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Gov. Greg Abbott signed into a law Wednesday a measure that would prohibit in Texas abortions as early as six weeks — before some women know they are pregnant — and open the door for almost any private citizen to sue abortion providers and others.
The signing of the bill opens a new frontier in the battle over abortion restrictions as first-of-its-kind legal provisions — intended to make the law harder to block — are poised to be tested in the courts.
Abortion rights advocates have promised to challenge the new law, which they consider one of the most extreme nationwide and the strictest in Texas since the landmark Roe v. Wade decision. It would amount to an outright ban on abortions, as the six-week cutoff is two weeks after a missed menstrual cycle, opponents say.
The law takes effect in September.
“Our creator endowed us with the right to life and yet millions of children lose their right to life every year because of abortion,” Abbott said in a bill signing ceremony, captured on videos posted on social media. The Legislature “worked together on a bipartisan basis to pass a bill that I’m about to sign that ensures that the life of every unborn child who has a heartbeat will be saved from the ravages of abortion.”
The governor’s signature comes just after the U.S. Supreme Court said it would hear a case concerning a Mississippi law that would ban most abortions after 15 weeks, and which could lead to new limits on abortion rights. It is the first major abortion case heard before the court’s newly expanded conservative majority, and could have far-reaching effects for Texas, where a pending bill would outlaw nearly all abortions if the Supreme Court overruled Roe v. Wade.
Senate Bill 8 was a top priority for Republican lawmakers, nearly all of whom signed on as an author or sponsor of the measure.
The bill bans abortions after a fetal heartbeat has been detected. It includes cases where the woman was impregnated as a result of rape or incest. There is an exception for medical emergencies.
Similar “heartbeat” bills have been passed by other states and held up by the courts, but Texas’ version has a twist.
Instead of having the government enforce the law, the bill turns the reins over to private citizens — who are newly empowered to sue abortion providers or anyone who helps someone get an abortion after a fetal heartbeat has been detected. The person would not have to be connected to someone who had an abortion or to a provider to sue.
Proponents of the new law hope to get around the legal challenges that have tied up abortion restrictions in the courts. While abortion providers typically sue the state to stop a restrictive abortion law from taking effect, there’s no state official enforcing Senate Bill 8 — so there’s no one to sue, the bill’s proponents say.
“It’s a very unique law and it’s a very clever law,” said Josh Blackman, a constitutional law professor at South Texas College of Law Houston. “Planned Parenthood can’t go to court and sue Attorney General [Ken] Paxton like they usually would because he has no role in enforcing the statute. They have to basically sit and wait to be sued.”
Legal experts have been divided on the strategy, and abortion rights advocates have said they plan to fight regardless.
Elisabeth Smith, chief counsel for state policy and advocacy at the Center for Reproductive Rights, which has represented abortion providers who have sued Texas officials, said it and other abortion rights organizations are “not going to let this six-week ban go unchallenged.”
Drucilla Tigner, policy and advocacy strategist of the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas, said the “governor’s swipe of a pen can’t change the Constitution.”
While the law amounts to the most extreme abortion ban in the country, “abortion is both legal in Texas and supported by the majority of Texans,” Tigner said.
Abortion rights advocates and lawyers say the new law would allow for a cascade of lawsuits against abortion providers, that would sap their time and money even if they ultimately won in court.
Family members, abortion funds, rape crisis counselors and other medical professionals could be open to lawsuits, under the broad language in the bill, according to legal experts and physicians who opposed the measure. People who sued would be awarded at least $10,000, as well as costs for attorney’s fees, if they won.
“Every citizen is now a private attorney general,” Blackman said. “You can have random people who are against abortion start suing tomorrow.”
John Seago, with Texas Right to Life, an anti-abortion organization that supported the bill, said he doubted there would be an “overwhelming number of cases on day one.”
Lawsuits might be filed by anti-abortion activists who learned through talking to the woman that she got an abortion after six weeks.
“There’s going to be a lot of different [fact] patterns that could lead to the case,” he said. But the bill isn’t “throwing out the typical way that the judicial system works — there’s still going to be a judge, there’s still going to be depositions, there’s going to be a high bar” before fees are awarded.
The ultimate goal, he said, is to incentivize abortion providers to comply with the law instead of fighting it in court.
They can “easily avoid all of that,” Seago said. “Have a public statement. Put it on their website that they’re not scheduling appointments after six weeks.”
The bill does not allow rapists to sue but abortion rights advocates say the wording offers flimsy protection as most rapes and sexual assaults aren’t reported and don’t result in a conviction.
Most abortions in Texas were prohibited after about 20 weeks. Pill-induced abortions were barred at 10 weeks. An abortion provider must perform a sonogram on the woman 24 hours before the abortion and give them information about medical risks, abortion alternatives and assistance available to those who follow through with their pregnancy.
More than 56,600 abortions were performed on Texas residents in 2019, according to state statistics, most of them in the first trimester.
Proponents of the law celebrated its signing.
“The Legislature and Governor prioritized this historic legislation, and with his signature, approximately 50,000 precious human lives will be saved in Texas next year alone!” said Chelsey Youman, with Human Coalition Action, an anti-abortion organization.
Texas Right to Life called the bill’s signing a “landmark victory,” but said a more comprehensive measure was still waiting for a vote in the Legislature.
“Texas Right to Life reminds our elected officials of their solemn duty to protect the lives of their citizens, especially the most vulnerable and innocent Texans in the womb. The signing of the Texas Heartbeat Act marks a historic step in the battle to protect Life,” the organization said.
Opponents of the legislation condemned its passage.
Dyana Limon-Mercado, executive director of Planned Parenthood Texas Votes, the political arm of Planned Parenthood affiliates in Texas, said the six-week cutoff amounted to an effective ban on abortions in the state.
“When you factor in the time it takes to confirm a pregnancy, consider your options and make a decision, schedule an appointment and comply with all the restrictions politicians have already put in place for patients and providers, a six-week ban essentially bans abortion outright,” she said.
Amy Hagstrom Miller, head of Whole Woman’s Health, an abortion provider that has four clinics in Texas, said the law will have a “chilling effect.”
Protesters have previously falsely reported Whole Woman’s Health clinics to state health officials for allegedly having the wrong water heater permit, not following social distancing protocols during the pandemic, and other perceived regulatory infractions, she said.
The “false reports disrupt health care services and this culture of threats and accusations is designed to intimidate providers,” she said.
About 90% of women who come to Whole Woman’s Health clinics are more than six weeks into their pregnancy, she said.
Whole Woman’s Health has sued Texas over abortion restrictions, and won a 2016 case that went up to the Supreme Court.
The bill was opposed by more than 300 Texas lawyers who said it undermined longstanding rules and tenets of the legal system, including that a person must be injured to sue.
The law would also let someone file a lawsuit in their home county against an abortion clinic, and stop the case from being transferred to a different venue.
In practice, legal experts say it would be more costly and difficult for abortion providers to play legal defense before a judge hundreds of miles away, and it could let anti-abortion advocates be heard in courts that they think will be more sympathetic.
Seago, with Texas Right to Life, said it “will be interesting to see [how] the other kind of alternative avenues [handle] these debates.”
“We know how Judge [Lee] Yeakel and Judge [Sam] Sparks handle these cases,” he said, referring to two federal judges who reliably strike down Texas abortion restrictions.
Source Article from https://www.texastribune.org/2021/05/18/texas-heartbeat-bill-abortions-law/
House Democrats aim to pass the $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill on Wednesday so President Joe Biden can sign it by the weekend.
The chamber received the Senate-passed package on Tuesday, and will take procedural steps to set up final approval Wednesday morning, according to Majority Leader Steny Hoyer’s office. Biden aims to sign the legislation in time to beat a Sunday deadline to renew unemployment aid programs. It can take days for Congress to formally send huge bills to the White House.
