Digital Alaska News

As UK's Truss Fights For Her Job, New Finance Minister Warns Of Tough Decisions https://digitalalaskanews.com/as-uks-truss-fights-for-her-job-new-finance-minister-warns-of-tough-decisions/ PM Truss sacked finance minister on Friday New chancellor Hunt warns of tough decisions Ruling Conservatives have slumped in polls Some Conservative lawmakers say Truss will be ousted LONDON, Oct 15 (Reuters) – Britain’s new finance minister Jeremy Hunt said on Saturday some taxes would go up and tough spending decisions were needed, signalling further reversals from Prime Minister Liz Truss as she battles to keep her job just over a month into her term. In an attempt to appease financial markets that have been in turmoil for three weeks, Truss fired Kwasi Kwarteng as her chancellor of the exchequer on Friday and scrapped parts of their controversial economic package. read more With opinion poll ratings dire for both the ruling Conservative Party and the prime minister personally, and many of her own lawmakers asking, not if, but how Truss should be removed, she has turned to Hunt to help salvage her premiership less than 40 days after taking office. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com “We will have some very difficult decisions ahead,” Hunt said as he toured TV and radio studios to give a blunt assessment of the situation the country faced, saying Truss and Kwarteng had made mistakes. “The thing that people want, the markets want, the country needs now, is stability,” Hunt said. “No chancellor can control the markets. But what I can do is show that we can pay for our tax and spending plans and that is going to need some very difficult decisions on both spending and tax.” Truss won the leadership contest to replace Boris Johnson on a platform of big tax cuts to stimulate growth, which Kwarteng duly announced last month. But the absence of any details of how the cuts would be funded sent the markets into meltdown. She has now ditched plans to cut tax for high earners, and said a levy on business would increase, abandoning her proposal to keep it at current levels. But it is not clear if that has gone far enough to satisfy investors. read more Hunt is due to announce the government’s medium-term budget plans on Oct. 31, in what will be a key test of its ability to show it can restore its economic policy credibility. He said further changes to Truss’s plans were possible. “Giving certainty over public finances, how we’re going to pay for every penny that we get through the tax and spending decisions we make, those are very, very important ways that I can give certainty and help create the stability,” he said. He cautioned spending would not rise by as much as people would like and all government departments were going to have to find more efficiencies than they were planning. “Some taxes will not be cut as quickly as people want, and some taxes will go up. So it’s going to be difficult,” he said, adding that he would sit down with Treasury officials on Saturday before meeting Truss on Sunday to go through the plans. ‘MISTAKES MADE’ Kwarteng’s Sept. 23 fiscal statement prompted a backlash in financial markets that was so ferocious the Bank of England (BoE) had to intervene to prevent pension funds being caught up in the chaos as borrowing costs surged. Hunt, an experienced minister and viewed by many in his party as a safe pair of hands, said he agreed with Truss’s fundamental strategy of kickstarting economic growth, adding that their approach had not worked. “There were some mistakes made in the last few weeks. That’s why I’m sitting here. It was a mistake to cut the top rate of tax at a period when we’re asking everyone to make sacrifices,” he said. It was also a mistake, Hunt said, to “fly blind” and produce the tax plans without allowing the independent fiscal watchdog, the Office for Budget Responsibility, to check the figures. The fact that Hunt is Britain’s fourth finance minister in four months is testament to a political crisis that has gripped Britain since Johnson was ousted following a series of scandals. Hunt said Truss should be judged at an election and on her performance over the next 18 months – not the last 18 days. However, she might not get that chance. During the leadership contest, Truss won support from less than a third of Conservative lawmakers and has appointed her backers since taking office – alienating those who support her rivals. The appointment of Hunt, who ran to be leader himself and then backed her main rival ex-finance minister Rishi Sunak, has been seen as a sign of her reaching out, but the move did little to placate some of her party critics. “It’s over for her,” one such Conservative lawmakers told Reuters after Friday’s events. The next key test will come on Monday, when the British government bond market functions for the first time without the emergency buying support provided by the BoE since Sept. 28. Gilt prices plunged late on Friday after Truss’s announcement. Newspapers said Truss’s position was in jeopardy, but with no appetite in the party or country for another leadership election, it was unclear how she could be replaced. read more “Even Liz Truss’s most loyal allies, viewing the matter through the most rose-tinted glasses available, must now wonder how she can survive,” the Daily Mail tabloid, which had previously given Truss strong support, said in its editorial. “Yet what is the alternative?” Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Reporting by Michael Holden, Alistair Smout and William Schomberg Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise and Helen Popper Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. Read More Here

Pentagon Grapples With How To Defend Military Women From Tucker Carlson's Insults https://digitalalaskanews.com/pentagon-grapples-with-how-to-defend-military-women-from-tucker-carlsons-insults/ Secretary of the Army Christine Wormuth on Friday called for military leaders to “stand up for women” amid a roiling Defense Department controversy over how to respond to vicious criticism of female soldiers by Fox News host Tucker Carlson. A fierce debate was triggered after Maj. Gen. Patrick Donahoe was recently scolded by the Army — and his retirement put on hold — for defending female soldiers, with one of his tweets last year calling out Carlson. Retired Col. Yevgeny Vindman — the twin brother of retired Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, who testified at Donald Trump’s first impeachment investigation during his presidency — lashed out last month at the treatment of Donahoe by an Army cowed by the political right because he “stood up to Fox/ Tucky.” The Pentagon and the Army “are lost. They fear the right,” Yevgeny Vindman tweeted. “They are losing their moral compass and service-members will vote with their feet.” Carlson has repeatedly bashed women in the military with misogynistic insults, as he denigrates an increasingly “feminine” U.S. armed forces — and hails the brutish “masculine” militaries of Russia and China. Carlson has never served in the military. Wormuth warned at a conference earlier this week that Army leaders need to stay “out of the culture wars” — and out of politics. “We have got to … have a broad appeal,” she cautioned. “When only 9% of kids are interested in serving” in the military, “we have got to make sure that we are careful about not alienating wide swaths of the American public to the Army,” Wormuth added. But on Friday, she clarified her comments amid a furious backlash. “Let me be clear: I expect @USArmy leaders to stand up for women—and all Soldiers—who are unduly attacked or disrespected,” she tweeted. She added in another tweet: “Use good judgment online. Keep it professional.” Several top military leaders have angrily responded to Carlson’s insults — without referring to him by name — and issued statements supporting women in the armed forces. Donahoe had named Carlson in a tame retort in March 2021, saying the right-wing Fox host “couldnt be more wrong” with his insults against women in the military. That’s when Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) fired off a letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, accusing Donahoe and other military leaders of partisanship for sticking up for soldiers and other service members. A report on the issue by the Army’s Office of the Inspector General, obtained last week by the website Task & Purpose, stated that “while potentially admirable,” Donahoe’s post “brought a measurable amount of negative publicity to the Army.” A headline on a Washington Post opinion column early this month asked: “Why is the Army punishing a general for calling out MAGA lies?” The military is “rightly eager to stay out of politics, but this laudable instinct can lead it to run away from controversy even at the cost of ceding the information battlefield to the far-right forces trying to subvert American democracy,” warned writer Max Boot. Donahoe’s “only offense was to champion on social media the very values the Army claims to stand for,” Boot added. This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated. Related… Kanye West Told Tucker Carlson That ‘Fake Children’ Were Trying To Manipulate His Kids Kanye West Wonders How Conspiracy Peddler Tucker Carlson Is Taking His Theories Read More Here

AP News Summary At 9:03 A.m. EDT https://digitalalaskanews.com/ap-news-summary-at-903-a-m-edt-2/ Justice Dept. seeks end to arbiter’s review of Trump docs WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department has asked a federal appeals court to overturn a judge’s appointment of an independent arbiter to review documents seized during an FBI search of former President Donald Trump’s Florida estate. The appeal is the latest salvo in weeks of litigation over the scope of duties of the arbiter, also known as a special master. He was assigned last month by a judge to inspect the thousands of records taken in the Aug. 8 search of Mar-a-Lago and weed out from the investigation any that may be protected by claims of legal privilege. Ukraine: Russia hits power site by Kyiv, defends seized land KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A missile strike has seriously damaged a key energy facility near Ukraine’s capital. The governor of the Kyiv region said Saturday’s strike didn’t kill or wound anyone. The country’s power system operator said repair crews were working to restore power but warned residents about possible outages. The Russian military strove to cut water and electricity in populated areas of Ukraine this week after a truck bomb explosion damaged the bridge that links Russia to the annexed Crimean Peninsula. Regions of southern Ukraine that Russian President Vladimir Putin illegally designated as Russian territory last month remained a focus of fighting on Saturday. Ukrainian deminers remove deadly threats to civilians HRAKOVE, Ukraine (AP) — A group of Ukrainian deminers with the country’s territorial defense forces is working to clear an area in the Kharkiv region of dozens of deadly mines and pieces of unexploded ordnance. The brigade is pushing to restore a semblance of safety to the cities, towns and countryside in a region that spent months under Russian occupation. The deminers swept a remote area with metal detectors, searching for mines left behind by Russian forces that retreated from the region at the beginning of September. While many settlements in the region have finally achieved some measure of safety after fierce battles reduced many of them to rubble, Russian land mines remain an ever-present threat in both urban and rural environments. New UK Treasury chief: Mistakes were made, tax rises coming LONDON (AP) — Britain’s new Treasury chief has acknowledged mistakes made by his predecessor and suggested that he may reverse much of Conservative Prime Minister Liz Truss’ tax-cutting plans, in order to bring stability to the country after weeks of economic and political turbulence. Jeremy Hunt was brought in Friday to replace Kwasi Kwarteng and restore order in Truss’ administration. He warned of “difficult decisions” to come, saying taxes could rise and public spending budgets would likely be squeezed further in the coming months. Truss had previously insisted that her tax-cutting plans were what Britain needs to boost economic growth. But a “mini-budget” which she and Kwarteng unveiled in September sent the British pound tumbling and left her credibility in tatters. Violent week a grim sign as targeted killings of police rise SEATTLE (AP) — It’s been an especially violent week for police across the U.S., including the deaths of two Connecticut police officers and the wounding of a third. Even as the number of officers has dropped in the past two years, the number being targeted and killed has risen. Organizations that track violence against police say 56 officers have been killed by gunfire so far this year — a number that is up 14% from this time last year and about 45% from this time in 2020. The country is on track to approach or surpass other top annual totals of recent years, including 73 officers killed in 2011 and 67 in 2016. Biden’s pot pardons could boost states’ legalization drives LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — President Joe Biden’s decision to pardon thousands of people convicted of simple possession of marijuana under federal law could give a boost to Election Day ballot proposals in five states that would legalize the drug. Voters in Arkansas, Maryland, Missouri, North Dakota and South Dakota will take up proposals to legalize recreational marijuana. Experts say Biden’s pardon decision could win over some voters on the fence about the idea. Recreational marijuana is legal in 19 states and opposition to legalization has softened despite federal resistance. Opponents of the measures say they see Biden’s pardons having little impact on the campaigns. Kemp vs. Abrams II: Republican has incumbent advantage now ATLANTA (AP) — The Georgia governor’s race is a rematch of 2018, when Republican Brian Kemp narrowly defeated Democrat Stacey Abrams. But circumstances have changed. This time, it is Kemp who holds a lot of advantages as he seeks reelection. Abrams is trying to rekindle the star power that had people talking about her being president one day. Kemp became the target of Donald Trump’s wrath when the defeated president threatened retribution after Kemp certified Democrat Joe Biden’s slate of presidential electors in Georgia. But not only did Kemp maintain support among most Republican voters while defying Trump, he seems to have only grown stronger heading into his rematch with Abrams. Death toll rises to 41 in Turkey coal mine explosion AMASRA, Turkey (AP) — Funerals for the miners killed in a coal mine explosion in northern Turkey have begun as officials raised the death toll to at least 41 people. There were 110 miners working in the mine when the explosion occurred Friday evening at the state-owned Turkish Hard Coal Enterprise’s mine in Amasra. The town is in the Black Sea coastal province of Bartin. Officials said 11 miners were injured and hospitalized while 58 others managed to get out of the mine on their own or were rescued unharmed. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan arrived at the scene Saturday after tweeting that any neglect would be punished. US shift on Venezuelan migrants fuels anxiety in Mexico TIJUANA, Mexico (AP) — The Biden administration’s policy shift on Venezuelan migrants may pose an enormous challenge to overstretched Mexican shelters. The U.S. has coupled plans to let up to 24,000 Venezuelans apply online to fly to the U.S. for temporary stays with a pledge to immediately turn back Venezuelans who cross the border illegally from Mexico. The rapid expulsions expand a Trump-era policy that denies rights to seek asylum on grounds of preventing the spread of COVID-19. Venezuelans have suddenly become the second-largest nationality at the U.S. border after Mexicans, a growing challenge to President Joe Biden and neighboring allies. Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Read More Here

Too Late For A Saudi Rethink? Critics Say Oil Cut Was A Predictable Blow For Biden https://digitalalaskanews.com/too-late-for-a-saudi-rethink-critics-say-oil-cut-was-a-predictable-blow-for-biden/ President Joe Biden’s attempts to court Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman were destined to end in failure, analysts and dissidents told NBC News, after the White House and the deeply conservative kingdom clashed over cuts to oil production. Without elaborating, the White House warned there would be “consequences’’ for the Middle Eastern powerbroker after the oil-producing alliance OPEC+ announced earlier this month that it would cut oil production by 2 million barrels a day, a move that’s likely to send gas prices higher again. The cut is also seen as helping Russia, the world’s second-largest oil exporter, finance its war in Ukraine. And for some, the decision by the group of 13 oil exporting countries, whose de facto leader is Saudi Arabia, was a sign that Biden’s bid to reset ties between Washington and Riyadh during a visit to the kingdom earlier this year was doomed to fail. “It failed both on blood and on oil,” Dr. Khalid Aljabri, a Saudi rights activist, told NBC News Thursday by telephone. Aljabri, who works as a cardiologist in Washington, D.C., added that bin Salman had “zero incentive to change his behavior.” The Saudi women’s rights activist Loujain al-Hathloul pictured in February 2021. (Lina Alhathloul / Twitter) As a presidential candidate, Biden made no bones about his stance on the U.S.-Saudi relationship. Shortly after announcing his candidacy, he declared he was going to “cancel the blank check” the Trump administration had given Saudi Arabia during its war in Yemen, in which thousands of people have lost their lives. He also vowed to treat Saudi Arabia as a “pariah” state in the wake of the brutal killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, which the CIA has said was likely ordered by the crown prince.  Bin Salman has long denied any knowledge or involvement in the killing of the journalist, one of his most prominent critics, which was carried out inside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul by agents who worked for him. A U.S. intelligence report that Biden declassified after coming to office said Khashoggi’s killing could not have happened without the crown prince’s knowledge. In July, despite the criticism and with the war raging in Ukraine, Biden visited the kingdom, which is a vital American ally and one of the largest oil producers in the world. Biden, who promised ahead of his visit that he would bring up the kingdom’s rights record, famously fist-bumped the crown prince, who is Saudi Arabia’s de facto leader, and held meetings with him and other senior figures. Jamal Khashoggi (Mohammed Al-Shaikh / AFP – Getty Images) For Lina al-Hathloul, a Saudi human rights activist, it was clear that the president would not “be getting anything out of this visit” at the time. Al-Hathloul, whose sister Loujain al-Hathloul was imprisoned after making global headlines for campaigning for women’s right to drive in Saudi Arabia, said they had warned that Biden’s visit would empower bin Salman and that had proven to be the case. Aljabri agreed. He said that the crown prince had been “actively rewarded,” by Biden for his “very bad behavior with presidential visits and fist bumps.” “It’s been a positive reinforcing loop,” he said. “He commits a mistake, gets zero consequences, gets emboldened, pushes the line more, commits a bigger mistake, and that is going to keep happening.” The decision by OPEC+ to cut production was “a hostile act that is deliberate with intended consequences,” Aljabri added. Sarah Leah Whitson, the executive director of Democracy for the Arab World Now, also called the decision a “deliberate kneecapping of Biden” ahead of the midterm elections. “It’s pretty clear that they’re doing this to inflict deliberate pain on the Biden administration ahead of the elections,” added Whitson, whose group is a New York based nongovernmental organization that campaigns for better governance and human rights across the Middle East. The Saudi Foreign Ministry said in a statement Thursday that the decision to cut oil production had been taken to “protect the global economy from oil-market volatility” and that the move was not “politically motivated.” It also suggested the U.S. asked it to wait a month before it cut oil production, a move that could have staved off price rises at American pumps until after the midterm elections. National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson subsequently rejected that claim as “categorically false.” However, Annelle Sheline, a research fellow at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft in Washington, said that Saudi Arabia was more in tune with the administration of former President Donald Trump, who placed the kingdom at the heart of his Middle East policy and backed its stance against Iran. The Saudis would be “delighted” if Trump were to run again in 2024, she said. “Crippling Biden and the Dems in the midterms would certainly align with this objective,” she added. The U.S. has several options on how it can respond to Saudi Arabia, such as “freezing all arms sales and security cooperation, to withdrawing U.S. troops from Saudi Arabia,” Sheline said. “In the longer run, the U.S. must continue to invest in a less oil dependent future,” so the decisions of foreign oil producers “would no longer have the capacity to swing U.S. elections,” she added. This article was originally published on NBCNews.com Read More Here

