Tesla Unveils Its Humanoid Robot For 'less Than $20000'
Tesla Unveils Its Humanoid Robot For 'less Than $20,000' https://digitalalaskanews.com/tesla-unveils-its-humanoid-robot-for-less-than-20000/
Tesla has unveiled its Optimus humanoid robot at its AI Day 2022 today and Elon Musk believes Tesla can bring it to market for “less than $20,000”.
As expected, the event started with Tesla unveiling a working prototype of its humanoid robot – a project first announced at Tesla’s AI day in 2021.
There were two prototypes unveiled at the event.
Tesla started by unveiling Bumble C, which is the first version of the bot and it was developed with “semi off-the-shelves” actuators. It served as a testing bed for Tesla’s first robot developed with in-house parts.
Here’s a picture of Bumble C as it walked on stage at the event:
It didn’t do anything impressive on stage, but it was able to walk around and wave at the crowd.
Tesla did show some videos of the robot performing some tasks in a controlled environment to demonstrate some level of usefulness.
The automaker even showed the robot performing a task at an actual workstation at the Fremont factory.
But after Bumble C, Tesla brought on stage the first generation Optimus robot.
The reason why Tesla didn’t lead with it and showed an earlier and rougher prototype is that it couldn’t actually get the new one to walk yet.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk said that the new robot should be able to walk within the next few weeks, but he wanted to show it today since it looks more like the version of the robot that is going to go into production:
It also couldn’t do much on stage other than wave at the crowd and had to be carried by Tesla employees.
Musk noted that this version was equipped with Tesla-designed actuators, battery pack, and power electronics.
Tesla revealed that it had the first prototype in February of 2022, which led to this new version that is now supposedly about to walk in the next few days.
Tesla did share some specs of Optimus, including a 2.3 kWh battery pack, which the automaker claims should be good for about a day’s worth of work.
As Tesla announced last year, it is also equipped with the same “self-driving computer” inside Tesla vehicles:
After the presentation about the specs and main features of the bot, Tesla moved on the a more in-dept presentation about the robotic and AI approach to developing it.
Again, Tesla’s AI Day is about recruiting and Tesla is basically showing off what it is working on to help attract talent that would be interested in those details.
On a consumer level, Musk highlighted the fact that while people have seen plenty of impressive humanoid robots before, he insists that Tesla’s effort is different because it is focused on developing a robot that is manufacturable in high volume – unlike one-off projects that we have seen in the past.
Furthermore, Musk said that Tesla’s advantage is that its bot is going to be powered by its AI, which has been primarily developed for self-driving technology. He believes Tesla is going to be able to leverage this work to enable the robot to navigate the real-world and perform useful tasks.
The CEO reiterated previous comments about how Optimus can bring a “fundamental change in civilization as we know it” by virtually “ending poverty” through improving economic output when used in industry.
He believes that the robot should cost “less than $20,000” to make. He didn’t update the timeline to production, but he previously said Tesla planned to bring to production as soon as next year.
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Ian Arrives In North Carolina After Bringing Flooding Damage To South Carolina; Death Toll Rises In Florida
Ian Arrives In North Carolina After Bringing Flooding, Damage To South Carolina; Death Toll Rises In Florida https://digitalalaskanews.com/ian-arrives-in-north-carolina-after-bringing-flooding-damage-to-south-carolina-death-toll-rises-in-florida/
11:43 PM
Ian pounds South Carolina; washes away piers and floods streets
Rain from Hurricane Ian floods a street on Sept. 30, 2022, in Charleston, South Carolina. Getty Images
Ian slammed coastal South Carolina as a hurricane on Friday, ripping apart piers and flooding streets after the ferocious storm caused catastrophic damage in Florida. As Ian moved across South Carolina on its way to North Carolina Friday evening, it dropped from a hurricane to a post-tropical cyclone.
While Ian’s center came ashore near Georgetown, South Carolina, on Friday with much weaker winds than when it crossed Florida’s Gulf Coast earlier in the week, the storm left many areas of Charleston’s downtown peninsula under water. It also washed away parts of four piers along the coast, including two at Myrtle Beach.
Online cameras showed seawater filling neighborhoods in Garden City to calf level.
After the heaviest of the rainfall blew through Charleston, Will Shalosky examined a large elm tree in front of his house that had fallen across his downtown street. He noted the damage could have been much worse.
“If this tree has fallen a different way, it would be in our house,” Shalosky said. “It’s pretty scary, pretty jarring.”
Ian’s heavy rains and winds crossed into North Carolina on Friday evening. Gov. Roy Cooper warned residents to be vigilant, given that up to 8 inches of rain could fall in some areas.
“Hurricane Ian is at our door. Expect drenching rain and sustained heavy winds over most of our state,” Cooper said. “Our message today is simple: Be smart and be safe.”
10:16 PM
Florida’s DeSantis warns against looting amid hurricane recovery: “We’re a Second Amendment state”
In a press conference addressing Hurricane Ian damage and recovery efforts, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis Friday expressed concern over looting and robberies in impacted areas.
“The other thing we’re concerned about, particularly in those areas that were really hard hit, is we want to make sure we’re maintaining law and order,” DeSantis said. “You can have people bringing boats into some of these islands and trying to ransack people’s homes.”
The governor warned the community against looting, implying that law enforcement would be watching for it. He also referenced the Second Amendment.
“Don’t even think about looting. Don’t even think about taking advantage of people in this vulnerable situation,” DeSantis said. “I can tell you, in the state of Florida, you never know what may be lurking behind somebody’s home. And I would not want to chance that, if I were you, given that we’re a Second Amendment state.”
DeSantis said that law enforcement was monitoring potential robberies. He also offered local jurisdictions state assistance in controlling crime, if necessary.
Lee County, on Florida’s Gulf Coast, includes the cities of Fort Myers and Cape Coral, both of which were hard hit by the hurricane. Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno warned against looting in a press conference Thursday, threatening jail time.
“Don’t do it in this county. Don’t make that mistake,” Marceno said. “Because one thing we do have is vacancy at the jail. And I guarantee you if you try to prey on one of our great residents, you will find yourself in that jail.”
7:47 PM / September 30, 2022
Ian knocks out power in Carolinas, Virginia
More than 60,000 residents are without power in Virginia as Ian moves further north, poweroutage.us reported Friday night. To the south, over 270,000 people in North Carolina and 164,000 in South Carolina are in the dark.
Meanwhile, 1.5 million people still do not have power in Florida, several days after Ian swept across the peninsula.
7:25 PM / September 30, 2022
Ports in Tampa Bay, Canaveral reopening
The ports of Tampa Bay and Canaveral both reopened on Friday, two days after Hurricane Ian forced them to close.
In Tampa Bay, cargo ships are moving in and out of the port. However, cruises have not yet resumed — the first will be the Carnival Paradise, which is scheduled to arrive on Saturday.
Across the peninsula, in Canaveral, vessels weighing 500 gross tons and less were welcomed back beginning at 4 p.m. The port said it would reopen to all traffic beginning at midnight.
6:46 PM / September 30, 2022
“We’ve never seen anything like this”: Severe floods swamp Orlando
Many houses and apartment complexes in Orlando, Florida, are still completely surrounded by water.
Lidianys de Dios stayed up all night as hurricane Ian hit, watching the rising water creep up to her front door, knowing that she has no flood insurance. She said she’s never had flooding like this in her neighborhood.
“We’ve been in this house for like 16 years and then in the country for like 20-something years and we’ve never seen anything like this before,” she said.
Across Orlando, airboats made their way through flooded neighborhoods all day Friday, rescuing residents who had no way out. Some braved the flooded streets by car, others used kayaks to get around.
“This is definitely the worst hurricane I’ve been through,” said Orlando resident Juan Ceballos, who was evacuated by the National Guard. “We just packed like a quick tub full of stuff and walked out.”
Harrowing rescues after severe floods swamp Orlando 02:03
6:27 PM / September 30, 2022
U.S. Army shares video of rescue mission in Sanibel
Soldiers with the Florida National Guard flew to Sanibel Island to “assist with medical evacuations and search and rescue operations,” the U.S. Army tweeted Friday. It shared a video of the soldiers looking out over the devastation from a helicopter.
— U.S. Army (@USArmy) September 30, 2022
5:08 PM / September 30, 2022
16 still missing after migrant boat sank off Florida coast as Ian arrived
Two people were found dead, the U.S. Coast Guard said Friday, and 16 are still missing after a migrant boat sank off the southern coast of Florida several days ago.
A total of 27 people were on the boat when it took on water off Stock Island on Wednesday, the Coast Guard said. Four people, identified by authorities as Cuban migrants, made it to shore in the immediate aftermath.
The Coast Guard said the next day that three people were located 2 miles off Boca Chica and taken to area hospitals for exhaustion and dehydration. Later that same day, the Coast Guard said nine people had been safely located and rescued.
The boat sank as Hurricane Ian approached Florida’s west coast, bringing storm surges, roaring wind and punishing rain to much of the state.
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4:43 PM / September 30, 2022
NFL Foundation to donate $1 million, auction off game jerseys for relief efforts
The NFL Foundation said Friday it is donating $1 million to Hurricane Ian relief efforts. It comes after the Glazer family, who owns the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, announced they were donating $1 million Thursday.
The foundation will also auction off “a limited number of game-worn jerseys and other unique items” from this weekend’s Tampa Bay-Kansas City game to benefit the American Red Cross’ hurricane relief efforts. Fans will be able to bid on the items at NFL.com/auction.
“The NFL family’s thoughts are with the various communities affected by Hurricane Ian during this difficult time and we will continue to find additional ways to provide help and support to those in Florida who need it now and in the months ahead,” the foundation said in a statement.
4:11 PM / September 30, 2022
Hundreds of thousands without power in Florida and Carolinas
As of 3:45 p.m. ET on Friday, more than 1.7 million customers in Florida, 210,000 in South Carolina and 82,000 in North Carolina were without power, according to poweroutage.us.
4:02 PM / September 30, 2022
Florida sheriff’s office shares photos of devastation
The Lee County Sheriff’s Office was surveying damage Friday on Pine Island and Matlacha, two islands located very close to where Hurricane Ian made landfall in Florida. Officials shared stunning photos of the destruction left there: a buckled road, flooded streets, a trapped car, a leveled home and downed palm trees.
“The devastation is heartbreaking,” a Facebook post said.
Destruction left by Hurricane Ian in Pine Island and Matlacha, Florida. “The devastation is heartbreaking,” the Lee County Sheriff’s Office wrote on its Facebook page on Friday, Sept. 30, 2022. Lee County Sheriff’s Office
Several homes are destroyed on the Florida island. Lee County Sheriff’s Office
Debris is seen scattered outside of a restaurant on Matlacha. Lee County Sheriff’s Office
3:32 PM / September 30, 2022
U.S. officials warn of hurricane-related scams
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency is warning people about “malicious cyber activity targeting potential disaster victims and charitable donors following a hurricane.”