The president previously said he expects direct payments of up to $1,400 to start hitting Americans’ bank accounts this month.
Democrats will likely pass the package without Republican votes, as the GOP questions the need for nearly $2 trillion more in federal spending. The bill was approved in the Senate without Republican support through the budget reconciliation process.
On Tuesday, House Democratic Caucus Chair Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., told reporters he is “110% confident that the votes exist to pass” the plan.
The legislation extends a $300 per week jobless benefit boost and programs expanding unemployment aid to millions more Americans through Sept. 6. It includes the stimulus payments, an expansion of the child tax credit, rental and utility assistance, and state, local and tribal government relief.
The bill also puts more money into Covid-19 vaccine distribution and testing, along with K-12 schools and higher education institutions.
House progressives had criticized changes the Senate made to a version of the plan representatives previously approved. However, Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., signaled the group would still back the proposal as passed by the Senate.
Senators reduced the unemployment supplement to $300 from $400 and limited the number of people receiving direct payments in concessions to conservative Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia.
Democrats have said the legislation will cut child poverty and help households afford food and rent while the economy recovers from the pandemic. While the U.S. continues to regain jobs lost during the crisis, more than 18 million people were still receiving some form of unemployment benefits in mid-February.
Republicans have questioned the need for more economic stimulus spending as the U.S. ramps up its vaccination pace and moves toward a level of normalcy. They have also contended Democrats have focused on policies unrelated to the pandemic.
Source Article from https://www.cnbc.com/2021/03/09/covid-stimulus-update-house-plans-to-pass-relief-bill-wednesday.html
Incredible GoPro footage takes you inside the gunfire-heavy raid that ended drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman’s six months on the run.
The video, obtained from Mexican authorities, looks as if it’s from an action movie. The camera follows the armed men as they storm the house, unleash grenades and bullets, and search room to room.
The Friday raid was called “Operation Black Swan,” according to the Mexican show “Primero Noticias.” Authorities decided to launch the raid Thursday after they got a tip about where Guzman was sleeping, the show reported.
Seventeen elite unit Mexican Marines launched their assault on the house in the city of Los Mochis at 4:40 a.m., “Primero Noticias” said.
They were met by about one dozen well-armed guards inside who were prepared for a fight, the show said.
The Marines moved from room to room, clearing the house. Upstairs they found two men in one room and found two women on the floor of a bathroom. All were captured, “Primero Noticias” said.
After 15 minutes, the Marines controlled the entire house, according to “Primero Noticias.”
In the end, five guards were killed and two men and two women were detained. One of the women was the same cook Guzman had with him when he was detained a couple years ago, according to “Primero Noticias.”
Eventually the marines determined that the only bedroom on the first floor was Guzman’s and they began pounding on the walls and moving furniture, finding hidden doors, the show said.
His room had a king-sized bed, bags from fashionable clothing stores, bread and cookie wrappers, and medicine including injectable testosterone, syringes, antibiotics and cough syrups, the show said. The two-story house had four bedrooms and five bathrooms. There were flat-screen TVs and Internet connection throughout the house, according to “Primero Noticias.”
The Marines eventually found a hidden passageway behind a mirror, with a handle hidden in the light fixture. The handle opened a secret door, leading down into the escape tunnel, the show explained.
The escape tunnel was fully lit and led to an access door for the city sewage system, “Primero Noticias” said, adding that Guzman had at least a 20-minute head start on the Marines.
The address where Guzman was captured had been monitored for a month, Mexican Attorney General Arely Gomez has said. According to Gomez, Guzman and his lieutenant escaped through that drainage system.
“Primero Noticias” said it obtained surveillance footage showing Guzman and his lieutenant emerging from the manhole cover, where they then stole two cars to flee, the show said.
Guzman was finally caught when he and the lieutenant were stopped on a highway by Mexican Federal Police, the show said.
Authorities took them to a motel to wait for reinforcement. The men were then taken to Los Mochis airport and transfered to Mexico City.
Guzman is now back in prison as his lawyers fight his extradition to the U.S.
The drug kingpin escaped from the Altiplano prison near Mexico City on July 11, launching an active manhunt. When guards realized that he was missing from his cell, they found a ventilated tunnel and exit had been constructed in the bathtub inside Guzman’s cell. The tunnel extended for about a mile underground and featured an adapted motorcycle on rails that officials believe was used to transport the tools used to create the tunnel, Monte Alejandro Rubido, the head of the Mexican national security commission, said in July.
Guzman had been sent there after he was arrested in February 2014. He spent more than 10 years on the run after escaping from a different prison in 2001. It’s unclear exactly how he had escaped, but he did receive help from prison guards who were prosecuted and convicted.
Guzman, the leader of the Sinaloa cartel, was once described by the U.S. Treasury as “the most powerful drug trafficker in the world.” The Sinaloa cartel allegedly uses elaborate tunnels for drug trafficking and has been estimated to be responsible for 25 percent of all illegal drugs that enter the U.S. through Mexico.
Source Article from http://abcnews.go.com/International/inside-dramatic-raid-el-chapo/story?id=36216172
Centrist Democrats, of course, think just the opposite. Mr. Biden, the former vice president, even after facing intense media scrutiny and racking up a number of self-inflicted errors, still fares slightly better in head-to-head polling against Mr. Trump than either of the two progressive front-runners.
Yet it was the combined strength of Ms. Warren and Mr. Sanders, along with Mr. Biden’s fund-raising and debate difficulties, that frightened moderates enough to lure former Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg of New York and former Gov. Deval Patrick of Massachusetts into the race. Now, though, it’s the left wing of the party that’s growing anxious about how to avoid its own debacle.
A handful of leaders from progressive labor unions have had initial conversations about if, when and how to collectively endorse a candidate and are planning to meet after the holidays, according to a Democrat familiar with the discussions.
Larry Cohen, the former president of the Communications Workers of America, is already thinking well ahead of that. Mr. Cohen supports Mr. Sanders but that prefers Ms. Warren stay in the race throughout the primary election to deny a moderate from accumulating a delegate majority. If Mr. Sanders doesn’t win outright, he said, the two progressives should demonstrate their combined strength, and amass over half the pledged delegates, so that the left has an upper hand going into next summer’s Democratic convention.
Mr. Cohen has been more aggressively making his case to other progressives about how both candidates should stockpile delegates, including over dinner last week with other Sanders supporters.
But in the near term, he and other left-wing organizers are mostly trying to keep the primary-within-a-primary between Mr. Sanders and Ms. Warren from growing contentious.
On a conference call last month organized by Our Revolution, the Sanders-aligned progressive group, Ms. Jayapal and Mr. Cohen both urged activists to exert pressure on House Democrats to support “Medicare for all” while highlighting the common ground of the two presidential hopefuls.
Source Article from https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/16/us/politics/elizabeth-warren-bernie-sanders-democrats-2020.html
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Source Article from https://www.cnn.com/2019/12/31/politics/john-roberts-judiciary-democracy/index.html
CLEVELAND, Ohio — Cleveland Clinic employees who are unvaccinated for COVID-19 and who do not have an approved exemption will not be allowed to stay on the job after Feb. 28.
The Clinic is enacting a COVID-19 employee vaccine mandate in order to comply with a federal mandate recently upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court. It is one of the last major hospital systems in Northern Ohio to put a policy in place requiring workers to be vaccinated.
Source Article from https://www.cleveland.com/coronavirus/2022/01/cleveland-clinic-issues-covid-19-vaccine-mandate-for-employees-to-comply-with-federal-guidelines.html
With airports jammed with angry passengers, Republican senators blaming each other behind closed doors for the government shutdown, and President Trump’s poll numbers tanking, the writing was on the wall. Feeling pressure from his fellow Republicans to reopen the government, Trump announced Friday afternoon that a deal was reached for federal employees to come back to work as negotiations on border security are given a little more time.
