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A Shaken Supreme Court Returns To Chambers
A Shaken Supreme Court Returns To Chambers
A Shaken Supreme Court Returns To Chambers https://digitalalaskanews.com/a-shaken-supreme-court-returns-to-chambers/ “We get to the head table … there he is with his lovely wife and I said, ‘My God, my God, it is him.’ And I look on the program and he was giving the keynote,” the professor said. Alito’s appearance at the University of Notre Dame-organized conference flew under the radar for a week as he was omitted from the list of speakers made public in advance. The atmosphere of secrecy around Alito’s appearance in Italy and his short-lived beard — gone by the time the justices reconvened last week — were just two indicators of the unusually tense times for the court, which returns to chambers to take up cases Monday. The normally relaxed season for heading to vacation homes and teaching abroad was marked by the most intense security footing ever for the justices, along with uncommonly public internecine strife among the court’s members, unleashed by the 5-4 decision in June overturning the federal constitutional right to abortion. Added to that fraught mix was a heaping dollop of suspicion in the each of court’s rival ideological camps about who was responsible for the unprecedented disclosure to POLITICO of a draft opinion in the high-stakes abortion case and uncertainty about an investigation Chief Justice John Roberts ordered into the breach. Speaking at a judges’ conference in Colorado last month, Roberts sounded exhausted by it all. “The last year was an unusual one and difficult in many respects. It was gut-wrenching every morning to drive into a Supreme Court with barricades around it,” Roberts said. “I think, with my colleagues, we’re all working to move beyond it.” Roberts is clearly craving a return to normalcy as the court’s new term opens Monday with arguments on federal powers to regulate water pollution and Delaware’s right to unclaimed MoneyGram checks issued in other states. However, the stresses of the past year remain evident and won’t be erased simply by the justices throwing themselves back into their work or by welcoming their newest colleague, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, as they did last week. For one thing, all the justices remain under much tighter security than in previous years. During a recent trip to Chicago, Justice Elena Kagan was accompanied by about a half-dozen security personnel. Longtime court watchers said that’s a much more substantial detail than justices used to get on trips out of Washington. Indeed, some often traveled with no bodyguards at all. Before Kagan’s appearance at Northwestern University’s law school last month, security personnel swept through the room, ordering those standing in the rear and aisles of the auditorium to take seats or proceed to an overflow area. “The Secret Service won’t allow anyone to be standing,” one organizer announced. (Security for justices is provided by the U.S. Marshals Service and the Supreme Court Police.) The directive was quickly defied as the audience jumped to its feet when Kagan entered. The justices remain under 24-hour guard at their homes, some of which continue to see raucous protests over the court’s June ruling wiping out the federal guarantee of abortion rights. In early July, the court also sent unusual letters to officials in Maryland and Virginia, urging them to crack down on the demonstrations under local laws and regulations. People close to the justices say some have chafed at the increased security, while others have complained that aspects of the protection arrangements are too lax or ham-handed. When a California man stepped out of a taxi in front of Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s Chevy Chase, Md., home in June at 1 a.m., deputy U.S. Marshals stationed on Kavanaugh’s lawn spotted him but did not confront him, according to court documents. The man, Nicholas Roske, then made his way to a home on a nearby street close to Kavanaugh’s home and was arrested only after he called his sister to say he was planning to kill the justice. When police arrived, they found in Roske’s bags a pistol and ammunition, a tactical knife, pepper spray, various tools and padded hiking boots that may have allowed him to move around a home in near-silence. Despite the continuing threat, the court is set to partially re-open to the public Monday after a two-and-a-half-year closure spurred initially by the coronavirus pandemic but prolonged by anger over the abortion ruling. Members of the public will be admitted to the court’s arguments this month, but the building remains closed to the thousands of tourists who typically throng its halls and frequent the gift shop and cafeteria. No date for a broader reopening has been announced. Even as the term opens, two of the justices show no sign of backing away from a public quarrel that broke out following the abortion ruling. Kagan has used at least four speaking engagements in the last few months to charge that the Supreme Court’s declining stature in opinion polls is a result of perceptions that the justices are indulging their personal policy preferences rather than sticking to recognized principles for interpreting the Constitution and federal statutes. “When courts become extensions of the political process, when people see them as extensions of the political process, when people see them as trying just to impose personal preferences on a society irrespective of the law, that’s when there’s a problem — and that’s when there ought to be a problem,” Kagan said during her remarks at Northwestern. Kagan’s comments about the Supreme Court’s legitimacy seemed to draw a rebuttal from Roberts, who contended that unpopular decisions shouldn’t cast doubt on the legitimacy of the court. “I don’t understand the connection between opinions people disagree with and the legitimacy of the court,” Roberts said at the Colorado conference last month, without mentioning Kagan by name. “Simply because people disagree with an opinion is not a basis for questioning the legitimacy of the court.” Last week, Alito fanned the flames by publicly countering Kagan. “It goes without saying that everyone is free to express disagreement with our decisions and to criticize our reasoning as they see fit. But saying or implying that the court is becoming an illegitimate institution or questioning our integrity crosses an important line,” he said in a statement to the Wall Street Journal. The justices often respond to questions about their polarization with banal anecdotes about shaking hands before arguments or eating lunch together at the court while talking about subjects other than the pending cases. But Kagan suggested last week that a willingness to engage in small talk about family events or baseball isn’t a substitute for more substantive engagement she believes is eroding at the court. “To be a truly collegial court, you have to be talking about more than, ‘Do they talk about baseball together?’ You have to be talking about, ‘Can they engage on the real work that they are doing in collegial and collaborative ways?’“ Kagan declared at Salve Regina University in Rhode Island. Amid the numerous signs of a fractious high court, some of the justices kept to their routines this summer, while others stayed largely out of public view. Justice Amy Coney Barrett spoke at a business conference in Big Sky, Mont., while Kavanaugh attended judges’ conferences in Kentucky and South Dakota, according to CNN. Roberts spent much of the summer at his second home on an island off the Maine coast. “He was up here for a good eight weeks,” said a neighbor who asked not to be named. “I think that he found some restorative rest here … He led a very normal life, came to the mainland every day, went to the coffee shop, played golf periodically and went out on the boat.” But, for some, the court’s contentious decisions were never far behind. Videos of the Rome event Alito popped up at show him joining in some of the tours with other attendees like West and attending other panel discussions and speeches. However, the left-leaning West said he declined to join in when the rest of the attendees gave Alito a standing ovation at the black-tie gala dinner. The professor, now with Union Theological Seminary in New York, said he also alluded to the abortion decision and the threats Alito now faces. “I couldn’t give him a standing ovation. We’re in serious battle,” West said. “I shook his hand and said, ‘God bless you and your precious family. You know that you and I are in struggle?’ And he said, ‘Yes.’” Erin Smith contributed to this report. Read More Here
·digitalalaskanews.com·
A Shaken Supreme Court Returns To Chambers
Governor Dunleavy Establishes Office Of Energy Innovation Alaska Native News
Governor Dunleavy Establishes Office Of Energy Innovation Alaska Native News
Governor Dunleavy Establishes Office Of Energy Innovation – Alaska Native News https://digitalalaskanews.com/governor-dunleavy-establishes-office-of-energy-innovation-alaska-native-news/ (Anchorage, AK) – Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy Friday signed Administrative Order No. 340 creating the Office of Energy Innovationto address the evolving energy needs of Alaska. The A.O. is issued amid recent destabilizing global events that have illustrated the importance of energy independence and with recognition of the positive economic impacts that come from domestic energy production. The Office of Energy Innovation, operating within the Office of the Governor, will develop policies to support the centralization of the state’s efforts to provide safe, sustainable, affordable, and reliable energy resources for all Alaskans. The Office of Energy Innovation is formed with the purpose of developing policies that enable Alaska to capitalize on its vast energy potential to lower cost of energy and enhance the stability of energy delivered to Alaskans; to collaborate with public and private institutions to develop pragmatic, market-driven solutions; to assist all communities in accessing innovative technology and necessary funding to secure low cost reliable energy; and support efforts that enhance Alaska’s role in a national clean energy future through the development of a strong and responsible critical minerals mining program and the investment in emerging energy technologies. “Alaska is an energy giant in all its forms. We’ll continue to be an oil and gas giant, but we are all in for every form of energy – wind, solar, hydro, tidal, geothermal, micronuclear, and hydrogen. The Office of Energy Innovation will coordinate this pursuit of sustainable, dependable, and affordable energy,” said Governor Mike Dunleavy. “From AEA’s electric vehicle charging station plan to the U.S. Air Force this week releasing a RFP for the Eielson Air Force Base micro-reactor pilot program, Alaska has seen a number of exciting developments recently. This is an exciting time for energy and the Office of Energy Innovation will make sure we don’t miss a single opportunity to support Alaska’s energy independence.” Governor Dunleavy announced the Office of Energy Innovation at Alaska Energy Authority (AEA) in Anchorage, alongside DNR Acting Commissioner Akis Gialopsos, AEA Executive Director Curtis Thayer, John Burns, president & CEO of Golden Valley Electric Association, Tony Izzo, chief executive officer of Matanuska Electric Association, Gwen Holdmann, associate vice chancellor of University of Alaska, Frank Richards, president of Alaska Gasline Development Corporation. “Alaskans need energy supplies that are stable and secure,” said acting DNR Commissioner Akis Gialopsos. “A coordinated effort under Governor Dunleavy’s Office is a tremendous step forward that focuses agencies’ efforts on Alaska becoming a leader in both carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) and building the critical minerals of this state and nation.” “As the State’s energy office, we are committed to ensuring that all Alaskans have access to safe, reliable, affordable energy,” said Curtis W. Thayer, AEA Executive Director. “This Administrative Order builds on and reaffirms the work that the State of Alaska has already undertaken with our partners here today, and will contribute to economic growth and job creation, as we accelerate our transition to a clean energy economy.” “Alaska has tremendous capacity to produce clean and affordable hydrogen in the form of ammonia to meet the growing demand from Alaskans and world markets. The Alaska LNG project can deliver North Slope natural gas to re-start existing and jump start future ammonia production in Nikiski,” said Frank Richards, AGDC President. “Governor Dunleavy’s new Office of Energy Innovation will foster vital collaboration between numerous Alaska stakeholders to craft a versatile and innovative energy future for Alaska and the nations around the world who look to us for energy abundance and security.” “Safe, reliable, affordable and sustainable energy is critical to Alaska’s economic and social viability,” said John Burns, Golden Valley Electric Association President. “The Office of Energy Innovation will ensure focused coordination and collaboration amongst all stakeholders to leverage and maximize Alaska’s abundant natural resources and state and federal funding opportunities to positively transform Alaska’s energy future.” “We stand at the crossroads of a pivotal moment for the future of energy in the State,” said Tony Izzo, CEO of Matanuska Electric Association. “MEA is united with the other interconnected Railbelt utilities in our commitment to work with the Governor, legislature and other stakeholders to be a catalyst for a secure, clean and diverse energy mix that can drive economic growth and a vibrant Alaska.” “Microreactors and modular nuclear reactors are fast approaching market readiness, and with the planned project at Eielson AFB in 2027 Alaska is poised to be an early adopter of this emerging technology,” said Gwen Holdmann, UAF Associate Vice Chancellor. “With this A.O., I am excited to see the Dunleavy administration pull together numerous ongoing and independent activities related to energy planning that impact the future of Alaska. Energy security and planning is an issue that impacts all Alaskans, whether as individuals dependent on a reliable source of energy for electricity and to heat our homes, or as a means to power our state’s economy today, and well into the future.” The A.O. takes effect immediately and will utilize existing personnel and resources within the Office of the Governor. ###   alaska governor, dunleavy, economy, energy, innovation, office Read More Here
·digitalalaskanews.com·
Governor Dunleavy Establishes Office Of Energy Innovation Alaska Native News
A New Justice At The U.S. Supreme Court And An Idaho Wetlands Case Up First Kansas Reflector
A New Justice At The U.S. Supreme Court And An Idaho Wetlands Case Up First Kansas Reflector
A New Justice At The U.S. Supreme Court, And An Idaho Wetlands Case Up First – Kansas Reflector https://digitalalaskanews.com/a-new-justice-at-the-u-s-supreme-court-and-an-idaho-wetlands-case-up-first-kansas-reflector/ When the U.S. Supreme Court opens its fall term on Monday, a few things will be different. A Black woman, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, will hear oral arguments for the first time ever. And the public will be allowed into the room for the first time since early 2020. The content of the term’s first case, though, will be familiar to many who have followed federal water policy for the past several years. The case is a challenge to the definition of “waters of the United States,” which delineates which wetlands the federal government can regulate under the Clean Water Act. The case, brought by an Idaho couple, could further restrict the Environmental Protection Agency’s authority to regulate environmental protections, just as one of the last decisions by the conservative majority in the most recent term curbed the agency’s power to regulate greenhouse gases. A history-making day Monday will be the first day Jackson joins the ritual of oral arguments in the ornate chamber as one of nine Supreme Court justices. Jackson, a Harvard Law School grad and former federal judge who grew up in Miami, took the oath of office in June following an often–contentious Senate confirmation process.  On Friday, she took part in an investiture ceremony, which mirrors stylistic aspects of the swearing-in. The investiture, though, is purely symbolic. Jackson has been a member of the court since taking her oath of office. Although the event was only symbolic, President Joe Biden and a handful of top White House staff members, along with several members of Congress, including Rep. Hank Johnson of Georgia and Sens. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and Cory Booker of New Jersey, all Democrats, attended the six-minute event.  Booker, who is Black, brought tears to Jackson’s eyes at a fraught time in the confirmation hearing when he spoke of the importance of Jackson’s role in history and as a role model to young Black people. U.S. Sen. Ben Sasse, a Nebraska Republican who sits on the Judiciary Committee, was the only senator who voted against Jackson’s confirmation to attend Friday’s ceremony. His presence seemed intended to make a point about the need to respect institutions, even amid good-faith disagreement with individuals.  In a statement, Sasse, who is white, said that he disagreed with Jackson’s judicial philosophy but that their disagreement was respectful and impersonal. He urged members of both parties not to attack the court itself. “Right now, there’s a lot of sound and fury about whether or not the Supreme Court has lost legitimacy,” Sasse said in the statement. “It’s a load of bunk. The Court’s legitimacy comes from its constitutional role, not the popularity of its opinions. I’m certain that I won’t agree with all of Justice Jackson’s opinions, but I’m not going to attack the credibility of the Court when we see things differently, and I wish more of my colleagues would take a similar approach.” During the March hearings at the Judiciary Committee, Sasse avoided the most salacious attacks on Jackson launched by other Republicans and bemoaned publicity-seeking “jackassery” in the chamber. Members of the U.S. Supreme Court pose for a photo Sept. 30, 2022, in the justices’ conference room. From left: Amy Coney Barrett, Neil Gorsuch, Sonia Sotomayor, Clarence Thomas, John Roberts, Ketanji Brown Jackson, Samuel Alito, Elena Kagan and Brett Kavanaugh. (Collection of the Supreme Court of the United States) Court’s legitimacy Jackson is not expected to affect the court’s ideological balance, as she replaced Stephen Breyer, who’d been among the court’s liberal minority before his retirement. With three justices appointed by former President Donald Trump, the court’s last term was its most conservative in decades, culminating with a ruling overturning Roe. v. Wade, the landmark 1973 case that guaranteed the right to an abortion nationally. The three liberal justices, Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor and the since-retired Breyer, wrote a scathing dissent that the decision “undermines the Court’s legitimacy.” The court’s departure from its own precedent in the Dobbs case “calls into question this Court’s commitment to legal principle,” they wrote. “It makes the Court appear not restrained but aggressive, not modest but grasping. In all those ways, today’s decision takes aim, we fear, at the rule of law.” Americans’ opinions of the court have declined over the past two years, along with its rightward shift. A nationwide Marquette Law School poll conducted in September found 60% of respondents disapproved of the court, while only 40% approved. The results represented a 53-point drop in net favorability from the same survey in 2020, when twice as many respondents held favorable views as those with unfavorable views. Other events have also threatened the court’s reputation. Justice Clarence Thomas did not recuse himself from a case about the House Jan. 6 committee’s access to presidential records and was the sole justice to vote in favor of restricting those records. The records later showed that his wife, Nebraska native Virginia “Ginni” Thomas, had exchanged several texts with then-White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows spreading false claims that the election was stolen. Additionally, a draft of the Dobbs decision overturning Roe v. Wade was leaked to news media months before it was published in what several experts said was an “unprecedented” breach of the court’s protocol that launched an internal investigation. New court rules, old issue Monday will mark the first time since March 2020 that the court will allow the public to attend oral arguments. Masks will be optional.  The court will continue to live-stream audio from oral arguments, a practice the staid court only adopted while it limited attendance during the pandemic. The first oral arguments made under the new rules involve the EPA’s authority under the Clean Water Act to regulate “waters of the United States.” The 1972 law changed the criteria for what constituted a federally protected waterway away from one that is navigable to any “waters of the United States.”  That definition has shifted since the law was passed, and particularly as the last three presidential administrations have enacted rules to define it.  In 2015, President Barack Obama’s administration issued a definition that some, especially Republicans, viewed as expanding federal jurisdiction. His successor, Donald Trump, took steps to loosen the definition in 2020, but a federal court vacated that move in 2021.  Last year, under Biden, the EPA and Army Corps of Engineers said they would interpret the phrase consistent with a pre-2015 definition while they worked on updating a more permanent version. A Supreme Court ruling will likely come before that rule is finalized. An Idaho couple, the Sacketts, own a parcel of land near Priest Lake in the state’s panhandle. Their land is within 30 feet of a tributary to the lake. The EPA has claimed that parcel is within its jurisdiction to regulate as a navigable waterway, and the Sacketts disagree. The Sacketts are among the many farmers and other private landowners seeking a reprieve from federal regulation of wetlands on their property. A federal appeals court ruled last year in favor of the federal agency, but the Supreme Court’s decision to hear the case could mean it will overturn the lower court’s ruling. Our stories may be republished online or in print under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. We ask that you edit only for style or to shorten, provide proper attribution and link to our web site. Please see our republishing guidelines for use of photos and graphics. Read More Here
