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No es para él un honor, sino el sinónimo de una condena.

El sargento Carlos Eduardo Mora ha sido el primero -y hasta hoy el único- miembro de las fuerzas armadas de Colombia que obtuvo a su favor una medida cautelar dictada por la Comisión Interamericana de Derechos Humanos (CIDH).

Él está seguro de que en algún momento lo van a matar (ver video que acompaña a esta nota).

Es un temor compartido por la CIDH, que en octubre de 2013 le solicitó al gobierno de Colombia que ofreciera protección para “preservar la vida y la integridad personal” de Mora y su núcleo familiar.

“Mucha gente lo tomó como la confirmación de que yo era un traidor”, le dijo el militar a BBC Mundo.

¿Qué hizo Mora?

A fines de 2008 se presentó ante la Justicia para dar cuenta de lo que sabía acerca de las ejecuciones extrajudiciales conocidas en el país como “falsos positivos” y todavía sigue colaborando con procesos abiertos a soldados y oficiales.

Para mostrar “resultados”

En esta práctica, soldados y oficiales, presionados por sus superiores para mostrar resultados “positivos” en la lucha contra la guerrilla y la delincuencia, llevaban por la fuerza o citaban en lugares remotos, con promesas falsas -como ofertas de empleo-, a sus víctimas.

Luego las asesinaban y las hacían aparecer como combatientes enemigos, colocándoles armas o vistiéndolas con ropas militares.


Cuando la existencia de los casos de falsos positivos se difundió en 2008, hubo protestas en varias partes del país.

Además de ser usados para demostrar “resultados”, estos falsos positivos les daban a los militares que los ejecutaban ciertos beneficios, como vacaciones.

Hasta el momento hay más de 800 miembros del Ejército condenados por ejecuciones extrajudiciales ocurridas entre 2002 y 2008, los años en los que se concentra el mayor número de casos conocidos de falsos positivos.

Aunque hay algunos excomandantes de batallones y otras unidades presos por estos actos, en su mayoría los condenados son soldados de rangos inferiores.

16 generales investigados

Mora, al igual que otros testigos, está ayudando a la Fiscalía a excavar hacia arriba esa sólida montaña que es la estructura militar colombiana, a la que la Justicia puede acceder desde la base, pero cuyas partes más altas se le hacen más difíciles de alcanzar.

De esa aparente impenetrabilidad da cuenta un informe presentado este miércoles por la organización internacional Human Rights Watch (HRW), en el que expone por qué considera que hubo responsabilidad por parte de generales y coroneles en los casos de falsos positivos y cuáles parecen ser los impedimentos para que sean llevados ante la Justicia.

El reporte señala que en Colombia hay investigaciones abiertas contra 16 generales del Ejército activos y retirados, pero ninguno ha sido acusado formalmente.


“Los falsos positivos representan uno de los episodios más nefastos de atrocidades masivas en el hemisferio occidental de los últimos años, y hay cada vez más evidencias de que altos oficiales del Ejército serían responsables de estos hechos atroces”, indicó José Miguel Vivanco, director ejecutivo de la división de las Américas de Human Rights Watch.

HRW asegura que comandantes de las brigadas y unidades tácticas responsables de gran cantidad de ejecuciones al menos sabían o deberían haber sabido sobre estos delitos.

“Human Rights Watch examinó transcripciones o grabaciones de testimonios prestados a la Fiscalía”, dice el informe, “en los cuales se acusa de manera directa a varios militares que eran entonces comandantes de división, al entonces jefe del Comando Conjunto del Caribe, General (r) González Peña, y al entonces comandante del Ejército Nacional, el General (r) Mario Montoya, de haber tenido conocimiento de falsos positivos, o de haberlos planificado o intentado facilitar su comisión, mientras ocuparon estos cargos”.

Eso los haría, según la organización, penalmente imputables.

La responsabilidad puede llegar aún más lejos.