A week ago, the White House was firm on its demand: Parts of the government will remain shuttered until Democratic lawmakers write a $5.7 billion check for a border wall. Trump’s capitulation (and make no mistake, it was a capitulation) is a complete reversal of the White House position and a blowout win for Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., in her first month back on the job.
Trump, however, remained defiant. At the same time he asked lawmakers to work in unison for the benefit of the nation, he threatened to use the nuclear option if Congress can’t come up with a solution. “I have a very powerful alternative, but I did not want to use it at this time,” Trump said in the White House Rose Garden. “Hopefully, it will be unnecessary.”
That “very powerful alternative” Trump is referring to is a declaration of national emergency, a proclamation that would provide him with a way to get his border wall money without having to go through the normal legislative process. Ordinarily, the executive branch is constitutionally barred from spending any taxpayer money on any program unless Congress explicitly authorizes and appropriates the funds. Outside of declaring war or authorizing the use of military force, the ability to appropriate funds, or not, is the legislative branch’s most coveted power.
Lawmakers from both political parties protect the power of the purse with every fiber of their being because it’s one of the few tactics Congress can employ to pressure the president. Trump’s declaring of a national emergency would rip that power away. If lawyers in the executive branch can argue that there is indeed a dire national emergency along the southwestern border with Mexico, billions of dollars in the military construction budget will be made available for the border structure Trump so desperately wants. Trump could task the Army Corps of Engineers to start building right away.
Democrats, who are as strongly opposed to a border wall as Trump is enamored by it, would not be powerless bystanders if the president tried to do an end-run around Congress. They could technically prohibit any money from being used for construction of a border barrier through legislation, although GOP opposition would likely kill it. They could file a lawsuit against Trump, arguing that his emergency declaration is not, in fact, an emergency, but rather an instigation of an artificial crisis in order to justify an unjustifiable project.
A lawsuit would work itself through the court system and wind up in the Supreme Court, where the case could prove to be one of the most important trials of executive power since the fight over military commissions in the George W. Bush era. The border wall could become a proxy war between the executive and legislative branches, a classic battle over constitutional power that the judiciary would have to arbitrate. If Trump loses that fight, the precedent it would set would impact the flexibility of presidents in the future to tap into their emergency powers.
Trump may decide that a national emergency is too big of a step. The House Freedom Caucus, Trump’s most reliable support base on Capitol Hill, has already questioned whether an emergency proclamation is a smart idea. Lawmakers such as Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows are concerned that a declaration now could provide a future Democratic president with the power to do something similar on progressive priorities like climate change. The White House may gamble on another government shutdown, perhaps believing that the public would blame Democrats for being too obstructionist this time around.
Either way, the three-week government reopening shouldn’t be celebrated as a major breakthrough. The end of the longest shutdown in history may turn out to be the intermission to the meatier second act.
Daniel DePetris (@DanDePetris) is a contributor to the Washington Examiner’s Beltway Confidential blog. His opinions are his own.
Source Article from https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/trumps-border-wall-drama-isnt-over-this-is-just-intermission
El video en que se ve la batalla campal en la Plaza Juniana, así como el accidente entre un tren y una rastra en San Pedro Sula, destacan en el resumen de noticias de este domindo.
En este resumen de noticias de este domingo, te presentamos las que mayor impacto tuvieron en Honduras y el planeta entero:
Vuelan las sillas en Plaza Juniana el día del carnaval
Un video en el que se ve a las personas enojadas tirando todo lo que se les pone por enfrente, se ha vuelto viral en las redes sociales.
En las imágenes, se ve como los asistentes a la Plaza Juniana lanzan mesas, sillas, botellas y todo lo que se les cruz por el camino.
Hay pocos detalles del por qué de los actos violentos, lo que sí es un hecho es que el video se ha regado como pólvora en las Redes Sociales.
Insólito: Tren choca con rastra en San Pedro Sula
Un insólito accidente se dio este domingo en San Pedro Sula, cuando el tren que todos los años se pone en función de durante la Feria Juniana chocó con una rastra a la altura de la 33 calle.
El hecho, que se dio a las 11:00 am, por fortuna no pasó a más y se quedó solo en daños materiales. Al momento del accidente en el tren iban unas 120 personas.
El operador del ferrocarril dijo que desde varios metros antes iba pitando para alertar a los vehículos pero la rastra no le dio la preferencia. El conductor de las manifestó que él no escuchó el gran automotor.
El miércoles regresan las clases en la UNAH
El próximo miércoles se reanudarán las clases en la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Honduras (Unah) después de que se efectuara un desalojo a estudiantes que mantuvieron una toma por 26 días, anunció este domingo la rectora de ese centro de estudios Julieta Castellanos.
Las autoridades, tras reunirse ayer en Tegucigalpa para recalendarizar el periodo, determinaron que las clases continuarán su marcha este 6 de julio en Ciudad Universitaria.
Castellanos afirmó que actualmente se analiza rescatar el tercer periodo para las carreras que se han visto afectadas por más de 25 días de paro.
Al menos 119 personas murieron y más de 176 resultaron heridas el domingo en un atentado suicida en Bagdad reivindicado por el grupo yihadista Estado Islámico (EI), el peor ataque en la capital iraquí en lo que va de año.
El ataque tuvo lugar en una calle comercial del barrio de Karrada de la capital iraquí, donde muchas personas suelen hacer sus compras antes de la fiesta del final del ramadán.
El primer ministro Haider Al Abadi fue esta mañana al lugar del atentado y prometió “castigar” a los responsables del ataque.
Susto en Central Park por explosión
Al menos una persona ha resultado herida en una explosión registrada en el centro de la ciudad de Nueva York, EE.UU.
La información preliminar de la Policía señala que la explosión se debió a un accidente con fuegos artificiales. El hombre aparentemente sufrió heridas en una pierna.
De hecho un testigo contó al canal CBS New York que un hombre estaba trepando una estructura de piedra y pisó algo que explotó. No se conoce la condición exacta de la víctima.
Padre recupera a su hija y luego la mata a golpes
¿Cómo es posible? Es la pregunta que muchos se hacen en Reino Unido tras conocerse la trágica historia de Ellie Butler, que ha conmocionado al país.
Una jueza ordenó en 2012 que la niña de 6 años fuera regresada a sus progenitores. Menos de un año después, el padre de la menor, Ben Butler, fue condenado a un mínimo de 23 años de prisión por matarla a golpes. La corta vida de Ellie estuvo plagada de batallas legales.
Source Article from http://www.diez.hn/notodoesfutbol/976441-99/resumen-de-noticias-vuelan-sillas-mesas-y-botellas-en-zafarrancho-en-la
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, addressing the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday, emphasized the apparent massacre of civilians by Russian forces in and around Kyiv and other major cities in pleading for war crime charges against Russian leaders.
Zelenskyy reaffirmed that Ukrainian forces who retook cities found mass graves, revelations of atrocities and infrastructure destroyed by Russian forces.
“They killed entire families, adults and children, and they tried to burn their bodies,” Zelenskyy said of the Russian invaders, adding that
Zelenskyy urged the Security Council to provide security guarantees to Ukraine.
“What is the purpose of our organization? Its purpose is to maintain peace,” Zelenskyy said. “And now the UN Charter has been violated, starting with Article 1. What is the point of all the other articles?”
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► Zelenskyy said it was imperative that the Security Council take action against Russia to show other potential war criminals “how they will be punished if the biggest one is punished.”
► He called for members of the Russian military who savagely attacked civilians – and those who issued the orders – to face trial for war crimes.
