is expected to weaken and dissipate over North Carolina or Virginia late Saturday, CNN has reported. More than 1.25 million customers in Florida are without power, as power officials continue to work to slowly get customers back on the grid in the state. There are about 346,000 customers in Lee County still in the dark. More than 337,000 customers in North Carolina have lost power, mostly in the central region of the state. In South Carolina, about 57,000 customers are without power along the northeast part of the state. In Virginia, more than 91,000 customers have lost power. While Florida Power & Light has restored power to 1.4 million customers, it could take “weeks to get the lights on for everybody,” the utility company’s spokesman tells CNN. David Reuter, the company’s chief communications officer, told CNN’s Boris Sanchez that 2.1 million customers initially lost power because of Ian and approximately 700,000 of its customers remain without power. FPL’s focus remains in the state’s western counties, where Reuter said it could take weeks to restore power there. Power should be restored everywhere in the state except for portions of the state’s battered west coast by Tuesday, he said.  “We’re not going to stop until every customer is back on,” Reuter said.  According to Reuter, FPL has invested billions of dollars into hardening the state’s electrical grid with concrete and steel materials, as well as building underground power lines.  Chef José Andrés and his World Central Kitchen organization have been in Florida’s hard-hit Pine and Sanibel islands, delivering water and food to those in need after Hurricane Ian devastated the area. In a tweet on Friday night, Andrés said his organization has delivered more than 60,000 meals. “We’re goin...

Russia's Ukraine Invasion Is Backdrop To Election In Latvia https://digitalalabamanews.com/russias-ukraine-invasion-is-backdrop-to-election-in-latvia/ VILNIUS, Oct 1 (Reuters) – Latvians were voting on Saturday in a parliamentary election, with opinion polls predicting that Prime Minister Krisjanis Karins’s centre-right New Unity party will win the most votes, enabling him to continue his coalition with the conservative National Alliance. A victory for Karins could widen a growing rift between the Latvian majority and Latvia’s Russian-speaking minority over their place in society following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “I’m ready to continue being the prime minister, if that’s what the people say,” Karins told reporters in Riga on Saturday. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Polls close at 8 p.m. (1700 GMT), with an exit poll released immediately afterwards. Results were expected by midnight (2100 GMT). The first Latvian head of government to survive a full four-year term, surveys show Karins benefitting from driving the country’s hawkish stance against Russia amid widespread national anger over the invasion of Ukraine. The election campaign was dominated by questions of national identity and security concerns, while urgent issues including soaring energy costs and high inflation were largely pushed aside. Election campaign poster depicting parliament member candidates from different political parties are seen in Jelgava, Latvia September 28, 2022. REUTERS/Ints Kalnins Karins told Reuters on Tuesday he believes the war in Ukraine has consolidated his NATO and European Union nation of 1.9 million. He said that if re-elected, he would integrate the Russian minority – a quarter of population – by having the country educate its children in the Latvian language. “We’re putting all of our focus on the youth, to make sure that regardless of what language is spoken at home, that the child grows up with all of the advantages of knowing our language, knowing our culture”, he said. Before Moscow invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, tens of thousands of Russian speakers in Latvia used to gather every May 9 around a monument in Riga to commemorate the Soviet victory against Nazi Germany in World War Two. Their gatherings were banned after the invasion and the 84-metre (275-foot) structure in the centre of the capital was demolished on orders from the government – which is dominated by ethnic Latvians and would prefer to bury the memories of the country being part of the former Soviet Union up to 1991. Popular TV broadcasts from Russia have been banned and the state language board has proposed renaming a central Riga street commemorating Russian poet Alexander Pushkin. Karins’ government has put forward plans to switch all education to Latvian and to swiftly phase out instruction in Russian. The social democrat Harmony party, traditionally backed by Latvia’s Russian-speaking minority, received 19.8% of votes in the 2018 elections and became the largest opposition party in parliament. However, the latest opinion polls showed 7.3% support for Harmony. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Reporting by Andrius Sytas in Vilnius and Janis Laizans in Riga Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky and Frances Kerry Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. Read More…

Roy Wood Jr. Host ‘The Daily Show’? Report Says He’s ‘in The Running’ https://digitalalabamanews.com/roy-wood-jr-host-the-daily-show-report-says-hes-in-the-running/ With Trevor Noah leaving “The Daily Show,” is the door open for Roy Wood Jr. to step in as host? The longtime correspondent on the Comedy Central satire show is a candidate to fill Noah’s seat, according to TMZ. A TMZ report said Wood Jr. is “in the running” to take over. “Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ that Comedy Central executives view Roy as someone who could potentially become the next face of ‘TDS’,” the TMZ story said. TMZ reports Wood Jr.’s contract is coming up for renewal and Comedy Central executives consider him “a natural fit” to replace Noah. Read the full TMZ story. Speculation continues to grow for who might take over, including current and past correspondents like Wood Jr., Jordan Klepper and Samantha Bee, among others. It isn’t the only hosting gig people see Wood Jr. taking over. The Alabama-raised standup comic topped a list for potential replacements for “The Late Late Show” on CBS after James Corden announced he will leave the job in 2023. Vanity Fair named Wood Jr. among ideal candidates along with Amber Ruffin, Nathan Fielder and Ziwe. Author Chris Murphy also suggested “Another Broadway Baby” with a similar musical theatre background to Corden’s, or “an Audio Guru, meaning a popular podcast host like Michelle Collins or Matt Rogers. The piece called Wood Jr. “an obvious choice for the gig.” “With decades of comedy experience under his belt — just check out his multiple acclaimed Comedy Central specials —plus the political bona fides to take on the current events aspect of the gig, given his many years serving as a correspondent on ‘The Daily Show,’ Wood Jr. would be a wonderful successor to Corden,” Murphy writes. “His dry and brutally honest takes about hot topics in American politics, from critical race theory to Black History Month, delight as much as they inform, and appearances on Stephen Colbert’s ‘The Late Show’ prove he can banter with the best of them.” Murphy also said Wood Jr. would serve as “a welcome alternative to the homogeny” of the late-night scene historically dominated by white males. You can apply the same logic for “The Daily Show” job, though they differ in that one is a network gig and the other cable. Regardless, Wood Jr. remains an appealing candidate for parts on the big and small screens, with a recent appearance in the critically acclaimed comedy “Confess, Fletch,” also starring “Mad Men” actor Jon Hamm. Wood Jr. also has a popular podcast, “Roy’s Job Fair,” which he referenced on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” while also discussing his upbringing in Alabama. “I did morning radio in Birmingham for 10 years, and one of the things we did in the 9 o’clock hour was we would just invite listeners, if you were working somewhere that’s hiring, call our show and tell us so that people who were unemployed would just know. It was kind of like an audible Craigslist back in like ‘03-’04.” The 43-year-old comic is well-respected in the world of comedy, having recently appeared on Marc Maron’s hit “WTF” podcast, during which the host sung his praises as “one of the greats.” He plugged his three standup specials (“Father Figure,” “No One Loves You” and the most recent “Imperfect Messenger”) and admitted he wasn’t familiar with Wood Jr. prior to the interview prep, but he was quickly all in. “This guy’s one of the best. He’s one of the best,” Maron said during the intro. “He’s not afraid of taking risks. He talks about real things. He’s smart. He knows and understands policy, the subject of race from a personal point of view. He wrestles with things that we all wrestle with, but he’s got a delivery and a long-form approach that’s just so sharp and so funny and so deliberate.” Maron continued gushing. “He’s a real deal. He’s a guy that can talk about real stuff in a way that’s provocative and meaningful and funny.” Maron and Wood Jr. discussed a variety of topics including his upbringing in Birmingham as the son of a journalist (his father) and an educator (his mother). Wood Jr. received a degree in broadcast journalism from Florida A&M University. He said he was interested in working at ESPN, where he could crack jokes and talk sports after riding the bench as a baseball player. Wood Jr. said while growing up in Birmingham, he didn’t know the city had a comedy club. Maron even asked, “Is there one?” Wood Jr. plugged the StarDome and praised owner Bruce Ayers. He performed his first stand-up set at an open mic night in March 1999 when he was 19. “It was decent.” More on Roy Wood Jr.: Roy Wood Jr. talks therapy, strip clubs, his Alabama radio days with Stephen Colbert ‘Confess, Fletch’ trailer: Roy Wood Jr. teams with Jon Hamm in long-awaited reboot Legendary comedian praises Roy Wood Jr.: ‘He’s one of the greats’ If you purchase a product or register for an account through one of the links on our site, we may receive compensation. Read More…

