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

Mosquito Fire: Crews Mop-Up In Foresthill, But Eastern Front Still Aggressive https://digitalalaskanews.com/mosquito-fire-crews-mop-up-in-foresthill-but-eastern-front-still-aggressive/ Wednesday for the town of Foresthill in Placerville is a completely different story from Tuesday when the Mosquito Fire was a stone’s throw away from tearing through the area.Wednesday’s winds were slightly lighter in comparison to Tuesday’s, where a flare-up jumped the Middle Fork of the American River and made a run toward Foresthill, the situation for the town as of 5 p.m. Wednesday appears better, with video from LiveCopter 3 showing significantly less smoke for that part of the Mosquito Fire.With the exception of a few structures and several vehicles across the street from Foresthill High School, much of that town was spared.The eastern section of the fire, however, remains active. KCRA 3 Chief Meteorologist Mark Finan said the fire has advanced about half a mile to a mile as far as area burnt.Still, the lighter winds were enough to push more smoke inversion out of the fire area, allowing for heavy use of aircraft to drop water and fire retardant, Cal Fire said in its Wednesday evening report. Crews patrolled, mopped up and secured control lines along Foresthill Road, focusing heavily on where Tuesday’s flare-up reached Foresthill.As of Wednesday at 7 p.m., the fire has burned at least 63,776 acres and is 20% contained. Meanwhile, authorities said that 64 structures have been destroyed in Placer County and 34 in El Dorado County. Cal Fire said 9,236 structures remain threatened.Here’s a look at the fire at 4 p.m. on Wednesday from LiveCopter 3:Video from LiveCopter 3 captured heavy smoke near Foresthill High School on Tuesday. Multiple vehicles and structures across the street from the school were destroyed. Crews were able to narrowly avoid the flames from reaching north of Foresthill Road, where more homes and structures, including the high school, are. Watch below | Raw: Vehicles, structures near Foresthill High School destroyed The eastern front of the fire steadily continues burning in dense forested areas with dry fuels, Cal Fire said. Most of Wednesday’s smoke came from this area.Crews continue trying to keep the fire away from the community of Stumpy Meadows, which was forced to evacuate Tuesday.The agency added that its No. 1 priority Wednesday remains strengthening and securing the control lines protecting these communities. The weather is forecast to be the same as the last few days, with continued southwest winds leading to fire growth. Meteorologist Heather Waldman said to expect wind gusts of around 15 mph. After sunset, the winds will back down, she said.Evacuation orders expand, power out for thousandsMeanwhile, evacuation orders expanded Tuesday for communities in Placer and El Dorado counties.The community of Stumpy Meadows was ordered to evacuate Tuesday afternoon by the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office because of the Mosquito Fire. The boundaries for the evacuated area are east of Stumpy Meadows, west of Wentworth Springs Road and the Ice Hours Road intersection. That also includes south of the El Dorado-Placer county border north of Onion Creek.In Placer County, the Yankee Jims and Shirttail Canyon areas were also forced to evacuate Tuesday afternoon. This includes south of Big Dipper through Kings Hill and through Black Bear and Grills Hill.There are also evacuation warnings for Iowa Hill Road at Mineral Bar to Elliot Ranch Road, north of Big Dipper and Adelia Hill.The Placer County Sheriff’s Office said deputies have evacuated 6,258 residents but 90 people refused to leave.Pacific Gas & Electric Co. also reported about 2,600 customers in both El Dorado and Placer counties without power as of 8 a.m. Wednesday. KCRA 3 reporter Melanie Wingo spoke with Scott McClean, a longtime Cal Fire spokesperson, about some of the operations crews have done to protect as many structures as possible. They spoke near Worton’s Market along Foresthill Road. Watch that interview below. The Mosquito Fire started on the evening of Sept. 6 near Mosquito Ridge Road on the north side of the Oxbow Reservoir. The Oxbow Reservoir is about 11 miles east of the community of Foresthill. Foresthill is located about 20 miles northeast of Auburn. Sixty-four structures were destroyed, and about 5,848 structures remain threatened, Cal Fire said. There are 11,277 people who evacuated since the fire started. Cal Fire said the steep and rugged terrain of the fire makes it difficult for crews to access the fire directly. Cal Fire hopes to fully contain the fire by Oct. 15. However, containment is not a measure of how much of the fire is extinguished but rather a gauge as to how much of a line crews have around the fire perimeter to prevent the fire from spreading. See all evacuation orders and warnings below. App users, click here.Evacuation centersPlacer CountySierra College — 5100 Sierra College Blvd, Rocklin, CA 95677 (Parking in Lot B, shelter will be in the Building J cafeteria)El Dorado CountyCameron Park Services District — 2502 Country Club Drive, Cameron Park, CA 95682. Overnight shelter, meals, showers, limited health services and parking for trailers will be provided. Animals in crates and carriers will also be accepted.Green Valley Community Church — 3500 Missouri Flat Road, Placerville, CA. This location with accept human and small domestic animals on leashes or in creates. No Large animal and no birds. Limited RV parking and no hookups.Animal evacuation centersPlacer CountyPlacer County Animal Services Center (Reached capacity and has suspended new intakes) — 11232 B Avenue, Auburn, CA 95603 Gold Country Fairgrounds — 209 Fairgate Road, Auburn, CaliforniaDiamond Springs Shelter (small animals only) — 6435 Capitol Avenue, Diamond Springs, CA 95619Rancho Murieta Equestrian Center (equines only) — Call for information: 916-985-7334Flying M Ranch (large animals only) — 5421 Buck Mountain Road, Placerville, CA 95667Road ClosuresThe Placer County Sheriff’s Office said hard road closures are in place on Foresthill Road and Lincoln Way in Auburn. There are also closures at the Old Foresthill Road at the Confluence.The eastbound Interstate 80 offramp to Foresthill Road is closed due to the fire.(Click through the gallery below for a glimpse at the firefight.) Large Mosquito Fire flare-up spottedKCRA 3 Photojournalist John Breedlove captured a large flare-up from the Mosquito Fire. A massive column of smoke could be seen coming up from those flames. That flare-up has since destroyed vehicles and structures near Foresthill High School. El Dorado County residents can check if their home is destroyedResidents in El Dorado County that had to evacuate because of the wildfire burning in the area can now start checking if their homes are still standing.The El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office released an interactive map that lets you click on homes that are color-coded based on the amount of damage. Damaged or destroyed homes will also include pictures showing what the house looks like. Homes without damage will not have their pictures posted.According to the sheriff’s office, if you don’t see your home on the map, you are encouraged to check back later as crews continue to assess damages by the wildfire. Currently, the map shows homes in the Volcanoville, Georgetown and Quintette areas.View that map below. App users, click here.State of emergency declared Placer County issued a local emergency due to the blaze.“A local emergency proclamation asserts continuing risk to life and property and that the response is beyond the capabilities of local resources,” a release from the county said. “Placer’s proclamation requests state and federal assistance, but neither a state nor a federal disaster has yet been declared that would authorize individual disaster assistance for residents and businesses.” Gov. Gavin Newsom also declared a state of emergency in Placer and El Dorado counties due to the fires. With the state of emergency declared, that opens up federal resources to assist in combating the fire. PG&E files incident report to CPUCIt’s still unclear how the Mosquito Fire started. However, PG&E filed a report with the state’s public utility commission for a pole near where the fire started. The U.S. Forest Service had placed “caution tape around the base of a PG&E transmission pole” the report said on Thursday. “Thus far, PG&E has observed no damage or abnormal conditions to the pole or our facilities near Oxbow Reservoir, has not observed down conductor in the area or any vegetation related issues.”PG&E is investigating. Here’s a look at the current air quality in Northern CaliforniaSmoke from the Mosquito Fire burning in Placer and El Dorado counties will continue to impact areas across the Sacramento region, according to Spare the Air. The Sacramento Metropolitan, El Dorado, Feather River, Placer and Yolo-Solano air districts forecast unhealthy air quality for parts of the region.| MORE | Sacramento region’s air quality impacted by unhealthy smoke from the Mosquito Fire Wednesday for the town of Foresthill in Placerville is a completely different story from Tuesday when the Mosquito Fire was a stone’s throw away from tearing through the area. Wednesday’s winds were slightly lighter in comparison to Tuesday’s, where a flare-up jumped the Middle Fork of the American River and made a run toward Foresthill, the situation for the town as of 5 p.m. Wednesday appears better, with video from LiveCopter 3 showing significantly less smoke for that part of the Mosquito Fire. With the exception of a few structures and several vehicles across the street from Foresthill High School, much of that town was spared. The eastern section of the fire, however, remains active. KCRA 3 Chief Meteorologist Mark Finan said the fire has advanced about half a mile to a mile as far as area burnt. Still, the lighter winds were enough to push more smoke inversion out...

Malden, Pine City Fight For Recovery Two-Years After Fire https://digitalalaskanews.com/malden-pine-city-fight-for-recovery-two-years-after-fire/ Towns reconstruct park, fire station, new homes NICK GIBSON Chandelle Frick, acting director of the Pine Creek Community Restoration Long Term Recovery Organization, displays a photo that survived the Babb Road Fire to a group of Malden and Pine City residents in Malden City Park on Sunday afternoon. NICK GIBSON, Evergreen roots editor September 15, 2022 Sunday afternoon bore a striking resemblance to Labor Day weekend of 2020 for the communities of Malden and Pine City. The familiar smell of smoke hung in the air as neighbors gathered to mark the anniversary of the wildfire that devastated their rural communities two years ago.  Over 50 residents of the Pine Creek area gathered in Malden City Park on Sunday to celebrate two years of recovery since the Babb Road Fire swept through the towns of Malden and Pine City. The celebration featured a potluck lunch, free bicycle tune-ups and a raffle of homemade quilts. The Babb Road Fire ripped through Malden and Pine City on Sept. 7, 2020, destroying 67 homes and 15,000 acres in its wake, according to a Seattle Times article.  Although the recovery process has been slow, Malden Mayor Dan Harwood said he is proud of the progress made so far. A temporary fire station and 26 homes have been constructed since the fire, and several projects to improve the area’s infrastructure are ongoing, he said.  “We’re busy,” Harwood said. “We’re a town in recovery and we’re all going in one direction.” Recovery efforts have been fueled by support from volunteers, charitable organizations and a mix of federal and state grants, said Christine Oakley, member of the Pine Creek Community Restoration Long Term Recovery Organization. Established in the weeks following the wildfire, the nonprofit organization oversees the fundraising and recovery process for the Pine Creek area and over 200 residents that were displaced. Oakley said an influx of funding has allowed for more progress over the last year than during the initial year following the wildfire. Former President Donald Trump refused to provide Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) aid in 2020 due to a political conflict with Gov. Jay Inslee, leaving the area without federal assistance until President Joe Biden approved a disaster declaration in February 2021, according to a Spokesman-Review article.  Since receiving federal aid, Malden and Pine City have been able to rebuild several structures, erect a cell tower and begin planning for a new community center and reconstructed Malden City Park. Community members were able to give their input on the park project at Sunday’s gathering. SCJ Alliance, a Spokane based engineering firm, provided residents with a list of park features like sport fields, play equipment and amenities, asking them to vote on their favorites. Residents could see how the layout would look using paper cutouts of the elements on a map of the park.  “They can come in and play with the different pieces of the park, see what they like or might not like,” said Scott Rivas, SCJ Alliance senior project manager. “This is in the heart of their community, so we want to hear from them.” Rivas said construction on the park could start as soon as next spring. The project will be funded by state and federal grants, in addition to donations from organizations like the United Way of Whitman County. Francene Watson and her partner Scott McBeath, co-owners of 3Forks Bike Shop, journeyed from Pullman to offer their expertise to the residents of the Pine Creek area. McBeath fixed faulty brakes, aired up tires and rethreaded handlebars while Watson oversaw a miniature BMX course they brought along.   “We’re trying to build a little bike community in the area and really just help establish the essentials of bike safety,” Watson said.  The free service was part of several trips to small towns in Whitman County the couple has taken in recent years to help promote cycling safety, Watson said. The couple started the trips in partnership with Palouse Alliance and the Meter Foundation after a Pullman child died from injuries sustained by falling on the exposed metal end of a handlebar in 2018. In the coming years, the city of Malden plans to build a large structure that will house a permanent fire station and the city council and a community center in Malden City Park. Harwood said he looks forward to the completion of the two projects and the revitalization of the once-bustling railroad communities of Malden and Pine City.  “Two years ago, we were fighting for our lives,” Harwood said. “Now we’re fighting for our recovery.” Read More Here