·digitalalaskanews.com·
A New Justice At The U.S. Supreme Court And An Idaho Wetlands Case Up First Kansas Reflector
Conservatives Targets Of Political Violence Following Biden's 'MAGA Republicans' Speech
Conservatives Targets Of Political Violence Following Biden's 'MAGA Republicans' Speech
Conservatives Targets Of Political Violence Following Biden's 'MAGA Republicans' Speech https://digitalalaskanews.com/conservatives-targets-of-political-violence-following-bidens-maga-republicans-speech/ There have been reports of high-profile acts of political violence against Republicans and conservatives following President Joe Biden’s controversial “MAGA Republicans” speech last month. “Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans represent an extremism that threatens the very foundations of our republic,” Biden said during a politically charged speech on Sept. 1 in Philadelphia. While speaking in front of an ominously lit dark red backdrop and flanked by two U.S. Marines, Biden alleged that “MAGA Republicans” also promote “authoritarian leaders” and “fan the flames of political violence” to target rights and the “very soul of this country.” While it’s not clear if Biden’s speech motivated acts of vandalism or allegedly politically motivated attacks, several Republican offices across the country have been vandalized since Biden’s speech, including the Larimer County Republican Party in Fort Collins, Colorado; the Ottawa County Republican Party in Hudsonville, Michigan; and the Nebraska Republican Party headquarters in Lincoln, Nebraska. The GOP office in Seminole County, Florida, was vandalized after Biden claimed Republicans engaged in “semi-fascism” days before his Philadelphia speech. Officials “came out and found that all of the signs had been hacked to pieces, our building had been vandalized, our permanent sign on the outside of the building had been torn up,” Keith den Hollander, the chairman and vice chairman for Ottawa County GOP, told local media last week. “Really disappointed to see this.” A pregnancy center in Oakland County, Michigan, was also targeted by vandals, who scrawled pro-abortion threats on its front door. It’s the second time the facility was targeted over the past year, according to local media. Other Incidents Also in Michigan, an elderly pro-life canvasser was shot in Odessa Township, officials said. A 74-year-old man, Richard Harvey, was charged with felony assault and reckless discharge of a firearm, announced the Michigan State Police this weekend. Joan Jacobson, 84, told MLive that she was canvassing with Right to Life when she was shot in the shoulder after going door-to-door to ask residents to vote no on Proposal 3, a pro-abortion measure, during the upcoming November elections. Harvey came forward last week, telling WOOD-TV that he shot Jacobson accidentally as she was allegedly arguing with his wife, who he said supports abortion. Harvey said he told Jacobson to leave their property on multiple occasions. And in September, 18-year-old Cayler Ellison was killed when a 41-year-old man allegedly hit him with his vehicle and later told a 911 dispatcher that he thought Ellison was part of an extremist Republican group, according to reports. The suspect, Shannon Brandt, was charged with murder in the teen’s death. Cayler Ellingson in a file image. (Cayler Ellingson/GoFundMe) An affidavit said Brandt told the state first responders’ radio that he struck the pedestrian with his vehicle because the “pedestrian was threatening him,” referring to Ellingson, claiming he was part of a “Republican extremist group.” However, from the moment Brandt called 911 after allegedly hitting Ellingson, “Brandt made comments regarding the incident being intentional and not an accident,” according to the affidavit. An autopsy of Ellingson’s injuries indicated he was already on the ground when he received them, and that his injuries did not come from being struck by Brandt’s car but from being run over. Corroborating the autopsy results, there was also little to no damage to the front of Brandt’s car, according to Special Agent Jeramie Quam of the North Dakota Bureau of Criminal Investigation. North Dakota Highway Patrol Capt. Bryan Niewind said that witnesses at the scene told investigators that there was no evidence that suggested Ellingson had extremist viewpoints or that a political argument had even taken place. “Words can have violent consequences,” Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) who was physically attacked by his neighbor in 2017 and attacked by rioters after the 2020 Republican National Convention, said in a statement. “President Biden needs to realize that his vilification of his opponents is inflaming some of his supporters to violence. As a victim of political violence, both sides need to recognize the consequences of heated rhetoric.” In a recent comment about political violence, White House deputy press secretary Andrew Bates sold Fox News Biden “condemns these attacks and has been clear that violence, threats of violence, and vandalism are absolutely unacceptable—regardless of who is committing such acts or why. “Like he said in Philadelphia, ‘There is no place for political violence in America. Period. None. Ever.’ The President believes that leaders in both parties should uphold that same principle, including when violence and threats are targeted against women seeking health care, members of law enforcement like the Capitol Police and the FBI, or the previous Vice President,” Bates said. The Epoch Times has contacted the White House for comment. Follow Jack Phillips is a breaking news reporter at The Epoch Times based in New York. Read More Here
·digitalalaskanews.com·
Conservatives Targets Of Political Violence Following Biden's 'MAGA Republicans' Speech
Transcript: H.R. McMaster On
Transcript: H.R. McMaster On
Transcript: H.R. McMaster On https://digitalalaskanews.com/transcript-h-r-mcmaster-on/ The following is a transcript of an interview with retired Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster, former national security adviser in the Trump White House and a CBS News contributor, that aired on Sunday, Oct. 2, 2022. MARGARET BRENNAN: The Trump administration national security adviser in 2017, retired Lieutenant General H.R. McMaster, who joins us. H.R., thank you for updating us on what’s happening on the ground in Ukraine with the Russian invasion. I want to get your reaction to what Defense Secretary Austin called a significant development on the battlefield in the past 48 hours. What do you see happening, and what do you forecast is Vladimir Putin’s next move? LT. GENERAL H.R. MCMASTER: Hey, good morning, Margaret. It’s great to be with you. Well, this is a tremendous victory for- for the Ukrainians. And it’s a victory that I think that they could turn into a cascading series of defeats of Russian forces. This is the- the encirclement of Lyman and the- and the Russian forces pulling back, but also, in the last two days, the Ukrainians also simultaneously defeated a Russian- a Russian counterattack and also made progress further in the south near the strategically important city of Kherson. And I think, Margaret, what we might be at here is really at the precipice of- of really the collapse of the Russian army in Ukraine, a moral collapse. And- and I think they must really be at a breaking point. If you look at just the numbers of casualties, the vast area that they’re trying to defend, and now, of course, Russia is trying to mobilize conscripts and send them to- to the front untrained. And I think it’s very important to- to also understand that these forces that are in full retreat now out of Lyman were really the first round of mobilization. Remember when Putin was trying to recruit more and more people with paying about three-times the- the average wages to get so-called volunteers to go forward. Those forces were hastily trained, thrown into that front, and these are the forces that are collapsing just right right now. MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, and as that happens on the battlefield, rhetorically you hear President Putin raise the volume, again dangling that nuclear threat on Friday, and there was another Russian leader who talked about using low yield nuclear weapons. It’s not clear what NATO or the U.S. response would be if Russia used a nuclear tactical weapon on the battlefield in Ukraine. What do you think it should be? LT. GENERAL H.R. MCMASTER: Well, I think the message to him is if you use a nuclear weapon, it’s a suicide weapon. And- and the response from NATO and the United States doesn’t have to be nuclear. First of all, I would say, Margaret, he’s under extreme pressure. I mean, you- you have the failures on the battlefield, which we talked about, but also the mobilization is failing. I mean, what he’s done is he’s mobilized almost 300,000 people to leave the country. These are- these are men who were fleeing to neighboring countries to- to escape this- this conscription. And you have the Russian people now saying, okay, I thought this was a special military operation that Putin said, hey just leave this to me, don’t worry about it. Now, he’s going to them to bail him out with this- with this mobilization, and what you’re seeing among the hypernationalist group of- of bloggers and- and- and even on state media, is a blaming of the military. And what the military is going back to Putin is saying, hey, it’s not our fault. We just need more troops. So, it’s this cycle that he’s responding to with the only quiver he has left, which is to, you know, to- to- to threaten the use of a nuclear weapon. But, I’ll tell you, Margaret, I don’t think a nuclear weapon is usable there, you know. So, I think that we ought to take it seriously. We have to, but we ought to not allow this to cow us in terms of the support for the Ukrainians. MARGARET BRENNAN: Right. Well, the other weapon he has is energy, of course, and tracking this potential sabotage on the gas pipeline. I want to also ask you about- when you were in office back in 2017, which is the first time that the US gave off- offensive weapons to Ukraine, I remember when you were put in that position of having to explain a conversation then-President Trump had with Russian officials in the Oval Office, where he mentioned classified information. And you- you called it wholly appropriate at the time. Given what’s going on now with this investigation into the classified material at Mar-a-Lago, were you ever uncomfortable with the former president’s handling of classified information? LT. GENERAL H.R. MCMASTER: Well, Margaret, remember, I left in February, March of 2018. But while I was there, I did not see any problems in handling of- of classified information. And, and what you’re talking about really is a session in which the President did not disclose classified information, but somebody leaked it. And then it was published in the newspaper. So the classified information- I think it’s important is to go back to that period, and that provision of javelins of the defensive capabilities to the Ukrainians was really important and, and the argument I made to President Trump at the time, was, hey, these people who are telling you that it’s provocative to provide Ukraine with defensive capabilities, actually, what provokes Putin is weakness. And he was persuaded by that argument. And I think that argument is still relevant today. I mean, as Putin is encountering these difficulties, I think it’s now time to remove some of the restrictions that we put on ourselves in terms of the support to give the Ukrainians and I’m talking about really long range surveillance capabilities, tied to long range precision strike. And, that’s really what they need, I think to maintain the momentum militarily at this stage. MARGARET BRENNAN: I have a follow up question on that, but just a button up the question I asked you, that was a no, you were never uncomfortable with the hand handling of classified information? LT. GENERAL H.R. MCMASTER: No, you know what Margaret, there were systems in place. I don’t know what happened to those systems. But- but- but I was never uncomfortable with it while I was there. But you know, that was a long time ago now. MARGARET BRENNAN: Okay. I know when you’re in office, you never like answering counterfactuals. But you’re not in office, so was Vladimir Putin so committed to this invasion that he would have gone through with it no matter what? LT. GENERAL H.R. MCMASTER: I don’t think so. Think about all the support that we’ve given now to the Ukrainians. What if we had done that a few years ago? I think Putin may have come to the conclusion. Well, Ukraine cannot be- cannot be subsumed at an acceptable cost. And of course, he was wrong in all the assumptions that led to the invasion. And he’s been proven wrong by courageous Ukrainians who are defending their sovereignty. But I think deterrence by denial for us was a failure. I mean, in many of the actions that we took, in the months before- before the invasion, almost I think inadvertently green lighted it, you know, pulling our forces out of the Black Sea, listing all the things we weren’t going to do. And I think the administration has recovered from that very well. But- but I think now’s the time, Margaret, to lift restrictions on the support that we’re given Ukrainians so they can finish this fight on their terms.  MARGARET BRENNAN: All right, H.R. McMaster, thank you very much for your insight today. We’ll be back in a moment. Thanks for reading CBS NEWS. Create your free account or log in for more features. Please enter email address to continue Please enter valid email address to continue Read More Here
·digitalalaskanews.com·
Transcript: H.R. McMaster On
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Trump Defends 'great Woman' Ginni Thomas After Jan. 6 Testimony | CNN Politics
Trump Defends 'great Woman' Ginni Thomas After Jan. 6 Testimony | CNN Politics
Trump Defends 'great Woman' Ginni Thomas After Jan. 6 Testimony | CNN Politics https://digitalalaskanews.com/trump-defends-great-woman-ginni-thomas-after-jan-6-testimony-cnn-politics/ CNN  —  Former President Donald Trump praised the “courage and strength” of Ginni Thomas at a rally Saturday, days after the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas met with congressional investigators about her efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election. In a four-and-a-half hour meeting with investigators on Thursday, Thomas discussed her marriage to the conservative justice, claiming in an opening statement obtained by CNN that she “did not speak with him at all about the details of my volunteer campaign activities.” Thomas, who attended Trump’s “Stop the Steal” rally on January 6, 2021 landed on the radar of the House select committee investigating the attack on the US Capitol after text message exchanges she had with then-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows about election fraud claims surfaced during the ongoing congressional probe. Thomas had “significant concerns about fraud and irregularities in the 2020 election. And, as she told the Committee, her minimal and mainstream activity focused on ensuring that reports of fraud and irregularities were investigated,” her attorney Mark Paoletta said after her closed-door testimony. During a campaign appearance in Michigan, Trump claimed that Thomas told the House panel “she still believes the 2020 election was stolen,” commending her because “she didn’t wilt under pressure.” “Do you know Ginni Thomas?” the former President polled the crowd. “She didn’t say, ‘Oh, well I’d like not to get involved. Of course, it was a wonderful election.’ It was a rigged and stolen election. She didn’t wait and sit around and say, ‘Well let me give you maybe a different answer than [what] I’ve been saying for the last two years.’” “No, no,” Trump continued, “She didn’t wilt under pressure like so many others that are weak people and stupid people… She said what she thought, she said what she believed in.” Thomas, who has previously criticized the House probe into January 6, has long been a prominent fixture in conservative activism – even becoming a persistent annoyance to some Trump White House officials as she tried to install friends and allies into senior administration roles throughout his presidency. She and her husband attended a private lunch with Trump and his wife Melania at the White House shortly after the 2018 midterms, though CNN has previously reported that her direct interactions with the former President were fairly limited beyond that meeting. But on Saturday, Trump praised Thomas as “a great woman,” comparing her to countless former aides and allies who have admitted in their own depositions with the House panel that they themselves didn’t believe Trump’s claims about voter fraud following the 2020 election. Thomas said she “never spoke” with her husband about “any of the legal challenges to the 2020 election,” addressing ethical questions that were raised in the wake a Supreme Court ruling last year on a January 6-related case. Thomas and Meadows texted repeatedly about overturning the election results. Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson, who chairs the committee, said that Thomas did confirm during her testimony that she still believes the election was stolen, adding that “at this point we are glad she came in.” Read More Here
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Trump Defends 'great Woman' Ginni Thomas After Jan. 6 Testimony | CNN Politics
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Trump Launches Direct Attack On McConnell A Month Out From Midterm Elections KRDO