In an alert on Friday, the agency told people to be on the lookout for fraudulent emails with “hurricane-related subject lines, attachments, or hyperlinks.”
“In addition, be wary of social media pleas, texts, or door-to-door solicitations relating to severe weather events,” the bulletin said.
2:46 PM / September 30, 2022
Biden says it’ll take “months, years” for many to rebuild in Florida
Speaking from the White House’s Roosevelt Room, President Biden gave an update on Hurricane Ian as it continues to thrash the South. The president reiterated that the federal government will handle 100% of the cost to clear debris in Florida’s hardest-hit counties.
“We’re just beginning to see the scale of that destruction,” Mr. Biden said. “It’s likely to rank among the worst … in the nation’s history. You’ve all seen on television homes and property wiped out. It’s going to take months, years to rebuild. And our hearts go ...
Russia Vetoes UN Resolution On Ukraine Annexation China Abstains
Russia Vetoes UN Resolution On Ukraine Annexation, China Abstains https://digitalalaskanews.com/russia-vetoes-un-resolution-on-ukraine-annexation-china-abstains/
Published On 1 Oct 20221 Oct 2022
Russia has used its veto at the United Nations Security Council to scuttle a draft resolution that sought to condemn its annexations of Ukrainian territory.
But even Moscow’s close friends China and India chose to abstain rather than vote against the resolution that condemned the Kremlin’s latest actions in Ukraine.
United States ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield introduced the resolution to the Security Council meeting on Friday that called on member states not to recognise any altered status of Ukraine and obliged Russia to withdraw its troops.
Earlier, the biggest annexation in Europe since World War II was undertaken when Russian President Vladimir Putin proclaimed Russian rule over four regions that make up 15 percent of Ukraine’s territory.
The resolution, co-sponsored by the US and Albania, called for the condemnation of the “illegal” referendums held in Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine and for all states to not recognise any changes to Ukraine’s borders.
The resolution also called on Russia to withdraw troops immediately from Ukraine, ending an invasion that was launched on February 24.
Ten nations voted in favour of the resolution, while China, Gabon, India and Brazil abstained.
“Not a single country voted with Russia. Not one,” Thomas-Greenfield told reporters after the meeting, adding that the abstentions “clearly were not a defence of Russia”.
Russian ambassador to the UN Vassily Nebenzia, who raised his hand to indicate the only vote against the resolution, argued the regions, where Moscow has seized territory by force and where fighting still rages, chose to be part of Russia.
“There will be no turning back as today’s draft resolution would try to impose,” Nebenzia told the meeting.
Ukrainian ambassador to the UN Sergiy Kyslytsya said the single hand raised against the resolution “again testified to Russia’s isolation and his desperate attempts to deny reality in our common commitments, starting from the UN charter”.
The United Kingdom’s envoy, Barbara Woodward, said Russia had “abused its veto to defend its illegal actions” but said the annexations had “no legal effect”.
“It is a fantasy,” she added.
Al Jazeera’s James Bays, reporting from the United Nations in New York, said in response to the resolution the Russian representative “sounded incredulous”, and it was no surprise that Russia then used its power as a permanent member of the Security Council to veto the resolution.
“But it’s notable that four other council members decided not to support the resolution, and instead to abstain – China, Brazil, Gabon and India,” Bays said.
“Right after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, when the UN General Assembly voted at the beginning of March, 141 countries voted to deplore Russia’s actions. Following the Security Council vote, and the abstentions, some will be asking whether it’s possible to reach the high water mark again,” he said.
The UK’s UN ambassador spoke to @AJEnglish after Russia’s veto in the UN Security Council of a draft resolution condemning annexation votes held in parts of occupied Ukraine.@UKUN_NewYork‘s @BWoodward_UN told @baysontheroad the issue will go to the General Assembly next week. pic.twitter.com/rLgfYcrVhs
— Amanda Price (@amandaruthprice) September 30, 2022
Beijing uncomfortable
China abstained from voting on the resolution, but also raised concerns about “a prolonged and expanded crisis” in Ukraine.
China has been firmly on the fence over the conflict in Ukraine, criticizing Western sanctions against Russia but stopping short of endorsing or assisting in Moscow’s military campaign, despite the two nations declaring a “no-limits” strategic partnership in February.
In a surprise acknowledgement, Putin recently said China’s leader Xi Jinping had concerns about Ukraine.
Beijing’s UN ambassador Zhang Jun argued that while “the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries should be safeguarded”, countries’ “legitimate security concerns” should also be taken seriously.
“Over seven months into the Ukraine crisis, the crisis and its spillover effects have had a wide range of negative impacts. The prospect of a prolonged and expanded crisis is also worrying. China is deeply concerned about this prospect,” the ambassador said in a statement.
Explanation of Vote by Ambassador Zhang Jun on the UN Security Council Draft Resolution on Ukrainehttps://t.co/o8HzQL0zf9 pic.twitter.com/xUm2bcsx5e
— Chinese Mission to UN (@Chinamission2un) October 1, 2022
A US official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said China’s abstention from the vote showed that Russia’s “sabre rattling” and moves that threatened other states’ territorial integrity put China in an “uncomfortable position”.
“We don’t have China signing up for this much more aggressive agenda that Russia is trying to sell,” the official said.
Source
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Two Lawsuits Target Policy On Absentee Ballots In Wisconsin
Two Lawsuits Target Policy On Absentee Ballots In Wisconsin https://digitalalaskanews.com/two-lawsuits-target-policy-on-absentee-ballots-in-wisconsin/
POLL WORKERS SORT out early and absentee ballots at the Kenosha Municipal building on Election Day in Kenosha, Wis., on Nov. 3, 2020. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E, file)
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Two lawsuits filed this week argue that Wisconsin election clerks should be allowed to accept absentee ballots that are missing portions of witness addresses, the next step in the ongoing legal battle that has pit conservatives against liberals in the battleground state.
The lawsuits, filed three days apart on Tuesday and Friday, come after a judge in Waukesha County circuit court in September sided with Republicans and said election clerks are barred from filling in missing information on the form that serves as an envelope for absentee ballots.
The judge struck down guidance issued by the bipartisan Wisconsin Elections Commission, in place for six years, saying that clerks could fill in missing information. The judge agreed with Republicans that there is nothing in law allowing clerks to do that.
The practice, known as ballot curing, was unchallenged until after Donald Trump’s narrow loss in 2020 when nearly 1.4 million voters cast absentee ballots and COVID-19 vaccines weren’t available yet.
Absent any guidance, there is confusion among election officials over how much of an address must be provided by the witness to allow for the ballot to be counted.
Absentee ballots with partial witness addresses should be accepted, not rejected, according to a lawsuit seeking an order to that effect filed Friday by the League of Women Voters of Wisconsin. The group is represented by Fair Elections Center and Law Forward, law firms that have represented liberal groups suing over voting rights in Wisconsin.
Rejecting a ballot because it doesn’t have parts of a witness address violates the 1964 Civil Rights Act’s prohibition on denying a vote based on immaterial omission or error, the lawsuit contends. Also, the lack of notice to voters whose ballots are threatened with rejection violates the U.S. Constitution’s due process requirements, the lawsuit argues.
“Our aim is to obtain certainty for voters and the municipal clerks who do the critical work of administering Wisconsin’s elections, and to make sure that every eligible voter may have their voice heard in November,” said Law Forward attorney Dan Lenz.
Their complaint comes three days after a liberal group filed a similar lawsuit seeking a definition of what constitutes an address under the law. That lawsuit was filed by Rise Inc., which encourages students to vote, along with Jason Rivera, a Madison voter.
That lawsuit seeks an order requiring the Wisconsin Elections Commission to tell local election officials that they must accept ballots as long as the witness address “includes sufficient information from which the clerk can reasonably discern the place where the witness may be communicated with.”
Both lawsuits were filed in Dane County circuit court. None of the legal battles are expected to be resolved before the November midterm election. The fight is likely to go to the conservative-controlled Wisconsin Supreme Court.
The Legislative Audit Bureau last year reviewed nearly 15,000 absentee ballot envelopes from the 2020 election across 29 municipalities and found that 1,022, or about 7%, were missing parts of witness addresses. Only 15 ballots, or 0.1%, had no witness address. Auditors found that clerks had corrected addresses on 66 envelopes, or 0.4% of the sample.
President Joe Biden defeated Trump by just under 21,000 votes, a margin similar to Trump’s victory in 2016.
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Chance To Remember https://digitalalaskanews.com/chance-to-remember/
If you never had the chance to hear Judah Samet speak, the loss is yours.
Samet, a resident of Pittsburgh, was a survivor of more than one horrifying expression of hate — the Holocaust and the mass shooting at the Tree of Life Synagogue in the city’s Squirrel Hill section. He became willing to share his stories of both events with many thousands of residents throughout the Tri-State Area, especially how he and his family were able to survive the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in Northern Germany.
Reports of his death Tuesday at the age of 84 revived memories of Samet’s presentation at the Steubenville Rotary Club.
His message was riveting, remembered Marty Hauser. The owner of Hauser’s Furniture on Sunset Boulevard in Steubenville is a longtime member of the Rotary Club and has twice served as president. He made the arrangements that brought Samet to town on Feb 1, 2019.
“When you have someone who has lived through these things, there is a certain degree of truth that is undeniable,” Hauser said last week. “So many of these people are gone, and it’s important their stories be told.”
Samet’s story included the day in 1944 when he and his family were rounded up by Nazi troops in the town of Debrecen, Hungary; their rescue when Allied troops stopped the train they were on many months later and most likely saved them from certain death; and his later life.
His parents, Samet remembered, owned a couple of factories in Debrecen, staff writer Linda Harris wrote in her story about the presentation. The Germans came in the middle of the day, he said.
“Lunch in Europe is the big meal of the day and they knew every Jew would be home for lunch, so they wouldn’t have to search for us,” he said.
He described to the Rotarians how the Jews in his town were herded like cattle to the railyard.
“When they were taking us to the railroad, people were walking past,” he said. “Many of our neighbors, people who worked for us … they just looked at us. It’s a pretty bad thing when nobody knows who you are or they know who you are and ignore it.”
Samet made it to Israel, and was a paratrooper with the Israel Defense Forces before settling in Pittsburgh, where he would eventually become the owner of Schiffman’s Jewelers, the longtime downtown store that closed on Jan. 7.
Hauser said the story about how Samet ended up speaking in Steubenville was interesting in itself.
“I was doing a make-up meeting at the Weirton Rotary Club at Williams Country Club, and I was sitting next to Frank DeCaria,” Hauser said. “He and I were talking and he said that he had the contact information for Samet if I ever needed a program.”
Hauser made the connection and the presentation by Samet, who did not speak about the Holocaust for more than 60 years, was scheduled.
The problem with holding an event during the winter in our region is that you can sometimes find yourself at the mercy of the weather. That was the case that Feb. 1, when a snowstorm hit and lasted much of the morning.
“We had blocked off a lot of time for that meeting,” Hauser remembered. “It was supposed to start at 11:30 a.m. instead of noon so that he would have plenty of time to speak.”