Bears Vs. Giants: 5 Things To Watch (And A Prediction) For Week 4 Matchup https://digitalalabamanews.com/bears-vs-giants-5-things-to-watch-and-a-prediction-for-week-4-matchup/ The Chicago Bears (2-1) are traveling east to take on the New York Giants (2-1) and hopefully begin their first winning streak of the 2022 season. The two teams have much in common: a new general manager and head coach, an offensive line that run blocks better than it pass blocks, and an offense that struggles to throw the ball. Buy Bears Tickets Despite the Giants being a 3.5-point favorite, the two teams seem evenly matched. Here are five things to watch in their week four matchup — and a final prediction! AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh The Giants have struggled to keep Daniel Jones off the ground. Against the Dallas Cowboys last week, New York’s offensive line allowed 24 pressures – the most this season. Jones is getting pressured on nearly 47% of his snaps – a league-high. The Giants’ offensive line has allowed Jones to get sacked 13 times this year, the third most in the NFL. While Chicago is near the bottom of the league at sacking the quarterback, the Bears generate pressure on 33% of defensive snaps – fourth best in the NFL. So, after Dallas’ performance on Monday night, defensive ends Robert Quinn, Al-Quadin Muhammad, Trevis Gipson, and Dominique Robinson should make the game hard on Jones. Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports While the Giants offensive line struggles to protect Daniel Jones, they excel at run blocking. Heading into Sunday’s game against Chicago, the Giants are averaging 169.3 rushing yards per game (4th in NFL), with star running back Saquon Barkley leading the way.  In his fifth year, Barkley has rebounded back into form and looks like the guy who won Rookie of the Year. The Penn State product has 317 yards rushing (2nd in the NFL) and averages 6.0 yards per rush.  Chicago has one of the worst defenses for stopping the run. The Bears have allowed 471 yards (157 yards per game) and 4.8 yards per rush after the first three weeks. It’s a recipe for disaster: great run-blocking offensive line, superstar running back, and horrible run defense.  Add in that Chicago will be without cornerback Jaylon Johnson and likely without linebacker Matt Adams. The Bears will have limited depth and will have to find a way to stop the Giants from doing the only thing they do well.  Quinn Harris/Getty Images The Giants are the fourth-best rushing offense in the NFL. And while there aren’t too many teams better at running the ball than New York, the Bears are.  Chicago will enter Sunday with the second-best rushing offense in the NFL. The Bears are averaging 5.3 yards per rush on 140 attempts, led by running backs David Montgomery and Khalil Herbert. However, the Bears will be without Montgomery, who suffered an ankle injury last week.  The Bears will lose 4.5 yards per carry with Montgomery on the bench, but they replace him with Herbert, who has game-breaking speed.  While filling in for the injured Montgomery last year, Herbert rushed for 344 yards and one touchdown, averaging 4.6 yards per carry. This year, in three games, Herbert has 240 yards, two touchdowns, and an incredible 7.3 yards per rush.  The second-year player from Virginia Tech has the makings of a starting running back, and a great game on Sunday will continue to make Herbert a favorite among Chicago fans and coaches.  Michael Reaves/Getty Images Back in 2021, the Giants traded the No. 11 pick to the Bears allowing them to choose Justin Fields. Chicago gave up pick No. 20 (WR Kadarius Toney), a 2021 fifth-round pick (used to trade up and select CB Aaron Robinson), the 2022 No. 7 pick (OL Evan Neal), and a fourth-round choice (TE Daniel Bellinger). The Bears paid a king’s ransom to get Fields – the promised franchise quarterback. Two years later, it’s hard to know if the trade was worth it. But the same could be said for the Giants.  Yes, Fields has struggled. He has a poor offensive line, his wide receivers are lackluster, and there are questions about his technique. However, although Bellinger and Robinson are starters across the field, Toney has been a healthy scratch two weeks in a row and was involved in offseason trade talks.  Neal has struggled in the first three games of his rookie season, allowing 10 pressures and four sacks. However, someone has to win on Sunday; hopefully, the Bears pull it off, and the trade for Fields begins to look like the right decision.  Jamie Sabau-USA TODAY Sports Neither New York nor Chicago threw a touchdown in week three. Despite spending the second most on their wide receiver group, the Giants aren’t getting much production. Free agent Kenny Golladay is underutilized and underperformed when given a chance. In addition, Sterling Shepard is out for the season with an ACL injury. On Sunday, the Giants’ two leading receivers will be Richie James and running back Saquon Barkley. The duo is averaging 78 yards per game and zero touchdowns. Meanwhile, Chicago’s passing woes are well documented. With only 45 passing attempts, the Bears have thrown the least amount of passes in the NFL. The team with the second-fewest passes attempted, the Atlanta Falcons, have thrown 34 more passes than the Bears. Chicago’s leading receiver is fifth-year man Equanimeous St. Brown, who has four receptions for 77 yards and one touchdown. The number two receiver, Dante Pettis has 51 yards receiving which came on his only catch during week one. It seems improbable that Chicago can win two games in a row without throwing a touchdown, but it’s not impossible. Jon Durr-USA TODAY Sports Giants defensive coordinator Wink Martindale loves to blitz. So win, lose or draw, you can count on Martindale to continue bringing extra defenders to disrupt opposing offenses. Fields has struggled against the blitz in college and the NFL. Last year against the Martindale-led Ravens defense, Fields was 4-of-11 for 79 yards; he could not move the offense and was sacked twice before being knocked out of the game with a rib injury in a 16-13 loss. I expect this game to be low scoring, and while neither team is exciting, it feels like the perfect moment to think, “players, not plays.” Barkley seems to be back, and despite both teams’ efforts to lose this game, he’ll likely win it for the Giants. Read More…

Cha-Ching! Biden Embraces His Election-Year Fundraising Role https://digitalalabamanews.com/cha-ching-biden-embraces-his-election-year-fundraising-role/ WASHINGTON (AP) — Whenever a donor’s unsilenced cellphone goes off at a fundraiser while President Joe Biden is talking, he has the same joke ready to go: It’s Donald Trump on the other line. “If that’s Trump calling me again, tell him I’m busy,” Biden said at an event this past week for the Democratic Governors Association, repeating a variation of the quip he also relayed during receptions in Illinois and New York earlier this year. The crowd of a few dozen, as they always do, chuckled as the president continued with the rest of his remarks. It’s one glimpse of Biden as fundraiser in chief — a man who schmoozes with aplomb while raking in millions at receptions that will be a fixture of his political schedule during the final stretch before Election Day, Nov. 8. At these events, celebrities are spotted and alcohol is consumed, while Biden gets the one-on-one interactions he had missed for much of his campaign and presidency due to COVID-19. The fundraisers — held in lavish Manhattan apartments, drab conference centers and backyard tents glammed up with chandeliers — have been one of the most visible ways Biden has been deployed this election year at a time when his approval ratings remain underwater and many Democrats aren’t eager to stand by him on the campaign trail. “Joe Biden is Joe Biden. He’s real, he’s down to earth, if he knows the people in the room … he’s even more relaxed,” said Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Mich., a close ally. “He gets all kinds of questions, he answers them honestly, he probably gives his staff heart attacks.” FILE – Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden is seen on monitors as he speaks during a virtual grassroots fundraiser at the Hotel DuPont in Wilmington, Del., Aug. 12, 2020. Biden is picking up the pace of his high-dollar fundraisers for party candidates and committees in the last stretch ahead of the midterms. The receptions have been one of the most visible ways Biden has been deployed this political season at a time when his approval ratings remain underwater and many Democrats aren’t eager to campaign with him. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File) Photo: ASSOCIATED PRESS/Carolyn Kaster So far this year, Biden has headlined 11 receptions to raise cash directly for the Democratic National Committee, and they have brought in more than $19.6 million, according to the committee. The events have ranged from a $300,000 haul at a yacht club in Portland, Oregon, to a cozy, 18-person affair (with four others on video screens) at Hotel Washington near the White House that took in more than $3 million. A pair of fundraisers at mansions in Southern California during the Summit of the Americas in June raked in $5 million in a matter of hours. Separate from the DNC events, Biden spoke at a fundraiser in September benefiting Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer that brought in more than $450,000 for the state Democratic Party. The governors association event raised $1 million, and Biden was to have appeared on Tuesday at a fundraiser on behalf of Charlie Crist, the nominee for governor in Florida who has not been shy about wanting the president to campaign with him. That political trip was postponed due to Hurricane Ian. The DNC also enlists Biden for solicitations sent to its grassroots donor list, with emails signed by the president consistently raising the most money for the committee, party officials say. As of this past week, the DNC has raised more than $107 million, the most at this point in any year and an amount that Democratic officials credited in large part to Biden’s direct involvement. Biden seems to particularly relish the in-person interactions that a private fundraiser offers. A famously chummy politician, Biden makes sure at any big-dollar event that his hosts are made to feel special and recognized. For instance, at a late August fundraiser in the Washington suburbs, Biden first spent some time giving a child near the front of the gathering a bit of attention and then the president gave his remarks for several dozen big-dollar DNC supporters. “Honey, what’s your name?” Biden asked a little girl, sitting through what he joked had to be the most “boring” event. “Well, let me tell you something. Is that your daddy? He owes you big for having to sit here.” At a June fundraiser in Beverly Hills, California, at the home of billionaire media mogul Haim Saban, the president mused to Saban’s wife, Cheryl, that both men had “married way above our station.” And standing in the 65th-floor apartment of Henry and Marsha Laufer overlooking New York’s Central Park, Biden gushed over the “magnificent” view, noting: “I don’t know if there’s a better view in New York than here.” Indeed, the residence is a “piece of heaven” for the Laufers, who appeared fastidious about keeping their place spotless. Attendees checked their shoes – expensive Jimmy Choo mules and Saint Laurent pumps among them — at the door and listened to Biden while in socks or slippers provided by the couple. A small group of reporters in attendance were asked to place “booties” over their shoes to protect their hardwood floors and light-colored carpets. (None of the shoe rules applied to Biden, who kept his on and did not wear the disposable coverings.) At Biden fundraisers, celebrities such as the actor Robert De Niro (in New York) or filmmaker Ken Burns (in Boston) make the occasional cameo, although neither stayed long enough to hear the president speak. To donors, Biden’s comments, which can run from a few minutes to a half-hour, are a much more casual, off-the-cuff version of the campaign speech that he delivers in front of the cameras. Journalists have access to Biden fundraisers, although just with a notepad and pen, meaning cameras are barred. Especially as of late, Biden takes care to underline his administration’s accomplishments — a $1.9 trillion pandemic relief package, a bipartisan infrastructure law, a climate and health care bill that came after months of internal Democratic wrangling. He then stresses to donors how the upcoming November midterms are a choice, not just between keeping his achievements and Republicans unraveling them, but on other issues such as abortion and guns. While aides dispute that his message varies in more private settings, Biden frequently speaks extemporaneously and can be far less guarded than at his formal remarks at a lectern or on a stage. It’s been at fundraisers where Biden has invoked variations of fascism – be it “semi-fascism” or “tint of fascism” — to refer to Trump-fueled forces within the Republican Party that Biden has said are a threat to the nation’s democratic foundations. While his spokeswoman declined to assess the implications of the recent election in Italy, where a political party with neo-fascist roots won the most votes, Biden at the DGA fundraiser pointed to the results as he warned about the fate of democracy both in the United States and abroad. At the Laufers’ home, Biden – who tends to avoid talking about his faith when discussing policy — notably referenced the Catholic Church’s position while castigating Republicans who had pushed for broad bans on abortion. “I happen to be a practicing Roman Catholic. My church doesn’t even make that argument,” he said, referring to abortion bans that leave “no exceptions.” The quintessential Biden qualities — his candor and his warmth with the crowd — become more pronounced once the press is kicked out and audience members have a chance to ask Biden questions, say people who have attended such gatherings. The questions Biden gets vary from event to event and they veer from political strategy to the news of the day. During a Manhattan fundraiser at the home of businessman and social justice activist Henry Munoz, Biden was pressed on his plans on immigration and how he would describe his closing message to voters, as well as the impact of the overturning of Roe vs. Wade, according to a person who spoke on condition of anonymity to relay details of a private event. The bulk of Biden’s fundraising activity has been for the DNC, and Biden earlier this year greenlighted a $15 million transfer from it to the party’s House and Senate campaign committees, a sign of his personal investment in trying to ensure Democrats retain their majorities this fall. A White House official said Biden receives “quite a few” requests from Democratic candidates to appear at fundraisers, and aides work to accommodate as many as possible depending on his schedule and other factors. Whitmer took priority because she was a co-chair of both Biden’s presidential campaign and his inauguration. ___ Follow AP for full coverage of the midterms at https://apnews.com/hub/2022-midterm-elections and on Twitter, https://twitter.com/ap_politics Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. Read More…