Trump Launches Direct Attack On McConnell A Month Out From Midterm Elections KRDO
Trump Launches Direct Attack On McConnell A Month Out From Midterm Elections – KRDO https://digitalalaskanews.com/trump-launches-direct-attack-on-mcconnell-a-month-out-from-midterm-elections-krdo/ By Eric Bradner, CNN Former President Donald Trump on Friday night directly ridiculed Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, saying on his social media platform that the Kentucky Republican had a “death wish” for supporting “Democrat sponsored bills.” Trump, in his Truth Social post, also mocked McConnell’s wife, Elaine Chao — who was born in Taiwan and served as Trump’s secretary of transportation — referring to her as McConnell’s “China loving wife, Coco Chow!” Trump’s broadside at McConnell and mockery of Chao came hours after Congress approved and President Joe Biden signed a stopgap funding bill to avert a federal government shutdown. The bill cleared the Senate on a 72-25 vote Thursday and the House on a 230-201 vote Friday. In addition to money to keep government agencies afloat, the short-term funding measure provides around $12 billion for Ukraine, and it includes funding for disaster relief. The measure funds the government through December 16. “Is McConnell approving all of these Trillions of Dollars worth of Democrat sponsored Bills, without even the slightest bit of negotiation, because he hates Donald J. Trump, and he knows I am strongly opposed to them, or is he doing it because he believes in the Fake and Highly Destructive Green New Deal, and is willing to take the Country down with him?” Trump wrote. “In any event, either reason is unacceptable. He has a DEATH WISH. Must immediately seek help and advise from his China loving wife, Coco Chow!” Trump has described congressional Republicans as having a “death wish” before. In late 2020, he backed Democrats’ push for $2,000 coronavirus stimulus checks instead of the $600 checks Republicans had sought. He said on Twitter then: “Unless Republicans have a death wish, and it is also the right thing to do, they must approve the $2,000 payments ASAP. $600 IS NOT ENOUGH!” It was not clear what bills Trump was criticizing on Friday, or what he meant as he accused McConnell of believing in the Green New Deal, a package of progressive proposals that McConnell blocked from coming to the Senate floor for a vote when he was majority leader. McConnell this week said he would support legislation that would make it harder to overturn a certified presidential election, an endorsement that will bolster its chances for passage in his chamber and puts him at sharp odds with Trump. McConnell’s office did not comment on Trump’s remarks on Truth Social. CNN has reached out to representatives for Trump for comment. The former President’s attack on McConnell comes just weeks away from the midterm elections, with early voting already underway in some states. McConnell’s hopes of becoming Senate majority leader depend on whether the candidates Trump endorsed in Republican primaries in several key states — including Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio and Pennsylvania — win in November. In a veiled jab at the GOP nominees Trump helped elevate, McConnell at an August event in Kentucky cited “candidate quality” as he downplayed the party’s chances of winning control of the Senate. Still, McConnell’s political arm, including a McConnell-affiliated super PAC, has pumped tens of millions of dollars into those races, while Trump has largely refrained from spending money to help the candidates he endorsed. The-CNN-Wire & © 2022 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved. CNN’s Manu Raju contributed to this report. Read More Here
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Trump Launches Direct Attack On McConnell A Month Out From Midterm Elections KRDO
US Senate Will Have 'extremely' Busy Lame-Duck Session; Capito Hopeful About Election Bill WV MetroNews
US Senate Will Have 'extremely' Busy Lame-Duck Session; Capito Hopeful About Election Bill WV MetroNews
US Senate Will Have 'extremely' Busy Lame-Duck Session; Capito Hopeful About Election Bill – WV MetroNews https://digitalalaskanews.com/us-senate-will-have-extremely-busy-lame-duck-session-capito-hopeful-about-election-bill-wv-metronews/ CHARLESTON, W.Va. — When the U.S. Senate returns to Capitol Hill next month, lawmakers will have a busy post-election session with the possible consideration of various, items including a measure overhauling the handling of presidential elections. The Senate does not have another scheduled roll-call vote until Nov. 14, six days after the midterm elections. The chamber’s final roll-call vote before the break took place Thursday; senators passed a continuing resolution to fund the federal government through Dec. 16. The House of Representatives passed the measure Friday. “While we have accomplished a great deal so far, more than any Congress in recent memory — and we all should be proud of what we’ve accomplished — we still have much to do and many important bills to consider,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Thursday on the Senate floor. “Members should be prepared for an extremely — underline extremely — busy agenda in the last two months of this Congress.” One item on the Senate’s agenda involves changes to the Electoral Count Act of 1887, a law setting guidelines for handling and certifying presidential election results. Calls for overhauling the law stem from the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol when supporters of then-President Donald Trump attempted to halt the verification of the 2020 election. Trump had pressured then-Vice President Mike Pence to reject electors from states won by President Joe Biden. Sens. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Susan Collins, R-Maine, led a bipartisan group in introducing the Electoral Count Reform Act and the Presidential Transition Improvement Act in July. The legislation would limit the power of identifying state electors to governors or one specified state official and clarify the vice president’s role during Congress’ certification process to a “ministerial” responsibility, emphasizing they would not have any authority to accept or reject votes. The measure also raises the threshold for challenging election results from one Senate and House member to one-fifth of both congressional chambers. Manchin has stressed the importance of the bill, noting in a statement released last week the Senate group “has shared a vision of drafting legislation to fix the flaws of the archaic and ambiguous Electoral Count Act of 1887.” U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va. (File) Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., was part of the Senate coalition that drafted the bill. She is also a member of the Senate Rules and Administration Committee, which agreed last week in a 14-1 vote to forward the measure to the full Senate. Texas Republican Ted Cruz was the lone vote against the action. Capito told reporters last week she believes the measure will receive the 60 votes necessary in the Senate for advancing a bill to a final vote. Multiple legislative accomplishments of the Biden presidency — such as last year’s infrastructure law and this year’s gun safety statute — have passed in the split Senate with bipartisan support. “We spent months on this,” she said. “We spent months looking into this with congressional scholars and constitutional scholars.” Thirty-four senators are sponsoring the measure, including Schumer and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. “That goes a long way,” Capito said regarding the leaders’ support. If the Senate passes its measure, senators will have to agree with their House counterparts on a compromise. The chamber passed a similar bill in a 229-203 vote on Sept. 21; nine Republicans joined Democrats in supporting the legislation. None of West Virginia’s representatives — Republicans David McKinley, Alex Mooney and Carol Miller — backed the measure. While the Senate and House bills address identical issues, there are notable differences. The House proposal, for instance, would require one-third of both chambers to object to election results in order to begin the challenge process. McConnell described the House measure as a “non-starter.” “I’m hoping that the House can see that in order to pass this, it needs to narrow the focus — focus in on correcting the ambiguities in the old law — and then call it a day rather than try to stretch it out and make it bigger, which they did,” Capito said. “They’re going to have to narrow it down closer to what ours is.” Congress’ legislative to-do list also includes the consideration of codifying same-sex marriage in federal law and energy permitting changes. Schumer vowed to address current permitting regulations after legislators objected to inserting related language in the funding measure. Manchin spearheaded the effort, which also included steps for completing the Mountain Valley natural gas pipeline. Read More Here
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US Senate Will Have 'extremely' Busy Lame-Duck Session; Capito Hopeful About Election Bill WV MetroNews
AP News Summary At 10:11 A.m. EDT
AP News Summary At 10:11 A.m. EDT
AP News Summary At 10:11 A.m. EDT https://digitalalaskanews.com/ap-news-summary-at-1011-a-m-edt/ 10 torture sites in 1 town: Russia sowed pain, fear in Izium IZIUM, Ukraine (AP) — An Associated Press investigation has found that Russian torture in the Ukrainian town of Izium was arbitrary, widespread and absolutely routine for both civilians and soldiers. AP journalists located 10 torture sites in the town, including a deep sunless pit in a residential compound, a clammy underground jail that reeked of urine, a medical clinic, and a kindergarten. AP also spoke to 15 survivors of Russian torture and confirmed the deaths of eight men. All but one were civilians. The AP also found a former Ukrainian soldier who was tortured three times hiding in a monastery, and connected him with loved ones. The town has now been liberated by Ukrainian forces. 125 die as tear gas triggers crush at Indonesia soccer match MALANG, Indonesia (AP) — Panic and a chaotic run for exits after police fired tear gas at an Indonesian soccer match has left at least 125 dead, most of whom were trampled upon or suffocated. Attention immediately focused on the police use of tear gas, and witnesses described police beat them with sticks and shields before shooting canisters directly into the crowds. The president of FIFA called the deaths on Saturday “a dark day for all involved in football and a tragedy beyond comprehension,” while President Joko Widodo ordered an investigation of security procedures. While FIFA has no control over domestic games, it has advised against the use of tear gas at stadiums. Violence broke out after the game ended with host Arema FC losing to Persebaya of Surabaya 3-2. EXPLAINER: What’s behind Indonesia’s deadly soccer match? JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Violence, tear gas and a deadly crush that erupted following a domestic league soccer match Saturday night marked another tragedy in Indonesian football. Emotions often run high for sports fans, and Indonesia is no stranger to soccer violence. Saturday’s chaos occurred when a disappointing loss led to fans throwing objects and swarming the soccer pitch, then to police firing tear gas, which led to a crush of people trying to escape. At least 125 have died. Indonesia’s soccer association has banned host team Arema from hosting matches for the remainder of the season. Ukraine presses on with counteroffensive; Russia uses drones KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia has attacked the Ukrainian president’s hometown with suicide drones. This comes as Ukraine has pushed ahead with its counteroffensive that has embarrassed the Kremlin. Ukraine took back control of the strategic eastern city of Lyman, which Russia had been using as a transport and logistics hub. That’s a new blow to the Kremlin as it seeks to escalate the war by illegally annexing four regions of Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said more Ukrainian flags are flying in what was recently Russian-occupied territory. Pope Francis, meanwhile, on Sunday decried Russia’s nuclear threats against the West and appealed to Russian President Vladimir Putin to stop “this spiral of violence and death.”___ Florida deaths rise to 47 amid struggle to recover from Ian FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) — Rescuers have evacuated stunned survivors cut off by Hurricane Ian on Florida’s largest barrier island, and the state’s death toll has risen sharply amid recovery efforts. Hundreds of thousands of people are still sweltering without power in the state, days after Ian’s rampage from Florida to the Carolinas. Florida now has 47 confirmed deaths. Ian was one of the strongest U.S. hurricanes on record when the Category 4 monster smashed ashore at midweek. Many storm victims were left isolated with limited cellphone service and lacking basic amenities like water and power. As of Sunday morning, nearly 850,000 customers in Florida were still without electricity. Brazil holds historic election with Lula against Bolsonaro RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Brazilians are voting in a highly polarized election that could determine if the country returns a leftist to the helm of the world’s fourth-largest democracy or keeps the far-right incumbent in office for another four years. The race pits far-right President Jair Bolsonaro against his political nemesis, leftist former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Recent polls have given da Silva a commanding lead, pointing to a chance that he might win the first round outright, without need for a runoff. Da Silva would have to get more than 50% of the votes cast Sunday, topping the total vote for Bolsonaro and the other nine candidates. In Brazilian Amazon, a 1,000-mile voyage so people can vote MANAUS, Brazil (AP) — Sunday is election day in Brazil. In the Amazon region, many Indigenous people live days away from the nearest town where there is a voting center. But the nation addressed that challenge years ago, thanks in large part to Indigenous advocate Bruno Pereira, who was murdered earlier this year. Pereira created a system for voting machines to travel to Indigenous villages, rather than vice versa, after an infamous incident where Indigenous voters were stranded on a riverbank for weeks with insufficient gasoline to motor their boats home, and many got sick. Some died. Today that system continues, with election officials using light aircraft and helicopters to reach remote villages. Burkina Faso junta urges calm after French Embassy attack OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso (AP) — Burkina Faso’s new junta leadership is calling for calm after the French Embassy and other buildings were attacked. The unrest following the West African nation’s second coup this year came after a junta statement alleged that the ousted interim president was at a French military base in Ouagadougou. France vehemently denied the claim and has urged its citizens to stay indoors amid rising anti-French sentiment in the streets. The whereabouts of Lt. Col. Paul Henri Sandaogo Damiba remained unknown Sunday. He himself had taken power in a coup back in January, promising to curb the Islamic extremist violence but frustration mounted as the attacks continued. Trump: ‘King’ to some in Pennsylvania, but will it help GOP? MONONGAHELA, Pa. (AP) — The enthusiasm for Donald Trump’s unique brand of nationalist populism has cut into traditional Democratic strongholds in places such as Monongahela in western Pennsylvania. That’s where House Republicans recently outlined their election-year campaign agenda, called  “Commitment to America.” They’re hoping they can tap into the same political sentiment Trump used to attract voters. But it’s not clear whether the support that propelled Trump to the White House will be there on Election Day this November. Just as challenging for the Republican Party is whether Trump’s false claims of voter fraud will hurt the GOP if voters decide to sit out the election. Election officials brace for confrontational poll watchers GOLDSBORO, N.C. (AP) — Local election officials across the United States are bracing for a wave of confrontations on Election Day in November. Emboldened Republican poll watchers, including many who embrace former President Donald Trump’s falsehoods about the 2020 election, are expected to flood election offices and polling places. The Republican Party and conservative activists have been holding poll watcher training sessions, but in many states they’ve barred the media from observing those sessions. Some Republican-led states passed laws after the 2020 election that require local election offices to allow poll watchers and give them expanded access to observe and challenge ballots. Nominate someone you think has earned a $100 Bridger Bubbles Car Wash gift certificate! Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Read More Here
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AP News Summary At 10:11 A.m. EDT
Trump: 'King' To Some In Pennsylvania But Will It Help GOP? | News Channel 3-12
Trump: 'King' To Some In Pennsylvania But Will It Help GOP? | News Channel 3-12
Trump: 'King' To Some In Pennsylvania, But Will It Help GOP? | News Channel 3-12 https://digitalalaskanews.com/trump-king-to-some-in-pennsylvania-but-will-it-help-gop-news-channel-3-12/ By LISA MASCARO AP Congressional Correspondent MONONGAHELA, Pa. (AP) — The enthusiasm for Donald Trump’s unique brand of nationalist populism has cut into traditional Democratic strongholds in places such as Monongahela in western Pennsylvania. That’s where House Republicans recently outlined their election-year campaign agenda, called  “Commitment to America.” They’re hoping they can tap into the same political sentiment Trump used to attract voters. But it’s not clear whether the support that propelled Trump to the White House will be there on Election Day this November. Just as challenging for the Republican Party is whether Trump’s false claims of voter fraud will hurt the GOP if voters decide to sit out the election. BE PART OF THE CONVERSATION News Channel 3-12 is committed to providing a forum for civil and constructive conversation. Please keep your comments respectful and relevant. You can review our Community Guidelines by clicking here If you would like to share a story idea, please submit it here. Read More Here
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Trump: 'King' To Some In Pennsylvania But Will It Help GOP? | News Channel 3-12
Election Officials Brace For Confrontational Poll Watchers | News Channel 3-12
Election Officials Brace For Confrontational Poll Watchers | News Channel 3-12