► The Russian military killed “anyone who served our country,’ Zelenskyy said. He said women were shot outside their homes as they searched for friends and loves ones. “They cut off limbs, slashed their throats, women raped and killed in front of their children,” he said.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also addressed the Security Council before Zelenskyy, saying that the world is “dealing with a full-fledged invasion” in violation of the United Nation Charter. The result: More than 10 million have fled their homes and more than 4 million of them had fled the country.
The war’s victims, Guterres said, also include more than 1.2 billion citizens of developing nations struggling with rising prices and other economic issues aggravated by the war.
“It is more urgent by the day to silence the guns,” Guterres said.
The European Union is considering a ban on all coal imports from Russia in what would be the first sanctions targeting Moscow’s lucrative energy income for its war in Ukraine.
“Today we are proposing a 5th package of sanctions. To take a clear stand is crucial for the whole world,” The E.U. Commission said in a Twitter post. “A clear stand against Putin’s war of choice. Against the massacre of civilians.”
Europe is determined to increase sanctions against Russia amid emerging evidence of mass slayings of Ukrainian civilians by invading Russian forces, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said Tuesday. Le Maire said there is a “total determination” from all 27 European Union countries for more severe sanctions targeting oil and coal.
Europe’s dependence on Russian oil, natural gas and coal had left energy sanctions off the table amid fears the entire continent could plunge into recession.
A group of Harvard University students have created a website to help Ukrainian refugees find housing around the world.
Ukrainetakeshelter.com, created by Avi Schiffmann and Marco Burstein, encourages everyone with space in their homes to post a listing. Refugees and hosts must provide identity verification either through government issued ID card or passport. Over 18,000 prospective hosts have signed up on the site. On a recent day, Burstein and Schiffman logged 800,000 users.
Burstein said he, Schiffman and Irish software engineer Daniel Conlon have been “blown away” by the response.
“We’ve heard all sorts of amazing stories of hosts and refugees getting connected all over the world,” Burstein said. “We have hosts in almost any country you can imagine from Hungary and Romania and Poland to Canada to Australia.”
The credible reports of torture, rape and civilian executions in Ukraine are probably not the acts of rogue soldiers, State Department spokesman Ned Price said Monday.
‘“They are part of a broader, troubling campaign,” he said at a State Department briefing.
Price said the world has been shocked by “the horrifying images of the Kremlin’s brutality” in Bucha and other cities near Kyiv. Civilians, many with their hands tied, were apparently executed in the streets.
Others were dumped in mass graves. As they’ve retreated, Russians have also left behind land mines and booby traps to injure more Ukrainians and slow recovery, Price said.
The apparent atrocities will be one of the topics of discussion when Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets with his NATO counterparts in Belgium this week.
Allies are already discussing additional sanctions and ways to help Ukraine document war crimes for a criminal prosecution, Price said. The U.S. has contributed both money and manpower to help Ukraine’s prosecutor general compile a case.
— Maureen Groppe
Atrocities near Kyiv fuel global outrage. Will it be a tipping point in the war?
Germany’s president is admitting mistakes in policy toward Russia in his previous job as foreign minister. President Frank-Walter Steinmeier served twice foreign minister, most recently from 2013 to 2017, and pursued dialogue with Russian President Vladimir Putin to cultivate energy ties. Russia provides Germany with about one-third of it oil and gas and more than half its coal.
Ukraine and Polish officials have criticized Steinmeier for being too close to Russia. Ukraine’s ambassador to Berlin boycotted a peace concert with Russian artists organized by Steinmeier. Steinmeier told ZDF television Tuesday that “we failed on many points,” including efforts to encourage Russia toward democracy and respecting human rights.
Contributing: The Associated Press
Source Article from https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2022/04/05/ukraine-russia-invasion-putin-updates/9465033002/
Coronavirus cases in California have surpassed 7,000, including nearly 150 deaths, as of Tuesday, according to the latest figures from Johns Hopkins University.
The virus, which was first reported in Wuhan, a city in China’s Hubei province, has spread to more than 803,300 people across 178 countries and regions, with over 82,200 cases reported in China, while the U.S. has the most cases in the world, with more than 164,700 infections, as of Tuesday.
More than 172,600 people have recovered from infection, including nearly 90 percent of China’s patients and nearly 6,000 in the U.S., while over 39,000 people have died. Beijing says the outbreak has been largely contained in China, with more cases reported outside the country than within.
New York has been the worst-hit state in the country, with more than 66,400 cases to date, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo confirms. Thousands of infections have also been reported in a string of other states including California.
California has reported 7,426 confirmed cases and 149 deaths across 47 of its 58 counties, The Los Angeles Times reported on Monday evening.
The state has been under a “stay at home” order from earlier this month, which was issued by California Governor Gavin Newsom.
The order, which went into effect on March 19, is “in place until further notice,” and requires residents to remain at home, while all non-essential businesses, including restaurants, bars, entertainment venues and other places of public gathering, remain closed.
“The California Department of Public Health looks to establish consistency across the state in order to ensure that we mitigate the impact of COVID-19. Our goal is simple, we want to bend the curve, and disrupt the spread of the virus,” the order explains.
Earlier this month, Newsom noted that if no mitigation efforts are taken, over 25 million people (around 56 percent of the state) could be infected in the next few weeks.
The graphic below, provided by Statista, illustrates the spread of COVID-19 across the U.S.
Data on COVID-19 cases is from Johns Hopkins University unless otherwise stated.
Hygiene advice
Medical advice
Mask and glove usage
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Source Article from https://www.newsweek.com/coronavirus-update-california-latest-cases-deaths-1495263
São Paulo – After a three-year period closed for its first full renovation, the Immigration Museum (Museu da Imigração, in Portuguese) will open its doors for the public again on May 31st. Restored and adapted to receive the public, the museum will now hold a permanent exhibition on the 2.5 million immigrants and migrants who have passed through it, besides documents, temporary exhibits and a space for research.
The repairs in the Immigration museum cost around US$ 9 million and were intended to adapt the building to host the museum’s public and collections. Built in 1887 to function as an inn, the building will have air conditioning, flood gates and adaptations for people with special needs. The building was repaired and even the institution’s name has changed from Immigrant’s Memorial to Immigration Museum.
According to the executive director, historian Marília Bonas, the museum which will be reopened to the public will not only touch on early 19th century immigration, but on current immigration as well. “The curatorship has striven to expand the immigrants’ speech. We want to discuss the multiple voices of those who have passed through here to share the immigrants’ experience”, Bonas told ANBA. She also said that the institution will dialog with the immigrant communities and will have a “strong aspect of partnership” with society.
The new permanent exhibition will recall the old facilities of the Immigrants’ Inn. It will have eight modules which promise to have visitors immerse themselves in the Inn’s daily life. In one of the modules, the visitor will be “taken” to the cafeteria and hear the immigrants speak in several languages. From there, they will move on to the dorms, where they will be shown the expectations and dreams of the immigrants before they actually lived in Brazil. They will also watch videos with testimonies from former guests. Other modules will show immigration nowadays.
The Immigration Museum will have an auditorium, a cafe and a space for research on the topic. Visitors who want to use the library and the reference and research center will be accompanied by a museum employee. School groups will have a space to do activities and workshops connected to the theme of immigration.
History
The Immigrants’ Inn was opened to receive immigrants who came to Brazil to work. The first guests were Europeans who left their countries invited by the government of São Paulo after slavery was abolished. They came to replace slaves in the coffee crops. These employees came to Brazil by ship, with the tickets paid by the government of São Paulo. They disembarked in the port in Santos, went up the mountain by train and were hosted at the inn before being sent to work in the countryside.