Trump Intensifies Attacks On McConnell With 'death Wish' Remark On His Social Media Platform https://digitalalabamanews.com/trump-intensifies-attacks-on-mcconnell-with-death-wish-remark-on-his-social-media-platform-2/ Former President Donald Trump raised the specter of political violence Friday with a fresh attack on Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, suggesting that the GOP leader had “a death wish” because he had voted to approve legislation sponsored by Democrats. In a post on his Truth Social website, Trump asked if McConnell had supported the unspecified bills “because he hates Donald J. Trump, and he knows I am opposed to them.” “He has a DEATH WISH,” Trump added. While Trump did not specify which Democratic-sponsored bills McConnell supported, the Senate on Thursday passed a bill to keep the government funded in a 72-25 vote that included support from McConnell and other Republicans. Earlier in the week, McConnell said he would back a bipartisan legislation aimed at protecting against election subversion — putting him at loggerheads with Trump. When asked about Trump’s comments on Friday, Trump spokesperson Taylor Budowich said it was “absurd” to suggest the former president’s post could be construed as dangerous. “Mitch McConnell is killing the Republican Party through weakness and cowardice. He obviously has a political death wish for himself and Republican Party, but President Trump and the America First champions in Congress will save the Republican Party and our nation,” Budowich said in an email to NBC News. Trump has frequently lambasted McConnell, with the attacks intensifying after the Senate Republican leader rebuked Trump following the Capitol riot. More recent attacks have included derogatory comments about McConnell’s wife, Elaine Chao, who served as transportation secretary during the Trump administration. On Truth Social last month, Trump called Chao “crazy,” while referring to McConnell as a “broken down hack politician.” Chao resigned a day after the attack on the Capitol when a pro-Trump mob chanted “hang Mike Pence” while storming the building. She later sat for a videotaped interview with the House Jan. 6 committee. On Friday, Trump said McConnell must “immediately seek help and advise from his China loving wife, Coco Chow!” Chao was born in Taipei. NBC News has reached out to McConnell’s office for comment. Read More…

How To Watch Donald Trump https://digitalalabamanews.com/how-to-watch-donald-trump/ Former President Donald Trump is set to appear at a Michigan rally on Saturday night in support of several of his endorsed GOP candidates who are running in various races in the state. The rally is scheduled for 7 p.m. EST in Warren, Michigan, at Macomb County Community College Sports & Expo Center. As a battleground state that went to President Joe Biden in 2020, Michigan is among the states that Trump has focused heavily on heading into November’s midterm elections. One of the candidates Trump will support at the rally is Tudor Dixon, the conservative pundit turned Republican candidate for governor in Michigan. Dixon is facing off against incumbent Governor Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat leader who became the target of intense conservative outrage in 2020 over her enforcement of COVID-19 protocols during the pandemic. Other GOP candidates appearing at the rally will include attorney general candidate Matthew DePerno and secretary of state candidate Kristina Karamo. Trump has endorsed all three candidates in the upcoming midterms, and all three would have a major hand in managing future elections and election results in the state if elected to office. This has led to concern from some over how officials who are loyal to Trump in these roles would handle Democrat wins in Michigan. Above, Donald Trump is seen at a previous Michigan rally in April. The former president is appearing at another Michigan rally on Saturday night to speak in support of gubernatorial candidate Tudor Dixon. Scott Olson/Getty Images How to Watch Donald Trump’s Rally in Michigan As of Saturday morning, it is unclear which, if any, broadcast news channels will be airing Trump’s rally. One confirmed method for viewing the event is via Trump’s official page on the website, Rumble. Founded in 2013, Rumble is a video hosting platform that became popular amongst conservative and far-right political figures in 2020 when mainstream platforms, like YouTube, began to crack down on misinformation. The site also offers cloud services, which Trump uses to host his Twitter alternative, Truth Social. Recent Trump rallies have often been live-streamed on the conservative YouTube channel, Right Side Broadcasting Network (RSBN). Interested viewers can tune into the channel as another way to view the rally. “We are excited to welcome President Trump to Michigan this weekend as we build momentum heading into October,” Sara Broadwater, communications director for Dixon’s campaign, said in a statement to Newsweek on Saturday. “The latest polling numbers prove what we already know to be true – Gretchen Whitmer is vulnerable, the momentum is on our side, and our message is resonating with Michigan voters.” What the Polls Show According to the most recent polls, Dixon continues to trail Whitmer in the upcoming gubernatorial race. Citing a Detroit Free Press poll from September 18, the polling database FiveThirtyEight, gave Whitmer a considerable 16-point lead against her GOP challenger based on 600 respondents. Meanwhile, a more recent poll with 1,075 respondents from a Republican-partisan operation, the Trafalgar Group, still had Whitmer in the lead by 6 points as of Wednesday. The poll has a margin of error of 2.9 percent. Newsweek reached out to Trump’s office for comment. Read More…

Georgia-Missouri Football 2022 Live Stream, Odds (10/1) https://digitalalabamanews.com/georgia-missouri-football-2022-live-stream-odds-10-1/ The Missouri Tigers host the Georgia Bulldogs in SEC football 2022 action Saturday, October 1, at Faurot Field in Columbia, Mo. The game will be live streamed via fubo TV. No. 1 Georgia is 4-0 overall, 1-0 in the SEC this season, while Missouri is 2-2, 0-1. The Bulldogs won 43-6 in the last meeting between the two teams in 2021 in Athens, Ga. Georgia is a 29.5-point favorite in the game, per Vegas Insider. The Georgia vs. Missouri game starts at 6:30 p.m. Central (7:30 p.m. Eastern) and will be live streamed on fubo TV, which offers a 7-day free trial and is then $69.99 per month and live streamed on DirecTV Stream, which is available for $49.99 for the first two months, $69.99 after that. SEC Network will broadcast the game nationally. Preview Georgia has one of college football’s prolific offenses, triggered by one of its best quarterbacks, so of course the topic of conversation around Athens as the top-ranked Bulldogs head to Missouri on Saturday would be their run game. That’s what happens when something — anything — doesn’t meet their expectations. Lofty as they may be. Georgia ran 41 times for 257 yards in a less-than-impressive 37-22 win over Kent State last weekend, but that total was inflated by a 75-yard run by Brock Bowers. Take it away and the Bulldogs (4-0, 1-0 SEC) averaged just over 4.5 yards per carry against a low-level Mid-American Conference opponent playing between the hedges. “We certainly could be much more explosive in the run game and improve in that area,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said, “but, you know, when you have the number of explosive plays we’ve had on the year, you have to weigh whether that’s a run, a pass, a screen — who are you and who is your identity? And I think that’s starting to play itself out a little bit. “I think teams play us a certain way,” Smart said, “and we’re going to (play) off how teams play us.” The ineffectiveness of the Georgia run game — again, relatively speaking — has been a particular problem in the red zone, where the Bulldogs have settled for eight field goals, taking some of the shine off their 25-for-26 conversion rate. “When the field tightens up and shrinks, that’s where the run game is more glaring because the boxes are tighter,” Smart explained. “They’re tighter to the box. There are less people in parts of the field, and they are in your front yard. You have to block them and run through them. Some of them are just misses.” The Tigers (2-2, 0-1), who are coming off a heart-breaking loss at Auburn, can at least point to their run defense as a positive from their trip to the Plains. They allowed 11 yards rushing over the last three quarters and overtime, an impressive number for a rebuilt defense that was among the worst against the run in college football last year. The biggest reason for the turnabout is transfer linebacker Ty’Ron Hopper, who has led the Tigers in tackles three of their first four games. Hopper had three tackles for loss and a sack against Auburn. “It’s definitely a blessing knowing that those guys (Hopper and Chad Bailey) will take care of everything we don’t pick up on,” Tigers defensive tackle Kristian Williams said. “They display that throughout practice.” They’ll have to display it on Saturday for the Tigers to have any hope of springing an upset. LOVE IT The Bulldogs have some of the best wide receivers in the SEC, but the Tigers have the most productive. And it isn’t star freshman Luther Burden III. Dominic Lovett has 21 catches for a league-best 376 yards, an average of nearly 18 per catch. The sophomore had only 26 catches for 173 yards last season. “I felt like I tried to do too much too soon” with Lovett last season, Tigers coach Eli Drinkwitz said. “You got to trust the process. There is a process to be great. Just because you have the ability doesn’t mean it just is going to happen overnight.” INJURY OUTLOOK Missouri right tackle Zeke Powell will miss the rest of the season after getting hurt trying to tackle an Auburn player following an interception. Burden is questionable after also getting hurt against Auburn, where he tried to finish the game. Bailey is likewise questionable after he watched the end of the overtime loss with his arm in a sling. INJURY OUTLOOK, PART II Georgia quarterback Stetson Bennett already triggers the third-best pass offense in the SEC at 350.5 yard per game, and now he could have reinforcements on the way. Wide receivers Arian Smith and AD Mitchell could play against the Tigers after missing the win over Kent State with injuries. BOUNCING BACK You can bet Tigers running back Nathaniel Peat, their leading rusher with 258 yards and a touchdown, will be looking for retribution Saturday. He was headed for the winning touchdown against Auburn in overtime when he reached for the pylon with the ball. It slipped from his hands and the fumble wound up costing the Tigers the game. The same goes for kicker Harrison Mevis, whose chip-shot miss kept Missouri from winning it in regulation. STICKING AROUND The Tigers know they have to stick around into the second half to have any chance of winning. The Bulldogs have outscored opponents 106-16 in the first half of games on their way to averaging 42.2 points per game. “Todd Monken, their offensive coordinator, was a tremendous head football coach,” Drinkwitz said. “He’s got a really big tool box. And then, obviously, he’s got some really talented players. His biggest challenge will be keeping everybody happy.” The Associated Press contributed to this report. 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Judge Says Trump Can Hold Off On Affirming Accuracy Of FBI’s Mar-A-Lago Inventory https://digitalalabamanews.com/judge-says-trump-can-hold-off-on-affirming-accuracy-of-fbis-mar-a-lago-inventory/ Former President Donald Trump speaks at a rally in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., Saturday, Sept. 3, 2022. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer) Former President Donald Trump speaks at a rally in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., Saturday, Sept. 3, 2022. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer) by: Rebecca Beitsch Posted: Oct 1, 2022 / 10:48 AM EDT Updated: Oct 1, 2022 / 10:48 AM EDT U.S. District Court Judge Aileen Cannon brushed aside an order from the special master in the Mar-a-Lago case requiring former President Trump to back his claims the FBI planted evidence in his home in an order that also extends the deadline for completing the review. The order from Cannon comes after Trump’s legal team penned a letter to Judge Raymond Dearie, the special master, complaining his “management plan exceeds the grant of authority from the district court on this issue.” In Thursday’s order Cannon agreed with Trump’s team, saying his attorneys would not be required to affirm the accuracy of the FBI’s inventory from Mar-a-Lago before getting a chance to review the records themselves. “There shall be no separate requirement on Plaintiff at this stage, prior to the review of any of the seized materials. …The Court’s Appointment Order did not contemplate that obligation,” Cannon wrote. Her order also extends the timeline to review the roughly 200,000 pages Trump stored at his home from Nov. 30 until Dec. 16. The shuffling of deadlines also allows other key filings from the Trump team to land after the midterms. Cannon sided with Dearie, who required the Trump team to be more specific about what types of executive privilege he wishes to assert over the documents. Trump’s team must now label each document to claim whether it could be covered by attorney-client privilege, executive privilege, and which presidential records he argues are his personal property.  But his team is not required to make those claims until shortly after the midterm elections. Dearie had required Trump’s team to make those claims on a rolling basis. If you have a news tip or a correction to the story you can email it to us through this link. If you would like to send a comment to the author of the story, you can find their email on our Meet the Team page. Read More…