Why 'Voter Suppression' Is A Myth https://digitalalaskanews.com/why-voter-suppression-is-a-myth/ When Georgia and other states began passing new election laws, the political left called it voter suppression. But is voter suppression actually taking place in America? Do safeguards such as voter ID requirements discourage voting?  In his new book “The Myth of Voter Suppression: The Left’s Assault on Clean Elections,” Fred Lucas dives into the way the Left has used the narrative of voter suppression to further its political agenda.  Lucas, chief news correspondent for The Daily Signal and chief news correspondent and manager of its Investigative Reporting Project, joins the show to discuss what he learned as he dug into who is funding the “voter suppression” narrative and the effects that new voting laws have had on voter turnout. Listen to the podcast below or read the lightly edited transcript: Virginia Allen: It’s my pleasure to welcome a familiar voice to this show today. Fred Lucas is an investigative journalist here at The Daily Signal. He’s a veteran White House correspondent and author of several books, including his latest, “The Myth of Voter Suppression: The Left’s Assault on Clean Elections.” Fred, thanks for being here. Fred Lucas: Yeah, thanks for having me on. Allen: So, Fred, let’s start with a little bit of history. Kind of paint the picture behind this book for us, if you will. So take us back to 2020 and 2021 just for a moment. [Joe] Biden had just been elected and some Americans, they were concerned about the outcome of that election, and some states began to enact laws that they said would make it harder to cheat in elections and easier to vote. And then we started hearing complaints that these voting laws were actually voter suppression. And what states were enacting new laws at that time and how did those voting laws differ from what their previous laws had been? What was the scene? Lucas: Well, yeah, you had in 2021 about 20 states or so enacted some sort of election integrity laws. Most did have Republican governors, Republican legislatures. This led to a lot of partisan fire bombs by the president, by also Stacey Abrams, who coined the phrase “Jim Crow 2.0.” And then you had Joe Biden following that up with, “Well, this is not Jim Crow 2.0, it’s Jim Eagle.” Which was sort of a, I guess, eagles are bigger than crows, but yeah. And from there they called this voter suppression. Now, I do want to make one important point, and that is that voter suppression, it’s a talking point, it’s a focus group term, made to remind people of some really horrible things that happened in this country in the past. But the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which has been a smashing success in expanding the number of people who can vote, that is something that it outlaws vote denial, voter intimidation, and vote dilution being done at some kind of institutionalized level. Voter suppression is not in the U.S. code anywhere. So voter suppression is a way for, mostly people on the Left, various interest groups and politicians, to lump in some sort of illegal activity with legal activity as a way of saying you’re restricting voting. And in most cases, or nearly every case, that’s not what’s happening. What you saw in 2021 is the laws primarily did three things. They required voter ID for absentee voting. Around 35 states have some kind of voter ID laws. These states added it to absentee voting for mail-in balloting. That’s important because we’re seeing a point where mail-in balloting is going to outpace in-person balloting, in-person voting. And the other is, it put real restrictions on ballot harvesting. Now, ballot harvesting, that’s the practice of allowing political operatives to collect and distribute mass quantities of mail-in ballots. And the third is that it requires more accurate voter lists. And that means you’re taking off dead people from the voter rolls, you’re taking off people who have moved to another state, and so forth, to make sure that potential imposters don’t take those names and try to vote. Allen: So given that background and kind of what you’ve just described, that these laws that were going into effect in states like Georgia, Texas, were doing, what exactly were people concerned about who are talking about voter suppression? When we heard those, mainly on the political left, who were saying, “No, that there is voter suppression happening,” what were they pointing to? Lucas: Somehow they were pointing to—you could actually go back to 2000, 2006, 2008, when after, the book talks a lot about the Carter-Baker Commission report, which is Jimmy Carter and James Baker, was a bipartisan commission report after the 2000 presidential race. They released their findings in 2005, made a whole bunch of recommendations about how to make elections more secure, got a lot of bipartisan hoopla, but then Republican legislatures, state legislatures around the country started implementing those recommendations. And then it became partisan. One of the big ones was voter ID. And that had bipartisan support at one point, almost two decades ago, which is hard to believe now. But numerous red states and purple states implemented that. As I said, about 35 states have that. And all sorts of dire predictions were made. People threw out the Jim Crow term at that point, that this is going to lead to voter suppression. Almost down to a T, every state with voter ID laws going back to 2006, a lot implemented them in 2011, voter turnout increased in those states. Allen: Really? Lucas: Yes. Allen: Interesting. Lucas: Yeah. And importantly, I want to say about these laws that were passed in 2021, we can’t make a final judgment on the impact yet. However, we did have a primary season in 2022, and as my book “The Myth of Voter Suppression” points out, in the 2022 primaries, the best comparison you can make is to the 2018 primary, that’s an off-year midterm. And in Georgia, which was the most maligned state—that’s the one that Joe Biden called Jim Eagle, that Stacey Abrams called Jim Crow 2.0—in Georgia voter turnout for the primary increased 168% from what it was in the 2018 primary. In Texas it was about 400,000 votes as well from four years earlier. Arizona actually had a record turnout for their midterm primaries, or for any primary, actually, in Arizona. In Iowa, it was 123%. So those were among the most maligned states out there and you pretty much all together had a huge turnout for these states that were supposedly suppressing the vote. So if they were trying to suppress the vote, they were doing a really lousy job of it. Allen: Fascinating. Fred, you’ve mentioned a couple times President Biden’s remarks about Jim Crow being Jim Eagle. That was in 2021. Let’s go ahead and roll those remarks just for a second. So, as we talked about, there was this whole narrative that really blossomed and bloomed from the Left of Jim Crow 2.0 is what these voting regulations are. But you point out in the book that when Biden was a senator, he really fought hard against voter fraud. So why has that fight not continued into his time in the White House do you think? Lucas: Yeah, there was actually a time, and I brought up the Carter-Baker Commission report, but while when Jimmy Carter was president and Joe Biden was a senator, there was talk about having automatic voter registration. And this is something that Joe Biden, Sen. Joe Biden, stood up for in 1979 and said, “This is a bad idea. I’ve talked to federal prosecutors. They think that this opens things wide open for fraud.” This was a Joe Biden who was challenging a president of his own party at the time. A little bit later in the 1980s, Sen. Joe Biden teamed up with a junior senator named Mitch McConnell and they passed an anti-corruption act to make voter fraud a federal crime. It wasn’t really until around 2014 when Joe Biden was the vice president and he started speaking out against voter ID laws. So this metamorphosis happened when he was vice president with [President Barack] Obama. The Obama administration’s Justice Department brought lawsuits against a lot of the states that had voter ID laws in place. They lost pretty much all those. There were a few setbacks here and there for states, but as I mentioned, the federal government under Democratic administrations could not really bring a case or examples in court of how this suppressed the vote. And so we now have Joe Biden as president making this case that, as we saw even in the Philadelphia speech in front of Independence Hall, that he made this claim that Republicans or MAGA Republicans don’t want votes to be counted and want to curtail voting rights. Again, they’re doing a really bad job if that’s what they’re trying to do because we’ve seen increased voter turnout from these 2021 laws. Allen: Well, and we can’t have this conversation and not talk about early voting mail-in ballots because there’s strong opinions, obviously, on both sides of the aisle on this issue. And Democrats specifically have raised concerns that these new voting laws, that they restrict early voting, that people won’t have time to get their ballots in, or that the elderly who can’t travel to polling places, they’ll be put in difficult situations where they can’t vote. What’s your response to that? And also, in your research, what are the concerns that you have about widespread mail-in ballots? Or do you have concerns on that? Lucas: Well, I do because widespread, as I said, it’s on pace to outnumber, and it did outnumber in the 2020 election, certainly, the in-person voting. That was a special circumstance because we had the pandemic that year. But we have this problem with ballot harvesting. And that is where you have political operatives, as I mentioned, they can distribute a large number of ballots, collect them, and bring them back. That’s just calling for corruption. We have HR 1, that was a legislation t...

How Can You Befriend A 'Semi-Fascist'? https://digitalalaskanews.com/how-can-you-befriend-a-semi-fascist/ Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, at a recent event with a liberal audience, praised Justice Clarence Thomas, her ideological adversary. Sotomayor said, “He is a man who cares deeply about the court as an institution.” She added that while the two often disagree over judicial decisions, “We share a common understanding about people and kindness towards them.” As to Thomas’ “kindness,” Sotomayor elaborated: “Justice Thomas is the one justice in the building that literally knows every employee’s name, every one of them. And not only does he know their names, he remembers their families’ names and histories. … He’s the first one who will go up to someone when you’re walking with him and say, ‘Is your son OK? How’s your daughter doing in college?’ He’s the first one that, when my stepfather died, sent me flowers in Florida.” Daniel R. Suhr, managing attorney at the Liberty Justice Center, a conservative public interest law firm, praised Sotomayor’s “courage.” He said, “I will give her deserved plaudits for saying something nice about her colleague when it would have been easy to keep her head down. That’s a good example for us all.” Describing a simple statement of kindness about a Supreme Court colleague, with whom one has ideological differences, as an act of “courage” says a lot about where we stand today as a nation. The now-deceased Supreme Court Justices Ruth Bader Ginsberg, a liberal, and Antonin Scalia, a conservative, often attacked each other in court decisions, yet they became close personal friends, sharing a love for opera. They also often traveled and shopped for souvenirs together. In the ’80s, conservative President Ronald Reagan battled over policy against House Speaker Thomas ‘Tip’ O’Neill, D-Mass. Reagan once compared O’Neill to Pac-Man, calling O’Neill “a round thing that gobbles up money.” O’Neill called Reagan “Herbert Hoover with a smile” and “a cheerleader for selfishness.” There is some dispute about whether they personally liked each other, but in O’Neill’s memoir, he wrote that he advised Reagan that Democrats and Republicans “were always friends after 6 o’clock and on weekends.” O’Neill said: “Reagan would often begin our telephone discussions by saying, ‘Hello, Tip, is it after 6 o’clock?’ ‘Absolutely, Mr. President,’ I would respond.” O’Neill’s son said, “While neither man embraced the other’s worldview, each respected the other’s right to hold it. Each respected the other as a man.” Chris Matthews, later an MSNBC host, served as O’Neill’s press secretary. Matthews said: “Reagan was fond of Tip and completely believed that Tip wanted to help the little people. He just disagreed about how to do it.” This brings us to today. Matthews, on his TV show, analyzed why then-President Donald Trump invited rapper Kanye West to the White House. Matthews said Trump did it to challenge the charge that Trump is “racist.” Matthews said, “White people won’t vote for a guy—most of them—if they think they’re racist.” So, it would be counterproductive for Trump to use, as critics claimed, “a racist dog whistle” to encourage whites to vote for him. America would never vote for a racist for president. And it would not be in Trump’s best interest to be perceived as one. Yet a 2018 Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll found that “85%” of Democratic adults considered Trump “racist.” Later that same year, an Axios poll found that 61% of Democrats consider Republicans “racist/bigoted/sexist,” while 31% of Republicans feel that way about Democrats. President Joe Biden recently accused Trump voters of embracing “semi-fascism.” Semi-fascism?! But Joan Walsh, national affairs correspondent for hard-left the Nation magazine, said, “If people aren’t talking about you, then don’t answer. … If you’re not a fascist, he’s not talking about you. So, lighten up. But don’t take it personally.” Pundits did not applaud Ginsburg and Scalia or Reagan and O’Neill for their “courageous” friendships. Why would they? Isn’t it—or wasn’t it—possible to have firmly held beliefs yet maintain friendships with those who strongly disagree? But it’s rather difficult to befriend a “semi-fascist,” isn’t it? COPYRIGHT 2022 LAURENCE A. ELDER. DISTRIBUTED BY CREATORS.COM. The Daily Signal publishes a variety of perspectives. Nothing written here is to be construed as representing the views of The Heritage Foundation. Have an opinion about this article? To sound off, please email letters@DailySignal.com and we’ll consider publishing your edited remarks in our regular “We Hear You” feature. Remember to include the url or headline of the article plus your name and town and/or state. Read More Here