Election Officials Brace For Confrontational Poll Watchers | News Channel 3-12 https://digitalalaskanews.com/election-officials-brace-for-confrontational-poll-watchers-news-channel-3-12/ By HANNAH SCHOENBAUM and NICHOLAS RICCARDI Associated Press GOLDSBORO, N.C. (AP) — The situation with the poll watcher had gotten so bad that Anne Risku, the election director in North Carolina’s Wayne County, had to intervene via speakerphone. “You need to back off!” Risku recalled hollering after the woman wedged herself between a voter and the machine where the voter was trying to cast his ballot at a precinct about 60 miles southeast of Raleigh. The man eventually was able to vote, but the incident was one of several Risku cited from the May primary that made her worry about a wave of newly aggressive poll watchers. Many have spent the past two years steeped in lies about the accuracy of the 2020 election. Those fears led the North Carolina State Board of Elections in August to tighten rules governing poll watchers. But the state’s rules review board, appointed by the Republican-controlled Legislature, blocked the new poll watcher regulations in late September, leaving election officials such as Risku without additional tools to control behavior on Election Day, Nov. 8. “It becomes complete babysitting,” Risku said in an interview. “The back and forth for the precinct officials, having somebody constantly on you for every little thing that you do — not because you’re doing it wrong, but because they don’t agree with what you’re doing.” Poll watchers have traditionally been an essential element of electoral transparency, the eyes and ears for the two major political parties who help ensure that the actual mechanics of voting are administered fairly and accurately. But election officials fear that a surge of conspiracy believers are signing up for those positions this year and are being trained by others who have propagated the lie spread by former President Donald Trump and his allies that the 2020 presidential election was riddled with fraud. In Michigan, groups that have spread falsehoods about that race are recruiting poll watchers. In Nevada, the Republican Party’s nominee for secretary of state, Jim Marchant, denies President Joe Biden’s 2020 victory and was a featured speaker at a party poll watcher training. Cleta Mitchell, a prominent conservative lawyer and North Carolina resident, is running a group recruiting poll watchers and workers in eight swing states. Mitchell was on the phone with Trump when the then-president called Georgia’s secretary of state in January 2021 and asked that official to “find” enough votes for Trump to be declared the state’s winner. Chris Harvey, who was Georgia’s election director in 2020 when Trump claimed the election was being stolen from him, recalled how swarms of Trump backers came as self-appointed poll watchers to observe the state’s manual recounts, harassing election workers and disrupting the process. Harvey fears a repeat this year. “The whole tension that we’re expecting to see at polling places is something we’re talking to election officials about, something we’re talking to law enforcement about,” said Harvey, who is advising a group of election officials and law enforcement before November. The laws governing poll watchers vary from state to state. Their role is generally to observe, question any deviations from required procedure and, in some states, lodge formal complaints or provide testimony for objections filed in court. The worries this year are similar to those during the 2020 election, when Trump began railing against mail voting and the Republican National Committee launched its first national operation in decades. It had recently been freed from a consent decree that limited its poll watching operation after it previously was found to have targeted Black and Latino voters. But voting went smoothly that November. Mitchell said her organization, the Election Integrity Network, is just trying to ensure that everyone follows the law. “We are not a threat,” she told The Associated Press during a text message exchange. “Unless you think elections that are conducted according to the rule of law are a threat. We train people to follow the law.” Risku said there were issues with poll watchers from both parties during the primary in May. But of the 13 incidents she reported to the North Carolina board from Wayne County, all involved Republicans. In addition to the poll watcher who had to be ejected, Risku said another Republican poll watcher in her district waited after hours in the parking lot of the Mount Olive Train Depot early voting site until Chief Judge Susan Wiley began carrying boxes of marked ballots to her car. On two occasions, the man tried to follow her back to the elections office in Goldsboro, about a 20-minute drive. Recognizing that the job has become “a scary ordeal” in the last year, Risku said she has stepped up security before November and offered raises to entice precinct officials to stay. She expects many won’t return after this year. The North Carolina GOP chairman, Michael Whatley, said that’s not what the party is teaching its poll watchers. “What we saw in terms of some of the activities that were at play may have been coming from Republicans but were not things that we have been teaching people in our training sessions,” Whatley said. “What we want to do is make sure that we have people that are in the room that are going to be very respectful of the election officials at all times, be very respectful of the voters at all times and, if they see issues, then report them in.” He has declined to allow reporters to attend the training sessions, which he said have trained 7,000 potential poll watchers so far this year. As in many states, poll watchers are only permitted in North Carolina if they have been designated by the major parties. But in Michigan, organizations that register with local election offices also can provide poll watchers. A coalition of groups that have questioned the 2020 election are scrambling to get as many of their members in place as possible in the politically critical state. “The best I can do is put a whole bunch of eyeballs on it to make sure that anything that doesn’t look right gets a further look,” said Sandy Kiesel, executive director of the Michigan Election Integrity Fund and Force, part of a coalition that recruited 5,000 poll watchers for the state’s August primary. Kiesel said several of her coalition’s poll watchers and poll challengers — Michigan law allows one person to observe and another person to formally lodge challenges at precincts — were prevented from observing or escorted out of polling places in August. Michigan election officials are bracing for more confrontations in November. Patrick Colbeck, a former Republican state senator and prominent election conspiracy theorist who is part of Kiesel’s coalition, announced this past week that a comprehensive fall push to scrutinize every aspect of voting would be called “Operation Overwatch.” “They are talking about intimidating people who have the right to vote,” said Barb Byrum, clerk of Michigan’s Ingham County, which includes Lansing, the state capital. In a sign of the importance the state’s Republicans place on poll watchers, the GOP-controlled Legislature last week agreed to let election offices throughout Michigan start processing mailed ballots two days before Election Day — something most states with mail voting allow long before then — but only if they allow poll watchers to observe. The ballots are not actually counted until Election Day. In Texas, a new law allows every candidate to assign up to two poll watchers, raising the potential that observers could pack polling locations, particularly around big cities such as Dallas and Houston where ballots are the longest. According to records from the secretary of state’s office, more than 900 people in Texas already had received poll watching certification in the three weeks after the state opened required training on Sept. 1. ___ Riccardi reported from Denver. Associated Press writers Joey Cappelletti in Lansing, Michigan, Gabe Stern in Reno, Nevada, and Paul Weber in Austin, Texas, contributed to this report. ___ Follow AP for full coverage of the midterms at https://apnews.com/hub/2022-midterm-elections and on Twitter at https://twitter.com/ap_politics. Read More Here
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Election Officials Brace For Confrontational Poll Watchers | News Channel 3-12
Amendment 3: Should West Virginia's Constitution Allow Churches To Incorporate? WV MetroNews
Amendment 3: Should West Virginia's Constitution Allow Churches To Incorporate? WV MetroNews
Amendment 3: Should West Virginia's Constitution Allow Churches To Incorporate? – WV MetroNews https://digitalalaskanews.com/amendment-3-should-west-virginias-constitution-allow-churches-to-incorporate-wv-metronews/ Amendment 3 will ask West Virginia voters whether religious institutions should be allowed to incorporate. West Virginia is the only state in the country that does not allow that. That’s because the state inherited the provision from Virginia and never changed it. Virginia made its own change 20 years ago after the limitation was struck down by a federal judge. Now West Virginia might change too. This is one of four constitutional amendments that West Virginia voters are being asked to consider. Early voting starts Oct. 26, and Election Day is Nov. 8. Amendment One: Can the courts intervene in West Virginia impeachments? Amendment Two: Should the Legislature be able to shift property taxes? What does Amendment Three do?  Right now West Virginia’s Constitution says “No charter of incorporation shall be granted to any church or religious denomination. That provision, inherited from Virginia’s constitution, originally came about as a way to get around the political implications of having the General Assembly making decisions about which religious institutions should be allowed to incorporate. Now, limiting liability through incorporation is commonplace, and limiting religious institutions from doing so became out of step. In 2001, the Rev. Jerry Falwell, supported by ACLU of Virginia, challenged that state’s incorporation ban in federal court. The following year, a federal judge in the Western District of Virginia agreed and ordered Virginia’s State Corporation Commission to grant Falwell’s church a charter. Because that was a district court decision and was not appealed to a level of the federal court system that would also cover West Virginia, there was no change in the Mountain State. Charles Trump “So West Virginia remains the only place in the country where there is a provision of the state Constitution that prohibits incorporation by churches,” said Senate Judiciary Chairman Charles Trump, R-Morgan. Trump, who is a longtime attorney in Berkeley Springs, started getting questions from some curious pastors about why West Virginia has maintained the limitation. “Some pastors in my senatorial district have asked me why does our Constitution have this — and it should not – and asked me to sponsor a resolution to allow churches to be incorporate if they choose that as their form of structuring governance,” said Trump, who sponsored a Senate resolution that led to the amendment measure. “So it would be permissive. No church would have to incorporate, but a church that chose to do so could without being at odds with the language of Article 6, Section 47.” What’s the argument for adopting the amendment? Well, West Virginia stands out as the only state not allowing churches to incorporate. And the Virginia court case made an argument that the ban violates the U.S. Constitution’s guarantee of free exercise of religion. There are practical reasons for religious institutions too, including as a safeguard from liability for individuals like pastors, elders, deacons and individual church members. Ed Thompson “We would support that,” said Ed Thompson of the Presbytery of West Virginia. “Really, everywhere else I have served, state law allows incorporation. “I think it’s a good idea. It offers some protection for individual members from lawsuits, and I would certainly encourage voters to adopt that.” The ACLU of West Virginia agrees. “We believe that excluding religious bodies from incorporating unconstitutionally treats religious organizations differently than non-religious entities,” ACLU stated. What’s the argument against it? Really, there is no prominent argument against this amendment. The resolution that kicked this off passed 32-0 in West Virginia’s Senate. What would the Constitution say? Article VI. The Legislature. Section 47. Incorporation of religious denominations permitted. Provisions may be made by general laws for securing the title to church property, and for the sale and transfer thereof, so that it shall be held, used, or transferred for the purposes of such church or religious denomination. Provisions may also be made by general laws for the incorporation of churches or religious denominations Read More Here
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Amendment 3: Should West Virginia's Constitution Allow Churches To Incorporate? WV MetroNews
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Pope Begs Putin To End 'spiral Of Violence And Death' Fears Nuclear War
Pope Begs Putin To End 'spiral Of Violence And Death' Fears Nuclear War
Pope Begs Putin To End 'spiral Of Violence And Death', Fears Nuclear War https://digitalalaskanews.com/pope-begs-putin-to-end-spiral-of-violence-and-death-fears-nuclear-war/ Pope says annexation risked nuclear escalation Says he has been haunted by “rivers of blood and tears” Most direct appeal to Putin since invasion in February Vatican official compares it to days of Cuban missile crisis VATICAN CITY, Oct 2 (Reuters) – Pope Francis for the first time directly begged Russian President Vladimir Putin to stop the “spiral of violence and death” in Ukraine, saying on Sunday that the crisis was risking a nuclear escalation with uncontrollable global consequences. In an address dedicated to Ukraine and made to thousands of people in St. Peter’s Square, Francis also condemned Putin’s latest annexation of parts of Ukraine as being against international law. He urged Putin to think of his own people in the event of an escalation. One Vatican official said the impassioned address was so sombre it was reminiscent of a radio peace appeal by Pope John XXIII in 1962 during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com It was the first time Francis, who has often condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the death and destruction it has caused, had made such a direct personal appeal to Putin. Saying he was haunted by “rivers of blood and tears that have been spilled in these months,” Francis also called on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to be open to any “serious peace proposal”. He was making an urgent appeal “in the name of God” for an end to the conflict and said it was “absurd” that the world was risking a nuclear conflict. “My appeal goes above all to the president of the Russian Federation, begging him to stop this spiral of violence and death, even out of love for his own people,” Francis said. “On the other side, pained by the enormous suffering of the Ukrainian population following the aggression it suffered, I address an equally hopeful appeal to the president of Ukraine to be open to a serious peace proposal,” he said. Francis later tweeted both the appeals to the two leaders in Russian and Ukrainian. Speaking two days after Putin proclaimed the annexation of nearly a fifth of Ukraine and placed the regions under Russia’s nuclear umbrella, Francis also emphasised all countries’ right to “sovereign and territorial integrity”. Kyiv and its Western allies have condemned Putin’s annexations as illegal, and Zelenskiy has said his forces will continue their fight to recapture all Ukrainian territory occupied by Russian forces. Ukraine on Sunday claimed full control of the eastern logistics hub of Lyman, Kyiv’s most significant battlefield gain in weeks. “I strongly deplore the grave situation that has been created in the last few days, with more actions that are contrary to the principles of international law,” he said in a clear reference to the annexation. “This, in fact, increases the risk of an nuclear escalation to the point of fearing uncontrollable and catastrophic consequences on a global level,” he said. In a reference to ethnic Russians living in Ukraine, Francis said it was also necessary to respect “the rights of minorities and (their) legitimate worries”. Francis said it was “anguishing” that the world was learning about Ukrainian geography through names of places such as Bucha, Irpin, Mariupol, Izium, Zaporizhzhia and other places where people had suffered “indescribable suffering and fear”. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Reporting by Philip Pullella Editing by Gareth Jones and Raissa Kasolowsky Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. Read More Here
·digitalalaskanews.com·
Pope Begs Putin To End 'spiral Of Violence And Death' Fears Nuclear War
President's Cup T20: Fanoos Stars For KCA Eagles
President's Cup T20: Fanoos Stars For KCA Eagles
President's Cup T20: Fanoos Stars For KCA Eagles https://digitalalaskanews.com/presidents-cup-t20-fanoos-stars-for-kca-eagles/ Fazil Fanoos’s triple strikes set up KCA Eagles’ five-wicket win over KCA Tigers in the KCA TCM President’s Cup T20 tournament at the SD College Ground in Alappuzha on Sunday. Opting to bowl, Eagles bowled out Tigers for 106 in 20 overs. Player-of-the-match Fanoos was the wrecker-in-chief with figures of 3/22. K M Asif, Vaishak Chandran:and Nipun Babu picked up two wickets each. Basil Thampi was the top-scorer with 23. Arjun A K smashed an unbeaten 32 off 25 balls as Eagles romped home with 15 balls to spare. Krishna Prasad and Abhiram Hrithwik chipped in with 21 runs each. Brief scores: KCA Tigers 106 in 20 overs (Basil Thampi 23; Fazil Fanoos 3/22,K M Asif 2/14, Nipun Babu 2/16, Vaishak Chandran 2/24) lost to KCA Eagles 110/5 in 17.3 overs (Arjun AK 32, Krishna Prasad 21, Abhiram Hrithwik 21; Mohammed Ishaque 2/22). Points: Eagles 4; Tigers 0. Read More Here
·digitalalaskanews.com·
President's Cup T20: Fanoos Stars For KCA Eagles
FBI Whistleblowers Reveal How 'Woke' Agents Are Rewarded For Their Left-Wing Political Activism El American
FBI Whistleblowers Reveal How 'Woke' Agents Are Rewarded For Their Left-Wing Political Activism El American
FBI Whistleblowers Reveal How 'Woke' Agents Are Rewarded For Their Left-Wing Political Activism – El American https://digitalalaskanews.com/fbi-whistleblowers-reveal-how-woke-agents-are-rewarded-for-their-left-wing-political-activism-el-american/ FBI whistleblowers have come forward with numerous examples of how the radicalized law enforcement arm of the Democratic Party has been rewarding ‘Woke’ agents with perks and gifts after they demonstrate their loyalty to the bureau’s left-wing agenda. The Washington Times’ Kerry Picket this week blew the cover off the FBI’s unethical influencing of agents to subscribe to the radical left’s agenda. “In one high-profile example, an FBI agent on duty demonstrated solidarity with Black Lives Matter marchers in Washington by ‘taking a knee’ as the protesters passed,” Picket writes. “The agent was rewarded with a promotion to a supervisor rank.” “The BLM march in Washington in 2020 was part of protests and riots that swept the country in response to the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis,” she recounts. “Some law enforcement officers began kneeling with BLM protesters in Austin, Texas; Portland, Oregon; Los Angeles; Coral Gables, Florida; Buffalo, New York; and elsewhere.” Picket discusses an incident when on-duty agents in FBI gear  “took a knee” for BLM protesters in Washington. One female agent, Larissa Knapp, was rewarded with a top post at the Washington field office as a counterterrorism special agent in charge following the kneeling incident. She embraced those agents who chose to kneel for the BLM protest. The Times report turns to an FBI whistleblower who witnessed acts of partisan recruitment at the bureau. “*” indicates required fields “FBI whistleblower Kyle Seraphin, who has been suspended from his job at the bureau, said he witnessed Ms. Knapp shower praise on the agents when all the employees gathered in the conference room of the assistant director in charge to discuss ‘presence patrols’,” the report notes. “Ms. Knapp hugged each of the ‘kneeling agents’ for their action at the protest,” Mr. Seraphin said, adding that, “He said he shook his head in disbelief before Ms. Knapp yelled at him.” “So she focused her tirade about how ‘they were heroes … saved lives and they did the right thing,” he recalled.” I called [Director Christopher A. Wray] to say how proud I was they de-escalated things [a potentially violent incident]. I don’t want to see anyone looking sideways at them,’” Mr. Seraphin recalled her saying. Picket notes that the FBI disputed Ms. Knapp raising her voice. The FBI Agents Association (FBIAA), a private association, told The Times it provided gift cards of “modest value” and personal notes to those agents for “exercising their professional judgment to diffuse a tense situation and avoid violence.” “Our efforts in support of these Agents had nothing to do with supporting any group or movement. Outreach like this to Agents is a normal course of action when the FBIAA wants to show support for members, and I wanted to show support for these members after a challenging situation,” FBIAA President Brian O’Hare told The Times in a statement. But a former FBI official who spoke on the condition of anonymity backed up the assessment that the agents’ actions were inappropriate. “Some people were like, ‘That’s pretty disgraceful what they did. We’re not supposed to take sides,’” the former official said. Interestingly, there were FBI agents on the other side of the partisan divide who were punished simply for showing support for President Trump. After some FBI employees attended President Trump’s ‘Stop the Steal’ rally on Jan. 6, 2021,  the bureau punished them by dismissing them from their posts and pulling their security clearances. “The entire world has changed in the last year and a half after June 6 [sic, Jan. 6], and news started to come out about FBI employees who simply attended a rally having their clearances pulled,” one former FBI employee said. This is how the FBI became a partisan asset of the Democratic Party. It is no longer strictly a ‘law enforcement’ agency, it is an agency for rewarding the party’s allies and punishing Americans who are on its ‘enemies list.’ Author profile Current Founder, CEO and Chief Editor of Becker News. Former Writer & Associate Producer at Fox News for #1 top-rated prime-time cable news show. Former Director of Viral Media and Senior Managing Editor for award-winning startup website IJReview, which grew to a readership of 20-30 million Americans a month. Led editorial and social media team that was #1 ranked news & politics publisher on Facebook for story engagement. Writer whose thousands of digital articles have been read by over 100 million unique users. Read More Here