Shying From Trump, Ex-Maine Gov. Paul LePage Seeks Job Back https://digitalalabamanews.com/shying-from-trump-ex-maine-gov-paul-lepage-seeks-job-back-2/ YARMOUTH, Maine (AP) — When then-Maine Gov. Paul LePage endorsed Donald Trump in 2016, he credited himself as a prototype for the insurgent presidential candidate. “I was Donald Trump before Donald Trump became popular, so I think I should support him since we are one of the same cloth,” said LePage, whose two terms in office were punctuated by brash behavior and frequently offensive comments. Now, as LePage is running for a third term after a brief retirement to Florida, he rarely talks about Trump in public, and his advisers say LePage’s hiatus from politics changed him. He’s eager to show he’s smoothed over some of his own rough edges, though flashes of his fiery personality broke through recently at an event at a riverfront boatyard in Yarmouth, where he pledged to take on Democratic “elitists.” “I came from the streets. I was a fighter all my life,” LePage told workers. “I had to scrimp and save to eat and survive. I am a fighter.” As LePage seeks to unseat Democratic Gov. Janet Mills and become the longest-serving governor in Maine history, he is banking on an approach familiar to other Republican candidates in liberal- and moderate-leaning states who are trying not to alienate swing voters they would need to win a general election. LePage’s efforts at putting distancing from Trump are particularly notable given LePage once invited comparisons to Trump — and made them himself. FILE -Former Maine Gov. Paul LePage campaigns for President Donald Trump in Saco, Maine, in this Sept. 17, 2020 file photo. LePage, who moved to Florida after his second term, has returned to Maine to challenge Democratic Gov. Janet Mills. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty) Photo: ASSOCIATED PRESS/Robert F. Bukaty FILE – Maine Gov. Janet Mills speaks at a news conference in this April 28, 2020, file photo in Augusta, Maine. Mills, who is seeking a second term, is being challenged by Republican Paul LePage, a former two-term governor. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty) Photo: ASSOCIATED PRESS/Robert F. Bukaty PreviousNext Democrats aren’t going to let voters forget LePage’s tumultuous time in office, when he occasionally acted and sounded a lot like Trump. LePage attracted national headlines when he told the Portland chapter of the NAACP to “kiss my butt,” made racist remarks about drug dealers who impregnate “white” girls and accused a lawmaker of screwing over state taxpayers “without providing Vaseline.” His critics point to a recent campaign event in which LePage threatened to “deck” a Democratic staffer who got too close to him — an incident, they say, that illustrates LePage hasn’t changed at all. The race is shaping up to be among a dozen or so competitive contests for governor this election year. The way in which the campaign plays out with voters weary of political ugliness may be a harbinger for Trump’s White House aspirations in 2024. LePage and Mills’ adversarial relationship goes back years. Mills, a 74-year-old moderate and the first woman elected governor of Maine, is a former two-term attorney general whose stint as the state’s top prosecutor coincided with LePage’s time as governor. The two clashed publicly, with Mills declining to represent LePage’s administration on some matters, forcing LePage to seek outside counsel to represent his interests in litigation. Her supporters portray her as a steady leader whose cautious COVID-19 policies helped guide the state through the worst pandemic in a century, with fewer coronavirus deaths per capita than most others. She expanded Medicaid — something LePage had blocked — and presided over the largest budget surplus in Maine history, which allowed the state to send $850 relief checks to most residents. Raised in poverty and homeless for a time as a boy, LePage, 73, is an unabashed conservative whose past controversies often overshadowed his political achievements, such as lowering the tax burden, shrinking welfare rolls, overhauling the pension system and paying back millions of dollars of hospital debt. He attacked Mills’ executive orders during the pandemic, including mandatory vaccines for health care workers, calling it a “reign of terror.” He’s called for a parental bill of rights in education, claimed Mill has allowed crime and drugs to proliferate and accused her of budgetary gimmicks that will cause problems in the future. He has promised to try again to eliminate the state’s income tax. When LePage left office in 2019, prevented from seeking a third consecutive term by the Maine Constitution, he declared he was decamping for Florida, where the taxes were lower, and leaving politics behind. He didn’t stay away long. Soon, he was headed back to Maine for what supporters described as “LePage 2.0.” LePage’s senior adviser Brent Littlefield said LePage was astounded when Trump’s supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and that LePage fears the country is in danger of tearing itself apart. LePage issued a statement amid the violence supporting law enforcement and telling those involved in the riot “to leave and go home.” LePage served as Trump’s honorary state chairman and once sought a job in his administration, but he now won’t say whether he would vote for Trump for president if Trump runs again in 2024. Despite any private misgivings, however, LePage hasn’t condemned Trump. He declined an Associated Press interview request. The former governor made no reference to Trump while touring Yankee Marina & Boatyard, even though Trump remains popular in rural Maine, where he twice won an electoral vote while losing the statewide vote. Boatyard president Deborah Delp said LePage is needed at a time when her workers are suffering from high inflation and worried about the future. She said she can “handle some rough language” from LePage if he puts the economy on track. “Politicians are politicians. And he’s not a politician. He’s a businessman. He says what he thinks,” Delp said. Maria Testa, a Democrat from Portland, disagrees. “He’s bombastic and has a cruel temper. He’s such a big no for me,” Testa said. While campaigning, LePage largely tries to steer clear of Trump’s lies of a rigged 2020 election. LePage acknowledges that Biden is president but declines to address whether he thinks the election was legitimate. LePage also avoids the issue of abortion after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to an abortion. Mills has pledged to fight to ensure women continue to have a right to a legal abortion in Maine. A third candidate for governor, independent Sam Hunkler, isn’t expected to play much of a role in the race, unlike deep-pocketed independent Eliot Cutler, who did in 2010 and 2014, when LePage won each election without a majority. Maine’s ranked-choice voting system won’t be a factor. It is used in federal congressional races but not in the governor’s contest because it runs afoul of the Maine Constitution. Betsy Martin, a retired health care administrator from Biddeford, said residents are feeling drained by the corrosive partisanship in a rural state with a tradition of moderate politics and independent voters. Some are tuning out altogether, she said. “They’re exhausted. They’re extremely fatigued. We’re worn out,” she said. ___ Follow David Sharp on Twitter @David_Sharp_AP ___ Follow AP for full coverage of the midterms at https://apnews.com/hub/2022-midterm-elections and on Twitter, https://twitter.com/ap_politics Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. Read More…

AP News Summary At 10:43 A.m. EDT https://digitalalabamanews.com/ap-news-summary-at-1043-a-m-edt/ Russia withdraws troops after Ukraine encircles key city KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia says it has withdrawn its troops from the once-occupied city of Lyman, as Ukraine’s eastern counteroffensive recaptures more territory. Russia’s Tass and RIA news agencies, citing the Russian defense ministry, made the announcement. Lyman is 160 kilometers (100 miles) southeast of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city. Ukrainian forces had pushed across the Oskil River as part of a counteroffensive that saw Kyiv retake vast swathes of territory beginning in September. Lyman, a key transportation hub, had been an important site in the Russian front line for both ground communications and logistics. Now Ukraine can push further potentially into the occupied Luhansk region, which is one of four regions that Russia annexed Friday. Dozens dead from Ian, one of strongest, costliest US storms PAWLEYS ISLAND, S.C. (AP) — Rescuers continue to search for survivors in flooded homes in Florida after Hurricane Ian’s passage earlier this week. Meanwhile, authorities in South Carolina began assessing damage on Saturday morning. Ian made another landfall Friday on South Carolina’s coast and is now a post-tropical cyclone moving across parts of North Carolina, Virginia and New York. The powerful storm terrorized millions of people for most of the week and officials say it’s blamed for at least 27 deaths in Florida and three deaths in Cuba. But authorities say they expect the death toll to rise further. Ian shows the risks and costs of living on barrier islands SANIBEL ISLAND, Fla. (AP) — Experts say that Hurricane Ian is shining a spotlight once again on the vulnerability of the nation’s barrier islands and the increasing cost of people living on them. Florida’s Sanibel Island was hard hit by the storm. Homes were destroyed. Two people have been confirmed dead. And Sanibel’s lone bridge to the mainland collapsed. Barrier island communities like Sanibel anchor tourist economies that provide crucial tax dollars. But the cost of rebuilding them is often high because they’re home to many high-value properties. Jesse Keenan is a real estate professor at Tulane University. He questions whether such communities can keep rebuilding as hurricanes become more and more destructive from climate change. Russia accused of ‘kidnapping’ head of Ukraine nuclear plant KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine’s nuclear power provider says Russian forces blindfolded and detained the head of Europe’s largest nuclear power plant hours after Moscow illegally annexed a swath of Ukrainian territory. In a possible attempt to secure Moscow’s hold on the newly annexed territory, Russian forces seized the director-general of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, Ihor Murashov, around 4 p.m. Friday. Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday signed treaties to absorb Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions of Ukraine, including the area around the nuclear plant. The International Atomic Energy Agency said Saturday that Russia told it that “the director-general of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant was temporarily detained to answer questions.” Trump at center of Oath Keepers novel defense in Jan. 6 case WASHINGTON (AP) — The defense team in the Capitol riot trial of the Oath Keepers leader is relying on an unusual strategy with Donald Trump at the center. Lawyers for Stewart Rhodes are poised to argue that jurors cannot find him guilty of seditious conspiracy because all the actions he took before the riot were in preparation for orders he anticipated from the then-president. But those orders that never came. Rhodes and four associates are accused of plotting for weeks to stop the transfer of presidential power, culminating with Oath Keepers in battle gear storming the Capitol alongside hundreds of other Trump supporters on Jan. 6, 2021. Opening statements in the trial are set to begin Monday. Supreme Court poised to keep marching to right in new term WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court begins a new term on Monday at a time of diminished public confidence and justices sparring openly over the institution’s legitimacy. The court seems poised to push American law to the right on issues of race, voting and the environment. Back in June, the conservative majority overturned nearly 50 years of constitutional protections for abortion rights. Now, the court is diving back in with an aggressive agenda that appears likely to split the six conservative justices from the three liberals. Joining the nine-member court is new Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, the court’s first Black woman. Shying from Trump, ex-Maine Gov. Paul LePage seeks job back YARMOUTH, Maine (AP) — When then-Gov. Paul LePage endorsed Donald Trump for president in 2016, LePage credited himself as a prototype for the insurgent candidate. Now, with LePage running for a third term after a brief retirement to Florida, he rarely talks about Trump in campaign events and media interviews, and LePage’s advisers say his hiatus from politics changed him. LePage’s efforts at distancing himself from Trump are particularly notable because LePage once invited comparisons to Trump — and made them himself. LePage is seeking to unseat Democratic Gov. Janet Mills in November and become the longest-serving governor in Maine’s history. Two prophets, century-old prayer duel inspire Zion mosque ZION, Illinois (AP) — This week, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in Zion, Illinois, opened its doors to the city’s first mosque. Members view this as a significant event because of their faith’s century-old connection to Zion’s founder and faith healer John Alexander Dowie. The evangelist envisioned Zion as a Christian theocracy and made hostile remarks about Muslims. This drew the ire of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community’s founder Mirza Ghulam Ahmad. The Ahmadis view Zion as the site of a holy miracle where their founder defended Islam and defeated Dowie in a prayer duel that ended with the latter’s death in 1907.  They have named the mosque Fath-e-Azeem, which means “a great victory” in Arabic. Worst Brazil forest fires in a decade, yet election silence RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — September has come and gone, marking another painful milestone for the world’s largest rainforest. It’s the worst month in a decade for fire in the Brazil’s Amazon region. Satellites detected over 42,000 fires in September. Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has given free rein to deforesters, and with presidential elections beginning Sunday, some speculate that they are working overtime to cut and burn the forest before the party is over. Bolsonaro denies that deforestation has risen during his presidency, but data from his own government tell a different story. NIH to fund unproven ALS drugs under patient-backed law WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. government will soon spend $25 million to help patients access experimental drugs for the incurable illness known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. The new strategy blurs the line between research and treatment. And it breaks decades of precedent in which responsibility for funding so-called compassionate use fell to drugmakers. But after years of being rebuffed by drugmakers, ALS patients lobbied Congress to help fund access to not-yet-approved drugs. While it offers a critical new treatment option for ALS patients, it also raises the possibility that federal dollars could be tapped for unproven treatments of other diseases in the future. Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Read More…