Morgan Democrats Discuss Lange Campaign, Pipeline Concerns At New Year https://digitalalaskanews.com/morgan-democrats-discuss-lange-campaign-pipeline-concerns-at-new-year/ Ben Singson, Reporter Sep. 15, 2022 Dave Ayers hangs a flag provided by Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Illinois, at an open house for Morgan County Democrats. The flag has flown over the U.S. Capitol. Ben Singson/Journal-Courier A congressional candidate and two environmental activists were among those Tuesday at the first meeting of Morgan County Democrats’ new year. Prior to the meeting, the group had an open house and hot dog roast at its newly rented headquarters at 907 S. Main St. Judith Luckenbach Nelson, Morgan County Democrats president, said the headquarters will be open from 4 to 6 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays and from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays. During those times, member will be available to answer any questions the public may have. The group’s primary concerns going into the fall election season include making sure Democratic candidates get elected and registering people to vote, she said. Paul Lange, Democratic candidate for the newly formed 15th Congressional District, met during the meeting with members of the group and spoke about both the issues he is looking to fix and his opponent, Mary Miller. “She believes in government of Donald Trump, by Donald Trump and for Donald Trump,” he said. Lange, who is traveling the new district to meet constituents, advocated for strengthening Social Security, infrastructure and abortion rights, while criticizing Miller for voting against laws such as the Inflation Reduction Act and Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. Also present at the meeting were Nick Dodson and Francesca Butler of the Coalition to Stop CO2 Pipelines. The two distributed information about the proposed Heartland Greenway pipeline, with Dodson speaking briefly about the group’s safety concerns. He focused on the 175 Morgan County homes he said would be in close proximity to the pipeline’s path and all of the homes in northern Bethel and Chapin. Others at the meeting came to show support for the Democrats, with many expressing concern about nationwide issues such as the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade, voting rights and the environment. “Downstate Illinois … (is) not very Democratic,” attendee Ed Preston said, “but I still think we need to vote on issues that are important, and there are a lot of them I think the Democratic Party stands (for) while the Republican Party doesn’t.” The next meeting of the Morgan County Democrats will be Oct. 11. Read More Here

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

Trump’s Mystery Golf Course Meet Was For Saudi-Funded Tournament, Report Says https://digitalalaskanews.com/trumps-mystery-golf-course-meet-was-for-saudi-funded-tournament-report-says/ Donald Trump’s mystery sighting at his Virginia golf course this week was in connection with arrangements being made for an upcoming event with the Saudi Arabia-backed LIV Golf tournament, a report said. On Monday, Mr Trump was spotted touring the grounds of the Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, Virginia, alongside a number of men including Brad Enie, his director of grounds for the club. The former president posted a statement on Truth Social and said: “Working today at @TrumpWashingtonDC on the Potomac River. What an incredible place!” The trip had sparked speculation after it was first announced that Mr Trump would be flying to the DC area. According to a report by Insider, the meeting was in connection with a LIV Golf event the Trump Organisation is preparing to host in May 2023. Citing a source who is familiar with the matter, the report said the Trump Organization signed a contract last year to host three LIV events: one at his private golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, which took place in July, another at Doral in South Florida coming up in October and a third event for May 2023 at Sterling. Preparations for the LIV event in May include plans to expand the driving range and make changes to a couple of tee boxes. The source added that members at the Virginia club have been aware of preparations for months. “It’s like the worst kept secret in golf,” the source was quoted as saying to the outlet. LIV Golf has not confirmed the upcoming event. Donald Trump stands on his golf course with others at Trump National Golf Club on Monday (AP) Chief communications official Jonathan Grella said: “LIV’s 2023 schedule is not final, so we won’t be speculating on it until it is released officially at a later date.” The former president has faced backlash from 9/11 victims’ families and citizen groups who have criticised him for hosting the Saudi-backed tournament. Fifteen of the 9/11 attackers were Saudi citizens and al-Qaida leader Osama Bin Laden was born in the country. In July, Mr Trump hosted one of the events at his Bedminister club in New Jersey and dubiously claimed that “nobody’s got to the bottom of 9/11”. While the 9/11 Commission Report in 2004 was not able to find conclusive links between the Saudis and the hijackers, the Biden administration had last year declassified a 16-page FBI report linking 9/11 hijackers to two Saudi nationals living in the US. Read More Here

Hijab Case: LIVE UPDATES From Supreme Court [Day 6] https://digitalalaskanews.com/hijab-case-live-updates-from-supreme-court-day-6/ The Supreme Court is hearing a batch of appeals challenging a Karnataka High Court verdict that effectively upheld the ban on wearing hijab in government schools and colleges [Fathima Bushra vs State of Karnataka]. The Karnataka High Court had on March 15 upheld a Karnataka government order (GO) effectively empowering college development committees of government colleges in the State to ban the wearing of hijab (headscarves) by Muslim girl students in college campus. The petitioners – Muslim girl students from various colleges in Karnataka – had approached the High Court after they were denied permission to attend classes on account of wearing hijab. A three-judge Bench of then Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi and Justices Krishna S Dixit and JM Khazi had held that: – Hijab is not a part of essential religious practices of Islam; – Requirement of uniform is a reasonable restriction on the fundamental right to freedom of expression under Article 19(1)(a); – The government has the power to pass the GO; no case is made out for its invalidation. One of the pleas before the top court has argued that the High Court “failed to note that the right to wear a Hijab comes under the ambit of ‘expression’ and is thus protected under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution.” It has also contended that the High Court failed to take note of the fact that the right to wear Hijab comes under the ambit of the right to privacy under Article 21 of the Constitution of India. During the previous hearing, the bench of Justices Hemant Gupta and Sudhanshu Dhulia heard at length arguments by three senior counsel opposing the High Court’s verdict. Arguments ranged from indirect discrimination, the idea of fraternity to the targeting of the Muslim community. Read more about Day 1 here. Read more about Day 2 here. Read more about Day 3 here. Read more about Day 4 here. Read more about Day 5 here. Live updates from the hearing today below. Read More Here

Stock Futures Flat Ahead Of A Fresh Batch Of Economic Data https://digitalalaskanews.com/stock-futures-flat-ahead-of-a-fresh-batch-of-economic-data/ U.S. equity futures were little changed on Thursday morning as investors looked ahead to several economic reports scheduled to come out in the morning. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average inched higher by 26 points, or 0.08%. S&P 500 futures added 0.09%, and Nasdaq 100 futures ticked 0.06% higher. Earlier in the day, the major averages ended a choppy session on a modestly higher note. The Dow closed slightly higher, by 30 points, after falling more than 200 points at one point. The S&P 500 rose 0.3%, and the Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.7%. Stocks sought stability after a hotter-than-expected inflation report on Tuesday sent them tumbling to post their worst day since 2020. August’s consumer price index report showed headline inflation rose 0.1% on a monthly basis, despite a drop in gas prices. “One-day events are tough to extrapolate,” said Jeff deGraaf, founder and chairman of Renaissance Macro Research, on CNBC’s “Closing Bell: Overtime.” “It is one of those extreme events that doesn’t have follow-through and that tends to be good news, not bad.” “Inflation is really a dark cloud over equities, but I think it’s really important that people keep in mind that it’s not about good and bad in the markets, it’s about better and worse,” he added, “and it does appear that inflation is getting better.” Wednesday’s producer price index report showed an decrease in wholesale prices of 0.1% in August, which deGraaf said provided him some comfort. Investors are looking ahead to a raft of economic updates on Thursday morning, including retail sales, import prices and jobless claims, as well as the Philadelphia Fed manufacturing survey and the Empire State manufacturing survey – all at 8:30 a.m. ET. CNBC Pro: Morgan Stanley says the S&P 500 is set for a comeback by year-end. These are its top stock picks U.S. markets had a meltdown on Tuesday — the worst since June 2020 — following yet another hot inflation report. But that may not last for long, according to Andrew Slimmon of Morgan Stanley Investment Management, who says the S&P 500 could enjoy upside by year-end. He predicts the level that the S&P 500 will rise to by the year end, and also picks stocks to buy into the “fear.” CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here. — Weizhen Tan U.S. 2-year Treasury yields hits 3.8% again Inflation isn’t as bad as the data makes it seem, says Commonwealth’s McMillan This week’s CPI data was “terrible,” but there are signs some key components may improve shortly, according to Brad McMillan, chief investment officer at Commonwealth Financial Network. One of them is Wednesday’s producer price index report. “The headline number held steady at 0.2 percent, but the annual number dropped by much more, from 9.8 percent to 8.7 percent (a much bigger drop than the CPI),” he said. “Similarly, for the core PPI, while there was a gain from 0.2 percent to 0.4 percent, the annual number was down as well, from 7.6 percent to 7.3 percent. That’s still too high, but even if that monthly 0.4 percent figure held, there would be a decline in inflation going forward.” “As always, markets have reacted to a headline—although not about the headline number. But when you look at the details, things are not so bad,” he added. “The CPI and the market reaction suggest inflation will keep rising at an accelerating rate, but not all of the data agree. Even using much of the data as it stands, it still looks likely inflation will end the year lower than it is now.” — Tanaya Macheel Danaher shares rise after hours Danaher was one of the top stock movers in extended trading Wednesday evening after the medical company announced plans to spin off its environmental and applied solutions business to create an independent, publicly traded company. Its shares rose about 4%. Danaher also raised its third-quarter revenue guidance, according to FactSet. — Tanaya Macheel Stock futures open slightly higher Dow Jones Industrial Average futures opened 33 points, or 0.11%, higher Wednesday night. S&P 500 futures added 0.15%, while Nasdaq 100 futures advanced 0.14%. The moves came after all of the major averages ended a choppy trading day modestly higher. — Tanaya Macheel Read More Here