Michael Myers Has 1 Major Trump Regret In James Corden ParodyNews WAALI https://digitalalaskanews.com/michael-myers-has-1-major-trump-regret-in-james-corden-parodynews-waali/ ‘Halloween’ killer Michael Myers shows no remorse for all the murders in a new parody segment starring ‘The Late Late Show’ host James Corden. Instead, the fictional character’s greatest agony is captured by former President Donald Trump’s divisive rhetoric and storms the US Capitol as part of the January 6 riot. “That was a big mistake,” says Corden as Myers in the parody video released this week, documenting his journey from Democrat to Trump supporter and back again. – Advertisement – “I guess I got caught by all the other people there wearing masks and costumes, that’s totally my vibe, but it just got so out of hand, so fast,” he explains, later concluding, “People can change – I totally condemn Donald Trump now.” fbq(‘init’, ‘1621685564716533’); fbq(‘track’, “PageView”); var _fbPartnerID = null; if (_fbPartnerID !== null) { fbq(‘init’, _fbPartnerID + ”); fbq(‘track’, “PageView”); } (function () { ‘use strict’; document.addEventListener(‘DOMContentLoaded’, function () { document.body.addEventListener(‘click’, function(event) { fbq(‘track’, “Click”); }); }); })(); . Read More Here

‘You Have My Full Support’: Top DeSantis Aides Played Key Roles In Migrant Flights https://digitalalaskanews.com/you-have-my-full-support-top-desantis-aides-played-key-roles-in-migrant-flights/ Top aides to Gov. Ron DeSantis played key roles in planning and executing Florida’s controversial migrant flight program, according to public records released late Friday. While the program was carried out by a private contractor, the new records show the deep involvement of Larry Keefe, DeSantis’ public safety czar, and James Uthmeier, his chief of staff, in an operation that has led to at least one criminal investigation, a separate U.S. Treasury Department probe and several lawsuits — potentially heightening their exposure to the various inquiries underway. “Current plan is for event to occur next Wednesday … Will be more precise about ETA there as event approaches,” Keefe wrote to Uthmeier in a Sept. 8 text message. “No news from me between now and then is good news. Will let you know if otherwise.” The two men were discussing charter flights paid for with Florida taxpayer money that would bring a group of roughly 50 migrants, mainly Venezuelans, from San Antonio, Texas, to the Massachusetts island of Martha’s Vineyard on Sept. 14. The records suggest Keefe traveled to Texas to oversee the program. Operatives working for the state recruited migrants in San Antonio, offering them free flights to Martha’s Vineyard and saying jobs and aid would be waiting for them. “I’m back out here,” Keefe wrote in a Sept. 5 text message. “Conditions are quite favorable.” “Very good,” Uthmeier replied. “You have my full support. Call anytime.” DeSantis’ office did not immediately respond to a request for comment Saturday morning. The records were released at 9:23 p.m. Friday, in response to requests from the Florida Center for Government Accountability, a watchdog group that has sued the governor’s office over delays in producing records. The migrants and their attorneys have blasted the relocation program, alleging in media interviews and a federal civil rights lawsuit that they were tricked into getting on the planes and thought they were going to Boston. No one in Martha’s Vineyard was expecting them, although community members regrouped to provide food, clothes and other support. But at least one migrant expressed gratitude in screenshotted text messages that Keefe sent to Uthmeier. “You threw us into a cradle of gold,” the person wrote in Spanish to someone they referred to as “Perla”— likely Perla Huerta, a former U.S. Army counterintelligence agent whom migrants have identified as the top recruiter for the program in San Antonio. The migrant, whose name is not visible in the records, noted the group was provided food and clothes. “I’m glad they have taken such good care of you, I knew it would be like that,” Huerta wrote. She acknowledged that some of the migrants might hate her, but she wrote, “this opportunity nobody else would have given.” As public safety czar, Keefe’s portfolio includes immigration. Before joining the administration, he worked as an outside lawyer for Vertol Systems Company, the Destin-based company hired by the Florida Department of Transportation to arrange the flights. He also served as the U.S. attorney for Florida’s Northern District, having been appointed by then-President Donald Trump. Keefe’s presence on the ground in Texas could open him to potential criminal liability. The Democratic sheriff of Bexar County, which includes San Antonio, has launched a criminal investigation into whether Vertol recruiters broke laws against “unlawful restraint” by deceiving the migrants and then moving them around the country. The sheriff, Javier Salazar, said in a statement this week that his Organized Crime Division had identified suspects but that “only those who were physically in our jurisdiction at the time of the offense” could potentially face charges. Vertol has so far received more than $1.56 million in taxpayer funds, and the relocation program may be continuing, with flights potentially planned for other Democratic states, including Delaware and Illinois, additional records released late Friday indicated. The text messages between Keefe and Uthmeier suggest that the two men had several conference calls with Vertol employees. While the migrants flown to Martha’s Vineyard were previously believed to all be from Venezuela, records show that at least two listed their country of origin as Peru. This is a breaking news story and will be updated. Nicholas Nehamas is an investigative reporter at the Miami Herald, where he was part of the Pulitzer Prize-winning team that broke the Panama Papers in 2016. He and his Herald colleagues were also named Pulitzer finalists in 2019 for the series “Dirty Gold, Clean Cash.” He is the co-author of two books: “The Grifter’s Club: Trump, Mar-a-Lago, and the Selling of the Presidency” and “Dirty Gold: The Rise and Fall of an International Smuggling Ring.” He joined the Herald in 2014. Support my work with a digital subscription Sarah Blaskey is an award-winning investigative reporter for the Miami Herald and the data specialist for the investigations team. She is a co-author of “The Grifter’s Club: Trump, Mar-a-Lago, and the Selling of the Presidency” and holds a master’s degree from the Columbia University School of Journalism. Read More Here

Social Security COLA 2023, Live Online Today: Increase, Benefits And Adjustment | SSA Latest News https://digitalalaskanews.com/social-security-cola-2023-live-online-today-increase-benefits-and-adjustment-ssa-latest-news-3/ 2023 Social Security COLA: Latest News “The higher-than-expected COLA costs could have long term implications for Social Security solvency, and could potentially move the insolvency date, currently around 2034, forward.” COLA 2023 official announcement If you like to hear your communications straight from the financial benefits horse’s mouth, then here you go… How to get Social Security help? The best way for people with access to the internet to get help from Social Security is online at ssa.gov. For those unable to use the website, an 800 Number is available (1-800-772-1213) or call your local Social Security office for help. For quicker access to a representative at the National 800 Number, try calling early in the day (between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. local time) or later in the afternoon (between 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. local time). Welcome to AS USA 2023 COLA increase updates Hello and welcome to AS USA’s live blog on the 2023 Social Security COLA increase for Saturday, 15 October.  The Social Security Adminstration announced the 2023 Cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for social security benefits, for programs like Supplemental Security Income and Social Security Disability Insurance. Other government pension and benefits programs will also be affected by the 8.7% increase. The COLA offered for next year is historic in size after inflation has plagued markets for basic commodities consumed by most households, including food, shelter, utilities, and gasoline.   Read More Here

What Is Happening To Conservatism? | GARY COSBY JR. https://digitalalaskanews.com/what-is-happening-to-conservatism-gary-cosby-jr/ Midterm elections are right on the horizon. It will take only five seats changing hands to give the Republican Party a majority in the House. In the Senate, only a single seat needs to change hands to bring about a Republican majority. This is very likely to happen in both houses. Given the state of the GOP at this time, such a change might not be in the best interests of the United States. I think the Republican Party has been so transformed by Donald Trump and his acolytes that it is no longer accurate to call it the Republican Party. The GOP still carries the name, but what I see today bears no resemblance to the conservative party I have supported my entire life. Trump killed the Republican Party then remade it in his image.   The new conservative party is a populist party that is edging ever closer to fascism. It is the most terrifying thing I have seen in American politics in my lifetime. Of the 299 Republican candidates currently running for the House or Senate, the Washington Post found that 53% either denied the 2020 election results or questioned the outcome. I have been a registered Republican voter for my entire voting life, but what I see in the party today is causing me to turn away, but to what do I turn? There is certainly little I find appealing in the Democratic Party, especially in that party’s extremists, but I do not fear the Democrats are destroying America as I do these new Republicans.  Republican candidates surveyed in contested races around the country have indicated they will not concede elections if the vote happens to go against them. That’s how democracy dies. Our government’s stability is based upon the peaceful transfer of power following elections no matter if it is a local, state or national election. If candidates act like Trump did after losing to Joe Biden, American democracy will be in serious peril.  More:Looking back on yesteryear’s despair gives hope today | GARY COSBY JR. More:Who gets to say when the coronavirus pandemic is over? | GARY COSBY JR. While it is unlikely Trump will ever again occupy the White House, the pall he has cast over the Republican Party will not go away quickly, if ever. When you see candidates believing Trump’s transparent lie about the last presidential election, it does cause one to have deep worries about the future of the nation if people who can be so easily deceived by a leader can then become leaders themselves.  I think back to other people who have either lost the presidency or who have served their two terms, and I can’t see anything like the Trump effect. I was no fan of Bill Clinton, but his dominance of the Democratic Party didn’t produce this kind of effect. Al Gore conceded the “hanging chad” election to George W. Bush when he had far greater reason than Trump to contest the results and Hillary Clinton didn’t contest the results after defeating Trump in the popular vote but losing in the Electoral College.  These candidates running under the Trump banner cause many concerns, not the least is the destabilization of the entire democratic process. While the loser refusing to concede doesn’t mean the winner can’t take office, it does tie the country up in controversy, recounts, lawsuits and the resulting confusion and anger such things incite. To further muddy the political waters, a number of serving Republican representatives and senators have indicated that if Republicans succeed in gaining control of the House after the midterm elections they will move to impeach President Biden. That would be fine if Biden had committed a crime of some kind. I haven’t seen one, maybe there is one, but what U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz is talking about doing is nothing but political revenge. Americans are not blind or stupid. That’s how government breaks down and fails completely.  What we are looking at is a collection of vindictive people who are so convinced of the veracity of the Big Lie they will seek revenge rather than justice. I almost forgot, and this really takes the cake, both Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott have recently shipped illegal immigrants to traditional Democratic voting strongholds in what may prove to be something akin to kidnapping or at least coercion by deception.  The people are illegal immigrants, but they are still actual human beings. DeSantis and Abbott have turned them into pawns to move around their political chess boards without regard to their humanity. While I understand the illegal immigration issue is quite serious, what they did is un-American. Trump’s impact on the Republican Party is the most profound negative transition I have ever seen. His manipulation and lies are all blatantly transparent and have been repeatedly disproven, yet far too many conservatives are still swallowing them. I hope conservative voters will take a close look at what the Trump acolytes are doing and will dump them. It is time to start over if there is any hope for true conservatism and stability in this country. Yes, it could mean one more term of Democrats in the White House, but anything would be better than turning the country over to the Party of Trump.  Gary Cosby Jr. is the photo editor of The Tuscaloosa News. Readers can email him at gary.cosby@tuscaloosanews.com. Read More Here

Herschel Walker Denies Abortion Ban Support And Brandishes ‘police Badge’ In Georgia Debate https://digitalalaskanews.com/herschel-walker-denies-abortion-ban-support-and-brandishes-police-badge-in-georgia-debate/ The Republican Senate candidate Herschel Walker, a staunch anti-abortion politician accused by a former girlfriend of encouraging and paying for her abortion in 2009, used his only debate against the Democratic senator Raphael Warnock on Friday to deny his previous support for an outright national abortion ban. The former college football and NFL star, who is endorsed by Donald Trump, was asked about his support for “a complete ban on a national level”. He said the moderator misstated his position. That contradicted statements made repeatedly on the campaign trail, including in July when Walker said it was “a problem” that no national ban existed. Walker also answered an attack from Warnock about his past claims about being a law enforcement officer by producing what he said was a police badge. Warnock said: “You can support police officers as I’ve done … while at the same time holding police officers, like all professions, accountable. One thing I have not done, I’ve never pretended to be a police officer. And I’ve never, I’ve never threatened a shootout with the police.” Saying “I have to respond to that”, Walker produced his badge. Walker has never been a trained law enforcement officer, though he has law enforcement endorsements. As Walker brandished his badge, the debate moderator said: “Mr Walker, Mr Walker – excuse me, Mr Walker. I need to let you know, Mr Walker, you are very well aware of the rules tonight. And you have a prop that is not allowed. Sir, I asked you to put that prop away.” Walker did not do so immediately. The moderator said: “Excuse me, sir. You’re very well aware of the rules, aren’t you?” Walker said: “Well, let’s talk about the truth.” Walker’s apparent battle with the truth over abortion has become a theme of the midterm elections. On Friday, he said his position was the same as Georgia’s state law, a so-called heartbeat bill that bans abortion at six weeks, before many women know they are pregnant. That law went into effect this year after the US supreme court overturned the right to abortion. The heated exchange on abortion was one of many that highlighted stark differences between Warnock and Walker. Warnock did not directly bring up the allegation about Walker paying for an abortion, leaving moderators to elicit a flat denial. Walker blasted Warnock for being a Baptist pastor who supports abortion rights. “Instead of aborting those babies, why aren’t you baptizing those babies?” he said. Warnock said “God gave us a choice and I respect the right of women to make a decision”, adding that Walker “wants to arrogate more power to politicians than God has”. Warnock and his fellow Democrat Jon Ossoff won their Senate seats in a January 2021 special election, two months after Joe Biden beat Trump in Georgia by fewer than 12,000 votes. It was the first time in two decades Democrats won federal elections in the state, raising questions about whether Warnock can win again as Biden’s popularity falls. In-person voting begins on Monday. The outcome will help determine control of the Senate, currently split 50-50. Onstage, Walker claimed Warnock was a Biden puppet, saying the election was about what they “had done to you and your family” in an inflationary economy. Warnock said the election was about “who is ready to represent Georgia”. Walker blamed Warnock and Biden for inflation but offered little when asked what he would do to fix it. Walker said the first step was “getting back” to energy independence rather than depending “on our enemies”. The US had never been free from fossil fuel imports, some from countries such as Russia. Warnock highlighted Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, focusing on provisions he sponsored capping insulin and other healthcare costs, the extension of the child tax credit and infrastructure provisions he shepherded with Republicans. He offered few specifics about further steps. Warnock declined to say if Biden, nearing 80, should seek re-election in 2024. Walker deviated from Trump by saying Biden won legitimately in 2020. But he said he would support Trump if he ran in 2024. Both Walker and Warnock said they would accept the outcome of their election. Both men discussed their personal lives. Recent reporting by the Daily Beast disclosed records of an abortion receipt and personal check from Walker to a woman who said he paid for her abortion. Walker’s denials have continued even after the woman identified herself as the mother of one of his four children. Walker acknowledged three children publicly for the first time only after Beast reporting. Other reports have detailed how Walker has exaggerated academic achievements, business success and philanthropic activities, as well as accusations he threatened the life of his ex-wife beyond details acknowledged in a 2008 memoir. In perhaps his most effective debate move, Warnock alluded to such stories. “We will see time and time again tonight, as we’ve always seen, that my opponent has a problem with the truth,” said Warnock. Dismissing reports that a foundation tied to Ebenezer Baptist Church, where he is senior pastor, had evicted tenants from real-estate holdings, Warnock said Walker was trying to “sully the name of Martin Luther King’s church”. Walker pointed to his memoir, in which he detailed a diagnosis of dissociative personality disorder. Walker said he had “been transparent” and “continue[d] to get help if I need help, but I don’t need any help. I’m doing well. I’m ready to lead today.” Walker declined three debates typical in Georgia campaigns. The Savannah debate did not include the libertarian Chase Oliver, who did not meet a polling threshold. Warnock will meet Oliver in a Sunday debate sponsored by the Atlanta Press Club. Walker will be represented by an empty podium. Read More Here