Burkina Faso Coup: Gunshots In Capital And Roads Blocked https://digitalalabamanews.com/burkina-faso-coup-gunshots-in-capital-and-roads-blocked/ By Natasha Booty BBC News Image source, Radio Télévision du Burkina Image caption, World powers have criticised the soldiers behind the coup (pictured) Gunshots have been heard in Burkina Faso’s capital city Ouagadougou and helicopters are circling overhead, a day after junior army officers said they were seizing power in a coup. Witnesses say troops have blocked main roads around the city and shops that had opened earlier are now shut. Friday’s apparent takeover had been announced on national TV after negotiations reportedly failed. This was the second time this year that the country’s army had seized power. On both occasions the coup leaders said they had to step in because national security was so dire. Burkina Faso controls as little as 60% of its territory, experts say, and Islamist violence is worsening. Since 2020 more than a million people have been displaced in the country due to the violence. The African Union has demanded the return of constitutional order by July 2023 at the latest, agreeing with the regional group Ecowas that the ousting of leader Lt Col Paul-Henri Damiba was “unconstitutional”. Ecowas earlier said it was “inappropriate” for army rebels to seize power when the country was working towards civilian rule. Flanked by rebel soldiers in fatigues and black facemasks, an army captain announced on national TV on Friday evening that they were kicking out Lt Col Damiba, dissolving the government and suspending the constitution. Ibrahim Traoré said Lt Col Damiba’s inability to deal with an Islamist insurgency was to blame. “Our people have suffered enough, and are still suffering”, he said. He also announced that borders were closed indefinitely, a nightly curfew was now in place from 21:00 to 05:00, and all political activities were suspended. “Faced with the deteriorating situation, we tried several times to get Damiba to refocus the transition on the security question,” said the statement signed by Col Traoré. “Damiba’s actions gradually convinced us that his ambitions were diverting away from what we set out to do. We decided this day to remove Damiba,” it said. Little is known about Col Traoré, the 34-year-old soldier whose statement effectively declared himself the interim leader of Burkina Faso. But in Friday’s announcement came the promise that the “driving forces of the nation” would in time be brought together to appoint a new civilian or military president and a new “transitional charter”. Since the takeover there has been no word on the whereabouts of the ousted leader. Lt Col Damiba’s junta overthrew an elected government in January citing a failure to halt Islamist attacks, and he himself told citizens “we have more than what it takes to win this war.” But his administration has also not been able to quell the jihadist violence. Analysts told the BBC recently that Islamist insurgents were encroaching on territory, and military leaders had failed in their attempts to bring the military under a single unit of command. On Monday, 11 soldiers were killed when they were escorting a convoy of civilian vehicles in Djibo in the north of the country. Earlier on Friday, Lt Col Damiba urged the population to remain calm after heavy gunfire was heard in parts of the capital. A spokesman for the ousted government, Lionel Bilgo, told AFP news agency on Friday that the “crisis” was in essence an army pay dispute, and that Lt Col Damiba was taking part in negotiations. But since Friday evening Lt Col Damiba’s whereabouts are unknown. France is a traditional ally, but French diplomatic sources have told RFI radio that Lt Col Damiba is not with them nor is he under their protection. France has also denied that its army had anything to do with deposing the junta leader, saying it was forced to respond to online rumours blaming them. The African Union meanwhile has urged the military to “immediately and totally refrain from any acts of violence or threats to the civilian population, civil liberties, human rights”. The Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) earlier condemned the move too, stating it “reaffirms its unreserved opposition to any taking or maintaining of the power by unconstitutional means”. The United States said it was “deeply concerned” by events in Burkina Faso and encouraged its citizens to limit movements in the country. France issued a similar warning to its more than 4,000 citizens living in the capital city Ouagadougou. “We call for a return to calm and restraint by all actors,” a US State Department spokesperson said. Image source, Reuters Image caption, Lt Col Damiba urged the population to remain calm after heavy gunfire was heard in parts of the capital on Friday In January, Lt Col Damiba ousted President Roch Kaboré, saying that he had failed to deal with growing militant Islamist violence. But many citizens do not feel any safer and there have been protests in different parts of the country this week. On Friday afternoon, some protesters took to the capital’s streets calling for the removal of Lt Col Damiba. The Islamist insurgency broke out in Burkina Faso in 2015, leaving thousands dead and forcing an estimated two million people from their homes. The country has experienced eight successful coups since independence in 1960. Read More…

Trustway Marketing Article Provides Brand Building Advice For Small Businesses – Digital Journal https://digitalalabamanews.com/trustway-marketing-article-provides-brand-building-advice-for-small-businesses-digital-journal/ Trustway Marketing has published its latest article covering brand building, which is aimed primarily at small businesses. The article is available for viewing in full at https://trustway.marketing/increase-website-traffic-via-brand-building/ Hoover,United States – October 1, 2022 — An article covering the subject of ‘brand building’ entitled ‘A Short Guide to Increase Website Traffic via Brand Building’ has now been released and published by Trustway Marketing, an authority website in the small to medium-sized businesses niche. The article brings to light fascinating information, especially for businesses that seek to grow their brand. Small businesses and anybody else who’s interested in brand building can read the entire article at https://trustway.marketing/increase-website-traffic-via-brand-building/ Because creating relevant content increases SEO and draws in users, perhaps one of the most interesting, or relevant pieces of information to small businesses, which is included within the article, is that SEO and content marketing are the two most important pillars of building a brand. Trustway Marketing created this article because they wanted to bring particular attention to the subject of brand building. They feel they may have done this best in the following extract: ‘Brand building is a long-term process. It involves creating a unique identity for your business and then using that identity to market your products and services. This can include things like creating a logo, designing an image for social media, writing content that showcases what makes you special (but not too much), and so on. Some businesses may think they can skip brand building because they’re already established in their industry. But if you want more traffic from search engines like Google, it is vital to create an effective brand strategy–and this includes things like having a website with strong SEO optimization and establishing yourself on all social media platforms.’ Trustway Marketing now welcomes comments and questions from readers, in relation to the article. Trustway Marketing has made a point of saying regular interaction with the readers is so critical to running the site because feedback promotes growth and creates a compelling conversation. Anyone who has a specific question or comment about this article, or any article previously published on the site, is welcome to contact Trustway Marketing via their website at https://trustway.marketing Once again, the complete article is available to read in full at https://trustway.marketing/increase-website-traffic-via-brand-building/. Contact Info: Name: David Hall Email: Send Email Organization: Trustway Marketing Address: 1236 Blue Ridge Blvd, Hoover, AL 35226, United States Phone: +1-205-451-1945 Website: https://trustway.marketing Release ID: 89082511 If you detect any issues, problems, or errors in this press release content, kindly contact [email protected] to notify us. We will respond and rectify the situation in the next 8 hours. COMTEX_415686901/2773/2022-10-01T08:31:16 Read More…