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Ukraine Moving 'towards Victory,' Zelenskyy Says; Troops Root Out 'collaborators' In Reclaimed Territory https://digitalalaskanews.com/ukraine-moving-towards-victory-zelenskyy-says-troops-root-out-collaborators-in-reclaimed-territory/ U.S. Transportation Command says it will prioritize Ukraine aid Steelworkers ride on a railroad switching engine at the Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. Cleveland Works steel mill in Cleveland, Ohio, US, on Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2022. Luke Sharrett | Bloomberg | Getty Images U.S. Transportation Command said it will prioritize aid to Ukraine to minimize the repercussions from a possible strike by rail workers, Politico reported. Labor unions and railroad executives have until Friday to hammer out deals and avoid a shutdown that would snarl supply chains. Rail is also important for the movement of military equipment. Army officials have estimated that two-thirds of equipment travels to shipping ports by rail when a unit is called into field. Washington has provided Ukraine with billions of dollars worth of weapons and assistance in its fight against Russia’s invasion. — Natalie Tham Celebrity chef Jose Andres’ humanitarian organization shares photos from the frontlines of Ukraine The World Central Kitchen shared photos on Twitter from the frontlines of Ukraine’s Donetsk region. Founded by celebrity chef and humanitarian Jose Andres, the organization sends teams to places around the world impacted by conflict or natural disasters. “Located on the frontlines in the Donetsk Oblast, WCK delivered food kits to families and seniors in Bakhmut. With the constant threat of missiles, residents are living in basement bomb shelters,” the organization wrote on Twitter. The two-star Michelin chef has previously said that his organization has delivered more than 2 million food kits to Ukrainians since Russia’s late February invasion. — Amanda Macias USAID says more than 206,000 metric tons of Ukrainian grain headed to most food insecure countries Samantha Power, Administrator of the US Agency for International Development (USAID), speaks during an event on “The State of Global Food Security and Nutrition,” hosted by The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and the Eleanor Crook Foundation in Washington, DC, on July 18, 2022. Nicholas Kamm | AFP | Getty Images USAID Administrator Samantha Power said that the U.N.-backed deal to reopen Ukrainian ports, more than 206,000 metric tons of agricultural products are headed to the world’s most food insecure countries. Power wrote that Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen are some of the beneficiaries of the deal. “USAID is supporting both agricultural production & exports like these, helping Ukraine feed the world,” she wrote on Twitter. — Amanda Macias Biden chooses veteran diplomat for new U.S. envoy to Russia Lynne Tracy U.S. State Department The Biden administration has picked a veteran foreign service officer with years of experience in Russian affairs as its nominee to be the next ambassador to Russia. Administration officials familiar with the matter say the nomination of Lynne Tracy, the current U.S. ambassador to Armenia, will be submitted to the Senate as soon as the Russian government signs off on the choice. Ambassadorial nominations must be approved by the host government under the rules of diplomatic protocol. Such approval is generally routine, but Russia’s acceptance of President Joe Biden’s pick for ambassador cannot be taken for granted at a time of particularly fraught U.S.-Russian relations over Ukraine, the detention of Americans in Russia, allegations of Russian meddling in U.S. and other elections, and an escalating spat over the staffing of embassies in Washington and Moscow. The ambassador opening comes as many Russia experts in the United States who might have been candidates for the Moscow post have been banned from Russia. Russia was informed of the administration’s decision to choose Tracy’s several weeks ago but has not yet given its formal approval, known as “agrément” in diplomatic parlance, the officials said. — Associated Press Ukraine has exported 2.8 million metric tons of grains and other crops since ports reopened The grain harvester collects wheat on the field near the village of Zgurivka in the Kyiv region, while Russia continues the war against Ukraine. August 9, 2022. Maxym Marusenko | Nurphoto | Getty Images The organization overseeing the export of agricultural products from Ukraine said that more than 2.8 million metric tons of crops have left the besieged country since ports reopened in July. The Joint Coordination Center, an initiative of Ukraine, Russia, the United Nations and Turkey, said that 129 vessels have so far left three Ukrainian ports. — Amanda Macias Seven vessels depart Ukraine carrying 172,962 metric tons of agricultural products An aerial view of “Glory” named empty grain ship as Representatives of Russia, Ukraine, Turkiye and the United Nations (UN) of the Joint Coordination Center (JCC) conduct inspection on vessel in Istanbul, Turkiye on August 09, 2022.  Ali Atmaca | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images The organization overseeing the export of agricultural products from Ukraine said it has approved seven vessels to leave the besieged country. The Joint Coordination Center, an initiative of Ukraine, Russia, the United Nations and Turkey, said that the vessels are carrying a total of 172,962 metric tons of grain and other food products. The ships are expected to depart Wednesday and are destined for Spain, Italy, Bangladesh and Turkey. — Amanda Macias Pentagon awards Lockheed Martin and Raytheon a $311 million joint production contract for Javelin missiles A serviceman of Ukrainian military forces holds a FGM-148 Javelin, an American-made portable anti-tank missile, at a checkpoint, where they hold a position near Kharkiv, on March 23, 2022. Sergey Bobok | AFP | Getty Images The U.S. Army has awarded Lockheed Martin and Raytheon a production contract worth $311 million to replenish Javelin missile stockpiles. The Javelin has sat on top of Ukraine’s weapons wish list since Russia invaded the country in late February. The U.S. has so far transferred more than 8,500 Javelins to Ukraine. Earlier this year, President Joe Biden visited the heavily guarded Lockheed Martin compound in Troy, Alabama where the Javelin missile is produced. The windowless facility is where more than 50,000 classified missiles were assembled and tested over the last 20 years before joining the U.S. military’s colossal arsenal. — Amanda Macias ‘It’s not surprising to us,’ Pentagon says of Ukraine counteroffensive Ukrainian soldiers stand guard as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy attends flag hoisting ceremony in Izium after the Ukrainian forces took control of the city from the Russian forces in Kharkiv, Ukraine on September 14, 2022. Metin Atkas | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images The Pentagon hailed a series of lightning advances Ukraine made against Russian forces in the southern and eastern parts of the war-weary country. “Certainly, since the beginning of Russia’s invasion into Ukraine, we’ve seen the Ukrainians demonstrate a remarkable adaptability and their ability to use their warfighting capabilities to great effect,” Pentagon press secretary Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder told reporters at the Pentagon. “So, it’s not surprising to us that they have pushed as quickly as they have,” he added. Ryder declined to confirm Ukrainian government reports that cited specific gains the country had made, adding that he would not speak on behalf of a foreign military. He added that the U.S. would continue to provide security assistance to Kyiv and hailed Ukrainian forces’ “remarkable adaptability on the battlefield.” — Amanda Macias How many must die? Pope blasts Russia war, appeals for peace Sheikh Ahmed el-Tayeb, Grand Imam of Cairo’s Al-Azhar Mosque greets Pope Francis during the plenary session of the VII Congress of the Leaders of World and Traditional Religions in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan, September 14, 2022. Vatican Media | via Reuters Pope Francis told the Russian Orthodox hierarchy and other faith leaders that religion must never be used to justify the “evil” of war, and asked at an outdoor Mass in Kazakhstan, “How many deaths will it take?” for peace to prevail in Ukraine. An increasingly frail Francis made the appeal during his first full day in the former Soviet republic of Kazakhstan, where he opened a global interfaith conference and ministered to the tiny Catholic community in the majority Muslim country. In the conference audience of imams, patriarchs, rabbis and muftis was Metropolitan Anthony, in charge of foreign relations for the Russian Orthodox Church, which has firmly backed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. His boss, Patriarch Kirill, was supposed to have participated in the congress but canceled last month. Kirill has supported Russia’s invasion on spiritual and ideological grounds, calling it a “metaphysical” battle with the West. He has blessed Russian soldiers going into war and invoked the idea that Russians and Ukrainians are one people. — Associated Press Estonia, one of NATO’s smallest countries, prepares additional aid package for Ukraine Estonia’s Defence minister Hanno Pevkur speaks to the media before the Informal Meeting of European Union Defence Ministers. Tomas Tkacik | Lightrocket | Getty Images Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that his government is preparing another aid package for the war-torn country. “The Ukrainian armed forces and people have shown immense courage. It is a proud feeling to see reports of success along Ukraine’s eastern front – it is a sure sign that our collective aid has had a positive impact and that it must continue,” Pevkur said, according to an Estonian readout of the meeting. Estonia, one of NATO’s smallest member countries and a na...

Letter: Where https://digitalalaskanews.com/letter-where/ Why do we, as a nation, have such strong views of the 45th president of the United States? Have our news media outlets driven our views and feelings toward Trump? Each media outlet crafting their opinions and stories of him to conjure headlines to capture our attention. It’s rather interesting to me how the name Donald Trump has divided the news media more than I have ever seen them divided before. It would be an interesting topic for some intellect to write a thesis about. Like most people I transitioned to the world of digital media years ago leaving the “ole” newspaper in the rear view mirror. You see, I used to deliver The Sentinel as a teenage boy. I can still remember my old route and the memories of delivering the paper are still fresh like the ink on the paper that used to make my fingers obsidian after preparing them for delivery. We recently started receiving The Sentinel in our mailbox again, which brings me to my concern. Are news outlets helping to divide our country? Letters to the editor in August: “Never forget the nationalist past of the Midwest,” references Trump to the KKK. “It boggles the mind anyone would consider Trump again.” “When will all this Trump madness stop?” “Really struggling to support the current Republican Party.” “Trump lovers will never reach threshold of disgust.” “One of history’s mysteries is how easily a few destroyed nations,” referencing Trump to Hitler. Have I overlooked the pro-Trump letters? Curious isn’t it? Robert McConkeyHolland Read More Here