·digitalalaskanews.com·
FBI Whistleblowers Reveal How 'Woke' Agents Are Rewarded For Their Left-Wing Political Activism El American
North Carolina Election Officials Brace For Confrontational Poll Watchers
North Carolina Election Officials Brace For Confrontational Poll Watchers
North Carolina Election Officials Brace For Confrontational Poll Watchers https://digitalalaskanews.com/north-carolina-election-officials-brace-for-confrontational-poll-watchers/ By HANNAH SCHOENBAUM and NICHOLAS RICCARDI Published October 2, 2022 8:09AM GOLDSBORO, N.C. – The situation with the poll watcher had gotten so bad that Anne Risku, the election director in North Carolina’s Wayne County, had to intervene via speakerphone. “You need to back off!” Risku recalled hollering after the woman wedged herself between a voter and the machine where the voter was trying to cast his ballot at a precinct about 60 miles southeast of Raleigh. The man eventually was able to vote, but the incident was one of several Risku cited from the May primary that made her worry about a wave of newly aggressive poll watchers. Many have spent the past two years steeped in lies about the accuracy of the 2020 election. Those fears led the North Carolina State Board of Elections in August to tighten rules governing poll watchers. But the state’s rules review board, appointed by the Republican-controlled Legislature, blocked the new poll watcher regulations in late September, leaving election officials such as Risku without additional tools to control behavior on Election Day, Nov. 8. “It becomes complete babysitting,” Risku said in an interview. “The back and forth for the precinct officials, having somebody constantly on you for every little thing that you do — not because you’re doing it wrong, but because they don’t agree with what you’re doing.” Poll watchers have traditionally been an essential element of electoral transparency, the eyes and ears for the two major political parties who help ensure that the actual mechanics of voting are administered fairly and accurately. But election officials fear that a surge of conspiracy believers are signing up for those positions this year and are being trained by others who have propagated the lie spread by former President Donald Trump and his allies that the 2020 presidential election was riddled with fraud. In Michigan, groups that have spread falsehoods about that race are recruiting poll watchers. In Nevada, the Republican Party’s nominee for secretary of state, Jim Marchant, denies President Joe Biden’s 2020 victory and was a featured speaker at a party poll watcher training. Cleta Mitchell, a prominent conservative lawyer and North Carolina resident, is running a group recruiting poll watchers and workers in eight swing states. Mitchell was on the phone with Trump when the then-president called Georgia’s secretary of state in January 2021 and asked that official to “find” enough votes for Trump to be declared the state’s winner. Chris Harvey, who was Georgia’s election director in 2020 when Trump claimed the election was being stolen from him, recalled how swarms of Trump backers came as self-appointed poll watchers to observe the state’s manual recounts, harassing election workers and disrupting the process. Harvey fears a repeat this year. “The whole tension that we’re expecting to see at polling places is something we’re talking to election officials about, something we’re talking to law enforcement about,” said Harvey, who is advising a group of election officials and law enforcement before November. The laws governing poll watchers vary from state to state. Their role is generally to observe, question any deviations from required procedure and, in some states, lodge formal complaints or provide testimony for objections filed in court. The worries this year are similar to those during the 2020 election, when Trump began railing against mail voting and the Republican National Committee launched its first national operation in decades. It had recently been freed from a consent decree that limited its poll watching operation after it previously was found to have targeted Black and Latino voters. But voting went smoothly that November. Mitchell said her organization, the Election Integrity Network, is just trying to ensure that everyone follows the law. “We are not a threat,” she told The Associated Press during a text message exchange. “Unless you think elections that are conducted according to the rule of law are a threat. We train people to follow the law.” Risku said there were issues with poll watchers from both parties during the primary in May. But of the 13 incidents she reported to the North Carolina board from Wayne County, all involved Republicans. In addition to the poll watcher who had to be ejected, Risku said another Republican poll watcher in her district waited after hours in the parking lot of the Mount Olive Train Depot early voting site until Chief Judge Susan Wiley began carrying boxes of marked ballots to her car. On two occasions, the man tried to follow her back to the elections office in Goldsboro, about a 20-minute drive. Recognizing that the job has become “a scary ordeal” in the last year, Risku said she has stepped up security before November and offered raises to entice precinct officials to stay. She expects many won’t return after this year. The North Carolina GOP chairman, Michael Whatley, said that’s not what the party is teaching its poll watchers. “What we saw in terms of some of the activities that were at play may have been coming from Republicans but were not things that we have been teaching people in our training sessions,” Whatley said. “What we want to do is make sure that we have people that are in the room that are going to be very respectful of the election officials at all times, be very respectful of the voters at all times and, if they see issues, then report them in.” He has declined to allow reporters to attend the training sessions, which he said have trained 7,000 potential poll watchers so far this year. As in many states, poll watchers are only permitted in North Carolina if they have been designated by the major parties. But in Michigan, organizations that register with local election offices also can provide poll watchers. A coalition of groups that have questioned the 2020 election are scrambling to get as many of their members in place as possible in the politically critical state. “The best I can do is put a whole bunch of eyeballs on it to make sure that anything that doesn’t look right gets a further look,” said Sandy Kiesel, executive director of the Michigan Election Integrity Fund and Force, part of a coalition that recruited 5,000 poll watchers for the state’s August primary. Kiesel said several of her coalition’s poll watchers and poll challengers — Michigan law allows one person to observe and another person to formally lodge challenges at precincts — were prevented from observing or escorted out of polling places in August. Michigan election officials are bracing for more confrontations in November. Patrick Colbeck, a former Republican state senator and prominent election conspiracy theorist who is part of Kiesel’s coalition, announced this past week that a comprehensive fall push to scrutinize every aspect of voting would be called “Operation Overwatch.” “They are talking about intimidating people who have the right to vote,” said Barb Byrum, clerk of Michigan’s Ingham County, which includes Lansing, the state capital. In a sign of the importance the state’s Republicans place on poll watchers, the GOP-controlled Legislature last week agreed to let election offices throughout Michigan start processing mailed ballots two days before Election Day — something most states with mail voting allow long before then — but only if they allow poll watchers to observe. The ballots are not actually counted until Election Day. In Texas, a new law allows every candidate to assign up to two poll watchers, raising the potential that observers could pack polling locations, particularly around big cities such as Dallas and Houston where ballots are the longest. According to records from the secretary of state’s office, more than 900 people in Texas already had received poll watching certification in the three weeks after the state opened required training on Sept. 1. Read More Here
·digitalalaskanews.com·
North Carolina Election Officials Brace For Confrontational Poll Watchers
Apocalypse Now: Democrats Embrace A Dark Midterm Message
Apocalypse Now: Democrats Embrace A Dark Midterm Message
Apocalypse Now: Democrats Embrace A Dark Midterm Message https://digitalalaskanews.com/apocalypse-now-democrats-embrace-a-dark-midterm-message/ Democrat Max Frost, running for U.S. Congress in Florida, has said Republicans like Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) are trying to build “right-wing fascist power.” Rep. Pat Ryan, a New York Democrat, says America faces “a coordinated domestic attempt to undermine our Constitution.” And Rep. Chris Pappas, a New Hampshire Democrat facing reelection in a swing district, paints an Orwellian America if his Republican opponent gets her way on abortion: “It wouldn’t be a woman’s choice — it would be the government’s choice.” With a tough midterm election about six weeks away, many Democrats have largely settled on a campaign message, and it’s not one that simply emphasizes their accomplishments. Instead, it amounts to a stark warning: If Republicans take power, they will establish a dystopia that cripples democracy and eviscerates abortion rights and other freedoms. “When you are the in-party in the midterms — like the Democrats are now — and the wind is blowing against you, you have to ride every advantageous breeze you can find,” former Rep. Steve Israel (D-N.Y.) said. “And the Democrats have found those breezes in the Dobbs decision and in Donald Trump.” For months leading Democrats, starting with President Biden, signaled that they would campaign on having helped Americans, from fixing bridges to cutting drug costs. Biden suggested that attacking Republicans too harshly would divide the country and alienate potential supporters. But with Donald Trump’s reemergence, the proliferation of Republican nominees who reject fair elections, and the Supreme Court’s overturning abortion rights, the calculus has starkly changed. Biden now all but admits his initial approach no longer works. “I remember I got beat up in the campaign by saying that I wanted to unify the country and unify the parties,” he recently told a Democratic gathering. “You used to be able to do that. But things have changed a whole bunch.” Republicans have adopted their own apocalyptic rhetoric, warning that Biden and the Democrats are taking the country down a path of soaring crime, raging inflation and uncontrolled immigration. That has created a midterm arena marked by dueling dystopias, as the parties vie to outdo each other in describing the hell scape that lies ahead if the other side wins. But while Republican rhetoric in many ways amounts to a routine political attack, the Democrats’ message reflects the reality that many in the GOP are openly embracing anti-democratic principles and an end to abortion rights, even as some scramble to distance themselves from such positions after previously advocating them. Republicans insist that the November elections remain a referendum on Biden. The GOP holds a sizable advantage on issues like the economy and crime, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll, and Democrats are more trusted to handle abortion and climate change. “Talking about January 6th and whether we have a democracy next year is a really important issue in Washington, D.C. But it’s not an important issue to voters in the real world,” said Corry Bliss, a Republican strategist working on races across the country. “In the real world, voters care about the price of groceries, the price of gas, being able to walk down the street and feel safe.” A Sept. 9-12 Fox News poll found that 59 percent of registered voters are “extremely” concerned about inflation and higher prices, and those voters prefer the Republican candidate for Congress. In addition, while Biden’s job rating has improved — 42 percent approve of his performance and 53 percent disapprove, according to a Post average of polls — it is still underwater and could drag down Democratic candidates. Beyond that, the Democrats’ newly dark message is a gamble. Biden is trying to draw a delicate distinction by blasting “MAGA Republicans” and has said he is not talking about all Republicans, noting he can still work with many of them. But GOP leaders say the president is simply calling all of them fascists. At a recent rally, Trump suggested that Biden was branding Trump supporters “enemies of the state.” Then he added, “He’s an enemy of the state, you want to know the truth.” Still, the current landscape has little modern precedent. “In a normal environment, this midterm election would be about Joe Biden,” Israel said. “But this midterm, Democrats have successfully made it a referendum on Donald Trump, and he’s helping them by inserting himself in the headlines and endorsing candidates in primaries who are way too far to the right for moderate electorates.” In New Jersey, Democratic Rep. Tom Malinowski is running an ad that attacks his opponent for his loyalty to Trump and his record on abortion. That district leans Republican, according to the Cook Political Report, and it’s still unclear whether Malinowski’s attacks will help move the needle by Election Day. “Having Trump’s back? Or having a backbone? Tom Kean Jr. made his choice — following Trump no matter what,” a narrator says in the ad. “A national abortion ban. Trump and the MAGA crowd know they can count on Tom Kean Jr. because Tom Kean Jr. promised that — no matter what.” Democrats stress that each district is different, and say their candidates will campaign accordingly. But their increasingly negative messages signal an acknowledgment that simply touting the laws they’ve passed — including a $700 billion health, climate and tax bill; a $1.9 trillion pandemic aid package; a $1 trillion-plus infrastructure plan; and legislation to boost domestic semiconductor manufacturing — is not enough. “My dad used to say, ‘Don’t compare me to the Almighty, compare me to the alternative,’ ” Biden said at a recent Democratic event. “This November, you have to choose to be a nation of hope, unity and optimism — or a nation of fear, division and darkness.” The reason for the shift is clear. Republicans were outperforming in off-year and special elections until June, when the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and eliminated the constitutional right to abortion. That prompted record numbers of women to register to vote. Meanwhile, Trump began to dominate the news, as congressional hearings revealed his role in the attack on the Capitol, the FBI found highly classified documents in his home, and he drew closer to adherents of the QAnon conspiracy theory. The Democratic response became evident when Biden on Aug. 25 denounced “MAGA Republicans,” saying, “They’re a threat to our very democracy. They refuse to accept the will of the people. They embrace political violence. They don’t believe in democracy.” The same day, he accused them of moving toward “semi-fascism.” A week later, Biden spoke at Philadelphia’s Independence Hall, saying that “too much of what’s happening in our country today is not normal,” naming Trump and his followers and adding, “we do ourselves no favors to pretend otherwise.” But the seeds of the shift were planted earlier. Biden knew last spring he wanted to cast the “extremist” wing of the Republican Party as a threat to American democracy, according to a senior White House official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal planning. Biden began by capitalizing on a controversial conservative policy plan released by Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) earlier this year that called for expiration dates for all federal laws, which the president noted would include those establishing Social Security and Medicare. The president in May began road-testing the term “ultra MAGA” to criticize Scott’s economic agenda and Republican attacks on LGBTQ rights. Trump supporters, for their part, gleefully embraced the “ultra-MAGA” label, putting it on T-shirts and other paraphernalia. White House political operatives, conducting internal polls and monitoring public ones, thought the message showed promise. One Quinnipiac poll in August, for example, showed that 67 percent of Americans believed the country’s democracy was in danger of collapse. And by then, Democrats no longer needed the goodwill of Republicans in Congress, since lawmakers had passed a handful of bills that required Republican votes, as well as Biden’s sweeping bill to tackle drug costs and fight climate change. The president had also decided that he wanted to deliver a prime-time speech on democracy at a historically resonant site. Aides initially considered a speech from the White House itself but ultimately concluded Independence Hall carried more powerful symbolism. To be sure, many Democrats are still touting their legislative accomplishments. A new law letting Medicare negotiate the price of some prescription drugs is particularly popular, and Democrats — especially those in tight races or less liberal enclaves — frequently boast that the measure will lower seniors’ health-care costs. Rep. Brendan Boyle (D-Pa.), whose district encompasses much of the Philadelphia area, said he has focused many of his events on the prescription drug legislation. While he is not ignoring the “very real” threat to democracy and abortion rights, he said, he is not elevating them over actions that help ordinary people. “Our side absolutely has to double down on talking about what we just did on prescription drugs, what we achieved on infrastructure, what we achieved on the gun bill. These are things that were multi-decade fights,” Boyle said. “If there is one self-criticism of Democrats, it’s that we need to do a better job of celebrating our victories and not just moving on to the next issue.” Many Democrats are using campaign ads to promote such accomplishments, while peppering their speeches and other comments with warnings of Republican extremism, which they know will be picked up by news outlets. Whit Ayres, a GOP pollster and president of North Star Opinion Research, agreed that the GOP strategy of making the e...