En un reporte interino sobre Colombia, de 2012, la Corte Penal Internacional (CPI) asegura que “existen bases razonables para creer que (los falsos positivos) fueron cometidos en virtud de una política adoptada al menos a nivel de ciertas brigadas dentro de las fuerzas armadas”.

De acuerdo con la CPI podría incluso considerarse una política de estado, ya que las mismas, de acuerdo con el organismo, no necesariamente deben ser concebidas al más alto nivel de la maquinaria estatal.

Brigada Móvil 15

HRW analizó 11 brigadas, algunos de cuyos comandantes luego ascendieron en la cadena de mando militar.

“Sus posiciones jerárquicas en el momento de los delitos incluían las de comandantes de batallones, brigadas y divisiones, así como un comandante del Ejército Nacional”, indica el reporte.

Una de las unidades analizadas por HRW era la Brigada Móvil 15, que operaba en el departamento de Norte de Santander, bajo la 2ª división del Ejército, a la que el sargento Carlos Eduardo Mora llegó desde su fundación, en 2006.

La Unidad de Derechos Humanos de la Fiscalía está investigando 38 ejecuciones extrajudiciales presuntamente cometidas entre 2006 y 2008 por esa brigada, según HRW.

Mora ha sido clave en las investigaciones que se realizaron y realizan sobre lo ocurrido allí.

En 2007, el entonces cabo formaba parte del área de inteligencia de esa unidad.

Le contó a BBC Mundo que al empezar a notar actividades sospechosas intentó, sin éxito, levantar la voz de alarma con algunos de sus superiores.

Fue amenazado y terminó siendo trasladado a Bogotá.

Antes de partir, asegura que los coroneles le dijeron: “Si llega a contar lo que pasó y lo que vivió acá en Ocaña y lo que usted sabe, le matamos a su familia”.

Soacha

Ya en la capital, una noticia lo llevó a volver a intentar contar lo que sabía.

En octubre de 2008 se hallaron en Ocaña, Norte de Santander, 17 cuerpos vestidos con ropas militares.

Eran muchachos de bajos recursos que vivían en la municipalidad de Soacha, vecina de Bogotá, a los que les habían ofrecido empleos cerca de la frontera con Venezuela.


Las víctimas de falsos positivos pertenecían generalmente a sectores de bajos recursos.

Al llegar allí, miembros de la Brigada Móvil 15 los mataron.

Ante esos hechos, el gobierno pasó a retiro a tres generales del Ejército y a los coroneles Rubén Darío Castro, entonces comandante de la brigada, Jesús Rincón Amado, jefe de operaciones de la brigada, y Santiago Herrera Fajardo, quien estaba en ese momento trabajando con el general Mario Montoya Uribe, comandante del Ejército Nacional.

En total el gobierno retiró del servicio a 27 miembros del ejército.

El general Montoya renunció.

Condenas e investigaciones

A finales de 2008, el sargento Mora llegó hasta la oficina del entonces director de inteligencia del Ejército, el general Ricardo Hernando Díaz Torres.

Según Mora, tras contarle lo que sabía, Díaz Torres se comunicó con el comandante de las fuerzas militares y luego llamaron al ministro de Defensa, que en ese entonces era el actual presidente Juan Manuel Santos.

Le dieron la orden de ir a radicar la denuncia al día siguiente a la Fiscalía ya la Procuraduría, dice el sargento.

La evidencia que brindó hasta ahora permitió a los fiscales conseguir las condenas de un teniente coronel y varios otros oficiales y soldados.

La Brigada Móvil 15, en la que se desempeñaba Mora, fue cerrada a comienzos de 2009.

De los oficiales que operaban en esa unidad, Santiago Herrera Fajardo está procesado; y Jesús Rincón Amado fue condenado en marzo de 2014 a 35 años de cárcel por el homicidio en abril de 2007 de un un motociclista, quien fue presentado como baja en combate.