Biden Approval Rises Sharply Ahead Of Midterms: AP-NORC Poll https://digitalalaskanews.com/biden-approval-rises-sharply-ahead-of-midterms-ap-norc-poll/ WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden’s popularity improved substantially from his lowest point this summer, but concerns about his handling of the economy persist, according to a poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Support for Biden recovered from a low of 36% in July to 45%, driven in large part by a rebound in support from Democrats just two months before the November midterm elections. During a few bleak summer months when gasoline prices peaked and lawmakers appeared deadlocked, the Democrats faced the possibility of blowout losses against Republicans. Their outlook appears better after notching a string of legislative successes that left more Americans ready to judge the president on his preferred terms: “Don’t compare me to the Almighty. Compare me to the alternative.” The president’s approval rating remains underwater, with 53% of U.S. adults disapproving of him, and the economy continues to be a weakness for Biden. Just 38% approve of his economic leadership as the country faces stubbornly high inflation and Republicans try to make household finances the axis of the upcoming vote. Still, the poll suggests Biden and his fellow Democrats are gaining momentum right as generating voter enthusiasm and turnout takes precedence. Average gas prices have tumbled 26% since June to $3.71 a gallon, reducing the pressure somewhat on family budgets even if inflation remains high. Congress also passed a pair of landmark bills in the past month that could reshape the economy and reduce carbon emissions. Republicans have also faced resistance since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and its abortion protections. And Biden is openly casting former President Donald Trump as a fundamental threat to democracy, a charge that took on resonance after an FBI search of Trump’s Florida home found classified documents that belong to the U.S. government. This combination of factors has won Biden some plaudits among the Democratic faithful, even if Americans still feel lukewarm about his leadership. “I’m not under any belief that he’s the best person for the job — he’s the best from the people we had to choose from,” said Betty Bogacz, 74, a retiree from Portland, Oregon. “He represented stability, which I feel President Trump did not represent at all.” Biden’s approval rating didn’t exceed 40% in May, June or July as inflation surged in the aftermath of Russia invading Ukraine. The president’s rating now is similar to what it was throughout the first quarter of the year, but he continues to fall short of early highs. His average approval rating in AP-NORC polling through the first six months of his term was 60%. Driving the recent increase in Biden’s popularity is renewed support among Democrats, who had shown signs of dejection in the early summer. Now, 78% of Democrats approve of Biden’s job performance, up from 65% in July. Sixty-six percent of Democrats approve of Biden on the economy, up from 54% in June. Interviews suggest a big reason for Biden’s rebound is the reemergence of Trump on the national stage, causing voters such as Stephen Jablonsky, who labeled Biden as “OK,” to say voting Democratic is a must for the nation’s survival. “The country has a political virus by the name of Donald Trump,” said Jablonsky, a retired music professor from Stamford, Connecticut. “We have a man who is psychotic and seems to have no concern for law and order and democracy. The Republican Party has gone to a place that is so unattractive and so dangerous, this coming election in November could be the last election we ever have.” Republicans feel just as negative about Biden as they did before. Only about 1 in 10 Republicans approve of the president overall or on the economy, similar to ratings earlier this summer. Christine Yannuzzi, 50, doubts that 79-year-old Biden has the capacity to lead. “I don’t think he’s mentally, completely aware of everything that’s happening all the time,” said Yannuzzi, who lives in Binghamton, New York. “The economy’s doing super poorly and I have a hard time believing that the joblessness rate is as low as they say it is.” “I think the middle class is being really phased out and families are working two and three jobs a person to make it,” the Republican added. Twenty-nine percent of U.S. adults say the economy is in good shape, while 71% say it’s doing poorly. In June, 20% said conditions were good and 79% said they were bad. Democrats are more positive now than they were in June, 46% vs. 31%. Republicans remain largely negative, with only 10% saying conditions are good and 90% saying they’re bad. About a quarter of Americans now say things in the country are headed in the right direction, 27%, up from 17% in July. Seventy-two percent say things are going in the wrong direction. Close to half of Democrats — 44% — have an optimistic outlook, up from 27% in July. Just 9% of Republicans are optimistic about the nation’s direction. Akila Atkins, a 27-year-old stay-at-home mom of two, thinks Biden is “OK” and doesn’t have much confidence that his solutions will curb rising prices. Atkins says it’s gotten a little harder in the last year to manage her family’s expenses, and she’s frustrated that she can no longer rely on the expanded child tax credit. The tax credit paid out monthly was part of Biden’s $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package and has since lapsed. The Census Bureau reported Tuesday that the expanded tax credit nearly halved the child poverty rate last year to 5.2%. Atkins said it helped them “stay afloat with bills, the kids’ clothing, shoes, school supplies, everything.” Whatever misgivings the Democrat in Grand Forks, North Dakota, has about Biden, she believes he is preferable to Trump. “I always feel like he could be better, but then again, he’s better than our last president,” she said. ___ The poll of 1,054 adults was conducted Sep. 9-12 using a sample drawn from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for all respondents is plus or minus 3.9 percentage points. Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. 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Ex-Town Official Pleads Guilty To Capitol Riot Charge https://digitalalaskanews.com/ex-town-official-pleads-guilty-to-capitol-riot-charge-2/ A former Massachusetts town official pleaded guilty on Wednesday to joining a mob in storming the U.S. Capitol after she organized a bus trip to Washington, D.C., for fellow members of a right-wing group called “Super Happy Fun America.” Before her guilty plea, Suzanne Ianni had argued in February that federal authorities had selectively targeted her for prosecution based on her political beliefs. Prosecutors said her political views played no role in charging her with crimes for her conduct at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. A judge rejected Ianni’s request to dismiss the case before she pleaded guilty. Ianni, 60, of Natick, Massachusetts, faces a maximum sentence of six months of imprisonment and five years of probation after pleading guilty to a misdemeanor count of disorderly conduct in a Capitol building. U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols is scheduled to sentence her on Dec. 2. Ianni was an elected member of Natick Town Meeting in a Boston suburb while serving as operation director of Super Happy Fun America, which gained national notoriety for organizing a “Straight Pride Parade” in Boston in 2019. On its website, Super Happy Fun America calls itself “a right of center civil rights organization focusing on defending the Constitution, opposing gender madness and defeating cultural Marxism.” The group registered as a nonprofit with Massachusetts state regulators. A Dec. 29, 2020, post on the group’s Twitter account said Super Happy Fun America members would be in Washington “to get wild.” Ianni was listed as the contact for the trip. The account also tweeted a photo of Ianni and other members on a bus traveling to Washington on the eve of the riot. After marching to the Capitol, she joined a crowd chanting “Fight for Trump!” and “Our house!” while rioters near her broke windows, forced open doors and breached police barricades. Surveillance video captured Ianni marching through the Capitol after she entered the building through a Senate fire-exit door. She raised her fist in the air in front of police officers who stopped her and other members of the mob, prosecutors said in a court filing. Mark Sahady, another Super Happy Fun America member, was arrested on Capitol riot-related charges that haven’t been resolved. In April 2021, Natick Town Meeting members voted to condemn the Capitol riot. Ianni, who was elected to a three-year term that was due to expire in March 2022, told the MetroWest Daily News that the vote represented “political persecution of conservatives.” Also on Wednesday, a Nevada man pleaded guilty to assaulting law enforcement officers at the Capitol with what appeared to be a table leg, injuring an officer. Josiah Kenyon, 35, of Winnemucca, Nevada, is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 15. Kenyon was dressed up as “Jack Skellington,” a character from the movie “The Nightmare Before Christmas,” when he attacked police. More than 870 people have been charged with federal crimes related to the Jan. 6 riot. Approximately 400 of them have pleaded guilty, mostly to misdemeanors, and over 250 have been sentenced. Today’s breaking news and more in your inbox Read More Here

Tropical Storm Fiona Packing 50 Mph Winds, Could Impact Puerto Rico This Weekend https://digitalalaskanews.com/tropical-storm-fiona-packing-50-mph-winds-could-impact-puerto-rico-this-weekend/ Tropical Storm Fiona, the hurricane season’s sixth named storm, formed Wednesday night and will be near the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico this weekend, the National Hurricane Center said. In its 11 p.m. update, the hurricane center said, “Fiona is moving toward the west-northwest near 16 mph and this general motion is expected to continue during the next few days. “ It noted, “On the forecast track, the center of the storm is forecast to move through the Leeward Islands late Friday and Friday night, and be near the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico this weekend.” At 11 p.m., Tropical Storm Fiona was located about 650 miles east of the Leeward Islands. Maximum-sustained winds were estimated at 50 mph with higher gusts. Tropical-storm-force winds extended outward 140 miles from Fiona’s center. Tropical Storm Watches have been issued for St. Maarten, Antigua, Barbuda, St. Kitts, Nevis, Monserrat, Anguilla, Saba and St. Eustatius. Additional Tropical Storm Watches will likely be issued Thursday for the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico and Hispaniola. Fiona became a storm shortly before 10 p.m. EDT Wednesday when the NHC said that satellite data showed Tropical Depression 7 had strengthen to the point it was upgraded to Tropical Storm Fiona. It is not yet known if the tropical storm would have any impact to Florida or the mainland United States. Forecasters said the “ragged-looking” storm is facing moderate wind shear, making Fiona a lopsided system with most of its thunderstorms and strong winds located on its east side. For now, the NHC says the storm could strengthen to 60 mph winds over the next 120 hours. Besides wind, the most significant impact the Caribbean islands may feel from Tropical Storm Fiona is from rain. “Heavy rains will begin to affect the northern Leeward Islands late Friday, spreading into the British and U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico over the weekend,” the hurricane center said. “This rainfall may produce isolated flash and urban flooding, along with isolated mudslides in areas of higher terrain.” Tropical Storm #Fiona has formed in the central tropical Atlantic – the 6th named storm of the 2022 Atlantic #hurricane season. The most recent Atlantic hurricane season to have =6 named storms by September 14th is 2014 (which had 5 named storms by this date). pic.twitter.com/RDg1DMTzJR — Philip Klotzbach (@philklotzbach) September 15, 2022 Currently, hurricane season is in the middle of the most active time for tropical activity, between mid-August and mid-October. Prior to the season, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration forecasters predicted 2022 to be yet another above-average season in storm production coming off the heels of two record-breaking seasons for named storms. The NOAA doubled down on its forecast at the start of August. However, so far the season has been off to a sluggish pace in comparison to past seasons. Typically, the eighth named storm emerges by or before Sept. 9 and the third hurricane by Sept. 7, but the season has thus produced five named storms and two hurricanes. The NOAA’s prediction call for a total of 14-21 named storms by the end of the season, Nov. 30. Read More Here

Laughter On The 23rd Floor https://digitalalaskanews.com/laughter-on-the-23rd-floor/ The Fairbanks Drama Association is presenting Neil Simon’s “Laughter On The 23rd Floor” as its season opener Friday, Sept. 16, 2022. The cast, seen here at rehearsal Tuesday, Sept. 13, 2022, includes, from left, August Cooper, Jerry Evans, Johan Brun, Brooke Brun, Amy Chausse, Glenner Anderson, Skyler Evans, Kris Luddington and Scott McCrea.  Read More Here

Biden, Unions, Rail Executives Struggle For Deal As Shutdown Looms https://digitalalaskanews.com/biden-unions-rail-executives-struggle-for-deal-as-shutdown-looms/ DETROIT/LOS ANGELES, Sept 14 (Reuters) – Biden administration officials hosted labor contract talks late on Wednesday to avert a potential rail shutdown that could disrupt cargo shipments and impede food and fuel supplies, but one small union rejected a deal and Amtrak canceled all long-distance passenger trips. Railroads including Union Pacific (UNP.N), Berkshire Hathaway’s (BRKa.N) BNSF and Norfolk Southern (NSC.N) have until a minute after midnight on Friday to reach deals with three holdout unions representing about 60,000 workers before a work stoppage affecting freight and Amtrak could begin. Talks between labor unions and railroads, which started at 9 a.m, were still underway more than 12 hours later after 9 p.m. ET on Wednesday at the U.S. Labor Department’s headquarters in Washington. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com The talks are being overseen by Labor Secretary Marty Walsh, with input from other U.S. officials. The parties ordered in Italian food for dinner Wednesday in order to continue discussions. “Everybody is going to have to move a little in order to get a deal done,” Buttigieg told reporters on the sidelines of the Detroit auto show. A union representing about 4,900 machinists, mechanics and maintenance personnel said on Wednesday its members voted to reject a tentative deal. Rail workers have gone three years without a raise amid a contract dispute, while rail companies have recorded robust profits. In the current talks, the industry has offered annual wage increases from 2020 to 2024, equal to a 24% compounded hike. Three of 12 unions, representing about half of the 115,000 workers affected by the negotiations, are asking for better working conditions. Two of those 12 unions, representing more than 11,000 workers, have ratified deals, the National Carriers’ Conference Committee (NCCC), which is bargaining on behalf of railroads, said on Wednesday. Unions are enjoying a surge of public and worker support in the wake of the pandemic, when “essential” employees risked COVID-19 exposure to keep goods moving and employers reaped hefty profits, labor and corporate experts say. A shutdown could freeze almost 30% of U.S. cargo shipments by weight, stoke inflation, cost the U.S. economy as much as $2 billion per day and unleash a cascade of transportation woes affecting the U.S. energy, agriculture, manufacturing and retail sectors. A cargo train is seen near the border between the U.S. and Mexico, in Laredo, Texas U.S. June 3, 2019. REUTERS/Carlos Jasso White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters aboard Air Force One that a shutdown of the freight rail system would be an “unacceptable outcome for our economy and the American people and all parties must work to avoid just that.” HIGH STAKES FOR BIDEN President Joe Biden’s administration has begun making contingency plans to ensure deliveries of critical goods in the event of a shutdown. The stakes are high for Biden, who has vowed to rein in soaring consumer costs ahead of November elections that will determine whether his fellow Democrats maintain control of Congress. “Unless they reach a breakthrough soon, rail workers will go on strike this Friday. If you don’t think that will have a negative impact on our economy … think again,” said U.S. Senator John Cornyn, a Republican and Biden critic. Senator Bernie Sanders late on Wednesday objected to a Republican bid to unanimously approve legislation to prevent a rail strike, noting the profits the rail industry has made. If agreements are not reached, employers could also lock out workers. Railroads and unions may agree to stay at the bargaining table, or the Democratic-led U.S. Congress could intervene by extending talks or establishing settlement terms. read more House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said it was not clear whether Congress would step in, noting that the main issue is a lack of sick leave for workers. Amtrak, which uses tracks maintained by freight railways, said it would cancel all long-distance trips on Thursday and some additional state-supported trains. read more Rail hubs in Chicago and Dallas were already clogged and suffering from equipment shortages before the contract showdown. Those bottlenecks are backing up cargo at U.S. seaports by as much as a month. And, once cargo gets to rail hubs in locations such as Chicago, Dallas, Kansas City and Memphis, Tennessee, it can sit another month or longer. Package delivery company United Parcel Service (UPS.N), one of the largest U.S. rail customers, and U.S. seaports said they are working on contingency plans. Meanwhile, factory owners are fretting about idling machinery while automakers worry that a shutdown could extend vehicle buyer wait times. Elsewhere, food and energy companies warn that additional service disruptions could create even sharper price hikes. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Reporting by David Shepardson and Lisa Baertlein; Additional reporting by Jeff Mason aboard Air Force One; Joe White in Detroit; Chris Walljasper in Chicago and Abhijith Ganapavaram in Bengaluru; Editing by Will Dunham, Jonathan Oatis, Bill Berkrot and Michael Perry Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. Read More Here