·digitalalaskanews.com·
Apocalypse Now: Democrats Embrace A Dark Midterm Message
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Court Watchers Look For Shift In New Term
Court Watchers Look For Shift In New Term
Court Watchers Look For Shift In New Term https://digitalalaskanews.com/court-watchers-look-for-shift-in-new-term/ Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, left, is escorted by Chief Justice of the United States John Roberts following her formal investiture ceremony at the Supreme Court in Washington, Friday, Sept. 30, 2022. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) WASHINGTON — With public confidence diminished and justices sparring openly over the institution’s legitimacy, the Supreme Court will begin Monday a new term that, some say, will push American law to the right on issues of race, voting and the environment. After June’s overturning of nearly 50 years of constitutional protections for abortion rights, the court is diving back in with an agenda expected to split its six conservative justices from its three liberals. “It’s not going to be a sleepy term,” said Allison Orr Larsen, a William and Mary Law School professor. “Cases the court already has agreed to hear really have the potential to bring some pretty significant changes to the law.” Into this swirling mix steps new Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, the court’s first Black woman. Jackson took the seat of Justice Stephen Breyer, a member of the court’s liberal wing, who retired in June. She’s not expected to alter the liberal-conservative divide on the court, but for the first time, the court has four women as justices and white men no longer hold a majority. Last term’s decisions produced contention among the justices anyway. But the leak of the abortion decision in early May, seven weeks before it was released, exacerbated tensions on the court, several justices have said. The court, with three appointees of former President Donald Trump, has apparently not identified the source of the leak, Breyer said in a recent interview on CNN. Justice Elena Kagan delivered a series of talks over the summer in which she said the public’s view of the court can be damaged especially when changes in its membership lead to big changes in the law. “It just doesn’t look like law when some new judges appointed by a new president come in and start just tossing out the old stuff,” Kagan said in an appearance last month at Salve Regina University in Newport, R.I. Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito took issue with Kagan. Roberts said it was wrong to equate disagreement with the court’s decisions with questions of legitimacy. In a comment Tuesday to The Wall Street Journal, Alito didn’t name Kagan. “But saying or implying that the court is becoming an illegitimate institution or questioning our integrity crosses an important line,” he said, according to the newspaper. Separately, Virginia “Ginni” Thomas, the wife of Justice Clarence Thomas, was interviewed on Thursday by the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 riot. She stood by the claim that the 2020 election was fraudulent, according to committee Chairman Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss. Ginni Thomas, a longtime conservative activist, texted with White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and contacted lawmakers in Arizona and Wisconsin in the weeks after the election. In January, her husband was the only justice to vote to keep documents from the National Archives out of the committee’s hands. Polls have shown a dip in approval for the court and respect for it. The latest Gallup Poll, released this month, reflected Americans’ lowest level of trust in the court in 50 years and a record-tying low approval rating. In a talk to judges and lawyers in Colorado last month, Roberts reflected on the past year at the court, calling it an “an unusual one and difficult in many respects.” After the leak, the court was ringed with an 8-foot security fence. Roberts called it “gut-wrenching” to drive to work past the barricades. He also said it was “unnatural” to hear arguments without the public present, a concession to the coronavirus pandemic. Now the barricades are down and the public will be allowed inside the courtroom for arguments for the first time since March 2020. The court will keep one pandemic practice, broadcasting live audio of arguments. Roberts seemed eager to look ahead. “I think just moving forward from things that were unfortunate in the year is the best way to respond to it,” he said. Last term, the court moved “firmly in a rightward direction,” said Irv Gornstein, executive director of the Supreme Court Institute at Georgetown University’s law school. “There is no reason to think this coming term or any term in the foreseeable future will be any different.”     Ketanji Brown Jackson, the second-youngest justice on the current Supreme Court, will join her colleagues for the court’s new term Monday. (AP Graphic)        In this image provided by the Supreme Court, members of the Supreme Court pose for a photo during Associate Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson’s formal investiture ceremony at the Supreme Court in Washington, Friday, Sept. 30, 2022. From left, Associate Justice Amy Coney Barrett, Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch, Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor, Associate Justice Clarence Thomas, Chief Justice John Roberts, Associate Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, Associate Justice Samuel Alito, Associate Justice Elena Kagan and Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh. (Fred Schilling/U.S. Supreme Court via AP)        In this image provided by the Supreme Court, Associate Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, center, poses for a photo with President Joe Biden, left, and Vice President Kamala Harris during her formal investiture ceremony at the Supreme Court in Washington, Friday, Sept. 30, 2022. (Fred Schilling/U.S. Supreme Court via AP)        Supreme Court Associate Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson stands outside the Supreme Court, at the top of the steps, with Chief Justice of the United States John Roberts, following her formal investiture ceremony at the Supreme Court in Washington, Friday, Sept. 30, 2022. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)        Ketanji Brown Jackson has much in common with her new colleagues on the Supreme Court, which begins a new term Monday. (AP Graphic)        Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, center left, is escorted by Chief Justice of the United States John Roberts following her formal investiture ceremony at the Supreme Court in Washington, Friday, Sept. 30, 2022. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)    Read More Here
·digitalalaskanews.com·
Court Watchers Look For Shift In New Term
This Week In Maine Politics: Oct. 2 2022
This Week In Maine Politics: Oct. 2 2022
This Week In Maine Politics: Oct. 2, 2022 https://digitalalaskanews.com/this-week-in-maine-politics-oct-2-2022/ Today, we continue a periodic compilation of reporting on the state’s politics leading up to the Nov. 8 elections. Maine Public’s Steve Mistler and Kevin Miller, in this analysis, argued that Democratic Gov. Janet Mills is playing it safe and her Republican challenger, former Gov. Paul LePage, is trying to make as much news as he can.  “With several polls now suggesting Mills has a decent-sized lead over LePage, the incumbent appears to be running like she’s ahead while also doing the usual governor stuff — which in her case is almost daily announcements of millions of dollars for this or that popular initiative,’’ the Maine Public reporters said. “LePage, meanwhile, is on offense. And while independent Sam Hunkler is popping up around the state, his nearly zero-budget campaign doesn’t appear to be generating much of a buzz.’’ Writing in their Political Pulse newsletter, Mistler and Miller point out that LePage has had press conferences on schools, the drug crisis, and a Maine paper mill over the past two-plus weeks. Voters will get a chance to see the candidates on Tuesday at 8 p.m. in the first of four scheduled debates. The Portland Press Herald is asking readers to submit a question here. The debate is sponsored by the Press Herald, Lewiston Sun Journal and Maine Public. A livestream will be available at pressherald.com. The issues  Mainers got a closer look at the policies of the gubernatorial candidates on key issues over the past week, including immigration, farming and the drug crisis.  The Press Herald published a detailed look at the differing approaches Mills and LePage have taken to immigration. In sum, the Press Herald wrote, “LePage sought to limit the flow of immigrants to the state during his eight years in office, cutting public support for noncitizens seeking asylum and ending the state’s participation in refugee resettlement.’’ Mills, when she took office, reversed those policies, “supporting public assistance for legally present noncitizens and speaking out about the importance of welcoming immigrants, migrants and asylum seekers as both an economic and moral imperative,’’ the Press Herald reported. Meanwhile, at an Agricultural Council of Maine forum in Augusta, LePage had a sharp response to a farmer’s point that the industry was operating efficiently. “I don’t agree that you are as productive as you can be,” LePage said, according to the Bangor Daily News. “When I see two-thirds of the potato crop going to a landfill on table stock, I don’t think that’s productive.” Also last week, LePage held a news conference in Portland to blame Mills for Maine’s drug problem.  “Crime in Portland is out of control,” LePage said. “The drug trade is driving people out of the city and destroying the way of life for too many Maine families. Janet Mills is fueling the crime and drug crisis in Maine.” Mills’ spokeswoman said the governor has focused on prevention and harm reduction, supporting overdose reversal medications and needle exchange programs. An estimated 636 people died of overdoses in Maine last year, marking the 12th highest percentage increase in the US.  The politics of guns and court appointees  The Monitor’s Caitlin Andrews reported on the NRA’s endorsement of LePage — and a slight improvement in the gun lobby’s eyes for Mills.  The NRA endorsement praised LePage for being against needing a permit to carry a concealed weapon, opposing gun and magazine bans and a promise to “work tirelessly” to increase mental health resources and school security.  The last time she ran, Mills got an “F’’ from the NRA — and boasted about it. This time, the NRA gave her a “C.’’ And in another story, the Monitor found concern among housing advocates that the Supreme Judicial Court could soon make it easier for banks to go after homeowners who are struggling to pay their mortgage. The court has asked for amicus briefs as it weighs whether to reconsider its precedent on housing and mortgage law.  Mills has appointed four of the justices and could end up appointing all seven justices if she is re-elected. More on LePage’s property taxes The New York Times’ Sept. 24 scoop on LePage’s Florida property tax break continued to reverberate across the gubernatorial campaign.  He denied he did anything wrong, but seemed to acknowledge the potential political damage in an interview with the Portland Press Herald.  “The article is so wrong,” LePage told the Press Herald. “But it is what it is. And I’ll just have to deal with it. If it costs me the election, it costs me the election. ”  The Times reported that from 2009 to 2015, and also from 2018 through the end of this year, LePage and his wife Ann received property tax breaks on their Florida properties that were reserved for permanent Florida residents. The former Republican governor, who is seeking a return to office for a third, non-consecutive term, told the Press Herald that his wife, Ann, remained a full-time Florida resident when he moved back to Maine in 2020.  “I have been in Maine for two years,” LePage told the Press Herald. “My wife came up this year. We have been living apart because I wanted to make sure that I was in Maine and people didn’t say, ‘Oh, he’s a carpetbagger.’ In 2019, I was in Florida. At the end of 2019, I moved back to Maine.” Money race Mills widened her lead over LePage in campaign fundraising, according to the Bangor Daily News.  “The Democratic governor’s campaign said it raised $994,000 between July 20 and Sept. 20, bringing Mills’ campaign-long total to roughly $4.8 million so far in the race. LePage, a Republican, reported raising $442,000 during that period and just over $2.2 million overall,’’ the BDN reported Tuesday. Maine Public noted, however, that Mills and LePage had about same amount of money in the bank — Mills had just under $1.5 million and LePage reported $1.3 million on hand. Independent campaign finance guy Darren Fishell has been tracking the data all season. His site is here. One pie chart that’s worth a look: the in-state and out of state funding snapshot shows Mills getting a larger portion of her donations from outside of Maine. Big donor states to Mills include California, New York, and Massachusetts. Congressional debate The three candidates for Maine’s second congressional district faced off in a debate last week, sparring over the economy, inflation, and abortion. It was the only full fledged debate of the campaign, which features Democratic US Rep. Jared Golden, former Republican Congressman Bruce Poliquin and Independent Tiffany Bond. Maine Public, in its account of the debate, said that Poliquin “badgered Golden for supporting the the Inflation Reduction Act, claiming that it will tax oil production.’’ Golden responded that the bill was meant to boost domestic oil production, which presumably would be beneficial amid rising costs of heating fuel.  “That bill puts a tax on foreign oil on countries like Russia, Venezuela, Saudi Arabia. These are not countries that we want to be energy dependent on going into the future, so taxing imports from those countries is going to help prop up American energy production,” he said. The Bangor Daily News noted that the candidates also sparred over immigration, with Poliquin borrowing a tagline from former President Trump.  “I believe in securing the border, standing up for Maine first, America first,” he said, repeating the slogan made famous by Trump, “and my opponents do not.” Golden is a swing vote in Congress who often breaks with his fellow Democrats. The Bangor Daily News said he has supported border security funding and said undocumented immigrants are “depressing people’s wages.” David Dahl, editor of The Maine Monitor, can be reached by email at: david@themainemonitor.org. Read More Here
·digitalalaskanews.com·
This Week In Maine Politics: Oct. 2 2022
Indonesia Authorities Say 174 Dead After Soccer Melee Stampede
Indonesia Authorities Say 174 Dead After Soccer Melee Stampede
Indonesia Authorities Say 174 Dead After Soccer Melee, Stampede https://digitalalaskanews.com/indonesia-authorities-say-174-dead-after-soccer-melee-stampede/ East Java stadium disaster apparently worst since 1964 Around 180 injured during crowd stampede Indonesia football association suspends league to investigate Police say they fired tear gas to control crowd MALANG, Indonesia, Oct 2 (Reuters) – Up to 174 people were killed and 180 injured in a stampede at a soccer stadium after police sought to quell violence on the pitch, officials said on Sunday, in one of the world’s worst stadium disasters. Officers fired tear gas in an attempt to disperse agitated supporters of the losing home side who had invaded the pitch after the final whistle in Malang, East Java, on Saturday night, the region’s police chief Nico Afinta told reporters. “It had gotten anarchic. They started attacking officers, they damaged cars,” Nico said, adding that the crush occurred when fans fled for an exit gate. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com East Java Deputy Governor Emil Dardak and the local disaster agency put the death toll at 174 on Sunday afternoon, but Emil later said that figure may have included duplicate fatalities. The local health agency put the toll at 130. There was confusion on Sunday over the death toll, which one official had put as high as 174, but the stadium disaster appeared to be the world’s worst in more than half a century. Video footage from local news channels showed fans streaming onto the pitch after Arema FC lost 3-2 to Persebaya Surabaya around 10 p.m. (1500 GMT), followed by scuffles, and what appeared to be clouds of tear gas and unconscious fans being carried out of the venue. Many victims at the nearby Kanjuruhan hospital suffered from trauma, shortness of breath and a lack of oxygen due to the large number of people at the scene affected by tear gas, said paramedic Boby Prabowo. The head of another hospital in the area told Metro TV that some victims had sustained brain injuries and that the fatalities included a five-year-old. President Joko Widodo said authorities must thoroughly evaluate security at matches, adding that he hoped this would be “the last soccer tragedy in the nation.” Jokowi, as the president is known, ordered the Football Association of Indonesia, PSSI, to suspend all games in the top league BRI Liga 1 until an investigation had been completed. TEAR GAS RULES, OVERCAPACITY World soccer’s governing body FIFA specifies in its safety regulations that no firearms or “crowd control gas” should be carried or used by stewards or police. East Java police did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether they were aware of such regulations. FIFA President Gianni Infantino said in a statement to Reuters that the football world was in “a state of shock following the tragic incidents that have taken place in Indonesia” and the event was “dark day for all involved”. Fans invade the soccer field after a match between Arema FC and Persebaya Surabaya at Kanjuruhan Stadium, Malang, Indonesia Oct 2, 2022 in this screen grab taken from a REUTERS video. REUTERS TV via REUTERS FIFA has requested a report on the incident from PSSI, which has sent a team to Malang to investigate, PSSI secretary general Yunus Nusi told reporters. Indonesia’s human rights commission also plans to investigate security at the grounds, including the use of tear gas, its commissioner told Reuters. “Many of our friends lost their lives because of the officers who dehumanised us,” said Muhammad Rian Dwicahyono, 22, crying as he nursed a broken arm at the local Kanjuruhan hospital. “Many lives have been wasted.” On Sunday mourners gathered outside the gates of the stadium to lay flowers for the victims. Amnesty International Indonesia slammed the security measures, saying the “use of excessive force by the state … to contain or control such crowds cannot be justified at all”. The country’s chief security minister, Mahfud MD, said in an Instagram post that the stadium had been filled beyond its capacity. Some 42,000 tickets had been issued for a stadium designed to hold 38,000 people, he said. WORST IN HALF CENTURY Financial aid would be given to the injured and the families of victims, East Java Governor Khofifah Indar Parawansa told reporters. There have been outbreaks of trouble at matches in Indonesia before, with strong rivalries between clubs sometimes leading to violence among supporters. Indonesia’s football scene has been blighted by hooliganism, heavy-handed policing and mismanagement, largely preventing the country of 275 million people who pack stadiums from harnessing its potential in the sport. Zainudin Amali, Indonesia’s sports minister, told KompasTV the ministry would re-evaluate safety at football matches, including considering not allowing spectators in stadiums. The Malang stadium disaster appeared to be the deadliest since 1964, when 328 people were reported dead in a riot and crush when Peru hosted Argentine at the Estadio Nacional. In an infamous 1989 British disaster, 96 Liverpool supporters were crushed to death when an overcrowded and fenced-in enclosure collapsed at the Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield. Indonesia is scheduled to host the FIFA under-20 World Cup in May and June next year. They are also one of three countries bidding to stage next year’s Asian Cup, the continent’s equivalent of the Euros, after China pulled out as hosts. The head of the Asian Football Confederation, Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa said in a statement he was “deeply shocked and saddened to hear such tragic news coming out of football-loving Indonesia”, expressing condolences for the victims, their families and friends. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Reporting by Yuddy Cahya Budiman and Prasto Wardoyo in Malang, Stefanno Sulaiman and Stanley Widianto in Jakarta, and Tommy Lund in Gdansk; Writing by Kate Lamb; Editing by Ed Davies, William Mallard and Kim Coghill Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. Read More Here