Este martes, la Fiscalía anunció que citó a declarar al excomandante del Ejército Nacional, Mario Montoya Uribe, junto a otros tres generales, en el marco de investigaciones por falsos positivos.

Montoya Uribe había estado al mando de la Brigada 4 entre fines de 2001 y fines de 2003, período en el que según HRW, “al menos 44 presuntas ejecuciones extrajudiciales (fueron) perpetradas por soldados (de esa unidad)”.

Según la información que HRW obtuvo de la Fiscalía de Colombia, se están también investigando por presuntas ejecuciones extrajudiciales las brigadas dirigidas por el general retirado Óscar González Peña, y los generales en activo Juan Pablo Rodríguez Barragán (hoy es comandante general de las fuerzas militares) y Jaime Lasprilla Villamizar (actual comandante del Ejército).

Respaldo del presidente Santos

Sobre el señalamiento a Rodríguez Barragán y Lasprilla Villamizar, el presidente Juan Manuel Santos dijo este miércoles en un acto ante las Fuerzas Armadas que estos le “mostraron las respuestas de la Fiscalía y la Procuraduría (…) no hay una sola investigación en contra de estos altos oficiales”.


“Que se castigue al culpable, pero que no nos vengan a manchar la institución”, dijo Santos.

“Entonces que no vengan a señalarlos y a causarles un daño enorme sin ninguna justificación, sin ninguna documentación”, agregó.

BBC Mundo tuvo acceso a documentos de la Fiscalía que aseguran que esos dos generales no tienen condenas, antecedentes, ni órdenes de captura, pero no dicen nada respecto a la inexistencia de investigaciones (eso no quita que haya otros documentos que así lo demuestren, pero BBC Mundo no los conoce).

Santos también dijo: “Si hay ejemplos, como hay en cualquier institución, que hayan cometido errores, son las propias fuerzas las más interesadas en que se haga justicia”.

“Que se castigue al culpable, pero que no nos vengan a manchar la institución”.

Amenazas

Desde el momento en que empezó a colaborar con la Justicia, Mora dice que comenzó a recibir nuevas amenazas e intimidaciones.

Según HRW, las amenazas y ataques a testigos constituyen uno de varios obstáculos a los que se enfrentan las investigaciones de falsos positivos.

El director de Derechos Humanos del ministerio de Defensa, teniente coronel Carlos Javier Soler Parra, le dijo a BBC Mundo que en respuesta a esta situación hace dos años se estableció un esquema de protección para militares que actúan como testigos en estos casos.

“Estamos respondiendo por su vida y estamos dando todas las garantías de protección para que puedan seguir aportando al tema”.

____________________

Otros testigos afectados

Los tres primeros casos aparecen en el reporte de HRW, el último fue referido a BBC Mundo por el sargento Mora y ha sido registrado por medios colombianos.

Nixon de Jesús Cárcamo

El 27 de octubre de 2014 Nixon de Jesús Cárcamo apareció muerto en el centro de detención del Ejército de la 11ª Brigada de Montería, departamento de Córdoba, donde estaba detenido por cargos de falsos positivos y por los que daba testimonio sobre el supuesto rol de oficiales y soldados en ejecuciones extrajudiciales.

Once días antes de su muerte le había dicho a los fiscales que temía por su vida, que había rumores en el centro de detención de que peligraba su vida por cooperarar con la justicia. Dijo que si algo le pasaba hacía responsables a quienes estaba acusando.

Esposa de testigo violada

“Hay evidencias serias” de que en 2013, hombre no identificaron violaron a la mujer de un soldado, en represalia por el testimonio del soldado en contra de un coronel del ejército, dice HRW. Ella contó que durante la violación los asaltantes la llamaban la esposa del “sapo”.

Ataque en Soacha

El 12 de agosto de 2012, en Soacha, mataron a tiros a Jhon Fredy Garcés, un testigo que había dado testimonio a los fiscales sobre un caso de falso positivo en una unidad militar en la que sirvió como guía civil.