As the years passed by, the inn received immigrants of over 70 nationalities, among them Syrians and Lebanese. Brazilian people who came to São Paulo were also hosted there in the 1930s. “In the case of Arabs, they came from many places and focused on urban centers and commerce. Portraying Arab culture is a challenge because it is composed of many cultures and we are interested in bringing that to the public”, says the executive director.
After the closing of the Immigration Museum, its management has also changed. The institution belongs to the State Secretariat for Culture, but is run by the Social Cultural Organization for Friends of the Coffee Museum (Organização Social de Cultura Associação dos Amigos do Museu do Café, in Portuguese), which also runs the namesake museum in Santos, on São Paulo’s shore. The managers expect the Immigration Museum to have 500,000 visitors by the end of the year.
For the opening day, immigrant community theatre presentations and dance shows are scheduled, besides a concert by songwriter and singer Arnaldo Antunes. In June and July, the entrance is free. Besides the permanent exhibition, the Immigration Museum will host temporary exhibits.
Service
Immigration Museum
Rua Visconde de Parnaíba, 1.316, Mooca, São Paulo, SP
Reopening scheduled for May 31st
Visiting hours: from Tuesday to Saturday, from 9am to 5pm. On Sundays, from 10am to 5pm. Fortnightly, on Fridays, the institution will be open until 9pm.
For further information: www.museudaimigracao.org.br (in Portuguese)
*Translated by Rodrigo Mendonça
Source Article from http://www2.anba.com.br/noticia/21863445/tourism/repairs-at-immigrants-house/
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La ministra de Industria, Energía y Minería, Carolina Cosse comparecerá mañana ante la comisión de Industrias de la Cámara de Diputados, convocada por el representante nacionalista, Pablo Abdala. El diputado dijo a El País que “se le va a pedir que asuma la gravedad de la situación. No puede venir a decir que Ancap va a iniciar un proceso de reestructura. Y se le va a reclamar que anuncie medidas concretas, que no venga con las manos vacías, qué piensa hacer el Poder Ejecutivo”, afirmó Abdala. “Ancap por sí misma no va a superar. Debe ser rescatada por el gobierno central”, añadió. En el PN se ha coordinado esta primera instancia parlamentaria después de conocer el balance, y luego se resolverán los pasos a seguir. Una posibilidad es proponer la conformación de una comisión investigadora que promueve Luis Lacalle Pou.
Source Article from http://www.elpais.com.uy/economia/noticias/claves-balance-ancap-generan-polemica.html
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Las autoridades en Barcelona confirmaron que abatieron en Subirats a Younes Abouyaaqoub, de 22 años, a quien habían identificado como el conductor de la camioneta que atropelló a paseantes en la Rambla el jueves pasado. Era el único prófugo de los doce integrantes de una célula responsable de planear el ataque en Barcelona, así como un atropello posterior en Cambrils. Las autoridades señalaron que con su muerte hay cuatro personas detenidas y ocho presuntos terroristas abatidos con relación a los atentados de la semana pasada.
El anuncio de la muerte de Abouyaaqoub fue hecho por los Mossos d’Esquadra esta tarde (hora local) después de que informaron que habían abatido a un individuo que traía lo que parecía ser un cinturón con explosivos durante un operativo en Subirats, a unos 40 kilómetros de Barcelona. El operativo comenzó tras recibir aviso de que había una persona sospechosa en la zona.
Hasta el momento han muerto quince personas por los atentados en Barcelona y Cambrils; la decimoquinta fue un joven asesinado después de que se robaran su auto, siniestro que aparentemente fue perpetrado por el mismo Abouyaaqoub en su intento por escapar de la Rambla. Conoce a algunas de las víctimas aquí.
Se cree que en otro incidente previo, una explosión en una residencia de Alcanar, falleció el aparente líder de la célula, Abdelbaki Essati, un imam vinculado al Estado Islámico que habría radicalizado a los jóvenes en la ciudad de Ripoll. España había librado la violencia del Estado Islámico que afectaba a otras naciones europeas, ¿cómo fue que alcanzó al país?
El vicepresidente de Ecuador, Jorge Glas, debería ser vinculado a proceso por asociación ilícita, de acuerdo con una solicitud recién enviada por la fiscalía a la Corte Nacional de Justicia.
Glas, a quien el presidente Lenín Moreno le había retirado sus funciones a principios de agosto por los señalamientos de corrupción, se desempeñó como secretario de Sectores Estratégicos durante el mandato de Rafael Correa, que terminó a finales de mayo. En ese cargo supervisaba sectores como el petrolero; se sospecha que recibió sobornos para favorecer a la empresa Odebrecht en contratos en ese ámbito.
[COMUNICADO OFICIAL] del fiscal #CarlosBacaM sobre pedido a @CorteNacional para audiencia de vinculación a Vicepresidente, Jorge Glas pic.twitter.com/E4qAoggOzd
— FiscaliaEcuador (@FiscaliaEcuador) August 21, 2017
El vicepresidente asegura que no hay evidencias en su contra. Ya que aún cuenta con fuero, para avanzar en la investigación a Glas es necesaria la autorización de la corte y de la Asamblea Nacional.
Hoy se vio un eclipse total de Sol en buena parte de Estados Unidos y de manera parcial en el resto de Norteamérica y partes de Centroamérica. Los eclipses de este tipo han servido en el pasado para hacer hallazgos científicos importantes, entre ellos una comprobación de la teoría de la relatividad de Einstein. Los científicos quieren aprovecharlo y estudiar el Sol desde un avión y con ayuda inédita de miles de personas que subirían información a la red.
• Las chilenas ya no serán penalizadas si deciden interrumpir un embarazo en casos de violación, inviabilidad fetal y peligro de vida a la madre. Después de una semana de debate en el Tribunal Constitucional, y más de dos años de discusión, entrará en vigor una ley que despenaliza el aborto por esas tres causas. Seis magistrados opinaron que la medida no contraviene la Constitución, mientras que cuatro estuvieron en contra. Entre las mujeres que celebran la decisión está Karen Espíndola, quien intentó abortar en 2008 después de que le dijeran que su bebé no iba a sobrevivir, si es que nacía vivo. Conoce más de su historia en nuestro reportaje.
• En Chile, hoy también inicia de manera oficial el periodo de campaña de cara a las elecciones presidenciales de noviembre. Cuando Michelle Bachelet deje el cargo, ya no habrá ninguna mujer a cargo de la presidencia de algún país en América Latina.
• En México, cada quince horas hay una agresión en contra de un periodista, de acuerdo con un reporte de Artículo 19, organización que defiende la libertad de prensa y expresión. Entre las agresiones están el asesinato de seis reporteros mexicanos en lo que va del año, lo que vuelve a México uno de los países más mortíferos para ejercer la profesión.
• En Perú, donde los casos de corrupción entre políticos de alto rango ya resultaron en prisión preventiva para el expresidente Ollanta Humala y en investigaciones contra el también exmandatario Alejandro Toledo, la corrupción acaba de convertirse en un delito imprescriptible. El actual líder peruano Pedro Pablo Kuczynski acaba de promulgar una ley que cambia la Constitución para que los funcionarios, servidores públicos o particulares que cometan delitos de este tipo sean investigados hasta que se aclaren responsabilidades.
Uno de los integrantes del paisaje londinense tocó hoy su última campanada al mediodía, tiempo local. Al menos, será la última para los próximos cuatro años, durante los cuales habrá trabajos de renovación en la torre y el reloj.
La campana de este último está algo resquebrajada, pero el principal problema son las fachadas y el interior de la torre, donde hay filtraciones de agua, pintura caída y oxidación.
Después de que el viernes la Asamblea Nacional Constituyente (ANC) de Venezuela anunciara por decreto que adoptaría las funciones legislativas generales, un aparente intento por desarmar al único órgano de gobierno opositor en el país, los integrantes de la Asamblea Nacional legislativa anunciaron la instalación de una comisión para “investigar y denunciar ante instancias nacionales e internacionales la usurpación de sus funciones”.