Hauser figured he had more than enough time to make the drive to Pittsburgh and back.
“The weather was atrocious,” he continued, saying that the normal 40-minute drive took a great deal longer that morning. “I even had trouble getting into the city.”
That weather, he said, kept attendance at the Rotary meeting down. And it also led to his mother, Marion, missing the meeting altogether. Hauser’s wife, Donna, was supposed to bring her to the meeting, but she was not able to get to her mother-in-law’s home because of the snow. Donna was able to make it to the presentation.
“I wanted very much to be able to meet with him again and have him share dinner with my mother,” Hauser said, adding, sadly, that they never were able to get together. Like Samet, the life of Marion Hauser, who will be 97 in February, had been affected by World War II — she survived the German bombardment of her then-home in Bristol, England.
By the time they made it back, and by the time the staff at the former YWCA on Fourth Street had finished serving lunch, it was a lot later than anyone had anticipated.
“He started speaking about 12:30 p.m. and he spoke until 2 p.m., and one of the most interesting things was that nobody left. He delivered a very interesting talk.”
Included in his presenation was how he narrowly missed being injured — or worse — in the attack on the synagogue.
“He was a devoutly religious man and went to temple every day,” said Hauser. “He actually was a few minutes late that day.”
That day was Oct. 27, 2018, and the late-arriving Samet found himself in the parking lot, caught in the crossfire between police and accused gunman Robert Bowers. By the time the rampage was over, 11 people were dead and many others had been injured in the deadliest antisemetic attack in the history of the United States.
Bowers has been charged with 63 federal crimes and 36 crimes under Pennsylvania law, including murder and hate crimes. A federal judge has set April 24 as the start of jury selection for that long-delayed trial, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. That will be 4 1/2 years after the shootings.
His death means Samet will not be able to testify against Bowers, something he told Heather Robinson of the New York Post he was anxious to do in a story that appeared on March 12 of this year.
“I want to testify because he has to pay for what he did,” he said. “If I don’t testify, and nobody else testifies, he may walk. Justice delayed is justice denied. The man did a crime and he should pay. Three years and four months is plenty of delay. Maybe they should give him Bergen-Belsen rations: One slice of hard bread a day and one cup of soup, which was barely soup.”
Hauser explained that he and Samet had interesting conversations during both legs of the trips from and to Pittsburgh. One of the interesting things he said he learned was that Samet was born on Feb. 5, 1938, which meant that he was preparing for a birthday. And he celebrated in grand style, as a guest of first lady Melania Trump on Feb. 5, just a few days after he spoke in Steubenville, when President Donald Trump delivered his State of the Union Address. Everyone in attendance stood and sang “Happy Birthday” in Samet’s honor.
Samet took no money when he spoke, Hauser said, instead asking for a donation to be made to the Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh.
Presentations like the one delivered by Samet are important, Hauser, who is Jewish, said, especially when you consider some sobering numbers surrounding the Holocaust. A staggering 23 percent of adults between the ages of 18-39 said they believed the Holocaust was a myth, had been exaggerated or they weren’t sure, according to a 2020 survey commissioned by the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany and reported by Pew.
In addition, 63 percent of the respondents did not know that 6 million Jews were murdered during the Holocaust.
“I think we are in an age right now where people look to Google for information and we’re never quite sure about it,” Hauser said. “And you can get your news from so many different sources. Depending on your news source, we’re kind of led in certain directions because it seems like news agencies have their own agendas. There’s a lot of hyperbole today.”
That makes first-hand stories so powerful.
“You’re talking about such a small percentage of people left who went through that and are still living,” he added. “If you go to the Holocaust Center in Pittsburgh or the Holocaust Museum in Washington, you’re going to see documents and pictures. That can be lost over time, but if there is someone up there on a stage showing you pictures of their family, showing you numbers tattooed on their arms — it’s powerful.”
Samet told the Rotarians that it’s possible his family was spared in the camps because of his mother’s fluencey in German, which allowed her to act as an interpreter. That’s one of the reasons he was willing to speak.
“I think the reason I survived … you saw it here today,” he said. “Maybe that’s my mission, to tell my story. There aren’t many left who can tell it. It’s an important story to tell.”
(Gallabrese, a member of the Steubenville Rotary Club and a resident of Steubenville, is executive editor of the Herald-Star and The Weirton Daily Times.)
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Alaska Joins 20 States Calling For Air Force To Accept Religious Exemptions For Vaccine Mandates
Alaska Joins 20 States Calling For Air Force To Accept Religious Exemptions For Vaccine Mandates https://digitalalaskanews.com/alaska-joins-20-states-calling-for-air-force-to-accept-religious-exemptions-for-vaccine-mandates-2/
September 30, 2022
(Anchorage, AK) – Yesterday, Alaska joined 20 other states in an amicus brief challenging the U.S. Air Force for violating the constitutional and statutory rights of airmen when it refused religious exemptions for the COVID-19 vaccine mandate.
“Service members do not surrender the right to practice their religion when they enlist or are commissioned,” said Alaska Attorney General Treg Taylor. “Sweeping mandates, put in place after a service member takes an oath to defend our freedoms, should not be granted higher authority than that service member’s own freedoms.”
Recently, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic the Department of Defense began implementing mandatory vaccines to combat the spread of the virus among service members. In Sept. 2021, the Secretary of the Air Force enacted a branch-specific vaccine mandate that allowed only medical, administrative, and religious exemptions. This brief argues that the Air Force violated both the Religious Freedom Restoration Act and the Free Exercise Clause when it denied religious exemptions to 18 airmen. Each of the airmen submitted written responses with a chaplain’s confirmation seeking exemptions and were denied exemptions and face disciplinary action as a result.
“An airman may sacrifice much in serving his country,” the brief states. “That should not include his right to religious liberty. And indeed, it doesn’t.”
# # #
Department Media Contacts: Communications Director Patty Sullivan at patty.sullivan@alaska.gov or (907) 269-6368. Information Officer Sam Curtis at sam.curtis@alaska.gov or (907) 269-6379.
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Trevor Noah Exiting As Host Of ‘The Daily Show’ https://digitalalaskanews.com/trevor-noah-exiting-as-host-of-the-daily-show/
Arts & Entertainment
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The ranks of late-night television comedy are thinning.
By DAVID BAUDERAssociated Press
NEW YORK — Trevor Noah says that he’s leaving “The Daily Show” as host, after seven years of a Trump- and pandemic-filled tenure on the weeknight Comedy Central show.
Noah surprised the studio audience during Thursday’s taping, dropping the news after discussing his “feeling of gratitude” that it was the seventh anniversary of when he took over for Jon Stewart.
Trevor Noah appears at the 74th Primetime Emmy Awards in Los Angeles on Sept. 12, 2022. Jae C. Hong/Associated Press, file
“I realized, after the seven years, my time is up,” Noah said.
Neither Noah nor Comedy Central offered a timetable for his departure. The network said it was “grateful to Trevor for our amazing partnership” and indicated that it was excited “for the next chapter” of “The Daily Show.”
Television late-night comedy’s ranks have been shrinking, with Conan O’Brien pulling the plug on his show last year and Samantha Bee ending hers this year.
Noah, a relatively unknown comic from South Africa, was a bold choice to replace the popular Jon Stewart in 2015. But he slowly made the show his own and built a dedicated audience.
“So many people didn’t believe in us,” he said. “It was a crazy bet to make. I still think it was a crazy choice – this random African.”
He said hosting the show has been one of his greatest challenges and joys.
“I wanted to say thank you to the audience for an amazing seven years,” he said. “It’s been wild. It’s been truly wild.”
Like most of his fellow comedians, he dealt with the firehose of material during Donald Trump’s presidency and, when the pandemic started, found himself suddenly thrust into the challenge of producing a program without an audience.
He said he realized there was more that he wanted to do recently when he was able to travel again.
“I miss learning other languages,” he said. “I miss going to other countries and putting on a show.”
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Digital World CEO Urges Donald Trump To Press Shareholders To Vote On Merger Extension
Digital World CEO Urges Donald Trump To Press Shareholders To Vote On Merger Extension https://digitalalaskanews.com/digital-world-ceo-urges-donald-trump-to-press-shareholders-to-vote-on-merger-extension/
(Reuters) – Patrick Orlando, the head of the blank-check acquisition firm that has agreed to take Donald Trump’s social media company public, on Friday urged Donald Trump and Trump Media boss Devin Nunes to promote an upcoming vote to extend the merger deadline.
The shell company, Digital World Acquisition Corp, earlier this month failed to secure enough shareholder support for a one-year extension to complete the deal.
The deadline has been pushed back to Oct. 10 in an effort to get more shareholders to vote.
“@realDonaldTrump @DevinNunes let’s get the vote awareness up,” Orlando wrote on a Truth Social post with attached information about the shareholder vote.
TMTG and Digital World did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Digital World, a special purpose acquisition company, in October last year agreed to take Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG) public. TMTG operates the Truth Social app co-founded by the former U.S. president after he was banned from Twitter.
The transaction has been on ice amid civil and criminal probes into the circumstances around the deal. Digital World had been hoping that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, which is reviewing its disclosures on the deal, would have given its blessing by now.
The company is also facing an uphill task as individual investors, which comprise about 90% of its shareholder base, are not as accustomed to voting their shares.
(Reporting by Arunima Kumar in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)
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Scientists Discover Massive Ocean Near Earth's Core
Scientists Discover Massive “Ocean” Near Earth's Core https://digitalalaskanews.com/scientists-discover-massive-ocean-near-earths-core/
The transition zone’s high water content has far-reaching consequences (Representational Image)
Scientists have discovered a reservoir of water three times the volume of all the oceans beneath the Earth’s surface, according to an international study. The water has been found between the transition zone of the Earth’s upper and lower mantle. The research team analyzed a rate diamond formed 660 meters below the Earth’s surface using techniques including Raman spectroscopy and FTIR spectrometry, ANI reported.
The study confirmed something that for a long time it was just a theory, namely that ocean water accompanies subducting slabs and thus enters the transition zone. This means that our planet’s water cycle includes the Earth’s interior.
“These mineral transformations greatly hinder the movements of rock in the mantle,” explains Prof. Frank Brenker from the Institute for Geosciences at Goethe University in Frankfurt. For example, mantle plumes — rising columns of hot rock from the deep mantle — sometimes stop directly below the transition zone. The movement of mass in the opposite direction also comes to standstill.
Brenker says, “Subducting plates often have difficulty in breaking through the entire transition zone. So there is a whole graveyard of such plates in this zone underneath Europe.”
However, until now it was not known what the long-term effects of “sucking” material into the transition zone were on its geochemical composition and whether larger quantities of water existed there. Brenker explains: “The subducting slabs also carry deep-sea sediments piggyback into the Earth’s interior. These sediments can hold large quantities of water and CO2. But until now it was unclear just how much enters the transition zone in the form of more stable, hydrous minerals and carbonates — and it was therefore also unclear whether large quantities of water really are stored there.”