Netflix Series, Nike Movie, Auburn Play And More On Agenda For Veteran Actor From Alabama https://digitalalabamanews.com/netflix-series-nike-movie-auburn-play-and-more-on-agenda-for-veteran-actor-from-alabama/ From The Lede Published: Oct. 01, 2022, 9:07 a.m. Michael O’Neill has a role in “Echoes,” a Netflix thriller series. O’Neill, an Alabama native, is a character actor with a long list of credits. O’Neill often plays an authority figure — judges, cops, politicians and the like — in movies and on TV shows. ( Jackson Lee Davis/Netflix) You’ve seen him in movies such as “Seabiscuit,” “Transformers,” “Sea of Love” and “Dallas Buyers Club.” His face also is familiar from a wealth of TV series: “The West Wing,” “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Scandal,” “Bates Motel,” “Extant,” “Rectify” and more. Michael O’Neill, an Alabama native, has a resume that any character actor would be proud to claim. He’s played heroes and villains, senators and cops, judges and sheriffs. And dads. Lately, lots of dads, including a surrogate father on a heartwarming NBC series in 2020. “For a guy that they said, ‘You’re not going to make it,’ it worked out OK,” O’Neill, 71, says. “I never really thought about it as a career. I thought about the next job. It’s like a shark: If you stop moving, you go down.” O’Neill, who was born and raised in Montgomery, lives in California with his wife, Mary O’Keefe O’Neill. The couple has three grown daughters: Ella, Annie and Molly. The O’Neills raised their children in Birmingham for several years, but the West Coast beckoned, along with the acting opportunities it provides. “Sometimes I look back and I go, ‘Oh, God, it was a career,’” O’Neill says. “That was a little shocking to me. Young actors will say, ‘I’d love to have the career you had.’ I don’t know about that. I don’t know about career. Just get a job.” If you purchase a product or register for an account through one of the links on our site, we may receive compensation. Read More…

Florida, Carolinas Count The Cost Of Hurricane Ian https://digitalalabamanews.com/florida-carolinas-count-the-cost-of-hurricane-ian/ FORT MYERS, Fla./CHARLESTON, S.C., Oct 1 (Reuters) – Florida, North and South Carolina faced a massive clean-up on Saturday from the destruction wrought by Hurricane Ian, after one of the most powerful storms ever to hit the U.S. mainland caused tens of billions of dollars in damage and killed more than 20 people. New images from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration showed that several beach cottages and a motel building that lined the shores of Florida’s Sanibel Island were wiped away by Ian’s storm surge. Even though most homes were still standing, they appeared to have roof damage, the images showed. Ian, now a post-tropical cyclone, was weakening but still forecast to bring treacherous conditions to parts of the Carolinas, Virginia and West Virginia into Saturday morning, according to the National Hurricane Center. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com “Major to record river flooding will continue across central Florida through next week. Limited flash, urban and small stream flooding is possible across the central Appalachians and the southern Mid-Atlantic this weekend, with minor river flooding expected over the coastal Carolinas,” it said. The storm struck Florida’s Gulf Coast on Wednesday, turning beach towns into disaster areas. On Friday, it pummeled waterfront Georgetown, north of the historic city of Charleston in South Carolina, with wind speeds of 85 mph (140 kph). Roads were flooded and blocked by trees while a number of piers were damaged. Around 1.7 million homes and businesses were without power in the Carolinas and Florida at 8:00 a.m. ET (1200 GMT) on Saturday, according to tracking website PowerOutage.us. Both the number of casualties and repair costs remain unclear, but the extent of the damage was becoming apparent as Florida entered its third day after Ian first hit. There have been reports of at least 21 deaths, Kevin Guthrie, director of the state’s Division of Emergency Management, said on Friday morning, stressing that some of those remained unconfirmed. Some 10,000 people were unaccounted for, he said, but many of them were likely in shelters or without power. “Those older homes that just aren’t as strong built, they got washed into the sea,” said Governor Ron DeSantis. “If you are hunkering down in that, that is something that I think would be very difficult to be survivable.” Meanwhile, insurers braced for a hit of between $28 billion and $47 billion, in what could be the costliest Florida storm since Hurricane Andrew in 1992, according to U.S. property data and analytics company CoreLogic. U.S. President Joe Biden has approved a disaster declaration, making federal resources available to counties impacted by the storm. “We’re just beginning to see the scale of that destruction. It’s likely to rank among the worst … in the nation’s history,” he said. Biden also declared an emergency in North Carolina on Saturday. ‘DEVASTATING’ A roofed dock ripped from its property lies in intercoastal waters after Hurricane Ian made landfall near Pawleys Island, South Carolina, U.S., October 1, 2022. REUTERS/Jonathan Drake The Florida city of Fort Myers, close to where the eye of the storm first came ashore, absorbed a major blow, with numerous houses destroyed. Offshore, Sanibel Island, a popular destination for vacationers and retirees, was cut off when a causeway was rendered impassable. Hundreds of Fort Myers residents lined up at a Home Depot store on Friday on the east side of the city, hoping to purchase gas cans, generators, bottled water and other supplies. The line stretched as long as a football field. Rita Chambers, a 70-year-old retiree who was born in Jamaica and has lived in Fort Myers since 1998, said Ian was unlike any storm she had ever seen. “And I’ve been in hurricanes since I was a child!” said Chambers, who moved to New York as a teenager. At a mobile home park on San Carlos Island in Fort Myers Beach, trailers had been pushed together by the wind and water. A boat lay on its side at a local marina, where another boat had come to rest in a tree. Hundreds of miles north in Georgetown, residents were also trying to put their lives back together. With a population of about 10,000, the town is a tourist destination known for its oak tree-lined streets and more than 50 sites on the National Registry of Historic Places. It was heavily damaged by Hurricane Hugo in 1989. A city-commissioned report released in November 2020 found that about 90% of all residential properties were vulnerable to storm surge flooding. Len Cappe, 68, a retired property manager who moved to Charleston two years ago, said Ian was the first big storm he has encountered. “It’s the wind, it rattles you,” Cappe said. “It’s blowing furiously.” Read more: Maps-Hurricane Ian batters the Gulf Coast Drone video shows boats washed ashore in Hurricane Ian’s wake A Florida town rebuilt after one hurricane endures another Hurricane hunter says Ian’s eyewall flight was ‘worst I’ve ever been on’ How hurricanes cause dangerous, destructive storm surges Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Reporting by Brad Brooks in Fort Myers and Jonathan Drake in Charleston Additional reporting by Sharon Bernstein, Kanishka Singh and Juby Babu Writing by Costas Pitas Editing by Cynthia Osterman, Daniel Wallis and Frances Kerry Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. Read More…

United Airlines To Halt Service At New York's JFK Airport In October https://digitalalabamanews.com/united-airlines-to-halt-service-at-new-yorks-jfk-airport-in-october/ WASHINGTON, Sept 30 (Reuters) – United Airlines (UAL.O) said on Friday it will suspend service in late October to New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport (JFK). Earlier this month, United had threatened to take the action if the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) did not grant the air carrier additional flights. United has been flying just twice daily to San Francisco and Los Angeles from JFK, the busiest New York-area airport, after resuming service in 2021. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com “Given our current, too-small-to-be-competitive schedule out of JFK — coupled with the start of the Winter season where more airlines will operate their slots as they resume JFK flying — United has made the difficult decision to temporarily suspend service at JFK,” United said in a memo seen by Reuters. The airline did not specify when it might resume service. United said its “discussions with FAA have been constructive” but added “it’s also clear that process to add additional capacity at JFK will take some time.” United said the decision would impact 100 employees who work at JFK but emphasized that “no one is losing their job” and employees will transition to other nearby stations. United has been working to pursue additional slots – which are takeoff and landing authorizations – through the FAA and by seeking commercial agreements to acquire slots from other airlines. The FAA said Friday it is “dedicated to doing its part to safely expand New York City airports and airspace capacity. We will follow our fair and well-established process to award future slots to increase competition.” United said without permanent slots it cannot serve JFK “effectively compared to the larger schedules and more attractive flight times flown by” JetBlue Airways (JBLU.O) and American Airlines (AAL.O). United in 2015 struck a long-term deal to lease 24 year-round slots at JFK to Delta Air Lines (DAL.N) as it ended JFK service to concentrate at its nearby Newark hub in northern New Jersey. United argues there is room to grow at JFK, the 13th-busiest U.S. airport, because the FAA and the Port Authority since 2008 have made significant infrastructure investments, including “the widening of runways, construction of multi-entrance taxiways, and the creation of aligned high-speed turnoffs.” Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Reporting by David Shepardson Editing by Sandra Maler and Aurora Ellis Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. Read More…

Erickson: Are Biden’s 1988 Brain Aneurysms Affecting Him Today? https://digitalalabamanews.com/erickson-are-bidens-1988-brain-aneurysms-affecting-him-today/ Erick Erickson Standing at the podium as part of a White House forum on food and hunger, President Joe Biden began working through the list of people to thank. He made it bipartisan. He thanked several Republicans and got to his friend Jackie. “Jackie, are you here? Where’s Jackie?” Biden asked. Jackie is Rep. Jackie Walorski of Indiana who died over a month ago in a car crash. There is no good way to consider what happened. Biden knew Walorski died. He mentioned it over a month ago. He is about to sign legislation, with her family present, to rename a VA hospital in her honor. His press secretary said the deceased congresswoman is “top of mind” for Biden because he knew he would be spending time with her family later in the week. If she really was top of mind, shouldn’t he have known she could not be present at the event? We should consider the options. First, his advance staff failed to prepare him. Prior to the president taking the stage, the event showed a brief video reflecting on Walorski’s life. An advance team should, in every case, brief their leader on everything happening at an event, including those events that happened right before he goes on stage. Second, perhaps they briefed him but failed to remind him that the congresswoman died. Whether it is the first reason or the second reason, the president’s staff has let him down again. We know that Chief of Staff Ron Klain has had a hard time navigating relationships in Congress, often undermining the president’s agenda. We also know that Biden has been bullied by his staff into taking policy positions that directly contradict the president’s own instincts. The student loan bailout is just one example, and it is the most recent example that will haunt the Democrats’ midterm cycle. It is not out of bounds to consider that Biden has a highly ideological progressive staff that is very long on opinions and short on competence. Of course, there is a third option. What if the team did tell Biden, did brief him, did do everything right, and Biden forgot that quickly? That would be the most troubling because it would be a sign the president’s age is getting the better of him. Perhaps Biden cannot get his staff to set policy based on his instincts because he cannot operate at the level necessary to have his will, as president, implemented by his team. They, in turn, are taking advantage of his infirmities. When former President Donald Trump served in the office, videographers caught him very, very carefully walking down a ramp at West Point. “Trump’s Halting Walk Down Ramp Raises New Health Questions,” the New York Times headline blared. The subheading was, “The president also appeared to have trouble raising a glass of water to his mouth during a speech at West Point a day before he turned 74, the oldest a president has been in his first term.” At CNN, its regulator regurgitator of stale conventional wisdom, Chris Cillizza, wrote a piece with the headline, “Why the Donald Trump-West Point ramp story actually matters.” Among the reasons Cillizza said it mattered was: “He is the oldest person ever elected to a first term in the White House,” and “Trump’s medical past is a total mystery.” Biden is now the oldest President ever and his health is no mystery. He had two brain aneurysms, both of which required surgery. Now, he’s calling out to dead congresswomen on stage who happen to be, in his press secretary’s telling, “top of mind” — just not top of mind enough to know she’s dead. “Trump tries to explain his slow and unsteady walk down a ramp at West Point,” read the headline of Phil Rucker’s story about Trump’s ramp walk in The Washington Post. He said, “Elements of Trump’s explanation strained credulity.” Does the Biden administration’s explanation for Biden not strain credulity? Of course it does. But note the relative lack of media coverage. If only Biden had delicately walked down a ramp instead of searching for a dead woman in a crowd, maybe the media would ask the tough questions. To find out more about Erick Erickson and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com. Newsletter Join thousands already receiving our daily newsletter. Read More…