La adopción de las funciones legislativas de la ANC fue condenado por los gobiernos de la región que integran el llamado Grupo de Lima —Argentina, Canadá, Chile, Brasil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, México, Panamá, Paraguay y Perú— y hoy el Parlasur hizo lo mismo durante una sesión especial.
Por otra parte, la exfiscala Luisa Ortega anunció el fin de semana que había huido hacia Colombia después de ser destituida del cargo y de que el Tribunal Supremo de Justicia ordenara el arresto de su esposo, el diputado chavista Germán Ferrer, acusado de presunta extorsión. Tanto Ortega como Ferrer se han vuelto fuertes críticos del gobierno de Nicolás Maduro.
Hoy comenzaron los ejercicios militares anuales en Corea del Sur, realizados en conjunto con Estados Unidos, en momentos en que Corea del Norte ha reforzado su propaganda con nuevos pósters que muestran al continente americano en la mira de sus misiles y ha amagado con atacar Guam, por lo que se teme que pueda realizar pruebas armamentistas.
La Casa Blanca, por su parte, parece estar alistando documentos para justificar una posible “guerra preventiva” en contra de Pyonyang.
“El Ejército Popular de Corea está en su máxima alerta y tomará pasos certeros en cuanto perciba una señal mínima de que hay una guerra preventiva”, señaló el domingo la agencia noticiosa oficial de Corea del Norte.
• Para aprender un idioma o mejorar tu capacidad mental, podría ser muy beneficioso ejercitarte físicamente.
• Los biólogos aún no tienen una respuesta definitiva a la pregunta de cuántas células hay en el cuerpo humano, pero un nuevo método de categorizar y estudiar a las ya identificadas podría allanar el camino para un censo completo.
Source Article from https://www.nytimes.com/es/2017/08/21/al-dia-eclipse-barcelona-constituyente-marsella-trump-chile-big-ben/
Carrasco ha sido uno de los barrios de Montevideo que se caracterizó históricamente por el alto poder adquisitivo de sus habitantes, sus inmensas casas, y por sobre todo, por la seguridad que predominaba en las mismas. Alarmas, rejas, alambres de púa y cámaras de vigilancia las 24 horas del día. Hoy, nada de eso es obstáculo para los delincuentes uruguayos.
El silencio predominante del barrio montevideano parece acentuarse cada vez más, pero no precisamente porque sea un lugar tranquilo, sino porque sus habitantes prefieren mudarse a otros lugares más alejados, cansados de que los roben una y otra vez. Prueba de ello, es el negocio inmobiliario que observa una caída de ventas en las casas de la zona.
Durante una recorrida que llevó a cabo El País por Carrasco, absolutamente todos los vecinos que fueron entrevistados aseguraron que en algún momento fueron robados en sus domicilios.
Según concluyeron varios de ellos, los ladrones que entran a sus casas “se han profesionalizado”. Las modalidades son de las más variadas, inverosímiles, y hasta burlescas.
“Parece mentira, pero le acaban de entrar a robar a mi padre !Ya no se puede más, alguien tiene que hacer algo!”, expresó notoriamente indignado uno de los entrevistados para este artículo.
Apenas unas horas después de haber estado contando cómo en reiteradas ocasiones le habían robado, el entrevistado tuvo que vivir, una vez más, un trago amargo por la inseguridad en su barrio.
En esta ocasión, “parecía de película”, según dijo. “Eran tres, se cruzaron con mi padre en la puerta de la casa cuando iba saliendo con el auto, en las filmaciones se ve como uno de ellos se queda en su auto color negro, cuatro puertas, parecido a un Wolkswagen Gol, los otros dos como si nada saltan las rejas y entran”, relató el hombre.
En el registro de las cámaras de seguridad, se puede observar cómo los delincuentes después de haber saltado las rejas, se arrastran por el patio de la casa, como si fueran soldados en la guerra, evitando de ese modo que las alarmas de la casa se activen. Luego saltan otro enrejado y finalmente, tras romper la puerta trasera de la propiedad, desactivan las alarmas.
Se mueven como peces en el agua, corren muebles, escritorios y bibliotecas, tocan las paredes. Buscan la caja fuerte, pero en este caso no tuvieron suerte porque simplemente no existía una.
De igual modo, “te desvalijan la casa, tiran ropa por todos lados, se llevan joyas y lo que esté a su alcance, generalmente cosas chicas que puedan trasladar hasta el auto que los está esperando”, advirtió el entrevistado un día antes de que le robaran a su padre.
Algo parecido le pasó a una vecina que vive por la calle Carlos Bluter: “Me robaron 21 bicicletas en 4 años, andá haciendo cuentas… Había veces que me compraba una, no pasaba una semana y ya no la tenía más”.
La mujer, de procedencia española informó que antes vivía en Punta del Este y que allí algo parecido estaba comenzando a suceder “hace unos años”.
“Todo lo que esté en el patio ya sabes que te lo van a robar, no importa si tenés rejas, muro o seguridad privada, eso te lleva a pensar que algo no está bien, la Policía jamás atrapó a un solo ladrón por los robos que denuncié, me cansé de ir a la comisaría ¿Sabes qué hago ahora? Dejo que me roben. Es lamentable, pero es así”, contó resignada la mujer.
A su hijo le robaron un camión que había sido comprado “cero kilómetro hace dos meses”. “Era su herramienta laboral y también marchó de la puerta de la casa; él vive por la calle Cooper”, detalló la vecina mientras se disponía a hacer las compras para la cena.
Parte de la “profesionalización” de los delincuentes, tal como la califican los vecinos, es buscar maneras ingeniosas de sortear las medidas de seguridad de las viviendas.
“Algo que vi una vez y de lo que no estaba al tanto es lo de los chicles en la cerradura de la puerta”, comenzó explicando Marcos a El País.
“Una vez llegué con mis padres y encontramos un chicle pegado en la puerta. Es una señal que ellos tienen para saber si hay gente o no, porque vos tenés que sacar el chicle de la cerradura si querés entrar a tu casa. Entonces los ladrones, cuando pasan y ven que no hay nada en la cerradura, se dan cuenta que hay gente. Las tienen todas”, dijo el muchacho entre risas.
Isabel, que vive en la calle Havre, aseguró que hace menos de un mes encontró en la entrada de su casa una caña cruzada en la puerta. “La saqué, así que por suerte no me vinieron a robar, sabían que había gente en casa”, señaló.
Pilar lo cuenta como un antes y un después en Carrasco. Haber descubierto que los ladrones de casas usan mapas y que en los mismos hay datos de sus vidas cotidianas “fue increíble”.
La joven, que vive por la calle Mario Botto, contó que “todos se sorprendieron porque indudablemente somos vigilados, saben nuestros horarios de entrada y salida, saben qué hacemos a cada hora”, comentó a El País.
Cuando su vecina fue robada tiempo atrás, encontró que los ladrones habían dejado olvidado en el domicilio un mapa que tenía marcas por todos lados. “Habían cruces en algunas casas, después nos dimos cuenta que esas eran las que tenían gente siempre y que estaban descartadas para robar, en otras casas estaban marcados los horarios en los que no había nadie,” dijo la muchacha.
Pilar informó que los delincuentes “hacen guardia” arriba de los árboles que están frente a su casa: “Desde ahí miran todo; nos dimos cuenta que se trepaban a los árboles porque generalmente dejaban las bicicletas en el piso, ahora buscarán otros modos ingeniosos”.