Alexander Rodríguez

A finales de 2007 Alexander Rodríguez, también, como Mora, de la Brigada Móvil 15 de Norte de Santander, denunció lo que creía eran falsos positivos.

“Lo echaron como un perro”, dijo Mora.

Luego fue detenido, acusado de un supuesto delito de extorsión. ____________________

Otro es la falta de cooperación por parte de los organismos castrenses.

En una nota escrita, el Ejército le dijo a BBC Mundo que ha “dispuesto unos equipos de trabajo que tienen como objetivo brindar el apoyo en cada uno de los requerimientos que (la Fiscalía General de la Nación y la Procuraduría General de la Nación realicen sobre) información relacionada con el personal militar vinculado a las investigaciones y con ello agilizar las mismas”.

“Somos los primeros interesados en que se aclaren los hechos y se asuman las responsabilidades individuales por los mismos”, agrega el texto.

Sin embargo, HRW señala que “los fiscales a cargo de casos de falsos positivos indican que, con frecuencia, miembros del Ejército interponen obstáculos al acceso a archivos que son cruciales para sus investigaciones”.

Por otra parte, la organización cuestiona el hecho de que haya casos de ejecuciones extrajudiciales bajo la jurisdicción de la Justicia Militar Penal, que “tradicionalmente (…) ha garantizado la impunidad para estos delitos, y hasta hoy carece de independencia y credibilidad”.


El sargento Mora ya no ejerce las tareas de inteligencia para las que fue formado.

Y el organismo cree que dentro mismo de la Fiscalía se han dado problemas de organización y distribución del trabajo que han ralentizado las investigaciones.

Aun con esas limitaciones, la Fiscalía continúa investigando al menos 3.700 ejecuciones extrajudiciales ocurridas en la órbita de más de 180 batallones y otras unidades tácticas, según HRW.

El director de Derechos Humanos del ministerio de Defensa, teniente coronel Carlos Javier Soler Parra, le dijo a BBC Mundo que se ha sentenciado a algunos militares de forma injusta.

Dijo que a su entender hay al menos cuatro casos de suboficiales o soldados -no de oficiales- condenados indebidamente por falsos positivos.

Unidad administrativa

El sargento Mora continúa colaborando con la Fiscalía en procesos de falsos positivos.

Ya no ejerce las tareas de inteligencia para las que fue formado.

Se encuentra ahora trabajando en una unidad administrativa en Bogotá.

Y aguarda con certeza y un cierto estoicismo no falto de temor el momento en que sus enemigos finalmente den con él.

_____________

Nota: La versión original de este artículo no incluía las declaraciones de Juan Manuel Santos, que fueron incorporadas tan pronto como se dieron a conocer.

Source Article from http://www.bbc.com/mundo/noticias/2015/06/150622_colombia_falsos_positivos_altos_mandos_hrw_nc

Las hijas del presidente estadounidense Barack Obama hicieron su debut en una cena de Estado el pasado sábado cuando el primer ministro de Canadá, Justin Trudeau, realizó su primera visita oficial a la Casa Blanca. Al evento asistieron grandes personalidades, incluyendo varias estrellas de Hollywood. En un momento, previo a la recepción, Sacha Obama fue fotografiada mientras platicaba ‘nerviosamente’ con el actor Ryan Reynolds. Al fondo, el fotógrafo oficial de la Casa Blanca, Pete Souza, captó a Malia, de 17 años con una traviesa sonrisa y los pulgares arriba en apoyo a su hermana de 14 años. Lea la noticia.

Source Article from http://www.laprensa.hn/honduras/939907-410/las-noticias-m%C3%A1s-impactantes-de-este-lunes-en-honduras-y-el-mundo

A group of 10 Republican senators sent a letter to President Joe Biden on Sunday proposing a smaller coronavirus relief package than his $1.9 trillion plan, and asking him to negotiate with them to find compromise on the issue of new Covid-19 stimulus efforts.