The prevailing conditions would certainly be conducive to that. The dense minerals wadsleyite and ringwoodite can (unlike the olivine at lesser depths) store large quantities of water- in fact so large that the transition zone would theoretically be able to absorb six times the amount of water in our oceans. “So we knew that the boundary layer has an enormous capacity for storing water,” Brenker says. “However, we didn’t know whether it actually did so.”
An international study in which the Frankfurt geoscientist was involved has now supplied the answer. The research team analysed a diamond from Botswana, Africa. It was formed at a depth of 660 kilometres, right at the interface between the transition zone and the lower mantle, where ringwoodite is the prevailing mineral. Diamonds from this region are very rare, even among the rare diamonds of super-deep origin, which account for only one per cent of diamonds. The analyses revealed that the stone contains numerous ringwoodite inclusions — which exhibit a high water content. Furthermore, the research group was able to determine the chemical composition of the stone. It was almost exactly the same as that of virtually every fragment of mantle rock found in basalts anywhere in the world. This showed that the diamond definitely came from a normal piece of the Earth’s mantle. “In this study, we have demonstrated that the transition zone is not a dry sponge, but holds considerable quantities of water,” Brenker says, adding: “This also brings us one step closer to Jules Verne’s idea of an ocean inside the Earth.” The difference is that there is no ocean down there, but hydrous rock which, according to Brenker, would neither feel wet nor drip water.
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Stockton Police Chief Says stop The Killing As They Investigate Serial Homicides; Person Of Interest Sought
Stockton Police Chief Says ‘stop The Killing’ As They Investigate Serial Homicides; Person Of Interest Sought https://digitalalaskanews.com/stockton-police-chief-says-stop-the-killing-as-they-investigate-serial-homicides-person-of-interest-sought/
A person of interest is sought in connection with five recent killings that Stockton’s police Chief Stanley McFadden said appear to be connected. However, police have not been able to determine whether the deaths are the work of one person or multiple people.“By definition, you could probably very well call these a series of killings, but at this time we don’t know if it’s a person or two or three, we just don’t know,” McFadden said at a news conference on Friday. “We believe there is some interconnectivity.” At this time, it’s unclear if the person of interest is a suspect or witness, he said. He said it is “very hard” to determine who is involved in the string of killings that happened from July through this month. “These incidents are occurring in the hours of darkness, these incidents are occurring where folks are alone by themselves, not in lit areas,” McFadden said. These are the five cases believed to be connected:July 8 – 35-year-old white man killed at 5600 block of Kermit Lane at 12:31 a.m.Aug. 11 – 43-year-old Hispanic man was killed at 4900 block of West Lane at 9:49 p.m.Aug. 30 – 21-year-old Hispanic man was killed at 800 block of East Hammer Lane at 6:41 a.m.Sept. 21 – 52-year-old Hispanic man was killed at 4400 block of Manchester Avenue at 4:27 a.m.Sept. 27 – 54-year-old Hispanic man was killed at 900 block of Porter Avenue at 1:51 a.m.Video below: Stockton police chief reviews string of killings”We feel that it is interconnected somehow. But to what extent, we just don’t know at this time,” McFadden said. In these shootings the victims appear to have been caught by surprise, he said. However, no footage has captured a crime or a handgun in someone’s hand. “There are no witnesses due to the location and the timing and the lack of lighting,” McFadden said. “This is from our detectives not going home, staying committed to the cause and reviewing several hundred hours of video to try and get anything to go on.”McFadden also mentioned there is no connection at this time to gang violence and no indication that these are hate crimes. Photo below shows person of interest sought by Stockton Police Department.“Stop the killing, we all have choices, stop the killing,” McFadden said to the person or people behind the killings. “There are people grieving, the community is grieving, the community is scared. It stops now.”McFadden said he would keep the public updated on the investigation and called for people not to spread misinformation especially as families grieve.No other suspects have been identified, he said.An $85,000 cash reward has been offered to anyone who can bring information that leads to an arrest in any of the investigations, police said. A tip line was also opened on Friday for people to submit information at 209-937-8167. People can email tips to at policetips@stocktonca.gov. Video surveillance can be submitted to Stocktonpdca.evidence.com.”We are committed to protecting our community and solving these cases using all resources at our disposal,” McFadden said. Video below: Stockton police chief answers questions about string of killingsMcFadden urged people to be careful when going out, especially at night.”I can’t say enough, you need to be aware of your surroundings. Please do not fall victim. Be alert, have your head on a swivel, stay where it’s lit,” he said.He also advised people to go out in groups, communicate with others and stay in well-lit areas.The department has also increased patrols, with more resources working around the clock, McFadden said. | Video Below | Stockton residents react to police warnings following recent unsolved homicidesThere have been 43 homicides in Stockton so far this year compared to 32 at this same time last year, according to the police department. The clearance rate for solving homicides is roughly 50%.KCRA 3 has been keeping track of the location and amount of shootings and gun-related incidents in both Stockton and Sacramento. Click through the interactive map below.This is a developing story, stay with KCRA 3 for the latest.
STOCKTON, Calif. —
A person of interest is sought in connection with five recent killings that Stockton’s police Chief Stanley McFadden said appear to be connected. However, police have not been able to determine whether the deaths are the work of one person or multiple people.
“By definition, you could probably very well call these a series of killings, but at this time we don’t know if it’s a person or two or three, we just don’t know,” McFadden said at a news conference on Friday. “We believe there is some interconnectivity.”
At this time, it’s unclear if the person of interest is a suspect or witness, he said.
He said it is “very hard” to determine who is involved in the string of killings that happened from July through this month.
“These incidents are occurring in the hours of darkness, these incidents are occurring where folks are alone by themselves, not in lit areas,” McFadden said.
These are the five cases believed to be connected:
July 8 – 35-year-old white man killed at 5600 block of Kermit Lane at 12:31 a.m.
Aug. 11 – 43-year-old Hispanic man was killed at 4900 block of West Lane at 9:49 p.m.
Aug. 30 – 21-year-old Hispanic man was killed at 800 block of East Hammer Lane at 6:41 a.m.
Sept. 21 – 52-year-old Hispanic man was killed at 4400 block of Manchester Avenue at 4:27 a.m.
Sept. 27 – 54-year-old Hispanic man was killed at 900 block of Porter Avenue at 1:51 a.m.
Video below: Stockton police chief reviews string of killings
“We feel that it is interconnected somehow. But to what extent, we just don’t know at this time,” McFadden said.
In these shootings the victims appear to have been caught by surprise, he said. However, no footage has captured a crime or a handgun in someone’s hand.
“There are no witnesses due to the location and the timing and the lack of lighting,” McFadden said. “This is from our detectives not going home, staying committed to the cause and reviewing several hundred hours of video to try and get anything to go on.”
McFadden also mentioned there is no connection at this time to gang violence and no indication that these are hate crimes.
Photo below shows person of interest sought by Stockton Police Department.
Stockton Police Department
Photo from Stockton Police Department of person of interest sought in string of killings that they said appear to be connected.
“Stop the killing, we all have choices, stop the killing,” McFadden said to the person or people behind the killings. “There are people grieving, the community is grieving, the community is scared. It stops now.”
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McFadden said he would keep the public updated on the investigation and called for people not to spread misinformation especially as families grieve.
No other suspects have been identified, he said.
An $85,000 cash reward has been offered to anyone who can bring information that leads to an arrest in any of the investigations, police said.
A tip line was also opened on Friday for people to submit information at 209-937-8167. People can email tips to at policetips@stocktonca.gov. Video surveillance can be submitted to Stocktonpdca.evidence.com.
“We are committed to protecting our community and solving these cases using all resources at our disposal,” McFadden said.
Video below: Stockton police chief answers questions about string of killings
McFadden urged people to be careful when going out, especially at night.
“I can’t say enough, you need to be aware of your surroundings. Please do not fall victim. Be alert, have your head on a swivel, stay where it’s lit,” he said.
He also advised people to go out in groups, communicate with others and stay in well-lit areas.
The department has also increased patrols, with more resources working around the clock, McFadden said.
| Video Below | Stockton residents react to police warnings following recent unsolved homicides
There have been 43 homicides in Stockton so far this year compared to 32 at this same time last year, according to the police department. The clearance rate for solving homicides is roughly 50%.
KCRA 3 has been keeping track of the location and amount of shootings and gun-related incidents in both Stockton and Sacramento. Click through the interactive map below.
This is a developing story, stay with KCRA 3 for the latest.
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Tesla Previews Humanoid Robot But Musk Cautions It Is Not Ready Just Yet
Tesla Previews Humanoid Robot, But Musk Cautions It Is Not Ready Just Yet https://digitalalaskanews.com/tesla-previews-humanoid-robot-but-musk-cautions-it-is-not-ready-just-yet/
SAN FRANCISCO, Sept 30 (Reuters) – Tesla (TSLA.O) CEO Elon Musk said on Friday the electric vehicle maker’s eagerly anticipated humanoid robot ‘Optimus’ would cost under $20,000 and cautioned it still had way to go before becoming fully functional.
“There’s still a lot of work to be done to refine Optimus and prove it,” Musk told the electric vehicle maker’s “AI Day” event being held at a Tesla office in Palo Alto, California.
Musk said existing humanoid robots are “missing a brain” – and the ability to solve problems on their own. By contrast, he said, Optimus would be an “extremely capable robot” that Tesla would aim to produce in the millions. He said he expected it would cost less than $20,000.
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Tesla said the company had developed a prototype for its robot in February. That early model walked out to wave at the crowd on Friday, and Tesla showed a video of it doing simple tasks, such as watering plants, carrying boxes and lifting metal bars at a production station at Tesla’s California plant.
Musk and Tesla representatives acknowledged that there was a lot of work to be done to achieve the goal of a mass-produced, low-cost robot, using Tesla-designed technology that would be capable of replacing humans at work.
Other automakers, including Toyota Motor (7203.T) and Honda Motor (7267.T), have developed humanoid robot prototypes capable of doing complicated things like shooting a basketball, and production robots from ABB and others are a mainstay of auto manufacturing.
But Tesla is alone in pushing the market opportunity for a mass-market robot that could also be used in factory work.
A next-generation Tesla bot, which was rolled on stage by staff, will use Tesla-designed components, including a 2.3 kWh battery pack carried in its torso, a chip system and actuators to drive its limbs. The robot is designed to weigh 73 kg.
“It wasn’t quite ready to walk. But I think it will walk in a few weeks,” Musk said.
Musk has described the event as intended to recruit workers, and the engineers on stage catered to a technical audience. They detailed the process by which Tesla designed robot hands and used crash-simulator technology to test the robot’s ability to fall on its face without breaking.
Musk, who has spoken before about the risks of artificial intelligence, said the mass rollout of robots had the potential to “transform civilization” and create “a future of abundance, a future of no poverty.” But he said he believed it was important that Tesla shareholders had a role in vetting the company’s efforts.
“If I go crazy, you can fire me,” Musk said. “This is important.”