Millions In China Brace For Torrential Rains And Floods As Typhoon Muifa Makes Landfall https://digitalalaskanews.com/millions-in-china-brace-for-torrential-rains-and-floods-as-typhoon-muifa-makes-landfall/ Tens of millions of people across swaths of eastern China were bracing for floods, torrential rains and towering waves on Wednesday, as the most powerful typhoon of the season so far made landfall and headed toward the densely populated city of Shanghai. The typhoon landed on the coast near the archipelago of Zhoushan in the evening after authorities in China’s eastern province of Zhejiang ordered ships to return to port, shuttered schools and evacuated tourists from nearby islands. The typhoon brought strong winds of nearly 160 kph. The winds are likely to last for several hours, as well as significant accumulated rainfall, and the risk of disaster is high, the Central Meteorological Observatory said. Widespread rainfall of 50-200 mm (2 to 8 inches) is likely, with other local areas reaching more than 350 mm. Waves of up to 5 meters (16 feet) are expected near Shanghai, China’s busiest container seaport. The Central Meteorological Observatory issued its first red alert — the highest level of typhoon warning — for the year across swaths of the country’s eastern coast. “Every storm is different, but this one is heading to a major population center,” CNN meteorologist Chad Myers said. “Many city streets will flood due to the widespread impervious surfaces and torrential rainfall. Also, because wind speeds increase with height, the urban skyscrapers could sustain some significant wind damage on higher floors.” Passing through Hangzhou Bay, it will make landfall again tonight along the coast from Jiaxing in Zhejiang to Pudong, in the greater Shanghai area, the Central Meteorological Observatory said. “Typhoon Muifa will be the fourth typhoon to make landfall this year and the first in East China,” CNN meteorologist Mike Saenz said. “The storm will make landfall with winds equivalent to a Category 2 Atlantic hurricane, far exceeding the first three typhoons of the season.” The human-induced climate crisis is not necessarily increasing the frequency of typhoons and hurricanes overall, but is making the likelihood of strong, destructive ones much higher, studies show. Suspended port operations and canceled flights The typhoon has already disrupted economic activity in China’s east. Shanghai suspended some operations at its ports, including Yangshan terminal and others, from Tuesday evening and halted all operations on Wednesday morning, the Shanghai International Shipping Institute said. China Southern Airlines said it has canceled 25 flights at Shanghai airports on Tuesday and plans to cancel 11 more on Wednesday. About 13,000 people from islands and tourist sites near Zhoushan have been evacuated, state television said. Nearly 7,400 commercial vessels sought shelter in Zhejiang’s ports, including Zhoushan, Ningbo and Taizhou, while passenger ship routes across the province were suspended from noon, state media said. The three cities and Shanghai together have a population of 42.26 million. The Zhejiang government ordered all fishing vessels to return to dock before noon. Ningbo, Zhoushan and Taizhou ordered schools suspended on Wednesday. All flights at the airports in Ningbo and Zhoushan have been cancelled for Wednesday, flight data platform Variflight told Reuters. Weather authorities said Muifa’s centre was about 490 km (304.5 miles) southeast of the Zhejiang city of Xiangshan. The typhoon will move northwest after hitting land and gradually weaken, the Central Meteorological Administration added. Read More Here

Seth Meyers Brutally Roasts MyPillow Guy Mike Lindell’s Hardee’s Raid https://digitalalaskanews.com/seth-meyers-brutally-roasts-mypillow-guy-mike-lindells-hardees-raid/ It’s the type of news story late-night hosts can only dream of. After Mike Lindell confirmed to The Daily Beast on Tuesday night that his cell phone had, in fact, been seized by the FBI during a visit to Hardee’s, Seth Meyers spent a good portion of his “A Closer Look” segment going in on the MyPillow CEO and Trump confidant’s latest legal predicament. “It’s so fitting that they stopped Lindell at a Hardee’s because, when you think about it, Hardee’s would be a more accurate name for MyPillow,” the Late Night host joked. And then, “I think if someone told you, ‘Hey, they seized Mike Lindell’s cellphone,’ your brain would just auto-complete the sentence with ‘at a Mankato Hardee’s.’” Meyers went on to say it makes sense that Lindell was apparently at the drive-thru when he was approached by the agents because his “regular speaking volume is everybody else’s ordering at a drive-thru volume.” Noting that even Fox News cut Lindell off mid-sentence for sounding too unhinged during a report about the incident on Tuesday night, Meyers compared it to the way you might end a FaceTime call with your conspiracy-ranting grandpa. Elsewhere in the segment, Meyers explained that Trump and his allies are currently under so many federal and state investigations that it can be hard to keep track and said it would be helpful if someone could compile them all in one convenient list. Then he cut to a clip of Fox News host Sean Hannity doing just that in a recent broadcast. “Seriously, was that list supposed to make anyone other than Donald Trump look bad?” Meyers asked after playing the damning clip. “It’s like a reverse resume where you list all the reasons you’ve been fired from previous jobs.” If the investigations continue to pile up, the host joked that Hannity won’t even be able to get to all of them and will instead have to “read every fourth entry as it scrolls by and call it ‘Now That’s What I Call a Trump Criminal Investigation.’” Either that or “Jerk Jams.” Read More Here

DeSantis Distributes Dollars To Floridians, But Won https://digitalalaskanews.com/desantis-distributes-dollars-to-floridians-but-won/ TALLAHASSEE — When Gov. Ron DeSantis held a news conference late last month in Fort Pierce, he announced his administration was giving the Treasure Coast city $2.7 million for infrastructure improvements and redevelopment. He told the gaggle of reporters, local city officials, state legislators and a member of Congress gathered for the event that the money was coming from the state’s Job Growth Grant Fund. What he didn’t say was that $100 million pumped into the fund had come through the Biden administration’s $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan. Fund interest loophole: Florida Gov. DeSantis bashes Biden while spending Washington bucks Federal dollars have covered a host of Florida needs In the last year, DeSantis has frequently attacked the Biden administration, regularly blaming its federal funding packages for driving higher costs and hurting Floridians at the gas pump and grocery store. Yet he’s also used the same federal funds he derides to promote his own agenda in Florida. And what DeSantis never mentions is that the $109.9 billion state budget he signed in June is seeded with $3.5 billion in American Rescue Plan dollars. Indeed, one of his signature give-backs to Floridians, a roughly 25-cents-a-gallon gas tax break, is paid for entirely with federal money. The $200 million break will span the month of October — the month before voters go to the polls Nov. 8 to decide whether DeSantis gets a second term. DeSantis this week went to a Jacksonville fire station to hand out $1,000 bonus checks to firefighters and EMTs, part of a statewide bonus payout that also includes law enforcement officers. DeSantis said the money will help with what he derided as “Bidenflation.” But he again failed to mention that money for the bonuses comes from Washington. Florida Professional Firefighters, the union representing 27,000 firefighters and EMTs, endorsed DeSantis in July, citing his support for the bonuses. Federal dollars have covered a host of Florida needs, including construction and repairs at schools, colleges and universities, rural broadband expansion, environmental land purchases, cultural grants — even renovations at the state Capitol, where DeSantis’ has his office. That same day he touted the money for Fort Pierce, DeSantis also announced Suwannee County would get $1.9 million to support business growth, even though that money, too comes from the ARPA-infused Job Growth Grant Fund. During that announcement, DeSantis also spoke about the two $1,000 bonus payments to first responders, which are at least partially funded with federal aid.  On his campaign website, DeSantis mentions multiple federally-funded items without drawing attention to the source. Among them is $400 million to expand broadband internet access in rural and underserved areas, made possible through American Rescue Plan funding. There’s also the $30 million for the Department of Economic Opportunity’s Rural Infrastructure Fund, which is flush with the federal dollars. DeSantis’ office says the governor deserves “every bit of credit” for state programs even if they are federally funded.  “Thanks to the responsible stewardship of Governor DeSantis, we currently sit on a record state surplus independent of federal COVID funds,” said Bryan Griffin, a spokesman for DeSantis, in an email. “Therefore, Governor DeSantis responsibly utilized these federal funds for programs that benefit Floridians directly — like the Job Growth Grant Funds.” ‘Running around and taking credit for it’ Florida Democrats have regularly called out DeSantis when he touts his plans without noting the federal funding. “All [the federal funding] led to not just keeping the economy afloat, but really boosting the economy of Florida,” Florida Democratic Party Chair Manny Diaz said. “And he is, of course, running around taking credit for it.”  Diaz called it shameless.  “He announces the funding and forgets to thank the president or, by the way, Congressman [Charlie] Crist or Congresswoman [Val] Demings, our congressional delegation, who got all this passed,” he said.  Multiple iterations of federal funding to address COVID-19 passed under both the Trump and Biden administration. The largest funding package under former President Trump came in late March 2020, during COVID-19’s early days. Called the CARES Act, it cost $2.2  trillion dollars, infusing billions into Florida’s coffers. American Rescue Plan sent billions to Florida The American Rescue Plan, under President Biden, passed Congress in spring 2021 with no Republican support. It cost nearly $2 trillion, and also sent billions of dollars to Florida. Biden has passed non-COVID related spending bills, too. Notably, there was the bipartisan infrastructure bill, which DeSantis said the state didn’t get enough money from, and the Inflation Reduction Act, which DeSantis has attacked as a waste of taxpayer dollars that would do little to bring down inflation. “The governor is touting this really large budget surplus and how we are flush with cash,” said Rep. Fentrice Driskell, incoming state House Democratic Leader. “In my caucus, we know that a lot of the financial resources that Florida has right now is due to the Biden administration and the Democratic-controlled Congress in DC.” Ben Wilcox, research director and co-founder of nonpartisan government watchdog Integrity Florida, said Florida’s economy has remained strong through the pandemic largely due to COVID-19 relief money from the federal government. “I just think it’s a little bit disingenuous on his part to be going around the state claiming credit for new projects that are going to help Florida’s economy but not recognizing that the source of the funding for those projects is the federal government,” he said.  USA Today Network-Florida government accountability reporter Douglas Soule is based in Tallahassee, Fla. He can be reached at DSoule@gannett.com. Twitter: @DouglasSoule Read More Here