Los vecinos de Carrasco denuncian que “hay poca presencia policial en el barrio” y que “de vez en cuando ves a algún patrullero por la calle Cooper a eso de las 20:00 horas”. Mathías, que justamente vive por la calle Cooper, indicó que “no tiene nada que ver el tema de los policías, porque en mi casa hay guardia privada y nos robaron igual”. En su caso, “entraron cuando estaba durmiendo, con el peligro de la situación porque tengo gurises chicos, ¿Te imaginás que me despierte y los encuentre?, puede pasar cualquier cosa”, enfatizó el hombre.
Gabriela, que vive a dos cuadras de la Avenida Rivera y Arocena, dice que “la poca presencia policial es notoria, yo entiendo que hay barrios más complicados y lugares más complejos que éstos, pero se supone que nosotros también tenemos derecho a vivir tranquilos, a salir de la casa y no estar con el corazón en la boca”.
Claudio, quiso aprovechar la instancia para dirigirse al ministro del Interior, Eduardo Bonomi: “Nosotros también somos uruguayos y queremos vivir en paz, estoy al día con mis impuestos, cuídenos”.
Source Article from http://www.elpais.com.uy/informacion/delincuentes-profesionales-jaque-carrasco.html
Fox News Flash top headlines are here. Check out what’s clicking on Foxnews.com.
Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., warned fellow Republicans on Tuesday that American democracy faces a threat it has “never seen before” in a defiant floor speech on the eve of a vote that is expected to result in her removal from the role of House Republican Conference Chair.
Cheney, who lost support from fellow GOP leaders in recent weeks amid a public feud with former President Donald Trump, said her stand was driven by a “reverence for the rule of law.” In a scathing six-minute speech, the Wyoming Republican said Trump “risks inciting further violence” and had “misled” millions of Americans with disproven claims that the results of the 2020 presidential election were fraudulent.
“This is not about policy. This is not about partisanship. This is about our duty as Americans,” Cheney said. “Remaining silent and ignoring the lie emboldens the liar. I will not participate in that. I will not sit back and watch in silence while others lead our party down a path that abandons the rule of law and joins the former president’s crusade to undermine our democracy.”
House Republicans are expected to vote Wednesday to oust Cheney from the party’s No. 3 leadership position and replace her with Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York, a prominent Trump ally. Top Republicans, including House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Minority Whip Steve Scalise, have expressed support for Stefanik in recent days.
In her floor speech, Cheney warned that efforts to damage confidence in the democratic system would undermine the rule of law at home and hurt America’s standing on the international stage.
“As the party of Reagan, Republicans have championed democracy, won the Cold War and defeated the Soviet communists,” Cheney said. “Today, America is on the cusp of another Cold War – this time with communist China. Attacks against our democratic process and the rule of law empower our adversaries and feed communist propaganda that American democracy is a failure. We must speak the truth.”
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Cheney emerged as one of Trump’s most prominent critics within the GOP following the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol. She was one of 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump on a single charge of incitement of insurrection.
The lawmaker’s public feud with Trump raised concerns among House GOP leaders about her ability to serve effectively as conference chair, a position that dictates party messaging, ahead of the crucial 2022 midterm election.
Source Article from https://www.foxnews.com/politics/liz-cheney-defiant-floor-speech-house-gop-vote-to-oust-her-as-conference-chair
Potential 2020 candidate and former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz made his debut Saturday on Twitter. He was immediately met by the mind-numbingly stupid “RATIO!” crowd.
For the uninitiated, the “ratio” here is the relationship between the number of replies and the number of shares. A message or sentiment in a specific tweet is measured for its value or the offense it causes by how low or high the ratio of (mostly negative) replies is to the number of (mostly positive) likes or retweets.
Schultz, as of this writing, has posted just seven tweets, and each one got the ratio effect. In other words, there is a concerted effort to assure the person who composed the original tweet that they’ve been shamed and ostracized for their opinion or comment.
At a public event Monday in New York, where Schultz continued his maybe-run for president, a heckler called out to Schultz, “Go back to getting ratioed on Twitter!”
CNN reporter Andrew Kaczynski tweeted Tuesday that Schultz “could become the first person to run for office to have every [Twitter] post ratioed.”
Liberal activist Matt Ortega observed that all of Schultz’s tweets were “getting ratio’d.”
[Also read: Tom Steyer: Howard Schultz isn’t ‘ready for primetime’]
Brendan Nyhan, a New York Times contributor and professor at the University of Michigan, tweeted Tuesday, “Has any verified account ever had every single tweet get ratio’d before?”
There’s even a Twitter account called @RatioReport, which purports to track such incidents and then do the actual math on the ratio. It calculated on Sunday that one of Schultz’s tweets had a “like-to-comment ratio of .2791” and a “[re-tweet]-to-comment ratio of .0615.”
If you look through the replies to any one of Schultz’s tweets, there are thousands of replies, and easily a quarter of them are nothing more than remarks like, “i’m responding just because the ratio isn’t high enough,” from @willchop and, “Just here for the ratio,” by @colin_ball13.
This is the equivalent of yelling in someone’s face, “EVERYBODY HATES YOU, OKAY?!” It offers no criticism, carries no weight, and only leaves the “ratio” recipient mildly annoyed that he didn’t lead a life so small as to find joy in tweeting, “RATIO!”
Source Article from https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/columnists/howard-schultz-meets-the-ratio-mob
COLUMBIA — A soldier at Fort Jackson has been charged after a video showed a White man berating and threatening a Black man who was walking inside a Richland County subdivision.
A two-minute clip of the confrontation spread across social media over the past two days, sparking protests in the neighborhood where the men clashed and triggering angry responses from lawmakers as the country grapples with race relations.
“What else has to happen? It’s like a ticking time bomb,” state Sen. Mia McLeod, D-Columbia, said during an impassioned speech from the Senate floor April 14. “We have to decide right here, right now, whether we’re going to move forward in 2021 or we’re going back to 1921.”
Jonathan Pentland, who according to online records is an Army sergeant stationed at Fort Jackson, was charged April 14 with assault and battery in the third degree and released without posting bond, according to Richland County Sheriff’s Department and court records. The charge is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $500 or 30 days in jail.
Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott called the confrontation “disturbing” during a news conference about the incident in The Summit, a large and diverse neighborhood in Northeast Richland.
“It was terrible,” Lott told reporters about when he first saw the video. “It was unnecessary.”
Booking photo of Army Sgt. Jonathan Pentland
The U.S. Department of Justice also is looking into the confrontation, Fort Jackson said.
“The leaders at Fort Jackson in no way condone the behavior depicted in the video posted recently,” Fort Jackson Commander Brig. Gen. Milford Beagle said in a statement. “This action deeply impacts our community — the neighbors in the Summit, the city of Columbia, Richland and Lexington counties, and our Army family.”
The video clip posted April 13 shows a White man shouting at a Black man less than a foot apart on a sidewalk in The Summit.
“Go away, right now,” the White man says. “What is it you’re doing here?”
The Black man says he was walking and suggested the White man call police. A woman not seen on camera says officers have been called.
“You’re aggressing on our neighborhood,” the White man says, shoving the Black man. “You better walk away or I’m going to carry your (expletive) out of here.”
“I didn’t do anything,” the Black man says.
“I’m about to do something to you,” the White man says. “You better start walking.”
Then the White man and the Black man trade accusations over who started the argument.
“You’re in the wrong neighborhood, (expletive),” the White man shouts. “Get out. Get out.”
The White man said the Black Man was “harassing the neighborhood.” The Black man says he lives in the neighborhood but does not answer questions asking where.
“Check it out, we are a tight-knit community,” the White man says. “We take care of each other.”
The video does not show how the confrontation started or ended.
Pentland told deputies he acted out in fear for he and his wife, according to an incident report.
Shadae McCallum, who lives in the neighborhood and shot the video of the confrontation, said people in The Summit, a network of neighborhoods off Clemson Road, often walk among the various communities and it’s not out of the ordinary.