Tesla also discussed its long-delayed self-driving technology at the event. Engineers working on the auto self-driving software described how they trained software to choose actions, such as when to merge into traffic, and how they sped up the computer decision-making process.
In May, Musk said that the world’s most valuable car maker would be “worth basically zero” without achieving full self-driving capability, and it faces growing regulatory probes, as well as technological hurdles.
Musk has said he expects Tesla will achieve full self-driving this year and mass produce a robotaxi with no steering wheel or pedal by 2024.
At an “Autonomy” event in 2019, Musk promised 1 million robotaxis by 2020 but has yet to deliver such a car.
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Reporting by Hyunjoo Jin; Writing by Muralikumar Anantharaman; Editing by Peter Henderson and Daniel Wallis
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
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Alaska Joins 20 States Calling For Air Force To Accept Religious Exemptions For Vaccine Mandates
Alaska Joins 20 States Calling For Air Force To Accept Religious Exemptions For Vaccine Mandates https://digitalalaskanews.com/alaska-joins-20-states-calling-for-air-force-to-accept-religious-exemptions-for-vaccine-mandates/
September 30, 2022
(Anchorage, AK) – Yesterday, Alaska joined 20 other states in an amicus brief challenging the U.S. Air Force for violating the constitutional and statutory rights of airmen when it refused religious exemptions for the COVID-19 vaccine mandate.
“Service members do not surrender the right to practice their religion when they enlist or are commissioned,” said Alaska Attorney General Treg Taylor. “Sweeping mandates, put in place after a service member takes an oath to defend our freedoms, should not be granted higher authority than that service member’s own freedoms.”
Recently, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic the Department of Defense began implementing mandatory vaccines to combat the spread of the virus among service members. In Sept. 2021, the Secretary of the Air Force enacted a branch-specific vaccine mandate that allowed only medical, administrative, and religious exemptions. This brief argues that the Air Force violated both the Religious Freedom Restoration Act and the Free Exercise Clause when it denied religious exemptions to 18 airmen. Each of the airmen submitted written responses with a chaplain’s confirmation seeking exemptions and were denied exemptions and face disciplinary action as a result.
“An airman may sacrifice much in serving his country,” the brief states. “That should not include his right to religious liberty. And indeed, it doesn’t.”
# # #
Department Media Contacts: Communications Director Patty Sullivan at patty.sullivan@alaska.gov or (907) 269-6368. Information Officer Sam Curtis at sam.curtis@alaska.gov or (907) 269-6379.
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Analysis: First Colorado Governor's Debate Focuses On Crime & Inflation Raises Fashion Issue
Analysis: First Colorado Governor's Debate Focuses On Crime & Inflation, Raises Fashion Issue https://digitalalaskanews.com/analysis-first-colorado-governors-debate-focuses-on-crime-inflation-raises-fashion-issue/
The Hill
Schmitt holds double-digit lead in Missouri Senate race: poll
Missouri Senate candidate Eric Schmitt (R) is leading Democratic challenger Trudy Busch Valentine by 11 percentage points, according to a new Emerson College Polling-The Hill survey released Friday. The poll of likely Missouri voters showed 49 percent of respondents saying they would support Schmitt if the Senate election were held today compared to Busch Valentine…
The Hill
The Memo: Michigan appears set to deliver a blow to Trump
Former President Trump is headed to Michigan on Saturday for the latest in a series of campaign rallies. But the event, to be held in Warren, will only sharpen questions about whether Trump’s influence is backfiring against the GOP in general election campaigns. The most prominent candidate Trump has backed in the Wolverine State, conservative…
The Hill
Johnson leads Barnes in Wisconsin Senate race: poll
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) holds a 5 percentage point lead over Democratic challenger Mandela Barnes in the Wisconsin Senate race, according to a new poll. An AARP poll commissioned by Fabrizio Ward & Impact Research released on Thursday found Johnson receiving 51 percent support among likely Wisconsin voters, compared to Barnes with 46 percent. Johnson…
ABC News
Judge rejects special master’s request on seized documents, handing win to Trump
Florida federal judge Aileen Cannon on Thursday rejected a request from the special master she appointed to review documents seized from former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate to have Trump’s legal team verify that the government’s inventory log of seized items is accurate. Judge Cannon’s ruling again hands yet another process win to Trump’s legal team, which will now no longer face the same deadline to state on the record whether they would dispute any of the items listed on the government’s detailed inventory. Trump’s legal team earlier this week filed a letter under seal raising their objection to the request from special master Raymond Dearie — even as Trump repeatedly in public statements and interviews has made baseless suggestions the FBI “planted” documents in order to incriminate him.
Good Morning America
Ex-Trump adviser Tom Barrack’s emails to Paul Manafort, Jared Kushner, Ivanka Trump read aloud during trial
Government prosecutors in the case of Tom Barrack on Thursday read aloud hundreds of emails and texts sent by the former Trump fundraiser, who is on trial at a federal courthouse in Brooklyn, New York, for allegedly illegally lobbying on behalf of the United Arab Emirates. The hours-long recitation included messages to Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka Trump, her husband Jared Kushner, and Trump’s 2016 campaign manager, Paul Manafort. Barrack, a billionaire California-based businessman and longtime Trump associate, has pleaded not guilty to charges that he acted as a foreign agent for the UAE from 2016 to 2018 and failed to register with Justice Department, which prosecutors say constitutes a crime.
The Daily Beast
Putin Suffers Most Humiliating Ukraine Defeat Yet
ILYA PITALEVMoscow celebrated the annexation of huge swathes of Eastern Ukraine Friday but President Vladimir Putin’s party was wrecked by a lightning counter-attack that may have trapped thousands of his men in a key city supposedly now part of Russia. “This is the will of millions of people,” Putin said at a glitzy ceremony in front of high-ranking Russian diplomats still in the country. “People living in Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson region and Zaporizhzhia region are becoming our compatriots for
Bloomberg
Truss Should Resign as UK Prime Minister, More Than Half of Britons Say
(Bloomberg) — Most Read from BloombergMacKenzie Scott Files for Divorce From Science Teacher HusbandTop Apple Executive Is Leaving After Making Crude Remarks in TikTok VideoMeta to Cut Headcount for First Time, Slash Budgets Across TeamsMarjorie Taylor Greene’s Husband Files for Divorce After 27 YearsPutin Says Annexation Is Forever, Defends Ukraine Land GrabMore than half of Britons think Liz Truss should quit as UK premier, according to a YouGov poll that adds to her woes less than a month in
Reuters
U.S. judge does not require Trump to attest that FBI’s list of seized records is accurate
A federal judge on Thursday ruled that former President Donald Trump does not have to provide the court with a sworn statement attesting to whether he believes the list of items seized by the FBI from his Florida estate is accurate and complete. The order from U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon came after U.S. Senior Judge Raymond Dearie, appointed as special master at Trump’s request to oversee a review of the records seized from Mar-a-lago, had ordered Trump’s lawyers to let him know if they disputed the accuracy of the government’s property inventory list.
Bloomberg
Trump Picked the Special Master but Now He Has Complaints
(Bloomberg) — Donald Trump got the court-ordered review he wanted of documents seized from his Mar-a-Lago home as well as his preferred pick for a so-called special master to carry it out. But less than a month in, the former president has complaints about how that review is taking shape.Most Read from BloombergMacKenzie Scott Files for Divorce From Science Teacher HusbandTrump Refuses to Delay Florida Deposition in Phone-Fraud Case Despite HurricaneApple Ditches iPhone Production Increase Afte
The Hill
Trump-McConnell feud takes new turn with Electoral Count Act
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s (R-Ky.) support for the Electoral Count Act is renewing the schism between him and former President Trump, setting up a vote likely to divide the GOP caucus. Supporters are hopeful that McConnell’s backing will lead to a majority of the Senate GOP conference backing the legislation, drafted in response to…
Associated Press
Indian opposition party seeks to shed dynastic rule image
India’s main opposition party, the Indian National Congress, is set to choose a person who is not a member of its dominant Nehru-Gandhi family as its next president as it struggles to recover before key upcoming elections. Although the party has been led historically by the family, interim party president Sonia Gandhi and her son, Rahul Gandhi, have decided to bring in a new face during a challenging time for the party, which has suffered crushing defeats in national and state elections since Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist party came to power in 2014. Kharge, a member of Parliament and a former minister of Railways, Labour and Employment, filed his nomination papers on Friday at the party headquarters in New Delhi.
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Judge Says Trump Administrations Pork Inspection Rules Do Not Violate Industry Health Standards
Judge Says Trump Administration’s Pork Inspection Rules Do Not Violate Industry Health Standards https://digitalalaskanews.com/judge-says-trump-administrations-pork-inspection-rules-do-not-violate-industry-health-standards/
OAKLAND, Calif. (CN) — A federal judge sided with the feds Friday, finding that former Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue’s rules for inspecting pigs before they are sent to slaughter are not “arbitrary and capricious,” nor do they violate food safety standards.
A group of three nonprofits, including the Center for Food Safety, Food & Water Watch and the Humane Farming Association, alleged in federal court in February 2020 that Perdue’s rollback of food-safety inspection regulations at pig-slaughtering plants will result in dangerous pork products. After the groups moved for summary judgment in January this year, the feds filed an opposition and cross-motion for summary judgment on Feb. 24.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture rolled out a New Swine Inspection System (NSIS) in 2019, couching it as an effort to modernize pork inspections throughout the country by establishing a “voluntary inspection system” for slaughterhouses while speeding up the slaughter lines for more efficient processing. The environmental advocacy groups claimed the government’s move to turn hog inspection over to private companies will lead to adulterated and unwholesome pork products ending up in grocery stores and restaurants throughout the country.
The plaintiffs said the feds’ program relies in large part on meat company employees conducting inspections instead of government inspectors, and by changing historic practices could increase danger to public health. They said an examination of USDA data showed that plants that piloted the new system had significantly more regulatory violations for fecal and digestive matter on carcasses than traditional plants.
The groups also alleged that employees in these plants repeatedly could not perform newly assigned inspection tasks, such as slicing and feeling lymph nodes, usually performed by trained federal USDA inspectors to identify animal conditions and diseases.
The federal government is likely to adopt these rules at plants producing more than 90% of the U.S. pork supply, the advocates said.
“The Trump administration implemented this outrageous self-policing initiative that hands over inspection duties to meat companies themselves — even though 48 million Americans get sick every year due to foodborne illness,” said Zach Corrigan, senior attorney for Food & Water Watch in a statement.
In February 2021, U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White — a George W. Bush appointee — greenlit the lawsuit, finding the threat of tainted pork on American dinner tables enough to give the groups standing to bring their case. In April this year, White granted the plaintiffs’ request to voluntarily dismiss two claims for relief with prejudice.
But on Friday, White said the environmental groups did not prove their claim that the new inspection program did not meet the government’s own standards — denying the groups’ motion for summary judgment and instead granting it for the government.