“Tom Brady Was A Giant [Donald] Trump Supporter And…” – Joe Rogan Reveals Why ‘Lefties’ Couldn’t Cancel TB12 Even On His Worst Days https://digitalalabamanews.com/tom-brady-was-a-giant-donald-trump-supporter-and-joe-rogan-reveals-why-lefties-couldnt-cancel-tb12-even-on-his-worst-days/ Joe Rogan is the host of one of the biggest podcasts in the world. The reason why the comedian has garnered such massive popularity is because of the way he conducts himself in the show. ADVERTISEMENT Article continues below this ad Not only does Rogan stay true to himself, but he also doesn’t shy away from presenting forward his honest opinion. Thus, people who don’t necessarily agree with him still appreciate the podcaster for his integrity. ADVERTISEMENT Article continues below this ad In episode #1876 of the Joe Rogan Experience, the UFC commentator hosted Greg Fitzsimmons. During the prolonged conversation at once instance, the pair spoke about the difference in the mentality of a Hollywood personality compared to a normal person. Joe Rogan says everyone loves Tom Brady Rogan stated that Hollywood believes in being completely ‘left’ regarding government support. He said, “if you’re in team Hollywood, there’s one way to decide about things. The most progressive, most left-wing, most inclusive.” Prediction: Tom Brady will go on Joe Rogan’s podcast at some point. I just know it. — Lynx (@LustrousLynx) March 14, 2022 He further added, “pull it from young people. Whatever kids in college think are the most important, that’s what they’re going to talk about.” DIVE DEEPER Conor McGregor Fans Convinced That the UFC Star Has Gotten Back to Mystic Mac Form After Witnessing ‘Sharp’ Left in Latest Training Session about 18 hours ago Fitzsimmons then added that ground reality is, however, completely different. Moreover, he stated that normal people don’t care as much about politics because they have other problems to worry about. The host agreed with what the guest said. PASADENA, CA – AUGUST 19: Comedian Joe Rogan performs during his appearance at The Ice House Comedy Club on August 19, 2015 in Pasadena, California. (Photo by Michael Schwartz/WireImage) The UFC commentator mentioned Tom Brady while the guest comedian was talking about sports being free of politics. Rogan said, “Tom Brady was a giant Trump supporter, and people still loved him because he was just a bad motherf**ker” Furthermore, the podcaster continues, “even lefties who are football fans. If he was throwing for Tampa Bay, you were f*cking pumped. That’s Tom motherf**king Brady B*tch. Who cares who he’s friends with?”  ADVERTISEMENT Article continues below this ad Meanwhile, many people believed that Rogan was a Trump supporter as well. However, on Lex Fridman’s podcast, the comedian clearly stated that he doesn’t support Trump. Moreover, he also said that he will not invite him to his podcast because he does not want to promote Trump in any way, shape, or form. ADVERTISEMENT Article continues below this ad WATCH THIS STORY: Joe Rogan: Thug Life Moments in The UFC What do you think of this discussion? Share your thoughts. Read More…

Shying From Trump, Ex-Maine Gov. Paul LePage Seeks Job Back https://digitalalabamanews.com/shying-from-trump-ex-maine-gov-paul-lepage-seeks-job-back/ FILE – Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is welcomed to the stage by Maine Gov. Paul LePage at campaign stop in Portland, Maine, in this March 3, 2016 file photo. LePage, who moved to Florida after his second term, has returned to Maine to challenge Democratic Gov. Janet Mills. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty) The Associated Press By DAVID SHARP, Associated Press YARMOUTH, Maine (AP) — When then-Maine Gov. Paul LePage endorsed Donald Trump in 2016, he credited himself as a prototype for the insurgent presidential candidate. “I was Donald Trump before Donald Trump became popular, so I think I should support him since we are one of the same cloth,” said LePage, whose two terms in office were punctuated by brash behavior and frequently offensive comments. Now, as LePage is running for a third term after a brief retirement to Florida, he rarely talks about Trump in public, and his advisers say LePage’s hiatus from politics changed him. He’s eager to show he’s smoothed over some of his own rough edges, though flashes of his fiery personality broke through recently at an event at a riverfront boatyard in Yarmouth, where he pledged to take on Democratic “elitists.” “I came from the streets. I was a fighter all my life,” LePage told workers. “I had to scrimp and save to eat and survive. I am a fighter.” Political Cartoons As LePage seeks to unseat Democratic Gov. Janet Mills and become the longest-serving governor in Maine history, he is banking on an approach familiar to other Republican candidates in liberal- and moderate-leaning states who are trying not to alienate swing voters they would need to win a general election. LePage’s efforts at putting distancing from Trump are particularly notable given LePage once invited comparisons to Trump — and made them himself. Democrats aren’t going to let voters forget LePage’s tumultuous time in office, when he occasionally acted and sounded a lot like Trump. LePage attracted national headlines when he told the Portland chapter of the NAACP to “kiss my butt,” made racist remarks about drug dealers who impregnate “white” girls and accused a lawmaker of screwing over state taxpayers “without providing Vaseline.” His critics point to a recent campaign event in which LePage threatened to “deck” a Democratic staffer who got too close to him — an incident, they say, that illustrates LePage hasn’t changed at all. The race is shaping up to be among a dozen or so competitive contests for governor this election year. The way in which the campaign plays out with voters weary of political ugliness may be a harbinger for Trump’s White House aspirations in 2024. LePage and Mills’ adversarial relationship goes back years. Mills, a 74-year-old moderate and the first woman elected governor of Maine, is a former two-term attorney general whose stint as the state’s top prosecutor coincided with LePage’s time as governor. The two clashed publicly, with Mills declining to represent LePage’s administration on some matters, forcing LePage to seek outside counsel to represent his interests in litigation. Her supporters portray her as a steady leader whose cautious COVID-19 policies helped guide the state through the worst pandemic in a century, with fewer coronavirus deaths per capita than most others. She expanded Medicaid — something LePage had blocked — and presided over the largest budget surplus in Maine history, which allowed the state to send $850 relief checks to most residents. Raised in poverty and homeless for a time as a boy, LePage, 73, is an unabashed conservative whose past controversies often overshadowed his political achievements, such as lowering the tax burden, shrinking welfare rolls, overhauling the pension system and paying back millions of dollars of hospital debt. He attacked Mills’ executive orders during the pandemic, including mandatory vaccines for health care workers, calling it a “reign of terror.” He’s called for a parental bill of rights in education, claimed Mill has allowed crime and drugs to proliferate and accused her of budgetary gimmicks that will cause problems in the future. He has promised to try again to eliminate the state’s income tax. When LePage left office in 2019, prevented from seeking a third consecutive term by the Maine Constitution, he declared he was decamping for Florida, where the taxes were lower, and leaving politics behind. He didn’t stay away long. Soon, he was headed back to Maine for what supporters described as “LePage 2.0.” LePage’s senior adviser Brent Littlefield said LePage was astounded when Trump’s supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and that LePage fears the country is in danger of tearing itself apart. LePage issued a statement amid the violence supporting law enforcement and telling those involved in the riot “to leave and go home.” LePage served as Trump’s honorary state chairman and once sought a job in his administration, but he now won’t say whether he would vote for Trump for president if Trump runs again in 2024. Despite any private misgivings, however, LePage hasn’t condemned Trump. He declined an Associated Press interview request. The former governor made no reference to Trump while touring Yankee Marina & Boatyard, even though Trump remains popular in rural Maine, where he twice won an electoral vote while losing the statewide vote. Boatyard president Deborah Delp said LePage is needed at a time when her workers are suffering from high inflation and worried about the future. She said she can “handle some rough language” from LePage if he puts the economy on track. “Politicians are politicians. And he’s not a politician. He’s a businessman. He says what he thinks,” Delp said. Maria Testa, a Democrat from Portland, disagrees. “He’s bombastic and has a cruel temper. He’s such a big no for me,” Testa said. While campaigning, LePage largely tries to steer clear of Trump’s lies of a rigged 2020 election. LePage acknowledges that Biden is president but declines to address whether he thinks the election was legitimate. LePage also avoids the issue of abortion after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to an abortion. Mills has pledged to fight to ensure women continue to have a right to a legal abortion in Maine. A third candidate for governor, independent Sam Hunkler, isn’t expected to play much of a role in the race, unlike deep-pocketed independent Eliot Cutler, who did in 2010 and 2014, when LePage won each election without a majority. Maine’s ranked-choice voting system won’t be a factor. It is used in federal congressional races but not in the governor’s contest because it runs afoul of the Maine Constitution. Betsy Martin, a retired health care administrator from Biddeford, said residents are feeling drained by the corrosive partisanship in a rural state with a tradition of moderate politics and independent voters. Some are tuning out altogether, she said. “They’re exhausted. They’re extremely fatigued. We’re worn out,” she said. ___ Follow David Sharp on Twitter @David_Sharp_AP ___ Follow AP for full coverage of the midterms at https://apnews.com/hub/2022-midterm-elections and on Twitter, https://twitter.com/ap_politics Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Read More…