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

MSNBC Guest Says Republican Party Has Been 'leaning' Toward 'fascism' For '7 Decades' https://digitalalaskanews.com/msnbc-guest-says-republican-party-has-been-leaning-toward-fascism-for-7-decades/ NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! Washington bureau chief for Mother Jones David Corn claimed Wednesday on MSNBC’s “The Beat with Ari Melber” that Trump wasn’t “an aberration,” there’s been “seven decades of the GOP encouraging and exploiting extremism.”  Corn talked about “the history of the dark side of the GOP,” and said, “Tribalism, bigotry, paranoia, conspiracy theory” isn’t “the totality of the Republican Party, but it isn’t something that started with Trump.” He warned further that “Trump is not an aberration. He is a continuation, a culmination, it’s always been there and it’s always been essential to the Republican Party’s strategy to win elections.” The author and commentator explained that Biden slamming Trump supporters in his speeches has made a new book he’s promoting extremely relevant to America’s national conversation. President Donald Trump dances after a campaign rally at Pensacola International Airport, Friday, Oct. 23, 2020, in Pensacola, Fla. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) BIDEN’S ‘SEMI-FASCIST’ LABEL LATEST ANTI-GOP MONIKER BESTOWED BY DEMOCRATS, MEDIA  “This book is very timely and relevant because it gives us this historical context as we consider what MAGA extremism means within the Republican Party and we debate whether Biden is wrong or right when he talks about Trump leading the Republican Party in the direction of fascism or semi-fascism,” Corn said.  “My point is that the Republican Party, is they’ve been leaning in this direction for seven decades through basically every presidency and presidential campaign,” he continued. He also warned that there is no easy switch towards “your father’s Republican Party” because the very idea is a sham. U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks on what he calls the “continued battle for the Soul of the Nation” in front of Independence Hall at Independence National Historical Park, Philadelphia, U.S., September 1, 2022. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst BIDEN SAYS ‘EXTREME’ MAGA PHILOSOPHY IS ‘LIKE-SEMI-FASCISM’: ‘IT’S NOT JUST TRUMP’ “What I discovered in doing this book is, that there was no golden age of the Republican Party in the sense that this was not an issue within the party. It was just not talked about. The media didn’t cover it as much and the Republican Party itself didn’t acknowledge it and was able to keep it to the side,” he claimed. Corn said, “If you go from Sarah Palin to the Tea Party to Trumpism, and as the Republican Party has accepted and encouraged this part of its base, it’s thrown it out sort of bloodier and bloodier red meat until Donald Trump comes along and says, ‘I know what you want.'” ANCHORAGE, ALASKA – JULY 09: Republican U.S. House  candidate former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (L) speaks as former U.S. President Donald Trump (R) looks on during a “Save America” rally at Alaska Airlines Center on July 09, 2022 in Anchorage, Alaska.  (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP He concluded that this aforementioned aspect of the GOP has “always been there” but “it’s been growing and each kind of iteration becomes more intense and so you can’t go back. I don’t think you can sort of recover a kinder, gentler Republican Party at this point.” Alexander Hall is an associate editor for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to Alexander.hall@fox.com. Read More Here

Trump Told Jordan’s King He Would Give Him The West Bank, Shocking Abdullah II, Book Says https://digitalalaskanews.com/trump-told-jordans-king-he-would-give-him-the-west-bank-shocking-abdullah-ii-book-says/ President Trump once offered what he considered “a great deal” to Jordan’s King Abdullah II: control of the West Bank, whose Palestinian population long sought to topple the monarchy. “I thought I was having a heart attack,” Abdullah II recalled to an American friend in 2018, according to a new book on the Trump presidency being published next week. “I couldn’t breathe. I was bent doubled-over.” The unreported offer to Abdullah is among the startling new details about Trump’s chaotic presidency in the book “The Divider: Trump in the White House 2017-2021” by Peter Baker, chief White House correspondent for the New York Times, and Susan Glasser, staff writer for the New Yorker. The book, a copy of which was obtained by The Washington Post, is the latest in a long-running series of deeply reported behind-the-scenes accounts featuring, or written by, Trump administration insiders, with some claiming that they tried to curb the 45th president’s worst instincts. Baker and Glasser write that their book is based on reporting they did for their respective outlets, “as well as about 300 original interviews conducted exclusively for this book.” They added: “We obtained private diaries, memos, contemporaneous notes, emails, text messages, and other documents that shed new light on Trump’s time in office.” The husband-and-wife journalists also conducted two interviews with Trump at his Mar-a-Lago estate. One theme that emerges in the book is the growth of Trump’s fixation with attacking his perceived enemies and an increasing concern among top officials in his administration that they must prevent Trump’s lawlessness and erratic demands. Several top officials “were on the verge of quitting en masse,” according to the book, citing an October 2018 message Kirstjen Nielsen, then the homeland security secretary, wrote to a top aide over the encrypted app Signal. Chief of Staff John F. Kelly; Defense Secretary Jim Mattis; Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr., chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Education Secretary Betsy DeVos; and Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke “all” wanted to quit, Nielsen wrote, according to the book. At the time, Trump was fearful of losing control of Congress and eager to appeal to his base of supporters. Fox News was focusing attention on a caravan of migrants moving through Central America toward the southern border — referring to it as an “invasion,” the book notes. Trump, in response, urged Nielsen to “harden the border even to the point of pushing her to take action she had no authority to take,” according to the book. Nielsen and Alex Azar, the health and human services secretary, even agreed that they would both resign in protest if Trump resumed family separations at the southern border. In fall 2018, she wrote to an aide, “The insanity has been loosed.” Those officials ultimately left the administration, but not in unison over one single issue. “The people who were most fearful of his reign were those in the room with him,” Baker and Glasser write. In November 2018, Democrats swept to power in the House, winning the majority. While he was in the White House, Trump also tried to use his office to punish — demands his own aides saw as illegal and tried to stop, according to the book. Trump not only tried to block a merger between CNN’s parent company, Time Warner, and the telecommunication giant AT&T, driven by his anger over the network’s coverage of him, but also tried to prevent a government contract from going to a company owned by Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon. (Bezos owns The Washington Post). “He’d do anything to get Bezos,” a senior Trump official told the book’s authors. Trump also targeted former intelligence officials James R. Clapper Jr. and John Brennan, demanding more than 50 times that they be stripped of security clearances. And when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit blocked one of his policies, Trump told Nielsen he wanted to eliminate the court altogether. “Let’s just cancel it,” he told her, according to the book, adding that they should “get rid” of the judges and using a profanity. Trump ordered that legislation be drafted and sent to Congress as soon as possible, the authors write. Nielsen, according to the book, “did what she and so many other administration officials did when Trump issued nonsensical demands — ignored it and hoped it would go away.” Trump, who is eyeing another presidential run, also ruled out picking his former vice president Mike Pence as his running mate, telling Baker and Glasser, “It would be totally inappropriate.” Pence’s refusal to block Congress from certifying Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 presidential election, despite Trump’s false claims that the election was rigged, opened a fissure between the two men. Trump, seething over what he considered a betrayal by Pence, told the authors, “Mike committed political suicide by not taking votes that he knew were wrong.” On Jan. 6, 2021, when a pro-Trump mob stormed the Capitol to stop the counting of electoral votes for Biden, several of the president’s supporters chanted, “Hang Mike Pence.” The book also quotes Trump’s wife, Melania, expressing deep concerns over her husband’s handling of the coronavirus. She spoke directly to Trump in the early days of the pandemic and, according to the book, recounted that conversation later to Gov. Chris Christie (R-N.J.), from whom the president had routinely sought advice. “You’re blowing this,” she recalled telling her husband, according to the book. “This is serious. It’s going to be really bad, and you need to take it more seriously than you’re taking it,” she said, according to Baker and Glasser. Trump “just dismissed her,” they write. “You worry too much,” Melania recalled Trump telling her, according to the book. The offer to Abdullah of the West Bank — which is bordered by Israel and Jordan, and which Trump had no control over — came in January 2018. Trump thought he would be doing the Jordanian king a favor, not realizing that it would destabilize his country, according to the book. A previous excerpt of the book published in August in the New Yorker described how Trump once told a top adviser that he wanted “totally loyal” generals like the ones who had served Adolf Hitler — unaware that some of Hitler’s generals had tried to assassinate the Nazi leader several times. Trump complained to Kelly, then his chief of staff and a retired Marine Corps general, “why can’t you be like the German generals?” When Kelly asked which generals he meant, Trump replied: “The German generals in World War II.” “You do know that they tried to kill Hitler three times and almost pulled it off?” Kelly said, according to the book. Trump didn’t believe him, the book says. “No, no, no, they were totally loyal to him,” Trump insisted. Read More Here

Modern Warfare 2 Guns Are Unlocked Like A Tech Tree https://digitalalaskanews.com/modern-warfare-2-guns-are-unlocked-like-a-tech-tree/ Home News FPS Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (2022) (Image credit: Activision) I maintain that Call of Duty has never done weapon unlocks better than 2019’s Modern Warfare reboot. The way that first iteration of Gunsmith balanced attachments with nuanced statistical changes and barrels with transformative effects jived with me in a way Black Ops–Cold War and Vanguard haven’t matched since. For Modern Warfare 2, Infinity Ward is blowing up Create-a-Class all over again with Gunsmith 2.0. In Gunsmith 2.0, players will not only unlock new attachments for weapons, but new receivers that literally transform one gun into another. That’s right, it’s a tech tree. Infinity Ward explained the new system in a video (opens in new tab) shared on the Infinity Ward Twitter. Using the M4 as an example, developers demonstrated how the entire front receiver of a standard M4 (that’s basically all the central innards that stuff attaches to) can be detached and replaced with the receiver for an M16. You have to progress through the M4 before unlocking the M16 receiver, which can then progress into an SMG receiver or maybe a DMR variant. That’s a major change from the way that Call of Duty has handled progression for the past decade. Gun unlocks are typically tied to your overall account level. It sounds like that’s still the case for “base” guns like the M4, but variants will now be tied to weapon XP. I imagine that a standard AK-47 eventually progresses into an AK-74U SMG, for instance. Infinity Ward says this change is meant to more closely mimic the modularity of actual guns, but gun tech trees also come with a cool bonus: once you unlock an attachment for one gun platform, it’ll also be unlocked for that gun’s variants. Gunsmith 2.0 receivers. (Image credit: Activision Blizzard) “This takes away from the grind of having to unlock every single attachment on each weapon every time you want to level up a weapon,” said senior user experience designer Mary Evdjukian. As someone who has probably unlocked the same basic red dot sight for hundreds of CoD guns over the years, it’ll be nice to cut down on the clutter. It won’t be long before we can try out Gunsmith 2.0 for ourselves. The Modern Warfare 2 beta (opens in new tab) starts this Friday for PlayStation players with an open beta for all platforms starting the following weekend. Morgan has been writing for PC Gamer since 2018, first as a freelancer and currently as a staff writer. He has also appeared on Polygon, Kotaku, Fanbyte, and PCGamesN. Before freelancing, he spent most of high school and all of college writing at small gaming sites that didn’t pay him. He’s very happy to have a real job now. Morgan is a beat writer following the latest and greatest shooters and the communities that play them. He also writes general news, reviews, features, the occasional guide, and bad jokes in Slack. Twist his arm, and he’ll even write about a boring strategy game. Please don’t, though. Read More Here

Amtrak Cancels All Long-Distance Routes Amid Looming Rail Strike https://digitalalaskanews.com/amtrak-cancels-all-long-distance-routes-amid-looming-rail-strike/ Amtrak said it is canceling all long-distance trips starting on Thursday amid a looming railway strike that could disrupt the U.S. economy, resulting in lost productivity of $2 billion a day.  The potential work stoppage stems from a labor dispute between railroad companies and their unionized workforces. If the two sides aren’t able to come to an agreement this week, the strike could begin Friday.  A Labor Department spokesperson told CBS News on Wednesday evening that dinner had been ordered and the talks in Washington among federal officials, railroad executives and railroad worker union leaders are ongoing.    President Biden had been receiving updates and tracking the talks closely throughout the day, including after returning to the White House from Detroit on Wednesday evening. While Amtrak is not involved in the ongoing negotiations between the two sides, a work stoppage would impact its passenger service because almost all of its routes outside the Northeast corridor operate on tracks maintained and dispatched by freight railroads. The announcement comes after the passenger train service canceled three long-distance routes earlier this week in anticipation of the strike.  Suspending all long-distance routes is “necessary to ensure trains can reach their terminals before freight railroad service interruption if a resolution in negotiations is not reached,” Amtrak said in a statement to CBS News.  It added, “Amtrak will only operate trains this week that we can ensure will have enough time to reach their final destinations by 12:01 a.m. on Friday, Sept. 16.” Most train travel on Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor — such as the Acela train that runs between Boston and Washington, D.C. — won’t be impacted by the cancellations, Amtrak said. The Acela will continue to run a full schedule. Amtrak said it’s reaching out to customers with tickets on the canceled routes, and will allow them to change their reservation or to receive a full refund without cancellation fees. If a customer changes to another travel date, Amtrak said it will waive any difference in fares for departures through October 31. Here are suspended routes with the dates that the trains will suspend passenger service: As of Tuesday, Sept. 13: Southwest Chief  Empire Builder California Zephyr Train #421 portion of the Texas Eagle (Los Angeles-San Antonio) Wednesday, Sept. 14: City of New Orleans Coast Starlight Crescent Lake Shore Limited Silver Star Sunset Limited Texas Eagle Thursday, Sept. 15: Auto Train Capitol Limited Cardinal Palmetto (south of Washington) Ed O’Keefe contributed to this report. In: Amtrak Read More Here