·digitalalaskanews.com·
Indonesia Authorities Say 174 Dead After Soccer Melee Stampede
Sunday Seminoles Summary: FSU Soccer Softball Volleyball Basketball And Other Sports News
Sunday Seminoles Summary: FSU Soccer Softball Volleyball Basketball And Other Sports News
Sunday Seminoles Summary: FSU Soccer, Softball, Volleyball, Basketball, And Other Sports News https://digitalalaskanews.com/sunday-seminoles-summary-fsu-soccer-softball-volleyball-basketball-and-other-sports-news/ In case you missed last week’s ‘TN’s Triple-S’ coverage of Florida State Seminoles athletics, here is the recap: Sunday Seminoles Summary: FSU Soccer, Volleyball, Softball, Golf, and other Noles sports news As we get further into the fall sports, we will continue to keep you up to date on any Florida State sports information and media press releases we are sent from the FSU SID, or that we source ourselves. Feel free to include any other FSU related news of any kind that we may have missed in the comment section. Most of the summaries below are courtesy of FSU SID, Tomahawk Nation, and the Twitters. ——— Softball FSU Softball: Class of 2024 Recruiting Thread-As High School Juniors start to commit to their colleges, we will detail who the ‘Noles are picking up for the class of 2024 Now that the September 1st window has come and gone for college softball, the class of 2024 can start announcing verbal commits to their schools. For Florida State, they have started to receive verbals. This thread will be dedicated to the players who have posted about committing to the Garnet and Gold starting in 2024..{continued *FOR FREE} — FSU Softball lands Texas A&M Transfer Katie Dack-Katie Dack transfers to be a Seminole in 2023, coming out of College Station After entering the portal earlier in the month, slugger Katie Dack has made her new school clear. Announced by Dack on Monday, she’s transferring from Texas A&M to be a Florida State Seminole in 2023..{continued *FOR FREE} — Gwyn’s FSU softball’s top five moments from 2022 – Take a look back at the top moments of FSU Softball from 2022 Even though it ended early, it was still a special season for Florida State Seminoles softball. An incredible run through the season was punctuated by an ACC Tournament championship title — Team 39 put up a 49-5 record for the highest winning percentage in a regular season in school history (.907). The season showed the fight that personifies head coach Lonni Alameda’s teams and provided many moments for fans to remember. Now that the dust has settled, we at Tomahawk Nation decided to take a look at the top 5 moments that made the season spectacular…{continued *FOR FREE} ——— Soccer No. 7 FSU soccer defeats Miami-The Seminoles recover from a somnolent first half to earn the win over their in-state rival No. 7 Florida State (8-0-2) defeated Miami (3-5-2) by a 1-0 score today in Coral Gables, FL. Game Recap Miami came out with an effective strategy. The Canes mostly stayed behind the ball but they did high press at times. UM also frustrated FSU with opportunistic fouling. The Canes had seven fouls in the first half compared to three for the Noles. In truth, none of the fouls were individually bad enough to warrant a booking but there were so many that it frustrated Florida State….{continued *FOR FREE} — Florida State Sports Notebook: Midseason Edition-Just a few thoughts on Seminole sports. As always read at your own risk. The Florida State soccer team has now passed the mid-point of the season. Therefore, it is a good time to assess how the season has gone so far and where the team may be headed as we move on toward the post season. These are real questions posed by real people in the sense that they are actual questions (they end in a question mark) and I am a real person. I have written all of the questions….{continued *FOR FREE} — No. 7 FSU soccer cruises past no. 14 Clemson-Jody Brown had a brace to lead the Seminoles to another impressive victory. Florida State (7-0-2, 3-0-0 ACC) defeated Clemson (5-3-2, 1-2-0 ACC) by a 3-1 score today at the Seminole Soccer Complex in Tallahassee, FL. Game Recap The Seminoles got off to a quick start in this game. In the second minute Heather Payne and Jenna Nighswonger played give and go in the midfield. Payne got the ball back and charged at the Clemson defense. Payne took a few touches and fired a left footed shot from about 21 yards away that went just inches wide left of the goal…{continued *FOR FREE} ——— Women’s Basketball Latson Named One of Nation’s Top Freshmen Florida State Women’s Basketball freshman guard Ta’Niya Latson has been named one of the nation’s Top 65 freshmen, as well as one of the top freshmen in the ACC, according to World Exposure Report. The Miami native joined a list of other talented newcomers in the ACC, including Ruby Whitehorn (Clemson), Ashlon Jackson (Duke), Shay Bollin (Duke), Nyla Harris (Louisville), Imani Lester (Louisville), Lazaria Spearman (Miami), Paulina Paris (North Carolina) and KK Bransford (Notre Dame). Latson enters her Florida State career rated as the nation’s top shooting guard in the 2022 signing class, ranked 14th overall by ESPN Hoopgurlz. She is the 12th McDonald’s All-American to suit up for Florida State, a game in which she scored 15 points in 13 minutes. As a senior at American Heritage High School, Latson averaged 27.2 points, 7.0 assists, 8.0 rebounds, 5.3 steals and 2.0 blocks per game. She joins current backcourt mate O’Mariah Gordon as winners of the Florida Dairy Farmers Miss Basketball award in three of the last four years. Latson joins a Seminole program with a history of success, currently one of just nine programs to make the NCAA Tournament in 16 of the last 17 years and one of only eight to make the Big Dance in each of the last nine seasons. Florida State Women’s Basketball begins its regular season on Monday, Nov. 7, at 11 a.m. in an Education Game matchup with Bethune-Cookman at the Tucker Center. The game is a field trip opportunity for several nearby schools where students and teachers receive free admission. ——— Volleyball Volleyball Falls to NC State The Florida State volleyball team (9-5, 1-2) fell in three sets (23-25, 20-25, 17-25) to NC State (8-6, 2-1) Friday Night in Raleigh, N.C. In set one, the Wolfpack got off to a quick start to hold an 8-4 advantage over the Seminoles. FSU would climb back to tie the set at 15. The two teams traded points, but the Noles took a 23-22 advantage. The Wolfpack used one final run to take the first set 25-23. Set two took a similar path as set one with the Wolfpack building a lead once again. The Noles cut the lead to one at 18-17, but the Wolfpack used a 4-0 run to pull away and build a 2-0 lead in the match. The Wolfpack led start to finish in the third set to take the match-clinching set 25-17. A bright spot for the Noles was sophomore Skye Ekes who tallied a season-high 11 kills for the Noles on 20 attempts for a .450 hitting percentage. The Noles will be back in action Sunday at 1 p.m. when they take on the North Carolina Tar Heels in Chapel Hill, N.C. First serve is set for 1 p.m., and the match can be seen live on ACC Network Extra. — Volleyball Falls to No. 2 Louisville The Florida State Seminoles (9-4, 1-1) fell to the No. 2 Louisville Cardinals (11-1, 2-0) in three sets (17-25, 20-25, 21-25) Sunday afternoon in a raucous Tully Gym. The match was aired on ESPN which marked the first time in program history that the Noles appeared on the main ESPN network. The Cardinals got out to a quick start in set one and led the majority of the way to a 25-17 victory over the Noles. Audrey Koenig led the Seminoles with three kills. Louisville got off to a 7-2 lead in set two, but setter Andjelija Draskovic went on a 5-0 serving streak and helped close the gap to one. Emily Ryan was one to watch at the net with three blocks as the Noles took the 14-13 lead. The Cardinals responded with a 6-0 run to win the set 25-20. Continuing the battle in the third set, the Noles led 9-7, feeding off the energy in Tully for a back and forth third set. Audrey Koenig recorded seven kills and Emily Ryan with four kills. Emma Clothier served two aces in a row to bring the Seminoles up to a 22-21 Louisville lead, but the Cardinals took the last three points to take the match. Audrey Koenig led the Seminoles with 14 kills and a .379 hitting percentage. Emily Ryan tied her season high with four blocks and added seven kills. The Noles will be back in action next Friday and Sunday against North Carolina State and North Carolina. Both matches can be seen on ACC Network Extra. ——— FSU WOMEN’S SPORTS NEWS: Soccer, Softball, Basketball, Volleyball, & Others Check out our dedicated Fanpost for FSU Women’s sports for any Women’s sports news you come across and can share to help keep your community up to date on what is happening in FSU women’s athletics during the week…{continued *FOR FREE} ——— Women’s Golf Schooner Fall Classic Champions Florida State won the championship of the Ninth Annual Schooner Fall Classic with a three-stroke victory over TCU as play in the event at the Belmar Golf Club Came to a close. The Seminoles took the lead in the first round and held it for most of the remainder of the event to win the Schooner Fall Classic for the second time. Florida State also won the event in 2016. Florida State set the school record for a team score in a three-round tournament with its 828 team total. The Seminoles’ team total broke the school record by one stroke. The previous record of 829, came as Florida State won the 2016 Schooner Fall Classic. Caitlyn Macnab of TCU won the individual championship with a 10 under par score of 200. She defeated Karisa Chul-Ak-Sorn of Iowa State by one stroke. Florida State’s Lottie Woad finished in eighth place with a three-round total of 205 while teammate Charlotte Heath finished in ninth place in the individual standings with 54-hole total of 206. The Seminoles were one of only three teams in the 16-team field to finish with two players in the top 10 of the final individual standings. Head Coach Amy Bond was presented with an autographed guitar by Trivia Covel and country music superstar Toby Keith...
·digitalalaskanews.com·
Sunday Seminoles Summary: FSU Soccer Softball Volleyball Basketball And Other Sports News
Death Toll Rises To 66 In Florida After Hurricane Ian Rendered Some Communities 'unrecognizable' Officials Say | CNN
Death Toll Rises To 66 In Florida After Hurricane Ian Rendered Some Communities 'unrecognizable' Officials Say | CNN
Death Toll Rises To 66 In Florida After Hurricane Ian Rendered Some Communities 'unrecognizable,' Officials Say | CNN https://digitalalaskanews.com/death-toll-rises-to-66-in-florida-after-hurricane-ian-rendered-some-communities-unrecognizable-officials-say-cnn/ 01:51 – Source: CNN Man stays in houseboat during hurricane. See where he ended up CNN  —  Days after Hurricane Ian slammed into Florida, shell-shocked residents are still assessing the damage left behind by record-high storm surge, damaging winds and catastrophic flooding that left some areas of the Sunshine State unrecognizable. At least 66 people were killed by Ian in Florida as it swallowed homes in its furious rushing waters, obliterated roadways and ripped down powerlines. Four people were also killed in storm-related incidents in North Carolina, officials say. Nearly 900,000 customers in Florida still did not have power as of early Sunday morning, according to PowerOutage.us. More than 30,000 remained without power in North Carolina. The hurricane – expected to be ranked the most expensive storm in Florida’s history – made landfall Wednesday as a powerful Category 4 and had weakened to a post-tropical cyclone by Saturday, dropping rain over parts of West Virginia and western Maryland. While sunshine has returned to Florida, many there are contending with Ian’s sobering aftermath: a power grid that may take weeks to fix, destroyed homes, damaged landmarks, and lost loves ones. The devastation stretched from Florida’s coastal towns to inland cities like Orlando, but was felt most intensely in southwestern coastal communities, like Fort Myers and Naples. Crews had rescued and evacuated more than 1,070 people from flooded areas in southwest and central Florida and transported 78 people from a flooded elderly care facility as of Saturday morning, Gov. Ron DeSantis’ office said in a news release. The US Coast Guard also carried out rescues, navigating through challenging post-storm conditions, Rear Adm. Brendan McPherson told CNN. “We’re flying and we’re operating in areas that are unrecognizable,” he said. “There’s no street signs. They don’t look like they used to look like. Buildings that were once benchmarks in the community are no longer there.” Many of the Ian-related deaths have been reported in southwestern Florida’s Lee County, which includes Fort Myers and Sanibel Island, where at least 35 people died. Local officials are facing criticism about whether mandatory evacuations in Lee County should have been issued sooner. Officials there did not order evacuations until less than 24 hours before the storm made landfall, and a day after several neighboring counties issued their orders. DeSantis on Saturday defended the timing of Lee County’s orders, saying they were given as soon as the storm’s projected path shifted south, putting the area in Ian’s crosshairs. The storm’s toll in Florida also includes 12 deaths in Charlotte County, eight in Collier County, five in Volusia County, three in Sarasota County and one each in Polk, Lake and Manatee counties, according to officials. President Joe Biden continued to pledge federal support for Florida, saying Hurricane Ian is “likely to rank among the worst … in the nation’s history.” The President and first lady Jill Biden are set to travel to Puerto Rico Monday to survey damage from Hurricane Fiona, then head to Florida Wednesday, according to a statement from the White House. After Hurricane Ian finished its devastating crawl over Florida, residents emerged, surveying damaged homes, picking up debris and maneuvering waterlogged roads. The Florida National Guard was working on search and rescue missions with local authorities throughout southwest and central Florida Saturday, pulling distressed residents from flooded areas and lifting some to safety via helicopter, according to the governor. People on Sanibel and Captiva islands found themselves cut off from the mainland after parts of a causeway were destroyed by the storm, leaving boats and helicopters as their only exit options. Groups of civilian volunteers were working to help residents leave Sanibel, where aerial imagery has shown many cottages that lined the island’s shores were wiped away. Sanibel Island resident Andy Boyle was on the island when the hurricane hit. He said he lost his home and two cars, but feels lucky to be alive. “A lot of people have very expensive, well-built homes on Sanibel and they felt with their multi-million dollar homes built like fortresses, they would be fine,” Boyle said. Boyle was riding out the storm at home when the dining room roof collapsed. “That’s when we started to get concerned,” he said. He described waving down National Guard aircraft the next day outside his house, and seeing the scenes of devastation around the island. “When you go to the east end of the island, there’s just a lot of destruction. The houses surrounding the lighthouse are all gone. When you go to the west end of the island, the old restaurants up there, they’re all gone. The street going to Captiva is now a beach,” Boyle said. The US Coast Guard plans to evacuate people from Lee County’s Pine Island during daylight hours Sunday, according to the Lee County Sheriff’s Office. Residents were also evacuated from the Hidden River area of Sarasota County after a compromised levee threatened to flood homes, the sheriff’s office said Saturday. Further complicating recovery is the lack of electricity and spotty communication in impacted areas. It could take up to a week from Sunday before power is restored in storm-damaged counties, said Eric Silagy, president and CEO of Florida Power & Light Company. And some customers may not be back on the grid for “weeks or months” because some buildings with structural damage will need safety inspections. Around 65% of all power outages in Florida from the storm had been resorted as of early Sunday, according to PowerOutage.us. Florida is also working with Elon Musk and Starlink satellite to help restore communication in the state, according to DeSantis. “They’re positioning those Starlink satellites to provide good coverage in Southwest Florida and other affected areas,” DeSantis said. Emergency responders in Lee County will be among those receiving Starlink devices. Fort Myers councilmember Liston Bochette told CNN the city was hit hard, with “major issues” with in the city’s water, power and sewage systems. In Charlotte County, residents are “facing a tragedy” without homes, electricity or water supplies, said Claudette Smith, public information officer for the sheriff’s office. “We need everything, to put it plain and simple. We need everything. We need all hands on deck,” Smith told CNN Friday. “The people who have come to our assistance have been tremendously helpful, but we do need everything.” Hurricane Ian may have caused as much as $47 billion in insured losses in Florida, according to an estimate from property analytics firm CoreLogic – which could make it the most expensive storm in the state’s history. After walloping Florida, Ian made its second landfall in the US near Georgetown, South Carolina, Friday afternoon as a Category 1 hurricane, and began lashing the coasts of Georgia and the Carolinas with ferocious wind and rainfall. In North Carolina, the four storm-related deaths include a man who drowned when his truck went into a flooded swamp; two people who died in separate crashes; and a man who died of carbon monoxide poisoning after running a generator in a closed garage, according to Gov. Roy Cooper’s office. No deaths have been reported in South Carolina, Gov. Henry McMaster said Saturday. The storm has flooded homes and submerged vehicles along South Carolina’s shoreline. Two piers – one in Pawleys Island and another in North Myrtle Beach – partially collapsed as high winds pushed water even higher. Edgar Stephens, who manages the Cherry Grove Pier in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, stood yards away as a 100-foot section from the pier’s middle crashed into the ocean. Stephens said the Cherry Grove Pier is a staple for community members and tourists alike. “We’re a destination, not just a fishing pier,” Stephens said. Read More Here