40 Killed, Dozens Trapped By Explosion In Turkey Coal Mine | CNN https://digitalalaskanews.com/40-killed-dozens-trapped-by-explosion-in-turkey-coal-mine-cnn/ CNN  —  An explosion inside a coal mine in northern Turkey has killed at least 40 people and left 11 others hospitalized, state news media reported on Saturday. The explosion took place in the Black Sea town of Amasra in Bartin province on Friday, trapping dozens beneath the rubble of the blast. Eleven wounded workers were treated in hospitals, state news agency Anadolu said citing a statement from the country’s Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu. Turkey’s Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Fatih Donmez said that a fire that broke out after the blast is largely under control, Anadolu reported. Rescuers are working through the night as the death toll rises, with video footage from the scene showing miners emerging blackened and bleary-eyed. There were 110 people in the mine at the time of the explosion, said Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu, who traveled to Amasra to coordinate the search and rescue operation. Officials have not yet determined the cause of the explosion. “We are doing our best to ensure that the injured recover as soon as possible,” Koca told reporters. “I wish God’s mercy on each of them.” Turkey witnessed its deadliest ever coal mining disaster in 2014, when 301 people died after a blast in the western town of Soma. The disaster fueled public anger and discontent towards the government’s response to the tragedy. Read More Here

AP News In Brief At 6:04 A.m. EDT https://digitalalaskanews.com/ap-news-in-brief-at-604-a-m-edt-3/ Justice Dept. seeks end to arbiter’s review of Trump docs WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department asked a federal appeals court on Friday to shut down the work of an independent arbiter who was appointed last month to review documents seized during an FBI search of former President Donald Trump’s Florida estate. The appeal is the latest salvo in weeks of litigation over the scope of duties of the arbiter, also known as a special master, who was assigned to inspect the records taken in the Aug. 8 search of Mar-a-Lago and weed out any that may be protected by claims of legal privilege. The special master process has caused some delays to the Justice Department’s investigation into the holding of top-secret documents at the home. But a major hurdle was cleared last month when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit lifted a temporary bar on the department’s ability to use the seized classified documents as part of its criminal probe. The move permitted a core aspect of the probe to resume, greatly reducing the odds that the process could have a significant impact on the investigation. Even so, department lawyers returned to the court Friday to ask for the entire special master review to be shut down, saying the judge who made the appointment had no basis for doing so and that Trump was not entitled to an independent review of the seized records or to claim privilege over them. “Plaintiff has no plausible claim of executive privilege as to any of the seized materials and no plausible claim of personal attorney-client privilege as to the seized government records — including all records bearing classification markings,” according to the department’s brief. Putin calls his actions in Ukraine ‘correct and timely’ KYIV, UKRAINE (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday he expects his mobilization of army reservists for combat in Ukraine to be completed in about two weeks, allowing him to end an unpopular and chaotic call-up meant to counter Ukrainian battlefield gains and solidify his illegal annexation of occupied territory. Putin — facing domestic discontent and military setbacks in a neighboring country armed with increasingly advanced Western weapons — also told reporters he does not regret starting the conflict and “did not set out to destroy Ukraine” when he ordered Russian troops to invade nearly eight months ago. “What is happening today is unpleasant, to put it mildly,” he said after attending a summit of the Commonwealth of Independent States in Kazakhstan’s capital. “But we would have had all this a little later, only under worse conditions for us, that’s all. So my actions are correct and timely.” Russia’s difficulties in achieving its war aims have become apparent in one of the four Ukrainian regions Putin illegally claimed as Russian territory last month. Anticipating an advance by Ukrainian forces, Moscow-installed authorities in the Kherson region urged residents to flee Friday. Even some of Putin’s own supporters have criticized the Kremlin’s handling of the war and mobilization, increasing pressure on him to do more to turn the tide in Russia’s favor. Ukrainian deminers remove deadly threats to civilians HRAKOVE, Ukraine (AP) — Beside an abandoned Russian military camp in eastern Ukraine, the body of a man lay decomposing in the grass — a civilian who had fallen victim to a tripwire land mine set by retreating Russian forces. Nearby, a group of Ukrainian deminers with the country’s territorial defense forces worked to clear the area of dozens of other deadly mines and unexploded ordnance — a push to restore a semblance of safety to the cities, towns and countryside in a region that spent months under Russian occupation. The deminers, part of the 113th Kharkiv Defense Brigade of Ukraine’s territorial defense forces, walked deep into fallow agricultural lands on Thursday along a muddy road between fields of dead sunflowers overgrown with high weeds. Two soldiers, each with a metal detector in hand, slowly advanced up the road, scanning the ground and waiting for the devices to give a signal. When one detector emitted a high tone, a soldier knelt to inspect the mud and grass, probing it with a metal rod to see what might be buried just below the surface. The detector’s hit could indicate a spent shell casing, a piece of rusting iron or a discarded aluminum can. Or, it could be an active land mine. Kemp vs. Abrams II: Republican has incumbent advantage now ATLANTA (AP) — In 2018, Brian Kemp spent much of his campaign for Georgia governor in Stacey Abrams’ shadow as the Democratic Party star tried to become the nation’s first Black female governor. In the end, he won narrowly anyway. Then, halfway through his term, the Republican governor became the target of Donald Trump’s wrath when the defeated president threatened retribution after Kemp certified Democrat Joe Biden’s slate of presidential electors in Georgia. But not only did Kemp maintain support among most Republican voters while defying Trump, he seems to have only grown stronger heading into his rematch with Abrams. Now he wields the power of incumbency and a record that includes tax cuts and teacher pay raises. He has also drawn the praise of national Republicans for the campaign he has run while Abrams has struggled to capitalize on the star power that once had her as a possible running mate for Biden or even a candidate for president herself. US shift on Venezuelan migrants fuels anxiety in Mexico TIJUANA, Mexico (AP) — Jose Maria Garcia Lara got a call asking if his shelter had room for a dozen Venezuelan migrants who were among the first expelled to Mexico under an expanded U.S. policy that denies rights to seek asylum. “We can’t take anyone, no one will fit,” he answered, standing amid rows of tents in what looks like a small warehouse. He had 260 migrants on the floor, about 80 over capacity and the most since opening the shelter in 2012. The phone call Thursday illustrates how the Biden administration’s expansion of asylum restrictions to Venezuelans poses a potentially enormous challenge to already overstretched Mexican shelters. The U.S. agreed to let up to 24,000 Venezuelans apply online to fly directly to the U.S. for temporary stays but said it will also start returning to Mexico any who cross illegally — a number that topped 25,000 in August alone. The U.S. expelled Venezuelans to Tijuana and four other Mexican border cities since Wednesday, said Jeremy MacGillivray, deputy director of the United Nations’ International Organization for Migration in Mexico. The others are Nogales, Ciudad Juarez, Piedras Negras and Matamoros. Is Alex Jones verdict the death of disinformation? Unlikely NEW YORK (AP) — A Connecticut jury’s ruling this week ordering Alex Jones to pay $965 million to parents of Sandy Hook shooting victims he maligned was heartening for people disgusted by the muck of disinformation. Just don’t expect it to make conspiracy theories go away. The appetite for such hokum and narrowness of the judgments against Jones, who falsely claimed that the 2012 elementary school shootings were a hoax and that grieving parents were actors, virtually ensure a ready supply, experts say. “It’s easy to revel in Alex Jones being punished,” said Rebecca Adelman, a communications professor at the University of Maryland. “But there’s a certain shortsightedness in that celebration.” There’s a deep tradition of conspiracy theories across American history, from people not believing the official explanation of John F. Kennedy’s assassination to various accusations of extraterrestrial-visit coverups to unfounded allegations of the 2020 presidential election being rigged. With the Salem witch trials in 1692, they even predated the country’s formation. Trump’s subpoena and what’s next for the Jan. 6 panel WASHINGTON (AP) — In an extraordinary step, the House Jan. 6 committee has voted unanimously to subpoena former President Donald Trump — a final effort to get the full story of the Capitol insurrection as the panel wraps up its work by the end of the year. Trump still does not acknowledge the “former” in front of “president,” and he has been relentlessly hostile to the investigation. He called it a “charade and a witch hunt” in a letter to the committee on Friday — but notably did not mention the subpoena or say whether he would comply with the demand for his appearance. The attempt to compel Trump’s testimony comes as the committee is tying together multiple investigative threads and compiling its final report. The panel is only authorized through this Congress, which ends on Jan. 3. A look at what’s next as the panel sprints to its finish: THE TRUMP SUBPOENA Death toll rises to 40 in Turkey coal mine explosion AMASRA, Turkey (AP) — The death toll from a coal mine explosion in northern Turkey rose to at least 40 people Saturday, officials said. Desperate relatives had waited all night in the cold outside the state-owned TTK Amasra Muessese Mudurlugu mine in the town of Amasra, in the Black Sea coastal province of Bartin, hoping for news. There were 110 miners working in the shaft when the explosion occurred Friday evening. Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said Saturday that 40 miners were confirmed dead. Eleven were injured and hospitalized, while 58 others managed to get out of the mine on their own or were rescued unharmed. The status of one remaining miner was unclear. Energy Minister Fatih Donmez said rescue efforts were almost complete. Earlier he had said that a fire was still burning in the mine’s gallery where more than a dozen miners had been trapped. Work to isolate and cool the fire continued, he said. Preliminary assessments indicated that the explosion was likely caused by firedamp, which is a reference to flammable gases found in coal mines, Donmez said overnight. Three p...

AP News Summary At 6:07 A.m. EDT https://digitalalaskanews.com/ap-news-summary-at-607-a-m-edt-2/ Justice Dept. seeks end to arbiter’s review of Trump docs WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department has asked a federal appeals court to overturn a judge’s appointment of an independent arbiter to review documents seized during an FBI search of former President Donald Trump’s Florida estate. The appeal is the latest salvo in weeks of litigation over the scope of duties of the arbiter, also known as a special master. He was assigned last month by a judge to inspect the thousands of records taken in the Aug. 8 search of Mar-a-Lago and weed out from the investigation any that may be protected by claims of legal privilege. Putin calls his actions in Ukraine ‘correct and timely’ KYIV, UKRAINE (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin expects his troop mobilization for combat in Ukraine to end in about two weeks. That would allow him to end the unpopular and chaotic call-up meant to counter Ukrainian battlefield gains and solidify his illegal annexation of Ukrainian territory. Putin faces domestic discontent and military setbacks in a neighboring country increasingly armed with advanced Western weapons. He told reporters Friday he “did not set out to destroy Ukraine” and doesn’t regret starting the conflict. Russia’s difficulties in achieving its war aims are becoming apparent in the illegally annexed Kherson region. Anticipating an advance by Ukrainian forces, Moscow-installed authorities there urged residents to flee Friday. Ukrainian deminers remove deadly threats to civilians HRAKOVE, Ukraine (AP) — A group of Ukrainian deminers with the country’s territorial defense forces is working to clear an area in the Kharkiv region of dozens of deadly mines and pieces of unexploded ordnance. The brigade is pushing to restore a semblance of safety to the cities, towns and countryside in a region that spent months under Russian occupation. The deminers swept a remote area with metal detectors, searching for mines left behind by Russian forces that retreated from the region at the beginning of September. While many settlements in the region have finally achieved some measure of safety after fierce battles reduced many of them to rubble, Russian land mines remain an ever-present threat in both urban and rural environments. Kemp vs. Abrams II: Republican has incumbent advantage now ATLANTA (AP) — The Georgia governor’s race is a rematch of 2018, when Republican Brian Kemp narrowly defeated Democrat Stacey Abrams. But circumstances have changed. This time, it is Kemp who holds a lot of advantages as he seeks reelection. Abrams is trying to rekindle the star power that had people talking about her being president one day. Kemp became the target of Donald Trump’s wrath when the defeated president threatened retribution after Kemp certified Democrat Joe Biden’s slate of presidential electors in Georgia. But not only did Kemp maintain support among most Republican voters while defying Trump, he seems to have only grown stronger heading into his rematch with Abrams. US shift on Venezuelan migrants fuels anxiety in Mexico TIJUANA, Mexico (AP) — The Biden administration’s policy shift on Venezuelan migrants may pose an enormous challenge to overstretched Mexican shelters. The U.S. has coupled plans to let up to 24,000 Venezuelans apply online to fly to the U.S. for temporary stays with a pledge to immediately turn back Venezuelans who cross the border illegally from Mexico. The rapid expulsions expand a Trump-era policy that denies rights to seek asylum on grounds of preventing the spread of COVID-19. Venezuelans have suddenly become the second-largest nationality at the U.S. border after Mexicans, a growing challenge to President Joe Biden and neighboring allies. Is Alex Jones verdict the death of disinformation? Unlikely NEW YORK (AP) — The award of nearly $1 billion to parents of Sandy Hook shooting victims to compensate for harmful lies spread by fabulist Alex Jones isn’t likely to do much to curb disinformation, experts say. Conspiracy theories have roots too deep in American history and, as Jones proved, there’s a lot of money to be made now in spreading them. Because the ruling involved private citizens and not public figures, many purveyors of disinformation will be able to get around it. Media experts are next looking to a potential trial or settlement in the lawsuit by the Dominion voting system against Fox News for spreading disinformation about the 2020 election. Trump’s subpoena and what’s next for the Jan. 6 panel WASHINGTON (AP) — In an extraordinary step, the House Jan. 6 committee has voted unanimously to subpoena former President Donald Trump – a final effort to get the full story of the Capitol insurrection as the panel wraps up its work by the end of the year. Trump has been relentlessly hostile to the investigation, calling it a “charade and a witch hunt” in a letter to the committee on Friday. But he has not said whether he will comply with the demand for his appearance.  Even if he does, there’s no guarantee the committee would get anything different from the broadsides Trump sends out periodically. Death toll rises to 40 in Turkey coal mine explosion AMASRA, Turkey (AP) — The death toll from a coal mine explosion in northern Turkey rose to at least 40 people Saturday, officials said. There were 110 miners working in the shaft when the explosion occurred Friday evening at the state-owned TTK Amasra Muessese Mudurlugu mine in the town of Amasra, in the Black Sea coastal province of Bartin. Officials said 11 miners were injured and hospitalized, while 58 others managed to get out of the mine on their own or were rescued unharmed. The status of one remaining miner was unclear. Parkland shooter’s life sentence could bring changes to law FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — The life sentence about to be imposed on Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz could bring changes to the state’s death penalty law. Until recently, Florida law allowed the imposition of a death sentence if a majority of the jury agreed. But after the U.S. and state supreme courts rejected those laws, the Florida Legislature in 2017 voted to require jury unanimity for a death sentence to be imposed. That’s why Cruz will get life without parole, even though his jury voted 9-3 Thursday to support his execution. Relatives of Cruz’s victims and others say the law should now be changed. Cruz murdered 17 people at Parkland’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in 2018. Mel Gibson can testify at Harvey Weinstein trial, judge says LOS ANGELES (AP) — A judge has ruled that Mel Gibson can testify about what he learned from one of Harvey Weinstein’s accusers. The 66-year-old actor and director Gibson was one of many trial witnesses whose identities were revealed in court Friday. Weinstein is accused of sexual battery against the woman, who is a masseuse and friend of Gibson’s. The judge and lawyers took a break from jury selection to argue over which witnesses and evidence will be allowed during the eight-week trial. Weinstein has pleaded not guilty. Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Read More Here