While on a walk April 12, McCallum said she saw a Black man being confronted by women who accused him of harassing their daughters.
A White man came out from a house and was initially calm but quickly became irate, said McCallum, who then started her video.
McCallum said she stopped recording when two Black women began walking the Black man away from the area and she thought the situation was over.
But after she stopped recording, the White man followed the Black man down the sidewalk, slapped the phone from his hand and stepped on it, McCallum said.
Pentland told deputies he slapped the phone away from the Black man and pushed him, according to the incident report.
Authorities waited more than a day to make an arrest because deputies on the scene didn’t have enough information to act on, Lott said. The video helped the case and Lott thanked the person who shot it.
Pentland, 42, was charged with assault because he “put his hands” on the victim, the sheriff said.
As part of his release agreement, Pentland was ordered not to have direct contact with the victim and stay 1,000 yards away from the victim’s place of work, home, school or worship.
Lott did not mention any racial component to the confrontation, instead saying, “We’re not going to let people be bullied in our community.”
Lott said he would not name the victim or discuss anything that led up to the confrontation.
However, on April 13 and 14, the Richland County Sheriff’s Department released a statement and incident reports alleging the Black man in the video could have been the same person involved in two incidents in the neighborhood days prior to the confrontation.
A 22-year-old Black man twice put his hand around a woman’s waist and picked up a baby without consent, according to incident reports supplied from the sheriff’s office.
Later April 14, Lott made it clear the Black man was the victim in the confrontation and is not facing any charges despite any previous allegations.
Asked if the earlier incidents led to the confrontation, Lott said, “There may be some connection to it, but it doesn’t justify it.”
About 40 protesters showed up outside the home of the soldier around noon April 14, shouting, “This is our neighborhood, too!”
“This young brother could have been another hashtag instead of a living, breathing warrior,” Jerome Bowers, CEO of One Common Cause: Community Control Initiative, said during the protest.
The confrontation also angered state lawmakers who represent the area that includes The Summit.
“Stop being silent when you see these injustices,” McLeod, who is Black, said from the Senate podium. “It’s not just happening to people who look like me. It’s impacting people who look like you, too.”
State Rep. Ivory Thigpen, D-Columbia, said, while he understands something might have occurred before the video, “What we did see, in my opinion, was an assault and intimidation.”
“Putting race aside, I was infuriated by what I saw as bullying and I loathe bullies,” Thigpen told The Post and Courier. “There needs to be clear fact finding, actions taken, hopefully mediation and resolution to promote harmony in the community.”
Stephen Fastenau and Seanna Adcox contributed from Columbia.
Source Article from https://www.postandcourier.com/columbia/white-fort-jackson-soldier-charged-after-confrontation-with-black-man-caught-on-video/article_d2fd3f8c-9d10-11eb-be7c-dfddec9cb635.html
The record-breaking heat wave in the Pacific Northwest is pushing people’s bodies to the limit — sending more than 800 people to the hospital for possible heat-related illness in recent days.
There’s no question about it, scientists and health experts say: This is the result of climate change, and the future only holds more of the same.
“The record-shattering extreme heat we’re experiencing is just the latest example of our climate crisis and how it’s impacting human health now,” Jeff Duchin, a health officer for Public Health in Seattle and King County, Washington, said in a statement. “Climate change is a health emergency and reducing greenhouse gas emissions is literally a matter of life and death.”
Washington state hospitals reported 676 emergency department visits for suspected heat-related illness since Friday, with 81 leading to inpatient admission, according to Cory Portner, a spokesman for the state’s Department of Health.
That’s a staggeringly high health toll. Between 2000 and 2018, summer heat-related hospitalizations in Washington only twice surpassed 51, according to state data.
Meanwhile, about 200 people went to emergency departments or urgent care clinics for heat illnesses in Oregon amid the heat wave, according to a state report.
At least 43 emergency visits for heat illness occurred in Portland and surrounding Multnomah County between Friday and Sunday.
“Normally we would expect about 1 or 2 visits for heat illness in the same time period, and it is not unusual for the County to have zero visits for heat illness on a typical summer day,” Kate Yeiser, a spokesperson for Multnomah County, told BuzzFeed News in an email.
Moreover, the county’s Emergency Medical Services department received over 400 calls during that time. “We can’t say exactly how many calls were related to heat but that number is unheard of for our county,” Yeiser said.
Extreme heat is deadly, killing more than 11,000 people across the US since 1979. Everyone is at risk of heat exhaustion or the more serious condition of heatstroke, which could result in a high fever, nausea or vomiting, and even a loss of consciousness.
Certain groups of people, such as babies and kids, pregnant people, and the elderly, are more vulnerable to heat stress because their bodies aren’t efficient at regulating their internal temperatures. Others have a higher heat exposure because of their jobs or because they don’t have access to air conditioning, such as families with low incomes or people without stable housing.
This part of the country also isn’t prepared for this kind of punishing heat. Take Seattle, where only 44% of homes have air conditioning because of the city’s historically moderate temperatures, making it one of the least air-conditioned cities in the country, according to the Seattle Times.
The skyrocketing emergency calls and hospital visits in the Pacific Northwest have coincided with additional impacts to the region. Highways and streets have cracked and buckled from the heat, closing roads and impacting traffic. Even flights have been impacted. Restaurants have closed down. There has been a shortage of air conditioners and fans. Hundreds upon hundreds of people have sought refuge in air-conditioned libraries, malls, movie theaters, and other officially designated “cooling centers.”
The punishingly hot temperatures driving these impacts have shattered all-time high records day after day.
The Portland Airport officially hit 116 degrees Fahrenheit on Monday, June 28, setting a new all-time record high in the city, according to a tweet published by the Portland division of the National Weather Service. This beat the previous record of 112 degrees set the previous day.
Source Article from https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/zahrahirji/northwest-heatwave-washington-oregon
Not long ago, President Enrique Peña Nieto opened his hangar doors for the most expensive presidential jet in the entire world. This time, the investigative journalists team of Aristegui Noticias has exposed his nearly $7MM mansion, referred to as the ‘White House’. The residence is located in Lomas de Chapultepec, which is one of the most prestigious areas of Mexico City. Coincidentally, the luxurious home is neither under the President or his wife, Angelica Rivera’s name, but under Grupo Higa, a construction company which was on the verge of benefitting from a millionaire contract to build a train from DF to the city of Queretaro. The house is, however, adjacent to one of the actress’s residences in the parallel street.
While such contract recently fell through due to other construction company’s complaints about the little time they’d had to pitch for the projects, Mexico’s First Lady did call the mansion “their home.” In May 2013, Rivera gave her first interview as Peña Nieto’s wife to socialite magazine ‘¡Hola!’ where she said, “In our house, we lead our lives as normal as possible. I’ve let them know that ‘Los Pinos’ has been lent to us for only six years, but our true house, our home, is right here where this interview is taking place.”
The mansion known as “La Palma”, was built by architect Miguel Aragonés and painted in all white with a lighting system that can turn the walls, any color desired. Its luxuries include a huge, underground parking lot, an elevator connecting all floors, an outdoor living room and dining room, multiple bedrooms plus a main one with separate walk in closets, bathrooms and spa areas. The home of the presidential family is being maintained and looked after by the President’s staff (EMP) in the meantime, which are reportedly ensuring everything is adapted to the Peña’s family’s needs.
Grupo Higa, whose name the mansion is under, is affiliated with construction company Constructora Teya, which highly benefited from Peña Nieto’s government of Estado de México, as he granted the company numerous projects and helicopter rents.
Source Article from http://www.latintimes.com/enrique-pena-nietos-white-house-mansion-exposed-see-house-valued-almost-7mm-dollars-274599