·digitalalaskanews.com·
Death Toll Rises To 66 In Florida After Hurricane Ian Rendered Some Communities 'unrecognizable' Officials Say | CNN
Nagy: The Harsh World Of 2022 As Seen From Central Europe
Nagy: The Harsh World Of 2022 As Seen From Central Europe
Nagy: The Harsh World Of 2022 As Seen From Central Europe https://digitalalaskanews.com/nagy-the-harsh-world-of-2022-as-seen-from-central-europe/ By Tibor Nagy  |  Special to the Avalanche-Journal Each year my wife Jane and I go back to Hungary to see the family I left behind as a refugee and to get an appreciation of how different the world looks when seen from Budapest as opposed to Washington, D.C. (or Lubbock). The change from 2021 to 2022 has been the most dramatic since the Iron Curtain came down in 1989, and this time it’s not for the better. Russia’s invasion of next-door Ukraine has had a monumental impact on all facets of Hungarian life, as it has on other Central European states. While Americans may feel like the Ukraine war has made our lives more difficult, our hardships have been miniscule compared to what Central Europeans are facing. (Much like the difference between how the chicken and pig are affected by being included in bacon and eggs!)Imagine your utility bill next month increasing by a factor of four or more. For members of my family, this means paying up to 50% of their monthly income for gas and electricity. And forrestaurants and other businesses it means turning off grills when not in use and every otherdevice which uses energy. Meanwhile, overall inflation is running at well over 20% making many essentials simply unaffordable. Business owners told me there is no way they can pass all costs on to customers and may just have to close. Governments are already mandating strict temperature controls for winter, and people are prepping for the worst – those who can are stockpiling wood in case there are periods when no energy is available. Some apartment blocks are even planning for communal cooking fires if electricity fails. But so far the hardships have not dimmed Central Europe’s determination to help Ukrainians. Each day some 5,000 to 10,000 Ukrainians – mostly women and children, as men remain to fight the Russians – arrive in Hungary, having quite an impact on a population of 9 million. In response, Hungary and other Central European nations have established strong support systems to make the refugees as comfortable as possible while they await an end to the war so they can go home.During Trump’s presidency, the U.S. and Hungary enjoyed mutually collaborative relations.Unfortunately, the Biden administration, instead of applauding the support Hungary is giving to Ukrainians, is focused on criticizing Hungarian Prime Minister Victor Orban and his “illiberal” policies and accommodationist approach to Russia – to the extent that current bilateral relations can best be described as toxic. US liberals are apoplectic over Hungary’s conservative and traditionalist views, without fully understanding Central Europe’s complex history. Unlike the U.S., Central European nations have had to fight numerous wars to maintain their national existence and save their national identities, and some – like Poland – simply disappeared from the map for long periods. And much of the region endured occupation by the Ottoman Turks for long periods, which included forced conversions to Islam – so wanting to safeguard a JudeoChristian heritage is understandable. Thus, while a socially progressive, multi-cultural, multiethnic, non-sectarian society might make sense for the US (and not all Americans even agree with that), that does not mean that it’s the default setting for all the world. If Hungarians – and others – want to pursue another model, they should have the freedom to do so.Hungary’s cooperative relations with Russia are more problematic (and I’m not objective, having lived and suffered under Russian occupation as a child). But here again, as with many African countries which have not supported US sanctions against Russia, nations choose their own relationships based on their own interests – not those of America. If the US really wants Hungary to cut its ties with Russia, most especially in the energy sector, then the correct and most effective approach would be to work collaboratively and offer alternatives, instead of simply shouting displeasure through a megaphone. And let’s remember, it was our ally Germany’s decades-long cozy relations with Russia and willingness to become hooked onRussian energy which is a major cause of Europe’s current energy crisis.So, Central Europe, given its proximity to the war, enters the Fall with a great deal of uncertainty and anxiety. This became observable in mid-September when temperatures plunged over 24 hours from the balmy 80s to the chilly and wet 50s, with the reality of the coming cold winter on the horizon. Everyone hopes for a quick end to the war, but also accepts that Russia cannot be allowed to win – else Putin will go for an even bigger goal in the next round. Europeans also fear Putin’s willingness to use battlefield nuclear weapons and the potential spread of radiation but hope that his generals will not execute such orders, or that Russian nukes – given years of neglect and corruption – will simply not function. Meanwhile, for the US to support Central Europe’s will to hold as “frontline” states against Putin’sexpansionist goals, we must focus on areas of mutual interest, instead of on what we don’t like. Ambassador Tibor Nagy was most recently Assistant Secretary of State for Africa after serving as Texas Tech’s Vice Provost for International Affairs and a 30-year career as a US Diplomat. Follow him on Twitter @TiborPNagyJr Read More Here
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Nagy: The Harsh World Of 2022 As Seen From Central Europe
A Potted History Of GB News Presenter Darren Grimes And His 'hateful' Views
A Potted History Of GB News Presenter Darren Grimes And His 'hateful' Views
A Potted History Of GB News Presenter Darren Grimes And His 'hateful' Views https://digitalalaskanews.com/a-potted-history-of-gb-news-presenter-darren-grimes-and-his-hateful-views/ Darren Grimes. (PA Media) GB News presenter Darren Grimes has been the subject of much speculation this week over his role at the right-wing broadcaster – after suggestions that he no longer had one. Grimes deleted all of his tweets, set a password on his website, and disappeared from his GB News show Real Talk, before announcing he had returned from “holiday” and would be back on screens. But who is the gay, right-wing commentator, who once said he would “happily give his life for the freedom for you to be able to articulate your case as to why you think he’s a hateful s***e”? Darren Grimes tweeted his bemusement at why LGBT+ people “need” a Pride Month. (Screen capture via Twitter) Darren Grimes is from County Durham, and studied fashion and business at the University of Brighton, later dropping out before finishing his degree. While at university he joined the Liberal Democrats and spoke in favour of the UK remaining in the European Union, but swiftly changed his tune. Within a year, he had joined the Conservative Party and launched a pro-Brexit youth group named BeLeave. In 2018, the Electoral Commission fined Grimes £20,000 and the official Leave campaign Vote Leave £61,000, saying the latter had funnelled £675,315 through BeLeave to get around a spending limit of £7 million. Grimes, who denied any wrongdoing, won an appeal against his fine, with a judge ruling the Commission had set too high a threshold for determining whether BeLeave was a genuine organisation for the purposes of electoral law. Grimes gradually gained favour in the UK’s right-wing and far-right spheres, and in 2019 he promoted the launch of Turning Point UK, the British version of the pro-Trump youth organisation Turning Point USA. Turning Point UK, once described by Labour MP David Lammy as evidence that “sinister forces are taking hold of our country”, was launched in 2019 by Q Anon conspiracy theorist John Mappin, a Scientologist who previously handed out discounts at his hotel to anti-vaxxer guests. Upon launch, Turning Point UK received endorsements from Priti Patel, Jacob Rees-Mogg and Nigel Farage, but has since held little sway, with a recent petition receiving just 400 signatures. Helping conservative youth ‘come out of the political closet’ Not to be deterred, in 2020 Darren Grimes launched his own right-wing youth organisation called Reasoned. Despite Grimes’ claim that Reasoned “provides a mix of entertaining and informative content” which helps young people “reach their own informed opinions on a range of political and current affairs topics”, the videos produced by the organisation almost exclusively have titles like “BLM are still clueless”, and “Net Zero is a national disaster”. Launching the website, Grimes called on those who “hide their political views for fear of being called homophobic, a TERF, racist”, to “come out of the closet” and join him. This year, Reasoned will hold its first “student summit”, an event for people aged 16 to 30 who can pay £12 for the pleasure of watching Grimes himself speak alongside former UKIP leader Nigel Farage, who said that Muslim immigrants want to “take us over”, suggested banning people with HIV from moving to the UK and said he would not want to live next-door to Romanians.  Farage and Grimes will be joined by anti-equal marriage Tory MP Steve Baker, who thinks speaking to children about the climate crisis is “child abuse”, and Mail on Sunday columnist Peter Hitchens, who is so anti-LGBTQ+ he believes trans people want to “destroy truth itself”, alongside a host of other delightful speakers. But they will be in good company with Grimes. In 2020, Grimes was investigated on suspicion of stirring up racial hatred after he conducted a horrific “racist” interview with historian David Starkey. Grimes interviewed Starkey in a video for the Reasoned YouTube channel, in which Starkey said: “Slavery was not genocide, otherwise there wouldn’t be so many damn Blacks in Africa or in Britain, would there?” Grimes went on to claim that he hadn’t challenged Starkey because he hadn’t “caught” the comment, tweeting: “I reject in the strongest possible terms what Dr Starkey said in that clip and so very wish I’d caught it at the time. I am still learning the ropes, I will be much more alert to challenging this kind of thing in future.” Grimes was investigated by the Metropolitan Police, but no charges were brought. Read More Here
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A Potted History Of GB News Presenter Darren Grimes And His 'hateful' Views
Sundays Letters To The Editor
Sundays Letters To The Editor
Sunday’s Letters To The Editor https://digitalalaskanews.com/sundays-letters-to-the-editor-2/ A ‘call to arms’ Dear editor: We are living in the age of apathy. I have seen our nation and the individuals in it head down the path of apathy since I was a teenager. My older brother wrote a paper when he was in high school titled “The Age of Apathy.” In his paper, he shared how people would watch someone being attacked or bullied and stand by and do nothing. He wrote how high-ranking officials would do scandalous things and get away with it, while people grumble about it a little … but then go on about their merry way. He wrote about moral decline, poor or nonexistent work ethics, and government taking away our freedoms. What is so funny, is this paper was written back in the late 1960s. In his paper, my brother would ask “is this person … or that group of people, or our government to blame?” Or, “could apathy be the guilty culprit?” It seems that we are so oblivious to what is happening around us. We complain about the government taking away our freedoms. We complain that the government is controlling the people of our nation instead of “us” controlling it. But, in fact, the government is just filling the void of what we as citizens should be doing. The sad thing is that it is easier, safer, and more convenient for us to sit on our backsides … I used to think it was laziness, but now I feel that it is indifference … apathy is the culprit. Think of the future. Not for us, but our children and grandchildren. Apathy is like a cancerous growth. It starts small, but grows as time allows. In the early stages and with removal of the growth it can be cured, but untreated it can be fatal. What will you do to help overcome this dreaded malignant disease called apathy? I beg you to do your part. Support Godly, Bible-believing, moral candidates. Stand up for the principles on which our nation was formed. Ask questions. Get involved. Let’s not wait any longer. This is “A Call to Arms!” Marcia Albaugh Chairman, Republican Party of Garland County The AG and gun sales Dear editor: In talking with AG Leslie Rutledge’s office I was told that she is one of the GOP AGs who object to credit card companies tracking gun sales. My understanding is that this is to monitor unusual sales in order to report to investigative agencies. This seems like a reasonable effort to try something to keep us safe. It’s not meant to take away anyone’s firearms. Ask yourself why would she not want to have another tool in the arsenal to curtail gun violence? Linda Koehn Hot Springs Trump’s threats Dear editor: Donald Trump is using his mob boss approach and threatening America with a national uprising if he is indicted for his crimes. He feels secure in doing this because most of the Republican Congress and Republican voters have been complicit in letting him get away without retribution for such absurd and illegal acts. Our senators and representatives have been complicit and have benefited from their association with Trump. Trump has corrupted the court systems and the judiciary process and weakened the rule of law, with the supporting votes of Republicans. There are people that still believe that Trump is not above the law and that he was a criminal before elected, during his term, and still a criminal. Justice must be served and hold him accountable for his crimes against this nation and humanity. Jerry Davis Hot Springs Read More Here
·digitalalaskanews.com·
Sundays Letters To The Editor
TRUMP ON THE STUMP: Former President Rallies In Michigan
TRUMP ON THE STUMP: Former President Rallies In Michigan
TRUMP ON THE STUMP: Former President Rallies In Michigan https://digitalalaskanews.com/trump-on-the-stump-former-president-rallies-in-michigan/ CLICK TO HEAR COMMENTS FROM MARQUETTE GOP DOREEN TALAKO https://media.socastsrm.com/wordpress/wp-content/blogs.dir/1906/files/2022/10/doreen.mp3 Former President Donald Trump rallied in Michigan Saturday night, trying to drum up support for Michigan’s Republican gubernatorial, attorney general, and secretary of state candidates ahead of next month’s mid-term and statewide elections. A standing-room (and sitting-room) only crowd packed into Macomb Community College’s sports arena in downstate Warren for the 102-minute long speech. Trump touted his spending for a new Soo Lock, and for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative in the speech. “Without me, you wouldn’t have had that money,” Trump said. “They didn’t want to give it to you, the Democrats. We fought for Michigan. We won for Michigan. And this November, we’re going to fight and win for Michigan once again.” Trump says Michigan Republicans need to mobilize on November to “sweep these three women (Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Attorney General Dana Nessel, and Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson) the hell out of office”. The Republican candidates, Tudor Dixon for governor, Matt DePerno for attorney general, and Kristina Karamo for secretary of state, are all trailing in the polls. “Frankly, your vote is the only thing that can stop it,” the former president pleaded. “So on November 8th, Michigan patriots have to shatter every record. Because they cheat like hell, these people. They cheat like hell.” And Trump was just getting started. “You have to defy every prediction,” he said. “You have to swamp the Gretchen Whitmer and the radical Democrats with a colossal Red Republican Wave.” Trump says everything costs more under Democratic President Joe Biden, and he highlighted that as a reason to vote Republican “in every single race on the entire ticket in November”. “Since I left office, the average Michigan family is paying over $107 per month for food,” Trump said. “Think of that. Seventy-eight dollars more per month for housing. Two hundred and 75 dollars more for transportation on a monthly basis.” The former president, as he has done in multiple other appearances across the country, teased a possible 2024 presidential election run. “I ran twice, and I won twice,” Trump said, referring to his 2016 win over Democrat Hillary Clinton and his 2020 race against Joe Biden that he still believes was stolen from him through widespread fraud. “And now, we just might have to do it again! First, we need a big Republican wave in November, And then, well, I’ll just say, you’ll be really happy (with his decision on a 2024 run).” The Radio Results Network was the only Upper Peninsula reporter on hand for the event, which also included speeches from Michigan Republicans and conservative advocates. Besides RRN News, the Upper Peninsula was also represented at Saturday night’s Republican rally by Marquette County Republican Party Chair Doreen Talako. “We all need to vote red, period,” Talako said. “We need to bring people to their senses and vote for Republicans. “We need to support these (statewide) candidates both financially and get out, and go door-to-door, and make phone calls. The only way we’re going to win is if we spread the word.” “Is there anything you’d rather be doing on a late Saturday night than going to a Trump rally,” Trump asked the cheering crowd. Talako answered with a big “no”. She says she has been at 15 Trump rallies, and added: “the energy level is always extremely high. Everybody has a good time here. There’s never any problems.” Besides the photos you see here, there are many more on our Radio Results Network Facebook page. Read More Here
·digitalalaskanews.com·
TRUMP ON THE STUMP: Former President Rallies In Michigan