On Trial: Why GOP Loyalists Blocked Trump's First Impeachment In Order To Flip Control Of The Senate | The Milwaukee Independent https://digitalalaskanews.com/on-trial-why-gop-loyalists-blocked-trumps-first-impeachment-in-order-to-flip-control-of-the-senate-the-milwaukee-independent/ October 7 began with news that during Trump’s first impeachment trial, all the Republican senators believed Trump had broken the law when he tried to force President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine to smear Hunter Biden before he would release the money Congress had appropriated to help Ukraine fight off Russia. “Out of one hundred senators, you have zero who believe you that there was no quid pro quo. None. There’s not a single one,” warned Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX), according to a forthcoming book by Politico reporter Rachael Bade and Washington Post reporter Karoun Demirjian. But then–Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) kept the Republican senators behind Trump by telling them: “This is not about this president. It is not about anything he’s been accused of doing. It has always been about November 3, 2020. It’s about flipping the Senate.” Republicans did not manage to hold the Senate, of course, in part because Trump’s fury at Republican leaders’ refusal to force Georgia to throw out its electoral votes made him depress Republican voting in the special Senate election that ultimately yielded two Democratic senators — Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock — and gave Democrats 50 seats. Because Vice President Kamala Harris, the deciding vote in the tied Senate, is a Democrat, control of the Senate shifted to the Democrats. Democratic control of the House, Senate, and presidency ushered in an economic strategy discredited by Republicans since 1981. Rather than cutting taxes and regulations to move money upward to the “supply side” of the economy in the hope that wealthy investors would expand industries and hire more workers, the Democrats focused on getting money into the hands of ordinary Americans. This investment in the “demand side” was the heart of government economic policy between 1933 and 1981 and brought about what economists know as the “great compression,” in which the wealth gap that had characterized the country in the 1920s shrank considerably. After President Ronald Reagan took office in 1981 and shifted the country toward supply side economics, that compression reversed to become the “great divergence.” Their approach to the economy made Democrats invest in economic recovery from the worst of the pandemic with the American Rescue Plan, a $1.9 trillion economic stimulus bill passed in March 2021 with no Republican votes. That bill ushered in a dramatic economic recovery—the most rapid of any of the G7 wealthy nations—with the U.S. adding ten million jobs since Biden’s inauguration. No other president in our history has seen this level of job growth in his first two years in office. A new jobs report revealed on October 7 that the U.S. economy added 263,000 jobs last month and the unemployment rate fell to 3.5%. That was more jobs and a lower unemployment rate than economists expected. That job growth has affected all Americans. The Hispanic jobless rate has fallen from 8.6% in Trump’s last month to 3.8% now; the Black jobless rate went from 9.2% to 5.8%. Notable in the numbers, though, was that K–12 education lost more than 21,000 workers in September, putting the number of teachers and support staff 309,000 people lower than it was before the pandemic. That extraordinary job growth, along with money saved during the pandemic, helped to drive inflation, as people were able to pay higher prices for goods and services jacked up by supply chain tangles, transportation shortages, and price gouging. But so far, it does not seem that we are locked into an inflationary spiral as we were in the 1970s. Seemingly paradoxically, the good news about jobs drove the stock market downward. Investors are guessing that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates to slow down the economy. If it costs more to borrow, businesses will likely cut back hiring and wages. Less money in people’s hands should slow the inflation that’s still high. The Democrats have also hammered out legislation to rebuild the nation’s infrastructure. Last November, they passed the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to rebuild the nation’s crumbling roads and bridges and to extend broadband to rural areas. More than 60% of Americans wanted infrastructure investment, and for that bill, which is often called the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the Democrats picked up “aye” votes from 19 Republican senators and 13 Republican representatives. But former president Trump attacked those Republicans who voted for the measure, insisting that Republicans’ main goal was to keep Biden from accomplishing anything. “Very sad that the RINOs in the House and Senate gave Biden and Democrats a victory on the ‘Non-Infrastructure’ Bill,” Trump said. “All Republicans who voted for Democrat longevity should be ashamed of themselves, in particular Mitch McConnell, for granting a two month stay which allowed the Democrats time to work things out at our Country’s, and the Republican Party’s, expense!” Trump loyalists threatened to strip committee assignments from Republicans who supported the bill. They complained about what Minnesota representative Tom Emmer called “President Biden’s multi-trillion dollar socialist wish list.” Arizona representative Paul Gosar said: “this bill only serves to advance the America Last’s socialist agenda, while completely lacking fiscal responsibility.” Kentucky representative Andy Barr said the measure was a “big government socialist agenda.” Iowa representative Ashley Hinson said the law was a “socialist spending spree.” Representative Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma said: “I will not support funding for policies that drive our country into socialism.” In the CNN piece that collected all those quotations, authors Edward-Isaac Dovere and Sarah Fortinsky went on to point out that, despite their insistence that government investment in infrastructure is socialism – it is not, by the way, all these representatives and more have been quietly applying to take that money to their districts, often in the same language Democrats used to justify the bill in the first place. Improving highways would “serve as a social justice measure,” Emmer wrote. “The completion of this project means improved economic opportunities for ethnically underserved communities.” Adding bicycle lanes to a rural area, Mullin wrote, “would greatly improve sustainability by reducing emissions and redeveloping an existing infrastructure plan.” The president has directed his administration not to let politics or votes for the bill influence how project grants are awarded. But for all their talk of socialism and wasteful spending, Republicans clearly understand that the American people want investment in the country and that such investment improves their quality of life. They just do not want to vote for it after years of rallying voters with a narrative that any Democratic investments in the country are far-left radicalism. On October 7, Biden named the Republicans who voted against the infrastructure law and then asked for money. Biden said, “I was surprised to see so many socialists in the Republican caucus.” Read More Here

TIM SKUBICK: This Is Only For You … – The Daily News https://digitalalaskanews.com/tim-skubick-this-is-only-for-you-the-daily-news/ By Tim Skubick | on October 15, 2022 The debate over Donald Trump is not going to end anytime soon, if ever, but two things are known for sure. He is a masterful manipulator of the political process including redefining how to win elections.  Read More Here

JD Seeks End To Arbiter’s Review Of Trump Docs https://digitalalaskanews.com/jd-seeks-end-to-arbiters-review-of-trump-docs/ FILE – An aerial view of former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Fla., on Aug. 31, 2022. The Justice Department asked a federal appeals court on Friday, Oct. 14, to overturn a judge’s appointment of an independent arbiter to review documents seized during an FBI search of former President Donald Trump’s Florida estate. (AP Photo/Steve Helber, File) WASHINGTON — The Justice Department asked a federal appeals court on Friday to shut down the work of an independent arbiter who was appointed last month to review documents seized during an FBI search of former President Donald Trump’s Florida estate. The appeal is the latest salvo in weeks of litigation over the scope of duties of the arbiter, also known as a special master, who was assigned to inspect the records taken in the Aug. 8 search of Mar-a-Lago and weed out any that may be protected by claims of legal privilege. The special master process has caused some delays to the Justice Department’s investigation into the holding of top-secret documents at the home. But a major hurdle was cleared last month when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit lifted a temporary bar on the department’s ability to use the seized classified documents as part of its criminal probe. The move permitted a core aspect of the probe to resume, greatly reducing the odds that the process could have a significant impact on the investigation. Even so, department lawyers returned to the court Friday to ask for the entire special master review to be shut down, saying the judge who made the appointment had no basis for doing so and that Trump was not entitled to an independent review of the seized records or to claim privilege over them. “Plaintiff has no plausible claim of executive privilege as to any of the seized materials and no plausible claim of personal attorney-client privilege as to the seized government records — including all records bearing classification markings,” according to the department’s brief. “Accordingly,” they added, “the special-master review process is unwarranted.” The Justice Department says it seized about 13,000 records, including roughly 100 with classification markings, during its court-authorized search in August. The department is conducting a criminal investigation into the retention of those records as well as into whether anyone obstructed its probe. As part of the investigation, the FBI has interviewed multiple Trump aides, including a lawyer for him who served as a custodian of the records and who in June presented investigators with a signed letter asserting that all the classified records the Justice Department had asked for in a subpoena had been located and turned over. Agents believed more records remained at the house, returned in August with a search warrant and removed 33 boxes of documents, including material classified at the top-secret level. Weeks later, the Trump team asked a judge in Florida, Aileen Cannon, to appoint a special master to do an independent review of the records. Cannon agreed, naming a veteran Brooklyn judge, Raymond Dearie, to inspect the records and segregate from the rest of the investigation any documents that could possibly be covered by claims of executive privilege or attorney-client privilege. The 11th Circuit subsequently lifted Cannon’s prohibition on the department’s use of the classified documents for its investigation pending Dearie’s review, as well as a requirement that the Justice Department provide those specific records to Dearie for his review. The Supreme Court on Thursday declined a request from Trump’s lawyers to intervene in the dispute. The Justice Department has repeatedly rejected the idea that a special master review was needed, and though it has been able to resume its review of the classified records, it said its investigation remains slowed by its inability to use the much larger set of non-classified documents as part of its probe. FILE – Former President Donald Trump speaks at a rally, Sunday, Oct. 9, 2022, in Mesa, Ariz. The Justice Department asked a federal appeals court on Friday, Oct. 14, to overturn a judge’s appointment of an independent arbiter to review documents seized during an FBI search of former President Donald Trump’s Florida estate. (AP Photo/Matt York, File) Read More Here