Alabama Vs. Arkansas By The Numbers https://digitalalabamanews.com/alabama-vs-arkansas-by-the-numbers/ No. 2 Alabama (4-0, 1-0) at No. 20 Arkansas (3-1, 1-1) 2:30 p.m. CDT Saturday (CBS) Reynolds Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville, Arkansas 1 Alabama team in the SEC era has had a larger scoring margin over its opponents four games into a season than the current team does. In 2022, the Crimson Tide has outscored its first four foes 193-29 for a 164-point scoring differential. In 1979, Alabama outscored its first four opponents 179-9 for a 170-point differential. The 2018 team also had a 164-point differential four games into the season. 1 SEC player this century has had 13 TD passes and two TD runs four games into a season – Alabama QB Bryce Young in 2022. An SEC QB has had at least 13 TD passes four games into a season 12 times since 2000, including Young in 2021 when he had 15. But none of the previous 11 also scored two TDs on the ground. MORE SEC FOOTBALL BY THE NUMBERS: · TOP 10 FOR WEEK 5 · TOP 10 FROM WEEK 4 4 NCAA FBS players have reached 500 rushing yards this season, including Arkansas RB Raheim Sanders, who has 508 and three TDs on 83 carries. The other players with at least 500 rushing yards are Illinois’ Chase Brown, Minnesota’s Mohamed Ibrahim and Marshall’s Khalan Laborn. 4 Players in school history have scored more points than Alabama K Will Reichard, who enters Saturday’s game with 339. Reichard trails Leigh Tiffin with 385 points, Adam Griffith with 357, Philip Doyle with 345 and Najee Harris with 342. 4 200-yard rushing games for Arkansas in 2022. The Razorbacks have surpassed 200 yards on the ground in every game this season. Alabama most recently allowed an opposing team to rush for 200 yards on Sept. 18, 2021, in a 31-29 victory over Florida – 16 games ago. 5 Consecutive Arkansas games have featured at least one TD run by QB KJ Jefferson. Jefferson joins Toledo’s DeQuan Finn as the only quarterbacks with a TD run in every game this season. Jefferson joins Duke’s Riley Leonard and Syracuse’s Garrett Shrader as the only quarterbacks with at least 900 passing and 200 rushing yards in 2022. 5 Players in Alabama history have accumulated more yards of total offense than QB Bryce Young, who passed Mac Jones and Andrew Zow on the school’s career list last week with 385 passing yards and 6 rushing yards in a 55-3 victory over Vanderbilt. Young boosted his total to 6,184 yards – 21 behind No. 5 Brodie Croyle in the Crimson Tide’s career rankings. The Alabama record-holder is AJ McCarron, with 8,969 yards of total offense from 2010 through 2013. Young set a school single-season record in 2021 with 4,872 yards of total offense. 5.5 Sacks for Arkansas LB Drew Sanders, tied for the most in the nation. Arkansas leads the nation with 20 sacks. Sanders had one sack last season, which was his second at Alabama before transferring to the Razorbacks. 6 Consecutive Alabama-Arkansas games have featured at least 40 points for the Crimson Tide. Alabama has scored at least 40 points in six straight games against only one other SEC rival – the past six meetings with Ole Miss. In its past six meetings with the Razorbacks, Alabama won 49-30 in 2016, 41-9 in 2017, 65-31 in 2018, 48-7 in 2019, 52-3 in 2020 and 42-35 in 2021. 15 Consecutive victories for Alabama against Arkansas. The Razorbacks most recently defeated the Crimson Tide 24-23 in double overtime in 2006. Alabama leads the series 25-7 on the field (although the official record is 22-8 after a forfeit and two vacated victories imposed by the NCAA). 17 Consecutive victories against Arkansas have been recorded by teams coached by Nick Saban. Saban is 15-0 against the Razorbacks since coming to Alabama and guided LSU to victories over Arkansas in 2003 and 2004. 29 Sacks for Alabama LB Will Anderson Jr., the second-most in school history. Anderson passed Jonathan Allen on the Crimson Tide’s career list with 2.5 sacks in Alabama’s 55-3 victory over Vanderbilt last week. Allen had 28.5 sacks from 2013 through 2016. Alabama’s career sacks leader is Derrick Thomas with 52 from 1985 through 1988. 96 Victories and 44 losses for Alabama coach Nick Saban in games against opponents ranked in the AP Poll. Saban has the most coaching victories against ranked opponents after passing former Penn State coach Joe Paterno, who had an 86-82 record against ranked teams. 244 Yards on 14 punt returns for Alabama’s Kool-Aid McKinstry, 84 more yards than any other player in the nation has in the 2022 season. 287 Games have been played by Alabama since it was most recently shut out, a school record and the fourth-longest scoring streak in SEC history. Alabama’s most recent shutout loss came 9-0 to Auburn on Nov. 18, 2000. 385 Tackles have been made by Arkansas LB Bumper Pool, second on the Razorbacks’ career list. FOR MORE OF AL.COM’S COVERAGE OF THE SEC, GO TO OUR SEC PAGE Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1. If you purchase a product or register for an account through one of the links on our site, we may receive compensation. Read More…

Kellyanne Conway Says Trump https://digitalalabamanews.com/kellyanne-conway-says-trump/ Former President Trump could be a presidential candidate by the end of the year, according to Kellyanne Conway, one of Trump’s top advisers and his 2016 campaign manager. In an interview Friday with CBS News senior investigative correspondent Catherine Herridge, asked whether Trump, who has indicated he plans to run again, would announce his candidacy after the midterm elections — by Thanksgiving — Conway responded, “Well, he would like to.”  “He’s as active as anybody in these midterm elections. That’s important to the calculus also, Catherine, because we have the most ironic, if not unprecedented situation right now,” Conway said. “We have a president, a current president, whose party doesn’t really want him to campaign with them.” “I think once those midterms are done, President Trump can assess the timing of his announcement,” Conway continued. “I will tell you why he wants to run for president — Donald Trump wants his old job back.” When Conway spoke with Herridge in July, she said her advice to Trump was to wait for a few months. Conway, the first woman to run a successful presidential campaign, served as the former president’s counselor for most of his tenure.  “My advice to the president privately is my advice to him publicly, which is, ‘If you want to announce, wait until right after the midterms,'” she said this summer.  As she suggested in July, Conway reiterated her feeling that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a potential 2024 presidential candidate who is currently dealing with the devastation wrought by Hurricane Ian, should wait to run. Finishing two terms as Florida governor, she said, would better position DeSantis for a future presidential bid. “He has the skills, he has the temperament, he has the moxie, and he has the the commitment to do that,” Conway told Herridge. “Many of his generational peers will have been in the United States Senate,” Conway continued. “So if he’s running against a Ted Cruz or Rand Paul or Marco Rubio, let’s say Josh Hawley, Tom Cotton and others, Ron DeSantis, his argument is you’ve been in the United States Senate, sometimes in the minority party, sometimes in the majority party, but what have you got to show for it? They’ll have to answer those questions. He’ll say, I’ve been the governor of the third largest state. Look what I’ve done.” She dismissed the notion that Trump and his political team are concerned about competition from DeSantis in 2024 —”I don’t think they are, no,” she said. “They’re friends, they’re allies. I think people want Ron DeSantis and Donald Trump to be two scorpions in a bottle.” She added, “They’re just not.” The interview with Conway airs on CBS News Streaming Friday. Grace Kazarian contributed reporting.  In: Donald Trump Kathryn Watson Kathryn Watson is a politics reporter for CBS News Digital based in Washington, D.C. Thanks for reading CBS NEWS. Create your free account or log in for more features. Please enter email address to continue Please enter valid email address to continue Read More…

Fear Of 'off The Rails' Trump Forced Aides To 'soften' Bad News During Strategy Sessions: Former White House Insider https://digitalalabamanews.com/fear-of-off-the-rails-trump-forced-aides-to-soften-bad-news-during-strategy-sessions-former-white-house-insider/ Responding to an excerpt from Maggie Haberman’s “Confidence Man: The Making of Donald Trump and the Breaking of America,” a former senior White House aide under Trump stated that reporting that Jared Kushner inflated Trump’s poll numbers to his face during the 2020 presidential election inin an effort to quell his tantrums sounds about right. As Rolling Stone reports, Trump’s son-in-law was skeptical of polling that showed his father-in-law losing to Joe Biden, and tried to soften the blow when giving updates. The Rolling Stone report states Haberman wrote, “Kushner, who oversaw reelection strategy from his post as a White House senior adviser, advised a …campaign pollster, Tony Fabrizio, to inflate Trump’s standing in surveys that would be shown to the candidate by adding percentage points to his position in the horse race.” Asawin Suebsaeng of Rolling Stone adds, “…’the “ostensible reason’ for this was Kushner and others’ contention that polling firms ‘always missed Trump voters.’ However, to various Trump 2020 officials, it was obvious that the ‘real reason’ for Kushner’s advice to Fabrizio was to ‘avoid upsetting Trump.'” IN RELATED NEWS: The door to remove Judge Aileen Cannon from the Trump case is now ‘wide open’: former prosecutor Asked about Haberman’s claim, a former Trump aide said it was highly likely that Kushner was trying to avoid Trump’s wrath based on the president’s general demeanor during the 2020 campaign. “There is no doubt in my mind that that was the reason,” they explained. “There were discussions among other members of the Trump campaign about hiding or softening bad news like that, if only so that fewer [strategy] meetings [with Trump] would go off the rails because he was pissed off about people saying he was losing to Biden.” The report adds, “At the time, a variety of Trump’s closest confidants were similarly happy to indulge the then-president’s claims that the public polling had to be rigged against him, and the delusion that there was simply no way he could be trailing his Democratic foe. For instance, Haberman writes, Fox News host and frequent Trump adviser Sean Hannity ‘told Trump aides he did not trust the polling he was seeing and would commission his own.'” You can read more here. Read More…

Former Trump Commerce Department Official And Turning Point USA Ex-Employee Sentenced To 5.5 Years In Prison For Child Pornography Possession https://digitalalabamanews.com/former-trump-commerce-department-official-and-turning-point-usa-ex-employee-sentenced-to-5-5-years-in-prison-for-child-pornography-possession/ A former US Department of Commerce official pleaded guilty to a federal child pornography charge. Adam Hageman, 26, was sentenced to five-and-a-half years in prison. Prior to working for the Commerce Department in the Trump administration, he had a job with Turning Point USA. Loading Something is loading. A former Commerce Department official in the Trump administration has been sentenced to 5-and-a-half years in prison after pleading guilty to a federal charge of receiving child pornography. Adam Hageman, 26, was arrested in November 2020 after Homeland Security executed a search warrant of his home in Washington, DC. During the search, he voluntarily unlocked his cell phone and provided access to an image vault containing child pornography to Homeland Security officials, according to a pre-trial detention memo. The vault contained at least 33 videos that appeared to contain sexually explicit depictions of children, the memo said. In the memo, prosecutors accused Hageman of encouraging people in an online group to rape children and soliciting group members to share child pornography. According to an affidavit by a Homeland Security special agent, which was filed in November 2020, Hageman indicated that his preference was children aged 12 to 16 and said that the youngest person he had sex with was 15 years old. Hageman pleaded guilty to a charge of receiving child pornography last Thursday. US District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson sentenced him to 66 months in prison. After his release, he will be on parole for five years. Hageman will also have to register as a sex offender. Before working for the Commerce Department, Politico reported that Hageman was an administrator for Turning Point USA — the far-right conservative nonprofit organization. Hageman ‘s attorney, the US Department of Commerce, and Turning Point USA did not immediately respond to Insider’s requests for comment. Read More…