The number of signatories is significant, because any bill taken up under normal Senate rules would need at least 10 GOP backers in order to be successful. This renders the letter, in effect, an offer to work with Democrats to pass new stimulus measures — with certain conditions.

In the letter, the Republican lawmakers — a group that includes Sens. Mitt Romney of Utah, Susan Collins of Maine, and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, as well as other relative moderates — argued their proposal, which they promised to release in full on Monday, would be able to receive bipartisan support, given that it mirrors Biden’s call for $160 billion for coronavirus testing, tracing, treatment, and protective supplies.

The lawmakers also said their bill will include funding for direct payments to “families who need assistance the most,” a reference to some lawmakers’ desire to needs-test direct payments; assistance for small businesses and child care; and $4 billion for mental health and substance use.

They did not provide specifics, but the Washington Post reports the GOP proposal would cut the cost of new stimulus by $1.3 trillion, to around $600 billion, and that it would do so by making major cuts to a number of Democratic priorities.

For instance, Democrats have pushed for another round of direct payments of $1,400 to single people making $75,000 or less per year, and to couples making $150,000 or less. As Sen. Bernie Sanders pointed out on ABC’s This Week Sunday, Democrats promised there would be another round of direct payments of at least $1,400 if they won both Senate seats in January’s Georgia runoff races — and they did.

“You can’t campaign on a series of issues, and then, after the election, when you get power, say, ‘Oh, well, you know what, we’re changing our mind,’” Sanders said.

Accepting the new Republican proposal would force Democrats to do just that, however — it would reduce the direct payments to $1,000 per person, the Post reports.

And those payments would likely be sent out to a much smaller group of people under the new Republican plan. Ohio Sen. Rob Portman, one of the letter’s signatories, said on CNN’s State of the Union Sunday that direct payments should be capped at individuals earning $50,000, or families earning $100,000. “Let’s focus on those who are struggling,” Portman said.

Portman also said that the Democratic proposal to extend federal unemployment insurance — currently valued at $300 per week — through September was premature, and that that program should also be better targeted.

Democrats have proposed not just extending that program, but expanding it, by bumping up weekly payments to $400. The Post reports that the GOP plan envisions keeping the weekly allowance at $300, and extending the program, currently set to expire in March, until June.

The GOP plan also reportedly gets rid of the Democratic proposal to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour, and would likely reduce the amount of aid available to state and local governments.

The GOP signatories argue in their letter — and in television appearances Sunday — that their proposal will give Biden a chance to make good on his promise for “unity,” a theme of his inaugural address.

“In the spirit of bipartisanship and unity, we have developed a COVID-19 relief framework that builds on prior COVID assistance laws, all of which passed with bipartisan support,” the letter reads. “We request the opportunity to meet with you to discuss our proposal in greater detail and how we can work together to meet the needs of the American people during this persistent pandemic.”

And they claim that Democrats’ current plans to push their preferred proposal through Congress through a process known as reconciliation, which allows for legislation related to budgetary matters to be passed in the Senate with a simple majority vote (a majority Democrats now have due to their victories in Georgia), would — in Portman’s words — “poison the well” for any future attempts at bipartisan legislating.

State of the Union host Dana Bash asked Portman why he had supported Republicans using reconciliation to advance controversial legislation in the past, noting it had been used both in the Republican effort to destroy the Affordable Care Act and to pass Trump’s tax cuts into law. Portman replied that “reconciliation is not meant for the purposes that they are trying to use it for,” and argued Democrats should not use reconciliation as their first resort.

Democrats, however, have long been stymied in their efforts to pass a sweeping stimulus package, agreeing to a compromise bill in late 2020 after months of Republican refusals to consider a $3 trillion bill that passed the House in May 2020.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has said he is willing “to work with our Republican colleagues to advance” coronavirus relief, but that Democrats are “keeping all our options open, on the table, including budget reconciliation.”