San Marcos Company Aims To Energize U.S. Magnets Supply https://digitalalaskanews.com/san-marcos-company-aims-to-energize-u-s-magnets-supply/ Eric Killelea, Staff writer Oct. 15, 2022 This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 1of6 Noveon Magnetics Inc.’s processing facility in San Marcos contains high-end industrial equipment. The company recycles rare earth minerals from used electronics to produce magnets used in many high-tech products. Courtesy of Noveon Magnetics Inc.Show MoreShow Less 2of6 A technician works in Noveon Magnetics Inc.’s processing facility in San Marcos. The company recycles rare earth minerals from used electronics to produce magnets used in many high-tech products. Courtesy of Noveon Magnetics Inc.Show MoreShow Less 3of6 Employees work at Noveon Magnetics Inc.’s processing facility in San Marcos. The company recycles rare earth minerals from used electronics to produce magnets used in many high-tech products. Courtesy of Noveon Magnetics Inc.Show MoreShow Less 4of6 Employees work in the lab at Noveon Magnetics Inc.’s processing facility in San Marcos. The company recycles rare earth minerals from used electronics to produce magnets used in many high-tech products. Courtesy of Noveon Magnetics Inc.Show MoreShow Less 5of6 Noveon Magnetics Inc. recycles rare earth minerals from used electronics at its processing facility in San Marcos to produce magnets used in many high-tech products. Courtesy of Noveon Magnetics Inc.Show MoreShow Less 6of6 Noveon Magnetics Inc. recycles rare earth minerals from used electronics at its processing facility in San Marcos to produce magnets used in many high-tech products. Courtesy of Noveon Magnetics Inc.Show MoreShow Less SAN MARCOS — In Noveon Magnetics Inc.’s lobby in San Marcos, CEO Scott Dunn stood before a table as he handled small glass bulbs filled with powdered forms of rare earth minerals that are key to the future of clean energy technologies. Dunn examined the rare earth powders, which had been mined and chemically separated from concentrated ore and precipitated as oxides. The company puts those powders through a complex process in which they are converted into metal that gets alloyed and broken into near-nano crystals, which are heated through patented technology, pressed and magnetized. Dunn picked up a 6-pound, demagnetized block off the table. “This is a neodymium magnet,” he said. “It doesn’t need a current to become a magnet. That is what we produce.” Since 2014, privately owned Noveon has been working to recycle rare earth minerals and end-of-life magnets from electronic waste to make the coveted neodymium magnets. The minerals improve the performance of those magnets, which facilitate the conversion of electricity into motion. The U.S. government and private sector is hungry for the magnets, which are essential to making air conditioners, washing machines and cooling fan motors in computers and microwaves. They’re also used in MRI machines, wind turbines, robots, fighter jets and missiles. With support from the federal government, Noveon — the only known company in the U.S. producing “sintered” neodymium magnets — envisions itself reducing this country’s dependence on China for rare earth minerals. The company, formerly known as Urban Mining Co., plans to expand its unique recycling business model to produce magnets, thereby avoiding higher mining prices and preventing shortages in the coming years. Rare earths For decades, China has “dominated” mining and processing rare earth materials, said Kelly Nash, a professor who studies them at the University of Texas at San Antonio. “The rare earths aren’t rare; they’re found in large deposits,” Nash said. “But the U.S. has a lot of restrictions around mining practices.” She said extracting rare earth minerals without creating pollution is very difficult and that the U.S lacks the type of large-scale production seen in China, mostly because of regulations to control pollution. “It’s a very dirty process to mine rare earths,” she said, “and it takes a lot of energy.” After China drove up rare earth mineral prices by choking supply in 2010, companies started to build such businesses in the United States. But China quickly reversed its position, causing prices to drop and undercutting efforts to build an American mining industry. The Trump administration in 2018 created an ambitious plan to ramp up domestic capacity and move supply chain operations to the U.S. Similarly, the Biden administration in March invoked the Defense Production Act to boost domestic production of raw materials to reduce U.S. dependence on foreign supply chains. The Defense Department has invested millions of dollars in the country’s one operational rare earth mine in Mountain Pass, Calif. MP Materials, the privately owned rare earth materials company headquartered in Nevada, has been working to modernize the facility, but the company sends the ores it mines to China for processing. The Defense Department also designated money to Lynas Corp., an Australian company extracting ores from a mine in its county, which entered its bid in partnership with Blue Line Corp., a processing company based in San Antonio. Still, a lack of domestic mining operations remains. Neodymium magnets The Biden administration is also considering ways to mine neodymium and increase domestic production of neodymium magnets, which Nash called “the strongest magnets on Earth.” Magnets “make electrical process more efficient,” Nash said, which results in the high demand for them. “The magnetic field is interdisciplinary related to the electric field,” she said. “You can take magnetic energy and dump it into the electric powered devices in a vehicle.” Last month, Biden avoided trade fights by not imposing tariffs on neodymium magnets that come mainly from China, though also from Japan and Europe. A report from the U.S. Department of Commerce shows that China produced 75 percent of American sintered neodymium magnets and recommended steps to increase domestic production. Meanwhile, the Defense Department has awarded $35 million in funding to Noveon, the lone domestic company to use the sintering process to make the magnets for clients across industry sectors, including electric vehicles, energy, artificial intelligence and robotics, medical and more. The company is also seeking funding opportunities from the U.S. Department of Energy. Ramping up production Amid high demand, Noveon said it expects top-line revenue to hit $250 million over the next three years as the company seeks to capture a slice of the global market estimated to reach $79 billion by 2030. Noveon, which has spent months installing equipment and testing the recycling process, seeks to boost production to manufacture 2,000 metric tons of magnets annually. Within five to seven years, the company projects increasing that rate to 10,000 tons per year. Global production of magnets is roughly 170,000 tons. Noveon also plans to build more facilities. Noveon’s 150,000-square-foot headquarters sits on 10 acres. The company wants to grow on 100 acres that it has bought in San Marcos. The company has been searching across Texas and the U.S., as well as internationally, for sites to build other locations. “Noveon has a strategic interest in Europe and will be exploring future international expansion opportunities,” the company said. The expansion means hiring, and the company plans to increase its workforce to more than 100 employees by 2023. It had 25 employees in 2020. Origin story In 2012, the U.S. was looking for ways to wean itself off Chinese rare earth minerals when Noveon’s founding members met at a conference in Nagasaki, Japan. They included: Dunn, from Maryland, Dunn who had attended the U.S. Naval Academy before finishing his bachelor’s degree at the University of Southern California. Peter Afiuny,another USC graduate. Miha Zakotnik, the chief technology officer and a scientist from Slovenia who earned a doctorate in material science from the University of Birmingham in England. Catalina Oana Tudor, from Romania, who earned a doctorate in computer science from the University of Delaware. They had spent time in Japan and China learning about metals and minerals industries. After meeting, they began splitting their time between China and Delaware to figure out how to recycle rare earths, and they “stumbled” onto a new patented technology that could make magnets “in an altogether better and novel way,” Dunn said. “The bigger stroke was there would be an ability to totally decentralize the supply chain and do something immediately without waiting 15 years for the (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency) to approve a mine and for it to come online, to at least mitigate, if not in some cases remove, some of the dependence on traditional Chinese supply chain materials,” Dunn said. In 2016, the company received $25 million in series A funding and stood up a 10,000-square-foot research lab and facility near Austin -Bergstrom International Airport. Two years later, the company started building the magnet facility in San Marcos, which proved to have a less expensive real-estate market than Austin. By 2020, the company started recycling rare earth minerals and making magnets. At that time, the Defense Department entered into a $28.8 million agreement with the company — before its name change — “to assist in developing a domestic source” for neodymium magnets. The magnets “are essential components for many DOD programs that enable miniaturization and high performance of guidance, propulsion and power systems,” the Defense Department said. “This investment will enable Urban Mining Company to maintain and protect critical workforce capabilities during the disruption caused by COVID-19 while strengthening a vital domestic supply chain of rare earth materials.” Since then, Noveon said it has made deals with partners, incl...

Race On To Find Survivors As Turkey Mine Blast Toll Hits 28 https://digitalalaskanews.com/race-on-to-find-survivors-as-turkey-mine-blast-toll-hits-28/ Eight others critically injured after a blast hundreds of metres below ground tore through a mine in Amasya. Published On 14 Oct 202214 Oct 2022 An explosion inside a coal mine in northern Turkey killed at least 28 people, Turkish officials said, while rescuers were trying to bring dozens of others trapped inside the mine to the surface. The blast occurred on Friday at the state-owned TTK Amasra Muessese Mudurlugu mine in the town of Amasra, in the Black Sea coastal province of Bartin. Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said on Twitter on Friday that 28 people had lost their lives in the incident. Eleven of the 58 rescued miners were still getting treatment in hospitals, Koca also said, adding that it was not clear how many people were still trapped due to the blast that occurred as 110 people were working inside. Energy Minister Fatih Donmez, who went to Amasra after the blast, said a preliminary assessment indicated the explosion was likely caused by firedamp – a reference to flammable gases found in coal mines. Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu also travelled to Amasra to coordinate the rescue operation. Soylu also would not provide a number for those still trapped. Several rescue teams were dispatched to the area, including from neighbouring provinces, Turkey’s disaster management agency, AFAD, said. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he would cancel all his other arrangements and fly to the scene of the accident on Saturday. “Our hope is that the loss of life will not increase further, that our miners will be found alive,” Erdogan said in a tweet. “All of our efforts are aimed in this direction.” The explosion occurred 300 metres (985 feet) below the entrance of the mine at around 15:15 GMT, the Bartin governor’s office said. Television images showed hundreds of people, some with tears in their eyes, congregating around a damaged white building near the entrance to the pit. Earlier, Turkey’s Maden-Is mining workers’ union attributed the blast to a build-up of methane gas, but other officials said it was premature to draw conclusions about the cause of the accident. In Turkey’s worst mine disaster, a total of 301 people died in 2014 in a fire inside a coal mine in the town of Soma, western Turkey. Read More Here

Huskies Drop Third Straight https://digitalalaskanews.com/huskies-drop-third-straight/ Home ice has not been kind to the Fort St. John Huskies. After winning their opening three games of the season on the road, the Huskies have slipped to .500, dropping their last three at home. The latest, a 2-1 loss to the Beaverlodge Blades Friday, came on a night where they out shot their opponent 51-15. “I wouldn’t say we’re playing bad, pucks just aren’t going into the net,” said team captain Cayden Frenette following the game. “I think we’ve out played every team so far but if you’re not scoring, you’re not winning.” “This is up to us now,” said veteran Tanner McCracken, who scored the team’s only goal of the game. “It’s our battle. Our loss out there.” “I think each of us individually just need to find it,” said goaltender Jackson Powers, who turned aside 13 of 15 shots directed at him. “I don’t know what that is yet but we’re going to get together as a team and keep pushing. Hopefully, something happens to get us back on track.” The Huskies will have that chance when they face the Kodiaks in Dawson Creek Saturday night, 8 p.m. at Memorial Arena. Meantime, the Kodiaks leap-frogged over the Huskies into third place with a 7-2 win over Fairview. The Sexsmith Vipers improved to 8-0 on the season with a 3-2 shootout over the Grande Prairie Wheat Kings. And, the La Crete Lumber Jacks, like Beaverlodge, earned their second win of the 2022-23 campaign with a 4-1 decision over Peace River. Here is the scoring summary from the Blades-Huskies game: 1st period: Blades: Kale Stalker (Taden Horse, Patrick Green) 5:52 Huskies: Tanner McCracken (Jaden Loverin, Nathan Brownlee) 9:40 2nd period: Blades: Kale Stalker (Ethan Taylor) 1:07 3rd period: No scoring Shots on goal: Huskies: 51 (18-15-18) Blades: 15 (7-5-3) Saves: Huskies: Jackson Powers (13/15) Blades: Terris Lappenbush (50/51) Powerplay: Huskies: 0/5 Blades: 0/2 Attendance: 501 Read More Here

From Pamphlets To Publishing: Remembering The Remarkable Career Of Samuel ‘Sammy’ Israel https://digitalalaskanews.com/from-pamphlets-to-publishing-remembering-the-remarkable-career-of-samuel-sammy-israel/ Samuel Israel was born in Bandra, a suburb of Bombay, on September 22, 1920. His family of Bene Israel Jews came from the village of Wadghar near Murud in the former Janjira state in Maharashtra’s Konkan region, and originally bore the name Wargharkar. Samuel’s grandfather Ezekiel, better known as Bapuji, joined the 4th Rifles Regiment of the British Indian army at the age of 18. When being recruited he was asked for his caste name, which he gave as “Bene Israel” and was thus enlisted as Bapuji Israel. Samuel, called Sammy by most, was the youngest in a long line of brothers and sisters, of whom 12 survived. The family had by then settled in Bandra following the early retirement of Sammy’s father Jacob Bapuji Israel from government service, including many years as Karbhari or chief administrator in Aundh state, for which he was given the title Khan Bahadur. As a result of several failed business attempts by Jacob Bapuji post-retirement, the family was in straitened circumstances. However, all the children, boys and girls, were educated to the extent they chose, except for the eldest son who sadly had to give up his plans to study engineering in the US to help support the family. The family lived in a large rented house with a sprawling garden where the children ran wild with their friends, learning to swim in the well there. Sammy remembered being provided with books and having his father read to him a great deal as a child. His mother Rachel (née Killekar) spoke and read to him mainly in Marathi. She was a gentle and reticent presence in her children’s lives, being about 15 years younger than her husband. Sammy was 13 when his father died, and his mother passed away only a few years later. His elder brothers and sisters had by then already taken on the roles of guardians and providers, and the family always stayed close and united. Sammy was educated at St Xavier’s High School in Dhobi Talao. He recalled that a large group of boys used to travel together from Bandra to Marine Lines by local train. They would walk along Hill Road about 2 km to the station to catch the train. In those days there was a solitary taxi in Bandra and a bus service was yet to start. Bandra was home to a good number of Bene Israel families, though most of their synagogues were located in the areas of Masjid and Jacob’s Circle in southern Bombay. Sammy’s family kept the sabbath and followed Jewish dietary restrictions, attending synagogue on the High Holidays. They visited regularly with other Jewish families in the vicinity. However, it was the Rawley family that provided two of Sammy’s dearest friends from his childhood, Navin and Kusum. Their father was Punjabi and mother was English; she and Sammy’s mother became close friends in spite of the language barrier. Navin, a year older than Sammy, attended St Xavier’s school and college, after which he joined the army. Sammy would have followed suit if it hadn’t been for his poor eyesight (he joined the University Training Corps in college). Sammy described himself as an indifferent student but in his last years at school he developed a fascination with science and technology, and the possibilities their application held for enhancing human welfare. He read widely in all areas of popular and semi-popular science besides a range of other subjects. After completing a BSc in chemistry at Elphinstone College he enrolled for a master’s degree at the Royal Institute of Science. But by then he was involved in student politics and soon began working for the Communist Party of India, giving up on his research. His entry into publishing was as a member of the team editing and producing the fortnightly journal of the Student’s Federation of India (The Student). As he wrote, “In addition to general editorial and production duties on the journal, I regularly contributed articles on popular science. I had become an editor and communicator.” With a group of other young people who would remain friends for life, Sammy continued as a Communist Party of India worker though he never became a card-carrying member of the party. In the early 1940s, he travelled to Bengal with other party workers for relief work during the famine. He once related how he with his friends had been at Gowalia Tank (now August Kranti Maidan) when Gandhi gave the “karenge ya marenge” (do or die) call against the British and began the Quit India movement. Though the party believed that India should support the British in the war against fascism, no young person could fail to be moved by Gandhi’s speech, my father told me. In five years’ time, on the night of August 14-15, 1947, after listening to Jawaharlal Nehru’s speech on the radio, Sammy would be among the crowds on Bombay’s lit up streets, celebrating freedom, though in the devastating shadow of riots and violence in parts of the country. Sammy’s first job was with a railwaymen’s trade union in Bombay, which involved mainly office work and publishing pamphlets. During this time he served two “short, restful” periods in jail as a political detenu in newly independent India. In the early 1950s he took up a job with People’s Publishing House along with “a bookseller friend” (possibly this was one Mr Kadri who ran Current Book House in Fort, and who was also a leftist). Based in Bombay, People’s Publishing House was owned by the Communist Party of India. It was here that Sammy’s skills in copy-editing were honed. He wrote in Editors on Editing (New Delhi: National Book Trust, 1993): … it was at PPH that I learnt that, even while one admired writers for the brilliance of their thought and their written expression, there are very few cases in which their writing would not benefit from the services of a sensitive and competent editor. Considering the highly political nature of the material published and the concern of the party for the strict adherence to its “line” one got a splendid training in ensuring that editing preserved not only the writer’s general meaning but also its minor nuances. I thus came increasingly to regard my editorial self as an authors’ consultant on written communication. I thought I had found a job that suited my abilities and inclinations, and even my limitations. Even more fortunately, I found the job interesting and believed it to be useful – my job satisfaction was complete; my salary satisfaction was not. However, when one believes [in what one is doing] much else is endured or forgotten. While at the People’s Publishing House, Sammy began reading in depth about publishing, editing, and book design, print and production, beginning with The Making of Books by Sean Jennet (1951). When People’s Publishing House shifted to Delhi in 1954, he moved there for six months, but by then his views had evolved and he was no longer a political activist; besides he was engaged to be married. He left the organisation on cordial terms, and began to explore other options. A short period of anxiety followed, as no one seemed to be keen to employ an editor with a Communist background. Sammy applied to and was rejected by several publishers, including Roy Hawkins of Oxford University Press. This indeed turned out to be fortunate, because he was finally given a break (only months before he got married in March 1955) by Parakrama Singhabahu (Peter) Jayasinghe of Asia Publishing House, on the recommendation of a common friend, Romesh Thapar. Jayasinghe, a Sinhala businessman who had prospered in rice trading during World War II, had started publishing in India in 1943. He gave Sammy as chief editor a free hand in acquiring manuscripts by Indian academics. At this point in time few English-language publishing houses were involved in academic and general publishing; even Oxford University Press under Hawkins stuck to a few pet authors – Salim Ali, AK Coomaraswamy, Jim Corbett, Verrier Elwin. Sammy would never have had the freedom to develop a list of his choice if he had been working under Hawkins. Oxford University Press would only later, under Ravi Dayal, build a formidable academic list. Unfortunately, my father kept no record of, nor spoke much about, the multiplicity of authors he published in Asia Publishing House where he worked until the late 1960s, being quickly promoted to director, editorial and production. Jayasinghe definitely had the vision and the contacts, and he recognised the talents of his employee who built up the list that is still respected today. Sammy’s excellent relations with his authors were matched by his close professional dealings with printers (in those days, Times of India Press, Leaders Press and Sangam Press), paper suppliers and binders. Srinivas (Bertie) Iyengar, who joined Asia Publishing House in 1964, told me that two people in his life greatly influenced his thought and attitudes, personal and professional. The first was DN Marshall, the widely respected librarian of Bombay University and also a friend and author of Sammy’s. Iyengar had done a year’s course in Library Science under Marshall, and was librarian at Mithibhai College for four years before joining Asia Publishing House. There he met Sammy, and said that his feelings for him were “plain, unadulterated adoration; we were on the same wavelength”. Iyengar says that he learnt all his “professional ropes” through Sammy, who was not just boss, but colleague and friend, outstanding for his “sensitivity, humility and gentleness towards subordinates. He unobtrusively taught us, making suggestions rather than imposing his opinions, and we instinctively felt he was right.” (Incidentally this is how my brother and I remember our father too. Reuben said: “… he never imposed his will or even opinion on me or on anyone else. He would let you...