He said the government’s argument, asserting that plaintiffs’ declarations used an “erroneous” claim that pork produced under the NSIS program is “higher risk” than pork produced under the traditional inspection system, was only an argument on the merits. But he said he agreed with the federal government’s statement that the pre-inspection sorting conducted by plant employees does not replace federal inspection and is an additional step in the process before federal inspection occurs.
“Under NSIS, federal inspectors still inspect each animal before it is slaughtered for meat,” White wrote. He cited the government’s report that pre-inspection divides healthy and abnormal animals, and federal inspectors then inspect healthy animals to determine any suspect conditions.
“Thus, the pre-inspection sorting process does not replace federal inspection; federal inspectors still inspect the animals ‘before they shall be allowed to enter into any slaughtering establishment, in which they are to be slaughtered’ … and thus the Final Rule does not injure plaintiffs or their members,” White wrote.
He also agreed with the government that the practice of isolating animals suspected of abnormal conditions, and subsequently being examined to determine being unfit for slaughter, meets the agency’s own health standards.
White found that the NSIS program is not “capricious,” and the fact that federal government inspectors may have ignored instances of worker non-compliance with inspection standards is not sufficient to find the NSIS arbitrary. The judge was also not convinced that the feds’ failure to allow notice and comment on a revised risk assessment altered the NSIS in a way that prevented the public from providing comment on proposed illness reductions.
White issued a subsequent judgment to close the case in favor of the federal government.
“Because the court failed to condemn these Trump-era reductions in safety measures for hog slaughter, we can only hope we don’t see more foodborne illness or even further pandemics that should be protected by our federal meat processing law,” said Amy van Saun, senior attorney with Center for Food Safety.
“We are disappointed that the court upheld USDA’s dangerous rules, allowing profit-driven meat companies to ramp up line speeds and police their own slaughterhouses, putting both workers and consumers at risk in the process,” said Tarah Heinzen, legal director of Food & Water Watch. “While USDA continues to let the fox guard the henhouse, Food & Water Watch will keep working to hold Big Ag accountable for its harms to frontline workers, consumers, animals, and the environment.”
Farm Sanctuary president and co-founder Gene Baur said by email after reviewing the lawsuit outcome Friday that he thinks “Entrenched factory farm interests wield undue influence in political and legal institutions, and they act irresponsibly. In the absence of proper government oversight, citizens can take matters into their own hands by voting with their dollars and avoiding animal products.”
Robert Field, a professor of public health and law at Drexel University, said in an interview that he was not surprised by the judge’s ruling, as he said judges tend to give federal agencies “wide deference to interpret the extent of their own powers.”
Because federal agencies are required to gather evidence before issuing a rule, Field said being found “arbitrary or capricious” usually only happens when a court finds an agency is actually acting outside of its authority. But he said he was surprised that the Biden administration is maintaining and defending Trump-era policies like the NSIS, and disappointed that the industry is being allowed to inspect itself -— which he considers “going backwards.”
“We assume in this country that our food is going to be generally safe,” he said. “We don’t think about it until there’s a problem, and this industry self-inspection has the potential to create health hazards.”
Field said he does expect the issue of federal agency discretion to be reviewed by the Supreme Court, possibly within the year.
“Conservative Supreme Court justices have indicated that they would like to restrict discretion of federal agencies,” he said. “Their concern is these bureaucratic agencies led by unelected officials could go ‘too far.’ Allowing broad agency discretion is usually going to favor consumers or broad interest groups. But in this case, agency discretion seems to be favoring the industry over consumers.”
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Kellyanne Conway Says Trump https://digitalalaskanews.com/kellyanne-conway-says-trump/
Former President Trump could be a presidential candidate by the end of the year, according to Kellyanne Conway, one of Trump’s top advisers and his 2016 campaign manager.
In an interview Friday with CBS News senior investigative correspondent Catherine Herridge, asked whether Trump, who has indicated he plans to run again, would announce his candidacy after the midterm elections —by Thanksgiving — Conway responded, “Well, he would like to.”
“He’s as active as anybody in these midterm elections. That’s important to the calculus also, Catherine, because we have the most ironic, if not unprecedented situation right now,” Conway said. “We have a president, a current president, whose party doesn’t really want him to campaign with them.”
“I think once those midterms are done, President Trump can assess the timing of his announcement,” Conway continued. “I will tell you why he wants to run for president — Donald Trump wants his old job back.”
When Conway spoke with Herridge in July, she said her advice to Trump was to wait for a few months. Conway, the first woman to run a successful presidential campaign, served as the former president’s counselor for most of his tenure.
“My advice to the president privately is my advice to him publicly, which is, ‘If you want to announce, wait until right after the midterms,'” she said this summer.
As she suggested in July, Conway reiterated her feeling that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a potential 2024 presidential candidate who is currently dealing with the devastation wrought by Hurricane Ian, should wait to run. Finishing two terms as Florida governor, she said, would better position DeSantis for a future presidential bid. “He has the skills, he has the temperament, he has the moxie, and he has the the commitment to do that,” Conway told Herridge.
“Many of his generational peers will have been in the United States Senate,” Conway continued. “So if he’s running against a Ted Cruz or Rand Paul or Marco Rubio, let’s say Josh Hawley, Tom Cotton and others, Ron DeSantis, his argument is you’ve been in the United States Senate, sometimes in the minority party, sometimes in the majority party, but what have you got to show for it? They’ll have to answer those questions. He’ll say, I’ve been the governor of the third largest state. Look what I’ve done.”
She dismissed the notion that Trump and his political team are concerned about competition from DeSantis in 2024 —”I don’t think they are, no,” she said. “They’re friends, they’re allies. I think people want Ron DeSantis and Donald Trump to be two scorpions in a bottle.” She added, “They’re just not.”
The interview with Conway airs on CBS News Streaming Friday.
Grace Kazarian contributed reporting.
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Kathryn Watson
Kathryn Watson is a politics reporter for CBS News Digital based in Washington, D.C.
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Facing A Dire Storm Forecast In Florida Officials Delayed Evacuation
Facing A Dire Storm Forecast In Florida, Officials Delayed Evacuation https://digitalalaskanews.com/facing-a-dire-storm-forecast-in-florida-officials-delayed-evacuation/
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Tristan Stout, 22, surveying the damage to his father’s boat after it was moved across the street on San Carlos Island in Fort Myers Beach.Credit…Jason Andrew for The New York Times
Sept. 30, 2022Updated 8:36 p.m. ET
FORT MYERS, Fla. — As Hurricane Ian charged toward the western coast of Florida this week, the warnings from forecasters were growing more urgent. Life-threatening storm surge threatened to deluge the region from Tampa all the way to Fort Myers.
But while officials along much of that coastline responded with orders to evacuate on Monday, emergency managers in Lee County held off, pondering during the day whether to tell people to flee, but then deciding to see how the forecast evolved overnight.
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The delay, an apparent violation of the meticulous evacuation strategy the county had crafted for just such an emergency, may have contributed to catastrophic consequences that are still coming into focus as the death toll continues to climb.
At least 16 storm-related deaths have been identified in Lee County, the highest toll anywhere in the state, as survivors describe the sudden surge of water — predicted as a possibility by the National Hurricane Service in the days before the storm hit — that sent some of them scrambling for safety in attics and on rooftops.
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Destruction on San Carlos Island after Hurricane Ian tore through the area.Credit…Johnny Milano for The New York Times
Lee County, which includes the hard-hit seaside community of Fort Myers Beach, as well as the towns of Fort Myers, Sanibel and Cape Coral, did not issue a mandatory evacuation order for the areas likely to be hardest hit until Tuesday morning, a day after several neighboring counties had ordered their most vulnerable residents to flee.
By then, some residents recalled that they had little time to evacuate. Dana Ferguson, 33, a medical assistant in Fort Myers, said she had been at work when the first text message appeared on her phone Tuesday morning. By the time she arrived home, it was too late to find anywhere to go, so she hunkered down with her husband and three children to wait as a wall of water began surging through areas of Fort Myers, including some that were well away from the coastline.
“I felt there wasn’t enough time,” she said.
Ms. Ferguson said she and her family fled to the second floor, lugging a generator and dry food, as the water rose through their living room. The 6-year-old was in tears.
Kevin Ruane, a Lee County commissioner and a former mayor of Sanibel, said the county had postponed ordering an extensive evacuation because the earlier hurricane modeling had shown the storm heading farther north.
“I think we responded as quickly as we humanly could have,” he said.
Gov. Ron DeSantis and his state emergency management director also said the earlier forecasts had predicted the brunt of the storm’s fury would strike farther north.
“There is a difference between a storm that’s going to hit north Florida that will have peripheral effects on your region, versus one that’s making a direct impact,” Mr. DeSantis said at a news conference on Friday in Lee County. “And so what I saw in southwest Florida is, as the data changed, they sprung into action.”
But while the track of Hurricane Ian did shift closer to Lee County in the days before it made landfall, the surge risks the county faced — even with the more northerly track — were becoming apparent as early as Sunday night.
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Diana Kauth, 65, was helped off a rescue rig by the Florida Forest Service after she rode out Hurricane Ian in her neighbor’s two-story home on San Carlos Island.Credit…Jason Andrew for The New York Times
At that point, the National Hurricane Center produced modeling showing a chance of a storm surge covering much of Cape Coral and Fort Myers. Parts of Fort Myers Beach, even in that case, had a 40 percent chance of a six-foot-high storm surge, according to the surge forecasts.
Lee County’s emergency planning documents had set out a time-is-of-the-essence strategy, noting that the region’s large population and limited road system make it difficult to evacuate the county swiftly. Over years of work, the county has created a phased approach that expands the scope of evacuations in proportion to the certainty of risk. “Severe events may require decisions with little solid information,” the documents say.
The county’s plan proposes an initial evacuation if there is even a 10 percent chance that a storm surge will go six feet above ground level; based on a sliding scale, the plan also calls for an evacuation if there is a 60 percent chance of a three-foot storm surge.
Along with the forecasts on Sunday night, updated forecasts on Monday warned that many areas of Cape Coral and Fort Myers had between a 10 and a 40 percent chance of a storm surge above six feet, with some areas possibly seeing a surge of more than nine feet.
Over those Monday hours, neighboring Pinellas, Hillsborough, Manatee, Sarasota and Charlotte counties issued evacuation orders, while Sarasota County announced that it expected evacuation orders to be in effect for the following morning. In Lee County, however, officials said they were waiting to make a more up-to-date assessment the following morning.
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A woman riding her bike past a Chevron One Stop station that was destroyed during Hurricane Ian.Credit…Jason Andrew for The New York Times
“Once we have a better grasp on all of that dynamic, we will have a better understanding about what areas we may call for evacuation, and, at the same time, a determination of what shelters will be open,” the Lee County Manager, Roger Desjarlais, said on Monday afternoon.
But forecasters with the National Hurricane Center were growing more explicit in their warnings for the region. In a 5 p.m. update on Monday, they wrote that the highest risk for “life-threatening storm surge” was in the area from Fort Myers to Tampa Bay.