Ukraine's Zelenskiy Involved In Car Accident, Not Seriously Hurt -Spokesman https://digitalalaskanews.com/ukraines-zelenskiy-involved-in-car-accident-not-seriously-hurt-spokesman/ FILE PHOTO – Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy meets U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken during his visit in Kyiv, Ukraine September 8, 2022. Genya Savilov/Pool via REUTERS Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Sept 15 (Reuters) – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s car was involved in a traffic accident in Kyiv, but he is not seriously hurt, his spokesman Serhii Nykyforov said in a Facebook post early on Thursday. Nykyforov – who did not say when the accident occurred – said Zelenskiy’s car had collided with a private vehicle. “The president was examined by a doctor, no serious injuries were found,” he said, adding the accident would be investigated. Medics accompanying Zelenskiy gave the driver of the private car emergency aid and put him in an ambulance, he said. Minutes after Nykyforov made his statement, Zelenskiy’s office released the video of the night time address that the president gives every day. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Reporting by David Ljunggren and Ronald Popeski; Editing by Leslie Adler and Grant McCool Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. Read More Here

Arizona GOP Candidates Appeal Ruling Against Hand Counts https://digitalalaskanews.com/arizona-gop-candidates-appeal-ruling-against-hand-counts/ Sep. 14, 2022Updated: Sep. 14, 2022 8:15 p.m. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 1of5FILE – In this May 6, 2021 file photo, Maricopa County ballots cast in the 2020 general election are examined and recounted by contractors working for Florida-based company, Cyber Ninjas at Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix. A federal judge refused Friday, Aug. 26, 2022, to require that Arizona officials count ballots by hand in November, dismissing a lawsuit filed by the Republican nominees for governor and secretary of state based on false claims of problems with vote-counting machines.Matt York/APShow MoreShow Less 2of5FILE – Kari Lake, Republican candidate for Arizona governor, speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Dallas, Aug. 5, 2022. A federal judge refused Friday, Aug. 26, 2022, to require that Arizona officials count ballots by hand in November, dismissing a lawsuit filed by Lake and Republican nominee for secretary of state Mark Finchem, based on false claims of problems with vote-counting machinesLM Otero/APShow MoreShow Less 3of5 4of5FILE – Rep. Mark Finchem, of Arizona, speaks during an election rally in Richmond, Va., on Oct. 13, 2021. A federal judge refused Friday, Aug. 26, 2022, to require that Arizona officials count ballots by hand in November, dismissing a lawsuit filed by the Republican nominees for governor, Kari Lake, and secretary of state, Finchem, based on false claims of problems with vote-counting machines.Steve Helber/APShow MoreShow Less 5of5 PHOENIX (AP) — The Republican candidates for Arizona governor and secretary of state on Wednesday appealed a federal judge’s ruling that threw out a lawsuit they filed seeking to require the hand-counting of ballots in November’s election. Lawyers representing governor candidate Kari Lake and secretary of state hopeful Mark Finchem filed a notice saying they would ask the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to revive their lawsuit. The pair sued in April, repeating unfounded allegations that vote-counting machines are not secure. Named in the lawsuit is Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, the state’s top election official and the Democratic candidate for governor, and the majority Republican Maricopa County board of supervisors U.S. District Judge John Tuchi dismissed their lawsuit late last month, saying they lacked the right to to sue because they failed to show any realistic likelihood of harm. He also noted that their lawsuit must be brought in state, not federal, court and that it is too close to the election to upend the process. “The 2022 Midterm Elections are set to take place on November 8,” Tuchi wrote in is ruling. “In the meantime, Plaintiffs request a complete overhaul of Arizona’s election procedures.” Lake and Finchem won their GOP primaries after aggressively promoting the narrative that the 2020 election was marred by fraud or widespread irregularities. Their lawsuit relied in part on testimony from Donald Trump supporters who led a discredited review of the election in Maricopa County, including Doug Logan, the CEO of Cyber Ninjas, who oversaw the effort described by supporters as a “forensic audit.” Finchem did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Lake’s campaign attorney, Timothy La Sota, said the appeal was needed. “We are appealing because it is absolutely critical that we have a vote counting process that gives the public complete confidence in the process,” La Sota said in a statement. Federal and state election officials and Trump’s own attorney general have said there is no credible evidence the 2020 election was tainted. Trump’s allegations of fraud were also roundly rejected by courts, including by judges he appointed. A hand recount led by Cyber Ninjas in Maricopa County found no proof of a stolen election and concluded President Joe Biden’s margin of victory was larger than the official count. Election administrators testified that hand counting dozens of races on millions of Arizona ballots would require an extraordinary amount of time, space and manpower, and would be less accurate. They said extensive reviews have confirmed that vote-counting machines in Maricopa County are accurate, not connected to the internet and haven’t been hacked. Read More Here

Ex-Town Official Pleads Guilty To Capitol Riot Charge https://digitalalaskanews.com/ex-town-official-pleads-guilty-to-capitol-riot-charge/ Surveillance video captured her marching through the Capitol after she entered the building through a Senate fire-exit door. (AP) — A former Massachusetts town official pleaded guilty on Wednesday to joining a mob in storming the U.S. Capitol after she organized a bus trip to Washington, D.C., for fellow members of a right-wing group called “Super Happy Fun America.” Before her guilty plea, Suzanne Ianni had argued in February that federal authorities had selectively targeted her for prosecution based on her political beliefs. Prosecutors said her political views played no role in charging her with crimes for her conduct at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. A judge rejected Ianni’s request to dismiss the case before she pleaded guilty. Ianni, 60, of Natick, Massachusetts, faces a maximum sentence of six months of imprisonment and five years of probation after pleading guilty to a misdemeanor count of disorderly conduct in a Capitol building. U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols is scheduled to sentence her on Dec. 2. Courthouse News’ podcast Sidebar tackles the stories you need to know from the legal world. Join our hosts as they take you in and out of courtrooms in the U.S. and beyond. Ianni was an elected member of Natick Town Meeting in a Boston suburb while serving as operation director of Super Happy Fun America, which gained national notoriety for organizing a “Straight Pride Parade” in Boston in 2019. On its website, Super Happy Fun America calls itself “a right of center civil rights organization focusing on defending the Constitution, opposing gender madness and defeating cultural Marxism.” The group registered as a nonprofit with Massachusetts state regulators. A Dec. 29, 2020, post on the group’s Twitter account said Super Happy Fun America members would be in Washington “to get wild.” Ianni was listed as the contact for the trip. The account also tweeted a photo of Ianni and other members on a bus traveling to Washington on the eve of the riot. After marching to the Capitol, she joined a crowd chanting “Fight for Trump!” and “Our house!” while rioters near her broke windows, forced open doors and breached police barricades. Surveillance video captured Ianni marching through the Capitol after she entered the building through a Senate fire-exit door. She raised her fist in the air in front of police officers who stopped her and other members of the mob, prosecutors said in a court filing. Mark Sahady, another Super Happy Fun America member, was arrested on Capitol riot-related charges that haven’t been resolved. In April 2021, Natick Town Meeting members voted to condemn the Capitol riot. Ianni, who was elected to a three-year term that was due to expire in March 2022, told the MetroWest Daily News that the vote represented “political persecution of conservatives.” Also on Wednesday, a Nevada man pleaded guilty to assaulting law enforcement officers at the Capitol with what appeared to be a table leg, injuring an officer. Josiah Kenyon, 35, of Winnemucca, Nevada, is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 15. Kenyon was dressed up as “Jack Skellington,” a character from the movie “The Nightmare Before Christmas,” when he attacked police. More than 870 people have been charged with federal crimes related to the Jan. 6 riot. Approximately 400 of them have pleaded guilty, mostly to misdemeanors, and over 250 have been sentenced. __ By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN Associated Press Read the Top 8 Sign up for the Top 8, a roundup of the day’s top stories delivered directly to your inbox Monday through Friday. Read More Here

McConnell's Renegades: Graham And Scott's “freelancing” Threatens GOP Unity https://digitalalaskanews.com/mcconnells-renegades-graham-and-scotts-freelancing-threatens-gop-unity/ Two of the highest-profile Republicans in the Senate are publicly defying Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on high-stakes issues vital to the GOP’s chances of retaking the majority next year. The big picture: In interviews with Axios, GOP senators and party strategists declined to blame McConnell for the antics of Sens. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.). They see the “freelancing” — as one source close to the leader described it — as a sign of the Senate as an institution breaking down under modern incentive structures. What’s happening: Scott, the influential chair of Senate Republicans’ campaign arm, irked McConnell this spring by independently releasing a 12-point plan for how the GOP would govern in the majority — undercutting the leader’s midterm strategy of keeping the focus on Democratic failures. Scott’s “Rescue America” proposal contained several controversial provisions on Social Security and taxes that Democrats instantly seized on for attack ads — including President Biden, who continued to troll Scott over the plan as recently as Tuesday. Over the past month, Scott and McConnell have also feuded over the politics, policy and fundraising strategy for reclaiming the Senate. McConnell recently acknowledged that “candidate quality” could cost Republicans the majority — a subtle dig at Scott, who is responsible for recruiting as chair of the National Senatorial Campaign Committee. Graham, meanwhile, took GOP leadership by surprise Tuesday by releasing a bill that would ban abortion nationwide after 15 weeks — drawing new attention to a debate that has energized Democrats and closed the polling gap in key races. The headline-grabbing release came the same day inflation data showed consumer prices remained stubbornly high in August, causing the stock market to plummet. Graham admitted to Axios that he did not get permission from McConnell to release the proposal. McConnell, like many GOP senators, has said the abortion question should be left to the states. Between the lines: New awareness of the importance of personal branding, the 24/7 cable news cycle, and internet fundraising has incentivized rogue operators — many of whom have ambitions beyond the Senate. The insubordination is a product of a new era in politics and underscores how much harder it is to ensure party unity in today’s Congress. “Rick Scott’s plan and Graham’s announcement yesterday have sent candidates running for cover and distancing themselves from these proposals,” a Senate GOP leadership aide told Axios. “Exactly the opposite of what we want right now.” What they’re saying: “This is an institutional problem. A senator is getting elected in their own states and they are not beholden to anybody,” Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) told Axios. “The Senate’s made up of 99 people who want to be president — and me,” Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) said. “People look for moments and opportunities to differentiate themselves. … Republicans, we don’t do the groupthink thing.” “We have 50 Republican senators … they do this for their own motives,” Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), who’s served in the Senate since 1981, told Axios. Grassley reflected on how, in the past, “the personality of the entire Senate was to be less partisan, more respectful of each other.” Retiring Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), who has served since 1987, called former Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole (R-Kansas) — famous for holding his conference in line — a “great leader.” But “you can’t blame” McConnell, Shelby cautioned. “We’ve always had individuals and individual outcomes.” “I just think in today’s multimedia/24-hour cycle world, it’s just different,” Cramer added. “It’s hard to know whether a guy like Bob Dole could have been able to keep everyone in line today.” What to watch: If Trump-backed “MAGA” nominees are successful in November, McConnell will have even more free agents in his conference who are likely to buck his leadership. “You got a lot of people who are running this year who are very independent-minded,” Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) told Axios. “If we have more members, and hopefully we do, we’ll have more people who do their own thing.” The other side: “Senator Scott fights every day to do what he thinks is right and is in the best interest of Florida families. He answers to them, his family and God — no one else. We couldn’t care less about anonymous sources,” Scott spokesperson McKinley Lewis said in a statement to Axios. Graham’s office did not respond to a request for comment. Read More Here