TobyKeith, The Chihuahua, Is https://digitalalaskanews.com/tobykeith-the-chihuahua-is/ It’s TobyKeith’s time again. The 21-year-old chihuahua has regained the title of the world’s oldest living dog.   The previous titleholder, Pebbles, a 22-year-old South Carolina-based toy fox terrier, died on Oct. 3 after a long life full of “country music and being loved,” owner Julie Gregory wrote on Instagram. “We send our sincerest condolences to Pebbles’ family,” Kylie Galloway with Guinness World Records North America told USA TODAY on Wednesday. “I can confirm that TobyKeith currently holds the Guinness World Records title for the oldest dog living.” Pebbles earned the crown after her owners Bobby and Julie Gregory read about TobyKeith, when the Florida dog was deemed the world’s oldest by Guinness in April. The Gregorys realized Pebbles was older and applied for the record, which Guinness awarded to Pebbles in May. A champion of chonk is crowned: 747 wins 2022 Fat Bear Week, second title in three years COVID-19 boosters: FDA authorizes bivalent COVID-19 boosters for children ages 5 to 11 TobyKeith’s owner Gisela Shore of Greenacres, Fla., told USA TODAY she had sent condolences to Pebbles’ owners. “It was sad news.” And she was recently notified by Guinness that TobyKeith was “back on his throne,” Shore said. TobyKeith, who is 21¾ years old had his regular six-month visit with the veterinarian last month, and “he is in perfect health,” Shore said. Shore says she takes it easy on TobyKeith, who enjoys going on walks in the neighborhood and letting him roam around their yard. “He loves to sunbathe 10 to 15 minutes a day,” she said. He also enjoys trips to the park and frequent car rides, at least three times a week. Shore cracks the window down, “but only at a stop light,” she said. “And I do take him to get his pedicures … about every four weeks.” What’s everyone talking about?: Sign up for our trending newsletter to get the latest news of the day TobyKeith eats pretty well, too. His favorite meal Shore said is a mix of brown rice, vegetables, chicken and dog kibble. “As a treat, he still enjoys his carrots (minced into tiny little bites), and a little piece of turkey in the morning. That’s what he eats almost every day,” Shore said. A sales rep, Shore does about half of her work from home. “He’s either right behind me,” cuddled at her back in her work chair, “or at my feet,” she said. “I think he’s looking for heat.” Oh, and about that name. Shore told Guinness she adopted the chihuahua as a puppy after an elderly couple surrendered him to a shelter because they could no longer care for the dog, which had originally been named “Peanut Butter.” A country music fan, Shore had tickets to a Toby Keith concert about the time she connected with her new puppy. “And I just thought it would be funny to name a tiny little three-pound dog after this big, 6-foot, 250-pound man,” Shore said. Contributing: Wyatte Grantham-Philips and Asha Gilbert Follow Mike Snider on Twitter: @mikesnider. Read More Here

AP News Summary At 3:50 A.m. EDT https://digitalalaskanews.com/ap-news-summary-at-350-a-m-edt/ Justice Dept. seeks end to arbiter’s review of Trump docs WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department has asked a federal appeals court to overturn a judge’s appointment of an independent arbiter to review documents seized during an FBI search of former President Donald Trump’s Florida estate. The appeal is the latest salvo in weeks of litigation over the scope of duties of the arbiter, also known as a special master. He was assigned last month by a judge to inspect the thousands of records taken in the Aug. 8 search of Mar-a-Lago and weed out from the investigation any that may be protected by claims of legal privilege. Putin calls his actions in Ukraine ‘correct and timely’ KYIV, UKRAINE (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin expects his troop mobilization for combat in Ukraine to end in about two weeks. That would allow him to end the unpopular and chaotic call-up meant to counter Ukrainian battlefield gains and solidify his illegal annexation of Ukrainian territory. Putin faces domestic discontent and military setbacks in a neighboring country increasingly armed with advanced Western weapons. He told reporters Friday he “did not set out to destroy Ukraine” and doesn’t regret starting the conflict. Russia’s difficulties in achieving its war aims are becoming apparent in the illegally annexed Kherson region. Anticipating an advance by Ukrainian forces, Moscow-installed authorities there urged residents to flee Friday. Ukrainian deminers remove deadly threats to civilians HRAKOVE, Ukraine (AP) — A group of Ukrainian deminers with the country’s territorial defense forces is working to clear an area in the Kharkiv region of dozens of deadly mines and pieces of unexploded ordnance. The brigade is pushing to restore a semblance of safety to the cities, towns and countryside in a region that spent months under Russian occupation. The deminers swept a remote area with metal detectors, searching for mines left behind by Russian forces that retreated from the region at the beginning of September. While many settlements in the region have finally achieved some measure of safety after fierce battles reduced many of them to rubble, Russian land mines remain an ever-present threat in both urban and rural environments. Kemp vs. Abrams II: Republican has incumbent advantage now ATLANTA (AP) — The Georgia governor’s race is a rematch of 2018, when Republican Brian Kemp narrowly defeated Democrat Stacey Abrams. But circumstances have changed. This time, it is Kemp who holds a lot of advantages as he seeks reelection. Abrams is trying to rekindle the star power that had people talking about her being president one day. Kemp became the target of Donald Trump’s wrath when the defeated president threatened retribution after Kemp certified Democrat Joe Biden’s slate of presidential electors in Georgia. But not only did Kemp maintain support among most Republican voters while defying Trump, he seems to have only grown stronger heading into his rematch with Abrams. US shift on Venezuelan migrants fuels anxiety in Mexico TIJUANA, Mexico (AP) — The Biden administration’s policy shift on Venezuelan migrants may pose an enormous challenge to overstretched Mexican shelters. The U.S. has coupled plans to let up to 24,000 Venezuelans apply online to fly to the U.S. for temporary stays with a pledge to immediately turn back Venezuelans who cross the border illegally from Mexico. The rapid expulsions expand a Trump-era policy that denies rights to seek asylum on grounds of preventing the spread of COVID-19. Venezuelans have suddenly become the second-largest nationality at the U.S. border after Mexicans, a growing challenge to President Joe Biden and neighboring allies. Is Alex Jones verdict the death of disinformation? Unlikely NEW YORK (AP) — The award of nearly $1 billion to parents of Sandy Hook shooting victims to compensate for harmful lies spread by fabulist Alex Jones isn’t likely to do much to curb disinformation, experts say. Conspiracy theories have roots too deep in American history and, as Jones proved, there’s a lot of money to be made now in spreading them. Because the ruling involved private citizens and not public figures, many purveyors of disinformation will be able to get around it. Media experts are next looking to a potential trial or settlement in the lawsuit by the Dominion voting system against Fox News for spreading disinformation about the 2020 election. Trump’s subpoena and what’s next for the Jan. 6 panel WASHINGTON (AP) — In an extraordinary step, the House Jan. 6 committee has voted unanimously to subpoena former President Donald Trump – a final effort to get the full story of the Capitol insurrection as the panel wraps up its work by the end of the year. Trump has been relentlessly hostile to the investigation, calling it a “charade and a witch hunt” in a letter to the committee on Friday. But he has not said whether he will comply with the demand for his appearance.  Even if he does, there’s no guarantee the committee would get anything different from the broadsides Trump sends out periodically. Parkland shooter’s life sentence could bring changes to law FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — The life sentence about to be imposed on Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz could bring changes to the state’s death penalty law. Until recently, Florida law allowed the imposition of a death sentence if a majority of the jury agreed. But after the U.S. and state supreme courts rejected those laws, the Florida Legislature in 2017 voted to require jury unanimity for a death sentence to be imposed. That’s why Cruz will get life without parole, even though his jury voted 9-3 Thursday to support his execution. Relatives of Cruz’s victims and others say the law should now be changed. Cruz murdered 17 people at Parkland’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in 2018. Death toll rises to 28 in Turkey coal mine explosion AMASRA, Turkey (AP) — Officials say the death toll from a coal mine explosion in northern Turkey has risen to at least 28 people and rescue efforts continue as a fire burns in the mine. There were 110 miners working in the shaft when the explosion occurred Friday evening at the state-owned TTK Amasra Muessese Mudurlugu mine in the town of Amasra, in the Black Sea coastal province of Bartin. Officials said 58 people had been rescued and efforts to reach 15 others continue. The majority of them are in the mine’s gallery where a fire is still burning. Mel Gibson can testify at Harvey Weinstein trial, judge says LOS ANGELES (AP) — A judge has ruled that Mel Gibson can testify about what he learned from one of Harvey Weinstein’s accusers. The 66-year-old actor and director Gibson was one of many trial witnesses whose identities were revealed in court Friday. Weinstein is accused of sexual battery against the woman, who is a masseuse and friend of Gibson’s. The judge and lawyers took a break from jury selection to argue over which witnesses and evidence will be allowed during the eight-week trial. Weinstein has pleaded not guilty. Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Read More Here

Paul Ryan Predicts Trump Will Not Be 2024 Republican Nominee https://digitalalaskanews.com/paul-ryan-predicts-trump-will-not-be-2024-republican-nominee/ Former House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wisc., said he does not expect former President Donald Trump to win the Republican nomination for the presidency in 2024. Ryan, the 2012 GOP vice presidential candidate, made the comments during a discussion with Teneo, a global company that advises CEOs, for the company’s “Insight Series.” Ryan is the vice chairman of Teneo. “I think Trump’s un-electability will be palpable by then,” Ryan said. “We all know he will lose, or let me put it this way: we all know he’s much more likely to lose the White House than anybody else running for president on our side of the aisle. So why would we want to go with that?” The former congressman explained that the only reason Trump “stays where he is, is because everybody is afraid of him,” referring to Republicans. “They’re afraid of him going after them, hurting their own ambition.” DR. OZ SUPPORTS BIDEN’S FEDERAL MARIJUANA PARDONS, SAYS SENDING PEOPLE TO JAIL FOR POT IS ‘NOT A WISE MOVE’ Former House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wisc., said he does not expect former President Donald Trump to win the Republican nomination for the presidency in 2024. (AP/Reuters) Ryan predicted that any Republican electing to challenge Trump in the GOP primary is likely to be patient in announcing a bid for the White House. “I think people will delay their decisions, and they’ll wait for somebody else to take the first plunge to take the ire of Trump, to have him go after that person and try and hurt them with MAGA voters, so then they can follow behind,” Ryan said.  “So, it’s kind of a prisoner’s dilemma,” he continued. “But the person who gets in the race earlier can organize earlier, can sign up supporters earlier, can sign up donors earlier, can get a better jump on it, so it really is a total prisoner’s dilemma.” BIDEN SAYS INFLATION ‘WILL GO UP’ IF REPUBLICANS TAKE CONTROL OF CONGRESS Ryan, the 2012 GOP vice presidential candidate, made the comments during a discussion with Teneo, a global company that advises CEOs, for the company’s “Insight Series.” The Wisconsin native said he expects the Republican primary to be crowded in 2024 as some members of the party are currently riding on high favorability.  “There’s a handful of people that are going to run, because it’s the only cycle they can run in. They can’t wait until 2028,” he said. “They’ve got to go now, if they’re ever going to go. And they don’t want to die without ever trying.” Republicans viewed as potential candidates for president in 2024 include Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, former Vice President Mike Pence, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Ryan said he expects the Republican primary to be crowded in 2024 as some members of the party are currently riding on high favorability.  (AP) Ryan said if too many candidates run in the Republican primary, the non-Trump vote could be diluted and the former president would be left with amble support. But the former Speaker predicted that the Republican Party would consolidate behind a non-Trump candidate during the primary. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Highlighting recent polling showing Trump fairing poorly compared to other Republicans in a presidential matchup against Democrats, Ryan said he believes the GOP will choose someone other than the former president. “Whether he runs or not, I don’t really know if it matters,” Ryan said. “He’s not going to be the nominee, I don’t think.” Read More Here

EDITORIAL: Cat Litter Thinking Tends To Be Very Hard To Shake https://digitalalaskanews.com/editorial-cat-litter-thinking-tends-to-be-very-hard-to-shake/ Oct. 15—The concept of “furries” might have reached some readers for the first time yesterday in a story on our front page (“Congressional candidate touted debunked myths, but now says it was a mistake,” Oct. 13). The report detailed a July interview given by Ed Thelander to an alternative conservative website, as part of which the Republican candidate for U.S. representative said — are you sitting comfortably? — the following: “A major company here [in Maine] had to fire somebody because they hired them knowing she was a cat, thought she was a cat. Sitting down in a lunchroom eating tunafish, squatting down in the corner somebody walked by and meowed at her, because she meows all day long. She jumped up and leaped and she bit somebody. And that’s a factual story. That’s insane.” Thelander was in the process of bemoaning the supposed prevalence of so-called “furries,” people who identify as animals, dress up and behave like them, a trend he said was terrorizing workplaces and being wrongly accommodated by schools (by, among other things, adding litter boxes to school bathrooms). The trouble is, there’s no evidence at all that this risible wedge of culture war indignation is the case. (The website’s broadcast was called “Unrestricted Truths.”) It’s way easier to double down on something as absurd as this than it is to have the humility to walk it back. Thelander, to his credit, took full ownership of the misstep. “I don’t believe it now,” he told the paper, explaining it was something told to him again and again by many people. It’s a seemingly simple acknowledgement that will resonate with many of us; that’s how social media myths, conspiracy theories and other hoaxes take hold and take off. We hear them said around town, on TV, repeated on the nation’s most popular podcasts (Joe Rogan of “The Joe Rogan Experience” told a story specifically about cat litter just this week) and we run up against them on social media. Thelander is far from alone. Within his party, Thelander is even further from alone. According to an NBC News report released yesterday, at least 20 conservative candidates and elected officials have publicly made the litter box claim this year. In acknowledging the falsehood, however, the Bristol-based former Navy SEAL finds himself in the minority. Living in a climate so hospitable to misinformation and fringe theorizing can feel pretty dismal. According to a 2021 Quinnipiac University poll, more than 70% of Americans are of the view that conspiracy theories are “out of control.” According to a survey conducted by the Pew Research Center this past August, almost half of American adults believe the government should take steps to restrict false information. While viral myths are believed and repeated by people of all political persuasions, conservatives have propagated the majority of the most lurid and “insane” examples in America in recent years, urged on by President Trump and fueled by the rise of the likes of QAnon. A 2021 article in a journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Science also found that “conservatives have lower sensitivity than liberals, performing worse at distinguishing truths and falsehoods. This is partially explained by the fact that the most widely shared falsehoods tend to promote conservative positions.” In a golden age for falsehood, in a part of the political sphere prone to confirmation-by-echo-chamber, arriving at a conclusion like Thelander’s is the very best-case scenario. Read More Here