“Residents in these areas should listen to advice given by local officials,” the hurricane center wrote. New modeling showed that some areas along Fort Myers Beach were more likely than not to see a six-foot surge.
Mr. Ruane, the county commissioner, said that one challenge the county faced was that the local schools had been designed to be shelters and that the school board had made the decision to keep them open on Monday.
By the following morning, at 7 a.m. on Tuesday, Mr. Desjarlais announced a partial evacuation order but emphasized that “the areas being evacuated are small” compared with a previous hurricane evacuation.
The county held off on further evacuations, despite a forecast that showed potential surge into areas not covered by the order. Officials expanded their evacuation order later in the morning.
By the middle of the afternoon, Lee County officials were more urgent in their recommendation: “The time to evacuate is now, and the window is closing,” they wrote in a message on Facebook.
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Pete Neelon, a resident of Lee County for more than a decade, pointing to where the water level rose past his headboard on San Carlos Island.Credit…Johnny Milano for The New York Times
Katherine Morong, 32, said she had been prepared earlier in the week to hunker down and ride out the storm based on the guidance from local officials. The sudden evacuation order on Tuesday morning left her scrambling, she said, as she set out in her car in the rain.
“The county could have been more proactive and could have given us more time to evacuate,” she said. On the road toward the east side of the state, she said, she was driving through torrents of rain, with tornadoes nearby.
Joe Brosseau, 65, said he did not receive any evacuation notice. As the storm surge began pouring in on Wednesday morning, he said, he considered evacuating but realized it was too late.
He climbed up a ladder with his 70-year-old wife and dog to reach a crawl space in his garage. He brought tools in case he needed to break through the roof to escape.
“It was terrifying,” Mr. Brosseau said. “It was the absolute scariest thing. Trying to get that dog and my wife up a ladder to the crawl space. And then to spend six hours there.”
Some residents said they had seen the forecasts but decided to remain at home anyway — veterans of many past storms with dire predictions that had not come to pass.
“People were made aware, they were told about the dangers and some people just made the decision that they did not want to leave,” Mr. DeSantis said on Friday.
Joe Santini, a retired physician’s assistant, said he would not have fled his home even if there had been an evacuation order issued well before the storm. He said that he had lived in the Fort Myers area most of his life, and that he would not know where else to go.
“I’ve stuck around for every other one,” he said.
The water rushed into his home around dusk on Wednesday night, and on Friday, there was still a high-water mark about a foot above the floor — leaving Mr. Santini a little stunned. “I don’t think it’s ever surged as...
Burkina Faso Military Officials Announce Dissolution Of Government And Leader's Removal | CNN
Burkina Faso Military Officials Announce Dissolution Of Government And Leader's Removal | CNN https://digitalalaskanews.com/burkina-faso-military-officials-announce-dissolution-of-government-and-leaders-removal-cnn/
A new military takeover has been declared in Burkina Faso, after a day marked by gunfire and confusion in the capital city of Ouagadougou. The country’s land and aerial borders have been closed, and its constitution suspended.
In an announcement on state television late Friday, a Burkina Faso military official announced the dissolution of the current government and the dismissal of the junta leader, President Lieutenant-Colonel Paul-Henri Damiba.
Army Captain Ibrahim Traore will now take the reins as the President of the country’s ruling junta, the Patriotic Movement for Safeguard and Restoration (MPSR), which first seized power earlier this year, said military official Kiswendsida Farouk Azaria Sorgho.
With the suspension of the constitution and government, this is Burkina Faso’s second military takeover in a year.
Accompanied by more than a dozen members of the military, Sorgho read a communiqué from Traore declaring the changes. He also accused Damiba of “betraying” the military’s aim to restore security to the country.
“People of Burkina Faso, faced with the degradation of the security situation, we have attempted several times to refocus the transition on the issue of security,” Sorgho said.
“The risky choices of Lieutenant-Colonel Damiba have increasingly weakened our security apparatus,” he also said.
Prior efforts to calm the insurrection appear to have been in vain. Earlier on Friday, after residents of the capital city of Ouagadougou awoke to the sounds of gunfire, the junta’s then-leaders explained the situation as the result of “a mood swing” among some military members, and said talks were underway.
“The enemy that is attacking our country only wants to create division among Burkinabes to accomplish its destabilization,” Damiba said in a Facebook statement at the time.
Though normal activity was seen on the streets on Friday, heavy gunfire was heard coming from the main military camp and some residential areas of Ouagadougou. Several armed soldiers were seen taking positions along the main avenue leading to the presidency, as well as blocking access to administrative buildings and national television.
Damiba took power after a military coup on Jan. 24 ousted former President Roch Kabore and dissolved the government.
He vowed to restore security after years of violence carried out by Islamist militants linked to al Qaeda and the Islamic State. But his government struggled to deliver. Attacks persist and the army is in disarray.
This week, unknown assailants killed eleven soldiers during an attack on a 150-vehicle convoy taking supplies to a town in northern Burkina Faso. Fifty civilians are missing.
Large areas of the north and east have become ungovernable since 2018. Millions have fled their homes, fearing further raids by gunmen who frequently descend on rural communities on motorbikes. Thousands have been killed in attacks.
The West African country, one of the world’s poorest, has become the epicenter of the violence that began in neighboring Mali in 2012 but has since spread across the arid expanse of the Sahel region south of the Sahara Desert.
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Charts Suggest Its way Too Early To Expect The Stock Market To Rebound Jim Cramer Says
Charts Suggest It’s ‘way Too Early’ To Expect The Stock Market To Rebound, Jim Cramer Says https://digitalalaskanews.com/charts-suggest-its-way-too-early-to-expect-the-stock-market-to-rebound-jim-cramer-says/
CNBC’s Jim Cramer on Friday warned investors that the stock market is unlikely to recover anytime soon.
“The charts, as interpreted by Mark Sebastian … suggest that this market’s got more downside, and it’s way too early to go really bullish,” he said.
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“Unlike him, I also believe we could get a sharp spike up, but, for our Charitable Trust, if that happens we’re going to have to do some selling,” he added.
The S&P 500 closed out its worst month since March 2020 on Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 8.8% for the month, while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 10.5%.
Before getting into Sebastian’s analysis, Cramer first explained that when the S&P 500 goes lower, the CBOE Volatility Index, also known as the VIX or fear gauge, typically moves higher. And when the S&P moves higher, the VIX typically goes lower.
He then examined a pair of charts showing the daily action in the S&P and the VIX:
While the S&P and VIX moved at the same pace in June, things took a turn in August. Sebastian notes that when the S&P started falling in late August, the VIX had a “slow-rolling rally” instead of roaring like it typically would, according to Cramer.
This mismatch in movement between the S&P and VIX’s movements continued through early September but only really exploded this week, Cramer said, adding that the market still is a long way from recovering.
“Sebastian’s waiting for the S&P to go down while the VIX also goes down — that’s a classic tell that a sell-off’s coming to an end,” he said. “That is not happening right now.”
For more analysis, watch Cramer’s full explanation below.
Jim Cramer’s Guide to Investing
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Trump Says Publishers Won https://digitalalaskanews.com/trump-says-publishers-won/
Former President Donald Trump is raging against an upcoming book about him by New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman, while insisting that he knows “many people” who were blocked from writing “good” books about him.
Trump said in a Truth Social post on Friday that publishers were “not interested” in publishing books about him unless they were “bad.” The post came after the former president lashed out at Haberman’s book Confidence Man: The Making of Donald Trump and the Breaking of America, which is set to be published next week.
Trump also suggested that some of his associates had wanted to write flattering books about him that later took a negative turn after they “sold out to the Enemy,” although he did not provide any details on the identities of the authors.
“I know many people that wanted to write a really good book about me, but their publishers wouldn’t let them,” Trump wrote. “They were not interested in any way, shape, or form unless they were willing to say bad things. Some took a pass, and some sold out to the Enemy.”
Former President Donald Trump speaks at a rally in Wilmington, North Carolina, on September 23, 2022. Trump said on Friday that he knows “many people” who have been blocked from writing “good” books about him by disapproving publishers. Allison Joyce/Getty Images
Trump said in a Truth Social post earlier in the day that Haberman’s upcoming book contains claims that are “pure fiction.”
“Here we go again!” wrote Trump. “Another Fake book is out, this one, supposedly very boring and stale, by self appointed head case, Failing (unfunded liability!) New York Times writer, Maggie Hagerman. In it she tells many made up stories, with zero fact checking or confirmation by anyone who would know, like me.”
“In one case she lies about me wanting to fire my daughter, Ivanka, and Jared,” he added. “WRONG, pure fiction. Never even crossed my mind. Just have to fight trouble making creeps like Maggie, and all the rest!”
Haberman responded to Trump’s post by sharing to Twitter a photo that appears to show the former president’s handwritten responses to questions she had asked him.
The response to a question about Trump allegedly asking his former chief of staff John Kelly to “move his daughter and son-in-law out of the White House” described the claim as a “false story,” while adding that “Kelly was too dumb to properly handle such an event if true, which it was not.”
While Trump suggested that publishers are unwilling to publish any books that contain positive remarks about him, a large number of books that praise the former president have already been published.
Pro-Trump titles from prominent conservatives include Understanding Trump by former GOP Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, which includes a forward by Trump’s son Eric Trump.
Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk wrote the bestseller The MAGA Doctrine: The Only Ideas That Will Win the Future, while the former president endorsed another bestseller by his ex-national security adviser General Keith Kellogg, War by Other Means: A General in the Trump White House.
A book authored by Trump’s former Pentagon chief of staff Kash Patel and published earlier this year, The Plot Against the King, casts him as the victor in a battle between “King Donald” and the evil “Hillary Queenton.”
Patel’s book is one of several pro-Trump children’s books that have been published, with other titles including The Kids Guide to President Trump and Donald Drains the Swamp, which is part of a Donald the Caveman series of books.
Several books that praise Trump on a religious basis have also been published, including The Trump Prophecies: The Astonishing True Story of the Man Who Saw Tomorrow…and What He Says Is Coming Next and President Trump’s Pro-Christian Accomplishments.
Some books even claim that the former president is the second coming of Jesus Christ, such as President Donald J. Trump, The Son of Man – The Christ and Donald J. Trump: The Second Coming of Christ.
A considerable number of negative books on Trump in addition to Haberman’s upcoming book have also been published, including some penned by former members of his staff, former close confidantes or family members like his niece Mary Trump.
Ex-Trump aides or administration officials who wrote less-than-flattering books include former Attorney General William Barr, former national security adviser John Bolton, former Defense Secretary Mark Esper, former aide Omarosa Manigault Newman and former White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham.
Newsweek reached out to Trump’s office for comment.
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Feds Seek To Fast-Track Appeal In Trump Mar-A-Lago Documents Fight
Feds Seek To Fast-Track Appeal In Trump Mar-A-Lago Documents Fight https://digitalalaskanews.com/feds-seek-to-fast-track-appeal-in-trump-mar-a-lago-documents-fight/
The Justice Department moved to quickly dismantle the independent review of documents seized from Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate, contending that the review — ordered by U.S. District Court Judge Aileen Cannon — is impeding its criminal investigation.
In a 15-page filing asking a federal appeals court to speed its consideration of the issue, prosecutors complained the “special master” review prevents DOJ from accessing thousands of non-classified records recovered from the former president’s estate.
While those documents don’t present the same urgent national security concerns as the smaller volume of classified materials DOJ successfully fought to regain access to earlier this month, Justice Department officials said the continued blockade on non-classified materials had slowed investigators’ efforts to determine how some of the classified records were transferred to Mar-a-Lago and whether any of them were improperly accessed.
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Biden Signs Stopgap Spending Bill With $12.3 Billion In Aid To Ukraine
Biden Signs Stopgap Spending Bill With $12.3 Billion In Aid To Ukraine https://digitalalaskanews.com/biden-signs-stopgap-spending-bill-with-12-3-billion-in-aid-to-ukraine/
The House passed the bill in its final legislative act before the midterm elections, and President Biden signed it hours before a funding lapse would have forced a government shutdown.
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Representative Rosa DeLauro, with President Biden at the White House Congressional Picnic in July, on Friday called the investments in the spending bill “urgent and necessary.”Credit…Nicholas Kamm/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
Sept. 30, 2022Updated 6:20 p.m. ET
WASHINGTON — Congress gave final approval on Friday to a short-term spending package to keep the government open through mid-December and President Biden signed it soon afterward, staving off a midnight shutdown and sending about $12.3 billion in military and economic aid to Ukraine.
The House passed the measure less than 12 hours before funding was set to lapse. It will keep the government open through Dec. 16, giving lawmakers time to iron out their considerable differences over the dozen annual spending bills.
The package included a third tranche of aid to Ukraine for its battle with Russia, on top of a total of about $54 billion approved earlier this year. With the vote on Friday, Congress has now committed more military aid to Ukraine than it has to any country in a single year since the Vietnam War, reflecting a remarkable bipartisan consensus in favor of pouring huge amounts of American resources into the fight as the nation seeks to reclaim more of its territory from Russia.
Still, most House Republicans opposed the measure, which passed on a largely party-line vote of 230 to 201. Ten Republicans joined every present Democrat in voting for the legislation.
Passage of the bill met the last legislative deadline facing Congress before the November midterm elections. Lawmakers, eager to return the campaign trail, vowed to address outstanding disputes in the annual legislation as part of an increasingly packed to-do list for when the House and Senate return in November.
“The investments included in this bill are urgent and necessary to avoid disruptions to vital federal agencies, to help communities get back on their feet, to ensure we have the time needed to negotiate a final funding agreement that meets the needs of hardworking people,” said Representative Rosa DeLauro, Democrat of Connecticut, the chairwoman of the Appropriations Committee.
Republican leaders, however, counseled their conference to oppose the package. Though several Senate Republicans supported the package when it passed that chamber on Thursday, House Republicans argued that it did little to address their priorities, including providing a substantial increase for the military and shoring up resources at the southern border.
Representative Kay Granger of Texas, the top Republican on the Appropriations Committee, chastised Democrats for a bill she said was being “rushed through the House today, with just hours to spare to avoid a government shutdown.”
“It’s deeply unfortunate that we have once again waited to the last minute to fund the government,” said Representative Tom Cole, Republican of Oklahoma. Mr. Cole, a longtime member of the appropriations panel, added, “We should not be in this situation — both sides have done this, I’ll grant my friend that — but this is a particularly egregious process.”
But the desire to avoid a government shutdown and to help Ukraine was enough to rally the support needed to pass the measure. It will allocate $1.5 billion to replenish weapons and equipment previously sent to the country, while allowing Mr. Biden to authorize the transfer of up to $3.7 billion of American equipment and weapons.
It will also provide $3 billion for equipment, weapons and military support, as well as $4.5 billion for the Ukrainian government to continue operating throughout the war.
“This package comes at a critical moment,” said Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California, pointing to Ukraine’s recent success in reclaiming land that had been seized by Russia and commitments of support she and the Biden administration had made. “With this supplemental, we take another strong step toward honoring that pledge, our country’s pledge.”
Lawmakers agreed to address some domestic needs, including $20 million to support recovery from the water crisis in Jackson, Miss., and $2 billion for a community block grant program designed to help relief efforts after natural disasters in 2021 and 2022.
It also ensures the renewal of a five-year “user fee” agreement that the Food and Drug Administration relies on as part of its budget and sets aside $1 billion for a program that will help lower-income families with heating and energy costs in the coming months.
The legislation also allows the federal government more flexibility to spend existing disaster relief funds in the coming weeks, even as lawmakers acknowledged that it was likely that a separate round of emergency aid would be needed in the coming weeks to address the devastation left by hurricanes in southwest Florida and Puerto Rico.
“This short-term funding bill will keep the government open and meet a range of critical needs — from helping communities recover from extreme weather events, to supporting Ukraine, to helping fulfill our promises and commitments to Afghan allies and partners, and more,” said Shalanda Young, the director of the Office of Management and Budget. She added, “We’re looking forward to working with Congress to get this done for the American people.”
To ensure there would be enough Republican support for the measure to pass the Senate, however, Democrats agreed to remove billions of dollars in emergency funds to help address the coronavirus pandemic and the spread of monkeypox across the country. Republicans have refused to consider devoting additional emergency money on top of aid previously approved by Congress that has yet to be used.
Democrats also dropped an energy infrastructure plan that had initially been included at the request of Senator Joe Manchin III of West Virginia, a conservative Democrat, as part of an agreement that won his vote last month for the party’s major climate, health and tax package. Dozens of House Democrats had called for the energy plan to be stripped out and considered separately, and senior lawmakers said they would reconsider it once Congress returned in mid-November.
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Are Biden https://digitalalaskanews.com/are-biden/
Standing at the podium as part of a White House forum on food and hunger, President Joe Biden began working through the list of people to thank. He made it bipartisan. He thanked several Republicans and got to his friend Jackie. “Jackie, are you here? Where’s Jackie?” Biden asked. Jackie is Rep. Jackie Walorski of Indiana who died over a month ago in a car crash. There is no good way to consider what happened.
Biden knew Walorski died. He mentioned it over a month ago. He is about to sign legislation, with her family present, to rename a VA hospital in her honor. His press secretary said the deceased congresswoman is “top of mind” for Biden because he knew he would be spending time with her family later in the week. If she really was top of mind, shouldn’t he have known she could not be present at the event?
We should consider the options.
First, his advance staff failed to prepare him. Prior to the president taking the stage, the event showed a brief video reflecting on Walorski’s life. An advance team should, in every case, brief their leader on everything happening at an event, including those events that happened right before he goes on stage.
Second, perhaps they briefed him but failed to remind him that the congresswoman died. Whether it is the first reason or the second reason, the president’s staff has let him down again.
We know that Chief of Staff Ron Klain has had a hard time navigating relationships in Congress, often undermining the president’s agenda. We also know that Biden has been bullied by his staff into taking policy positions that directly contradict the president’s own instincts. The student loan bailout is just one example, and it is the most recent example that will haunt the Democrats’ midterm cycle. It is not out of bounds to consider that Biden has a highly ideological progressive staff that is very long on opinions and short on competence.
Of course, there is a third option. What if the team did tell Biden, did brief him, did do everything right, and Biden forgot that quickly? That would be the most troubling because it would be a sign the president’s age is getting the better of him. Perhaps Biden cannot get his staff to set policy based on his instincts because he cannot operate at the level necessary to have his will, as president, implemented by his team. They, in turn, are taking advantage of his infirmities.
When former President Donald Trump served in the office, videographers caught him very, very carefully walking down a ramp at West Point. “Trump’s Halting Walk Down Ramp Raises New Health Questions,” the New York Times headline blared. The subheading was, “The president also appeared to have trouble raising a glass of water to his mouth during a speech at West Point a day before he turned 74, the oldest a president has been in his first term.”
At CNN, its regulator regurgitator of stale conventional wisdom, Chris Cillizza, wrote a piece with the headline, “Why the Donald Trump-West Point ramp story actually matters.” Among the reasons Cillizza said it mattered was: “He is the oldest person ever elected to a first term in the White House,” and “Trump’s medical past is a total mystery.”
Biden is now the oldest President ever and his health is no mystery. He had two brain aneurysms, both of which required surgery. Now, he’s calling out to dead congresswomen on stage who happen to be, in his press secretary’s telling, “top of mind” — just not top of mind enough to know she’s dead.
“Trump tries to explain his slow and unsteady walk down a ramp at West Point,” read the headline of Phil Rucker’s story about Trump’s ramp walk in The Washington Post. He said, “Elements of Trump’s explanation strained credulity.” Does the Biden administration’s explanation for Biden not strain credulity? Of course it does. But note the relative lack of media coverage. If only Biden had delicately walked down a ramp instead of searching for a dead woman in a crowd, maybe the media would ask the tough questions.
— To find out more about Erick Erickson and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.
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Works By Linda Weis https://digitalalaskanews.com/works-by-linda-weis/
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Cloudy skies. High 53F. Winds light and variable..
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Partly to mostly cloudy. Low 36F. Winds light and variable.
Updated: September 30, 2022 @ 1:51 pm
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Burkina Faso Army Captain Announces Overthrow Of Military Government
Burkina Faso Army Captain Announces Overthrow Of Military Government https://digitalalaskanews.com/burkina-faso-army-captain-announces-overthrow-of-military-government/
OUAGADOUGOU, Sept 30 (Reuters) – Burkina Faso army Captain Ibrahim Traore has ousted military leader Paul-Henri Damiba and dissolved the government in the West African country’s second coup in eight months, he said in a statement read on national television on Friday evening.
Traore said a group of officers who helped Damiba seize power in January, had decided to remove their leader due to his inability to deal with a worsening Islamist insurgency. Damiba had ousted former President Roch Kabore in January, in part for the same reason.
The constitution has been suspended and the transitional charter dissolved, borders are closed indefinitely and all political and civil society activities are suspended, Traore said. He declared a curfew from 2100 GMT to 0500 GMT.
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Lieutenant Colonel Paul-Henri Damiba, who led Burkina Faso’s military coup in January, sits as he attends his sworn in ceremony for a second time as president to lead a three-year transition after a national conference approved a transitional charter in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso March 2, 2022. REUTERS/Anne Mimault/File Photo
“Faced with the deteriorating situation, we tried several times to get Damiba to refocus the transition on the security question,” said the statement signed by Traore and read out by another officer on television, flanked by a group of soldiers in military fatigues and heavy armour.
The statement said Damiba had rejected proposals by the officers to reorganise the army and instead continued with the military structure that had led to the fall of the previous regime.
“Damiba’s actions gradually convinced us that his ambitions were diverting away from what we set out to do. We decided this day to remove Damiba,” it said.
National stakeholders will be invited soon to adopt a new transitional charter and designate a new civilian or military president, it said.
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Writing by Nellie Peyton; Editing by Bate Felix and Sandra Maler
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
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