Doctors Expect 'significant' 2022 Flu Season https://digitalalaskanews.com/doctors-expect-significant-2022-flu-season/ The Hill Five takeaways from the Warnock-Walker debate in Georgia SAVANNAH, Ga. – Sen. Raphael Warnock (D) and his Republican opponent, former football star Herschel Walker, faced off on Friday night for their first and likely only debate, using the face-to-face meeting to make their cases to voters just a few weeks before Election Day. The debate came amid a hectic final push by the… The Daily Beast British Government Close to Collapse as Chancellor Fired After 38 Disastrous Days in Office HANNAH MCKAY/ReutersOn Thursday, just 37 days after being appointed British finance minister, Kwasi Kwarteng was asked if, in a month’s time, he would still be in his job and Liz Truss would still be prime minister. “Absolutely, 100 percent,” Kwarteng answered. “I’m not going anywhere.”Less than a day later, he was gone. Truss’ Friday removal of Kwarteng—her closest ideological ally—from the second most powerful role in government so soon after choosing him to run the British economy is easily t The Daily Beast Trump Is Going to Create Yet Another Constitutional Crisis Photo Illustration by Thomas Levinson/The Daily Beast/GettyThe Jan. 6 Committee’s issuing a subpoena to former President Donald Trump makes clear that our country is not on the brink of a Constitutional crisis—it’s already in a Constitutional crisis.The definition of just what is a Constitutional crisis may be debated, but in plain English it’s where the structure of our Constitution is stressed or broken.The Justice Department Needs to Get Out of Its Own Way in the Trump InvestigationsPresident Read More Here

Kemp Vs. Abrams II: Republican Has Incumbent Advantage Now https://digitalalaskanews.com/kemp-vs-abrams-ii-republican-has-incumbent-advantage-now-2/ ATLANTA (AP) — In 2018, Brian Kemp spent much of his campaign for Georgia governor in Stacey Abrams’ shadow as the Democratic Party star tried to become the nation’s first Black female governor. In the end, he won narrowly anyway. Then, halfway through his term, the Republican governor became the target of Donald Trump’s wrath when the defeated president threatened retribution after Kemp certified Democrat Joe Biden’s slate of presidential electors in Georgia. But not only did Kemp maintain support among most Republican voters while defying Trump, he seems to have only grown stronger heading into his rematch with Abrams. Now he wields the power of incumbency and a record that includes tax cuts and teacher pay raises. He has also drawn the praise of national Republicans for the campaign he has run while Abrams has struggled to capitalize on the star power that once had her as a possible running mate for Biden or even a candidate for president herself. “A lot of people didn’t know who I was,” in 2018, “and I was defined by a candidate who had twice as much money as I did and had the national media in her pocket,” Kemp said after one fall campaign stop. “I never could really fight through that. It’s a different story now.” The result is a confident candidate who hopes to win more than 50 percent of the vote and build substantially on the 55,000-vote margin he held in 2018, enough to avoid a runoff by fewer than 20,000 votes. “Four years ago, Democrats were almost staging a revolution for the first African American woman governor,” said Mark Rountree, a Republican pollster, describing a campaign fought on Abrams’ terms. Now, he said, she must react to Kemp: “I’d argue that it makes Stacey Abrams very small compared to who she was and how she ran four years ago.” Abrams, who remains an unquestioned party leader in Georgia and influential Democrat nationally, is still a powerful draw. She’s outraised Kemp $85 million to $60 million through the end of September. But her inner circle acknowledges a fundamental shift from 2018. “We’re in a midterm with a Democratic president, a climate that is really brutal,” campaign manager Lauren Groh-Wargo said in an interview. “People are exhausted. This is a powerful incumbent who’s gotten a boatload of federal money.” The only way to run against an incumbent, she said, is “running scared.” Kemp blends a sales job on his record with withering attacks on Abrams. He promotes the multiple tax cuts he’s signed and the multibillion-dollar surplus on the state’s balance sheet. He claims vindication for his decision to resist mask mandates, school closures and business lockdowns early in the pandemic, making sure to blast “Ms. Abrams and the radical Democrats” for taking a different approach. The governor even embraces Abrams’ national brand and fundraising prowess, reminding supporters that his rival considered the possibility of becoming Biden’s running mate in 2020. One of his most reliable applause lines: “Make sure that Stacey Abrams is not going to be our governor — or our next president.” For her part, Abrams has a broad menu of ideas for spending the state surplus. She wants more raises for law enforcement and teachers. As in 2018, she proposes expanding Medicaid under the 2010 national health insurance overhaul. Georgia remains one of the few states, all Republican-led, not to expand the program, forgoing billions of dollars for its public and private health care systems over time. Abrams criticizes Kemp’s tax cuts for being tilted to the wealthy. “Millions … for them. A debit card for you,” one of her latest ads says. Her campaign aides note, sometimes with frustration, that Kemp takes credit for a Georgia economy boosted by ample federal spending during the pandemic. Trump and Biden each signed packages that steered direct support to businesses and individuals. Notably, Kemp singled out Democrats’ March 2021 measure as wasteful. Similarly, Kemp dismisses Abrams’ spending plans as excessive and certain to require tax hikes, though independent analysis confirms that Abrams’ could deliver her promised agenda under the existing tax laws. As a rejoinder to Kemp’s talk of “radical Democrats,” Abrams has tagged her opponent as an “extremist” on guns and abortion. She cites Kemp signing a 2022 law making it legal to carry a concealed weapon without a permit and a 2019 law banning abortions in the state after the sixth week of pregnancy, before many women know they’re pregnant. The latter statute, which Kemp signed in 2019, went into effect after the U.S. Supreme Court in June overturned Roe v. Wade, a nearly 50-year precedent that legalized abortion nationwide. And she continues to criticize Kemp for signing a sweeping overhaul of state election law that she once characterized as “Jim Crow 2.0″ because it could make it harder for some Georgia voters to cast ballots. Rountree, the Republican pollster, said Abrams should distill her assertions into a clear reason voters should change governors. “She’s quibbling over how to spend a state surplus and then reacting to national issues like abortion that are presented to her,” Rountree said. But Groh-Wargo said the campaign’s research shows that abortion is an animating issue for voters, particularly among Democrats who are normally unlikely to vote and even Republicans who favor abortion rights. Groh-Wargo said also Abrams faces the burden of trying to break two historic barriers in a state that has known nothing but white men in the governor’s chair. “We’re not only doing the work to confront those biases, we’re giving voters what they want and need to make a decision,” Groh-Wargo said, explaining why Abrams explains in detail what she’d do with the job. If Kemp has a hidden vulnerability, it would be the Republicans who won’t forgive him for his opposition to Trump. Trump endorsed former U.S. Sen. David Perdue over Kemp in the GOP primary, trying to make good on his post-2020 threats. Kemp thrashed Perdue with 74% of the primary vote, and Trump has been silent on Kemp since. The question is how many of Perdue’s 262,000 primary supporters refuse to back Kemp over Abrams, either sitting out the governor’s race or giving their votes to the Libertarian Party nominee, potentially forcing a runoff by pulling Kemp below a majority. “There are plenty of Republicans still mad at Kemp,” said Debbie Dooley, an early tea party organizer and Trump ally. “I’ll never vote for him.” But Dooley conceded that Abrams herself is a coalescing force for Kemp. So much so that some Republicans marvel that Kemp, once expected to have a bruising primary fight, could be the heavyweight who carries the GOP ticket, rather than the beloved-but-embattled former University of Georgia football star Herschel Walker, who is running for the Senate against Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock. “There’s a whole lot of people who are glad their kids were in school not wearing masks,” said Martha Zoller, a conservative radio host in north Georgia. “I think we’re going to see how strong Brian really is.” ___ For more information on the midterm elections, go to: https://apnews.com/hub/2022-midterm-elections Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. Read More Here

Three Reasons Trump Just Had A Terrible Day https://digitalalaskanews.com/three-reasons-trump-just-had-a-terrible-day/ The news was fast and the former president furious yesterday as a series of blows landed that threaten his political, legal and financial standing. Let’s helicopter over the landscape and assess the damage. The Jan. 6 Committee Hearings Were Devastating and Upped the Ante on Trump Those hoping for more revelations and drama on Thursday’s hearings of the January 6 Committee were not disappointed. Much of the information was previously known in scattered form but was never packaged in such an easily understood and accessible way. The Committee covered much ground, but here are the main points that scored hits against Trump: Trump was in on plans to claim election fraud before the election even happened. One Trump ally, a conservative activist named Tom Fitton who is president of the right-wing Judicial Watch, sent the White House an email on October 31, 2020 urging Trump to claim victory on election night based solely on the in-person election returns. That would take advantage of what’s known as the “red mirage” that favors the GOP in early results. “We had an election today—and I won,” Fitton recommended Trump announce. This mirrored statements by Steve Bannon, who was recorded in October telling a group that Trump was going to declare victory on election night no matter the results. Another close advisor, Roger Stone, was even more direct. Stone said in a clip aired by the Committee: “F*ck the voting. Let’s get right to the violence.” Trump knew he lost the election and acted that way. While Trump made public pronouncements of victory, he was privately conceding to aides that he’d lost. He told witness Alyssa Farrah Griffin as he watched television showing Biden: “Can you believe I lost to this effing guy?” And when the Supreme Court refused to hear his election case, a livid Trump was overheard by witness Cassidy Hutchinson saying: “…something to the effect of, ‘I don’t want people to know we lost, Mark. This is embarrassing. Figure it out. We need to figure it out. I don’t want people to know that we lost’.” The Committee also showed that not long after the election was called for Biden, Trump ordered U.S. troops out of Somalia and Afghanistan—a move to be completed before Biden took office as a middle finger to the incoming administration. The Pentagon managed to amend that catastrophic order and proceed along a later timeline, but the order was evidence that Trump knew his own days in the White House were numbered. Nancy Pelosi was revealed to be a strong leader, while Trump watched the television purposefully doing nothing. Some of the most gripping moments came in a seven minute clip, taken from footage captured by Nancy Pelosi’s daughter Alexandra, who is a documentary filmmaker, that showed the House Speaker and Congressional leaders making urgent calls to governors of neighboring states to send in the national guard. Speaker Pelosi appeared calm and determined to restore order and to proceed with the election certification. By contrast, Trump was shown doing nothing for hours while the insurrection overtook the Capitol then tweeting out against Mike Pence at the height of the battle, further enraging his followers. Trump has been subpoenaed to testify before the Committee. As a cap to the proceedings, the nine-member Committee voted unanimously to subpoena Trump to appear before them under oath. Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) read the motion. Cheney said: “We are obligated to seek answers directly from the man who set this all in motion.” “And every American is entitled to those answers, so we can act now to protect our republic.” It is highly unlikely that Trump would agree to appear and will ultimately fight the subpoena, as others in his circle have, some successfully and others not. His response on his platform Truth Social was telling as to his view of the subpoena. Trump posted: “Why didn’t the Unselect Committee ask me to testify months ago?” “Why did they wait until the very end, the final moments of their last meeting?” “Because the Committee is a total ‘BUST’ that has only served to further divide our Country which by the way, is doing very badly—A laughing stock all over the World?” Trump Lost Again Before the Supreme Court Right as the hearings were taking place, a terse response dropped from the Supreme Court denying his motion, made earnestly and quite technically by his $3 million retainer fee lawyer Chris Kise, to vacate part of the the ruling of the Eleventh Circuit. Had it gone the other way, some 103 classified documents would have been included in the materials currently under review by Special Master Dearie. Trump may have placed his hopes on the fact that the motion would land first on the desk of Justice Clarence Thomas, who oversees the Eleventh Circuit. Justice Thomas had the power to rule on the matter himself, but many believed (correctly it now seems) that even he would not be so bold. Instead, Justice Thomas referred the question to the entire Court which issued a single sentence opinion, with no visible dissents, denying the motion. That means that Trump’s hopes that the Supreme Court would move to intervene on his behalf in the NARA-Lago matter have dimmed significantly. A more pliant Court might have found some odd basis, perhaps on the question of jurisdiction, to overturn the Eleventh Circuit. But that was not to be. With this ruling, the question of the most important documents recovered during the search of Mar-a-Lago is now pretty much settled: The Department may continue to use them in its ongoing criminal investigation, and the Special Master will not be reviewing them for questions of executive privilege. Letitia James Goes for a Potential Knockout As quite the capper on a difficult day for the former president, New York Attorney General Letitia James appeared in state court on Thursday asking the judge to freeze the assets of the Trump Organization and put in place an “independent monitor” in the pending civil suit. James is concerned that Trump is preparing to shift his assets out of New York and thus the reach of its courts. She has some reason to worry: Trump incorporated a new “Trump Organization LLC” in Delaware on September 15, 2022 then registered the company with the state of New York as “Trump Organization II LLC” on the very same day her lawsuit was filed, September 21, 2022. It isn’t clear whether the court might be willing to play along, as this would be quite a drastic step in a case that has yet to be litigated. Still, because Trump’s lawyers won’t give James any assurances that his assets won’t attempt to flee the state in advance of a judgment—she is seeking $250 million—James says the move is a necessary precaution. Read More Here

Could Trump Testify? Subpoena Sets Up Prospect Of Dramatic Political Spectacle https://digitalalaskanews.com/could-trump-testify-subpoena-sets-up-prospect-of-dramatic-political-spectacle/ The House January 6 select committee’s unanimous move to subpoena Donald Trump, demanding that he testify about his knowledge of the Capitol attack, sets up the prospect of a political spectacle as the congressional investigation races towards what could be an explosive conclusion. The former US president may decide to ignore the subpoena and decide not to cooperate with the inquiry, or alternatively, believing that he is his own best spokesman and can answer for his actions to anyone, may agree to a dramatic deposition. But whatever path Trump chooses, the decision of constitutional consequence appears certain to also become a pitched political spectacle – with each side seeking to achieve their own goals as the congressional investigation into the Capitol attack prepares to finish its work. The driving factor pushing Trump to want to testify has centered around a reflexive belief that he can convince investigators that their own inquiry is a supposed witch-hunt and convince them that he committed no crimes over January 6, according to sources familiar with the matter. Trump has previously expressed an eagerness to appear before the select committee and “get his pound of flesh” as long as he can appear live before an audience, the sources said – a thought he reiterated to close aides on Thursday after the panel voted to issue him a subpoena. But Trump also appears to have become more aware about the pitfalls of testifying in investigations, with lawyers warning him about mounting legal issues in criminal inquiries brought by the justice department and a civil lawsuit brought by the New York state attorney’s office. The former president invoked his fifth amendment right against self-incrimination more than 440 times in a deposition with the New York state attorney’s office before it filed a fraud lawsuit against him, three of his children, and senior Trump Organization executives. Trump also ultimately took the advice of his lawyers during the special counsel investigation into ties between his 2016 campaign and Russia, submitting only written responses to investigators despite initially telling advisers he wanted to testify in person to clear his name. The issue for Trump with the select committee remains whether the panel would accept a demand to testify live. The select committee has rejected testimony with conditions for virtually all witnesses, with the exception of former Trump White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson. If Trump does make his appearance contingent on conditions that the select committee cannot countenance, it is not clear what options are available to compel his testimony given his position as a former president. The chairman of the select committee, congressman Bennie Thompson, said in advance of the vote to issue Trump a subpoena that chief among the reasons the panel sought his testimony was because his singular role in driving events towards January 6 necessitated full accountability. Members on the select committee believe securing Trump’s testimony could answer several unresolved issues – such as his contacts with political operatives at the Trump war room at the Willard hotel, sources say – but Thompson added it went beyond evidence-gathering. “He must be accountable. He is required to answer for his actions,” Thompson said. But the select committee is expected to face difficulty should it seek to enforce its subpoena through the courts, with Trump’s lawyers focusing on the justice department’s office of legal counsel opinions contending that former presidents have absolute immunity from testifying to Congress. The panel’s previous attempts to force Trump White House officials to comply with subpoenas have resulted in protracted legal battles over executive privilege that were mostly resolved through some partial cooperation, such as with Trump’s former chief of staff Mark Meadows. Attempts to seek judicial enforcement against Trump would be even more time-consuming and given the justice department’s internal position on absolute immunity – a stronger protection than executive privilege – the effort might be wholly unsuccessful, legal experts said. The select committee could alternatively refer the former president to the justice department for contempt of Congress as it did with former aides Steve Bannon and Peter Navarro, but the justice department would probably decline to prosecute on the immunity standard, the experts said. The calculus appears to leave Trump with a political prisoner’s dilemma, one person directly familiar with the investigation said – adding that they believed the panel will be perceived in history as having done as much as it could to uncover Trump’s connection to the Capitol attack. Read More Here

You Can’t Acquire Arms, FG Tells Ortom, Govs https://digitalalaskanews.com/you-cant-acquire-arms-fg-tells-ortom-govs/ The National Security Council, on Friday, said sub-national governments have no power to acquire arms and ammunition for their various security outfits. The Chief of Defence Staff, General Lucky Irabor, revealed this to State House correspondents shortly after the NSC meeting chaired by the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd), at the Aso Rock Villa. Irabor, who spoke alongside the Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, said no state security outfit would be allowed to bear arms without undergoing the proper procedure. This follows a one-month ultimatum issued by the Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom, who, on Thursday, threatened to procure AK-47 rifles for the State Volunteer Community Guards if his people endorsed it. Ortom spoke during the passing-out parade of the second batch of the State Volunteer Community Guards in Makurdi, the state capital. He lamented that the Federal Government had yet to approve his request to procure automatic assault rifles. “If there is no reply in the next one month, I will revert to my people to advise on what to do because the Federal Government is complicit on the issue of herders’ attacks on the state,” said Ortom. In August, the Zamfara State Government revealed plans to procure at least 7,000 guns for operatives of the Community Protection Guards, who will be deployed in rural communities and villages to protect residents from bandits. Ondo State Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu, had earlier faulted the Presidency for allegedly approving weapons for the Katsina State Security Outfit while the Amotekun Corps in his state was denied such opportunity. But the Presidency has remained firm, saying “no state has approval or authorisation for automatic weapons.’’ “Under the existing regulations, only the Office of the National Security Adviser can issue such authorisation, upon proper clearance by the President and Commander-in-Chief. At this moment, no such approvals have been issued to any state government. “In the specific Katsina State often cited, the Governor, Aminu Bello Masari wrote to explain that the administration invited the Provost of the Civil Defence Training College in Katsina to train their Vigilantes for five days in the handling and operations of pump action rifles,’ emphasising that ‘’the vigilantes were not trained to take over the responsibilities of the security agencies of the Federal Government of Nigeria but to assist them,’” the President’s spokesman, Garba Shehu, said in a statement in September. Echoing the government’s stance on Thursday, the CDS said, “you do not ask for what you do not have the power to acquire.” “No state has been given a licence for that (automatic AK-47 riffles). And the sole responsibility of licensing lies with the federal government agencies. Also, it is to be used by government security agencies and not quasi-security forces. So, you do not ask for what you do not have the power to acquire,” the CDS insisted. The interior minister, Aregbesola, explained further, “Let’s first debunk the insinuation and false information that state governments have been empowered to arm any of their security outfits. “There is a procedure for whoever wants to bring in weapons legally. And whoever is authorised by the law of the land to bring in legitimate ammunition, including the army, must go through that process. So, whoever wants to import ammunition or weapons is advised to go through the legitimate process.” The Council also directed the Offices of the National Security Adviser and Secretary to the Government of the Federation to convene a “strong team” to investigate the rising spate of crude oil theft in the Niger Delta and expose those behind it. Read More Here

'They Hated Him.' Former Subordinate Recalls Serving Under Russia's New Top Commander In Ukraine | CNN https://digitalalaskanews.com/they-hated-him-former-subordinate-recalls-serving-under-russias-new-top-commander-in-ukraine-cnn/ Putin’s new Ukraine war commander has a history of brutality 02:33 – Source: CNN CNN  —  Russian President Vladimir Putin’s devastating war on Ukraine is faltering. Now, there’s a new general in charge – with a reputation for brutality. After Ukraine recently recaptured more territory than Russia’s army took in the last six months, Russia’s Ministry of Defense last Saturday named Sergey Surovikin as its new overall commander for operations in the war. Notably, he previously played an instrumental role in Russia’s operations in Syria – during which Russian combat aircraft caused widespread devastation in rebel-held areas – as Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Aerospace Forces. CNN spoke to a former Russian air force lieutenant, Gleb Irisov, who served under him in Syria. He said Surovikin was “very close to Putin’s regime” and “never had any political ambitions, so always executed a plan exactly as ​the government wanted.” Analysts say Surovikin’s appointment is highly unlikely to change how Russian forces are carrying out the war but that it speaks to Putin’s dissatisfaction with previous command operations. It is also, in part, likely meant to “mollify” the nationalist and pro-war base within Russia itself, according to Mason Clark, Russia Lead at the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) think-tank. Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, who has called for Russia to “take more drastic measures​” ​including the use of “low-yield nuclear weapons” in Ukraine following recent setbacks, welcomed the appointment of Surovikin, who first saw service in Afghanistan in the 1980s before commanding a unit in the Second Chechen War ​in 2004. Praise from Kadyrov, who is ​a key Putin ally, is significant, perhaps, as he himself is notorious for crushing all forms of dissent. “I personally ​have know​n Sergei very well for almost 15 years. I can definitely say he is a real general and warrior, experienced, headstrong and foresighted commander who always takes patriotism, honor and respect above all,” Kadyrov posted on social media, following news of Surovikin’s appointment last Saturday. “The united army group is now in safe hands,” he added. Irisov, Surovikin’s former subordinate, left his five-year career in the armed forces after his time in Syria because his own political views conflicted with what he experienced. “Of course, you understand, who is right and who is wrong,” Irisov said. “I witnessed a lot of stuff, being inside the system.” Irisov then began what he hoped would be the start of a career as an international journalist, as a military reporter with Russian state news agency TASS. His wife worked there and he felt at the time it was “the only main information agency” that tried to ​cover news in an “unbiased” way, with “some opportunity of freedom of speech,” he said. “Everything changed” on February 24, 2022, when Putin’s invasion of Ukraine began and TASS received orders from the FSB security service and defense ministry “that everyone will be prosecuted if they don’t execute the propaganda scheme,” Irisov said. He had family in Kyiv, hiding in bomb shelters, and told CNN he knew “nothing could justify this war.” He also knew from his military contacts that there were already many casualties in the first days of the war. “For me it was obvious from the beginning,” Irisov recalled. “I tried to explain to people this war will lead to the collapse of Russia… it will be a great tragedy not only for Ukrainians but also for Russia.” Irisov fled Moscow with his pregnant wife and young child on March 8, 2022, after standing against the invasion. He had quit his job at TASS and signed petitions and an open letter against the war, he told CNN. After traveling to Armenia, Georgia, Turkey and finally Mexico, where they contacted the US embassy to ask for help, they are now working to start a new life in West Virginia. While serving at Latakia air base in Syria in 2019 and 2020, the 31-year-old says he worked on aviation safety and air traffic control, coordinating flights with Damascus’ civilian airlines. He ​says he saw Surovikin several times during some missions and spoke to high-ranking officers under him. “He made a lot of people very angry – they hated him,” Irisov said, describing how the “direct” and “straight” general was disliked at headquarters because of the way he tried to implement his infantry experience into the air force. Irisov says he understands Surovikin had strong connections with Kremlin-approved private military company the Wagner group​, which has operated in Syria. The Kremlin denies any connections to Wagner and insists that private military companies are illegal in Russia. Surovikin, whose military career began in 1983, has a checkered history, to say the least. In 2004, according to Russian media accounts and at least two think tanks, he berated a subordinate so severely that the subordinate took his own life. And a book by the think tank the Washington DC-based Jamestown Foundation says that during the unsuccessful coup attempt against former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev in August 1991, soldiers under Surovikin’s command killed three protesters, leading to Surovikin spending at least six months in prison. CNN has reached out to the Russian Ministry of Defense for comment on Surovikin’s appointment and regarding allegations about his harsh leadership. In a 2020 report, Human Rights Watch named him as “someone who may bear ​command responsibility” for the dozens of air and ground attacks on civilian objects and infrastructure in violation of the laws of war​” during the 2019-2020 Idlib offensive in Syria. ​The attacks killed at least 1,600 ​civilians and forced the displacement of an estimated 1.4 million people, according to HRW​​, which cites UN figures. During his time in Syria, the ​now-56-year-old was awarded the title of Hero of the Russian Federation. In February this year, Surovikin was sanctioned by the European Union in his capacity as head of the Aerospace Forces “for actively supporting and implementing actions and policies that undermine and threaten the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine as well as the stability or security in Ukraine.” Irisov believes there are three reasons why he has been put in charge in Ukraine now: his closeness to the government and Putin; his interbranch experience with both the infantry and air force; and his experience since the summer commanding Russian forces in the southern Ukrainian regions of Kherson, Zaporizhzhia and Crimea. These are areas that Putin is trying to control “at any cost,” said Irisov. Just two days after Surovikin’s appointment on Saturday, Russia launched its heaviest bombardment of Ukraine since the early days of the war. Surovikin is “more familiar with cruise missiles, maybe he used his connections and experience to organize this chain of devastating attacks,” Irisov said​, referencing the reports that cruise missiles have been among the weapons deployed by Russia in this latest surge of attacks. But Clark, from the ISW, suggests the general’s promotion is “more of a framing thing to inject new blood into the Russian command system” and “put on this tough nationalist face.” His appointment “got widespread praise from various Russian military bloggers as well as Yevgeny (Prigozhin), who’s the financier of the Wagner Group,” Clark said. He believes what’s happening now is a reflection of what happened in April, when another commander, Alexander Dvornikov, was appointed overall commander of the operations in Ukraine. “Similarly, he before then was a commander of one of the groupings of Russian forces and had sort of a master reputation in Syria much like Surovikin for brutality, earning this sort of name of the ‘butcher of Aleppo,’” Clark said. Dvornikov was also seen at the time as the commander “that was going to turn things around in Ukraine and get the job done,” he added. “But an individual commander is not going to be able to change how tangled Russian command and control is at this point in the war, or the low morale of Russian forces.” Andrea Kendall-Taylor, director of the Transatlantic Security Program at the Center for a New American Security, also told CNN this week that Surovikin’s appointment “reflects the ascendancy of a lot of hardline voices inside Russia… calling on Putin to make changes, and to bring in someone who would be willing to execute these ruthless attacks.” Clark reasons that “from what we’ve seen, it’s highly ​probable that Putin is involved in decision-making down to a very tactical level and in some cases bypassing the senior Russian military officers to interact directly on the battlefield.” Surovikin personally signed Irisov’s resignation papers from the air force, he says. Now, Irisov sees him put in charge of operations in Putin’s brutal war in Ukraine – but what impact the general will or can have is not yet clear. According to Clark, “there isn’t a good Kremlin option if Surovikin doesn’t perform or if Putin decides that he is also not up to the task. There aren’t many other senior Russian officers and it’s just going to lead to a further degradation of the Russian war effort.” Read More Here

Blake Masters Is Already Claiming His Election Will Be Stolen https://digitalalaskanews.com/blake-masters-is-already-claiming-his-election-will-be-stolen/ Photo Illustration by Luis G. Rendon/The Daily Beast; Getty In his campaign to unseat Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Republican Blake Masters has consistently amplified skepticism and conspiracy theories surrounding the outcome of the 2020 presidential election. But during the final stretch of his own 2022 race, Masters is starting to cast doubt on the outcome of this election—before the votes are even counted. At a campaign stop on Tuesday in a small town north of Phoenix, Masters was confronted with one voter’s concern that he could win by a “landslide” but that voting machines would “flip the vote” in Kelly’s favor, according to audio of the event obtained by The Daily Beast. “Unfortunately, we still have the machines in this election,” Masters replied. The “machines” refer to Dominion Voting Systems’ machines, which were used in Arizona and have been the subject of countless unfounded conspiracies. Maricopa County, home to Phoenix, used paper ballots in the 2020 election; audits found no evidence of fraud. Masters expanded on the voter’s concern by recounting a conversation he had with his father before launching his campaign. In Masters’ telling, his father said he didn’t want him to run because he couldn’t beat Kelly, because of voter fraud. Blake Masters Tells Fox News He Still Believes Trump Won in 2020 “But say you beat Mark Kelly by 30,000 votes,” Masters said. To which his father responded: “I’m worried they’ll just find 40,000 for Mark Kelly.” “He invited me to prove him wrong,” Masters continued. “I said, ‘Dad, I can’t prove you wrong. All I know is, if those are the numbers, I’ve got to win by 80,000.” At that line, the crowd exploded in applause. A spokesperson for Masters did not respond to The Daily Beast’s questions asking Masters to explain his exact concerns about voting machines. Sarah Guggenheimer, a spokesperson for Kelly, said in a statement that Masters is “dabbling in conspiracy theories” and “has made it clear that he is willing to threaten our democracy because he believes his baseless lies matter more than Arizonans’ right to vote.” The GOP hopeful’s comments on Tuesday mark at least the second time he has publicly cast doubt on the upcoming November election. In June, before his primary election, Masters told a crowd about 2020, “whatever their cheating capacity is, I’m pretty sure they pulled out all the stops… And the question is, will that happen again?” These days, in the pro-Trump right, the idea that Republicans candidates need to win by wide margins so that they can overcome systemic pro-Democrat voter fraud is prevalent. Candidates have struggled to carefully validate continued baseless suspicion of voter fraud while not sowing so much doubt in the system that they turn off GOP voters. Emails Reveal Senate GOP Candidate Blake Masters Defended 9/11 Conspiracy Theorists The failure of that balancing act arguably cost Republicans control of the Senate in 2020. In the pivotal Georgia runoffs, former Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler amplified suspicion in the state’s election system and called for the resignation of the GOP Secretary of State while urging the party faithful to vote anyway. They didn’t, and both lost, with turnout noticeably lower in conservative areas. Like Georgia, Arizona has been at the forefront of 2020 election conspiracies and continues to produce Republican leaders who put fixation on Trump’s loss at the center of their political agenda. Mark Finchem, the GOP candidate for Secretary of State, has premised his candidacy on the lie of a stolen election, causing widespread alarm about how he might handle the 2024 election if elevated to the position. Masters, the 36-year old protege of conservative tech billionaire Peter Thiel, launched his GOP primary campaign as a hardline election denier. “I think Trump won in 2020,” begins one Masters video posted to Twitter last November. After his primary win, Masters backed away from that position slightly, scrubbing his campaign website to soften his rhetoric around 2020. But he has since shifted again, telling Fox News last week that he still believes Trump should be in power now. The contest between Kelly and Masters is expected to be among the closest in the country and could determine which party controls the U.S. Senate. In 2020, Kelly defeated former Sen. Martha McSally (R-AZ) by roughly 80,000 votes, while President Joe Biden defeated Trump by a mere 10,500-vote margin. Read more at The Daily Beast. Get the Daily Beast’s biggest scoops and scandals delivered right to your inbox. Sign up now. Stay informed and gain unlimited access to the Daily Beast’s unmatched reporting. Subscribe now. Read More Here