What reception the new GOP proposal will receive from Biden remains to be seen. Appearing on State of the Union on Sunday, the director of the National Economic Council, Brian Deese, told Bash, “We welcome input to say where we may have not gotten everything right,” but argued, “The cost of doing too little right now far outweighs the cost of doing too much.”

There’s urgency to pass a new relief package as federal coronavirus programs face expiration

Given that many federal coronavirus programs are set to expire in the coming months, there is a need for urgency in work on the next round of stimulus. As Vox’s Emily Stewart has reported, delays in passing the last round meant coverage gaps for many of the unemployed.

Friday, Biden stressed the importance of getting a coronavirus stimulus bill passed, saying, “I support passing Covid relief with support from Republicans if we can get it, but the Covid relief has to pass. There are no if, ands, or buts.”

Given the House’s Democratic majority, and the fact that legislation can pass in that chamber by a simple majority vote, the Senate is where any difficulty in quickly passing aid will arise. There, Democrats have been faced with either finding 10 Republicans to support their proposal, compromising with moderate Republicans on a plan like that advanced by the 10 GOP senators on Sunday, or passing legislation through reconciliation.

For any of these routes to work in the Senate, Democrats would need to be a united front. As it stands, they hold the narrowest possible majority in the evenly-split Senate, with Vice President Kamala Harris serving as a tie-breaker.

And a united front is not a given, because there are some right-leaning Democrats in the Senate who have not fully embraced all the proposals in Biden’s plan, something that ABC’s Martha Raddatz asked Sanders about on Sunday.

Specifically, she asked Sanders about West Virginia’s Joe Manchin, who has said that bipartisan lawmaking is important to him and who has not offered full-throated support of a $15 minimum wage. He has also not said whether he would go along with Democrats if they choose to pursue reconciliation. Sanders expressed faith that “all Democrats understand the need to go forward” with coronavirus relief.

“The question is not bipartisanship, the question is how to address these crises right now,” said Sanders. “If Republicans want to work with us, they have better ideas on how to address those crises, that’s great. But to be honest with you, I have not yet heard that.”

Sanders added that there would be other opportunities for bipartisanship in the future, especially around issues like prescription drug reform and infrastructure. “But right now, this country faces an unprecedented set of crises,” he said.

One of the GOP letter’s signatories, Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy, suggested Sunday that Republicans hadn’t been given enough of a chance to work on a bipartisan agreement.

“If you want unity, you want bipartisanship, you ought to start with the group that’s willing to work together,” Cassidy said on Fox News Sunday.

As Republicans have pointed out, Biden has stated a desire to work with Republicans on legislation. But as Vox’s Ella Nilsen has written, Biden’s ambitions to work across the aisle and to pass his relief package may be at odds with one another — particularly given the more limited scale of relief the 10 GOP senators now propose.

And Democrats seem to believe that if they can only fulfill one of the president’s ambitions, the priority is on getting the package done. As Nilsen writes:

While Republicans in the bipartisan group are the ones advocating for cutting back on Biden’s Covid-19 bill, Democratic senators in the centrist group haven’t been as eager to scale back. Democrats remember that Senate Republicans used the budget reconciliation mechanism to pass their massive tax cut bill in 2017, and some in the Democratic caucus think they should give their priorities the same treatment now that they hold the majority.

Sanders, the Senate Budget Committee chair, and House Budget Committee Chair John Yarmuth have each told reporters their committees are working on drafting budget reconciliation resolutions for the Covid-19 relief bill, which could pass in a matter of days if Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi give them the green light.

Those reconciliation resolutions are now expected as early as this week. Republicans can also sign onto them if they so desire.

Source Article from https://www.vox.com/2021/1/31/22259102/10-gop-senators-smaller-coronavirus-relief-bill-bipartisan

Source Article from https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/now-familiar-run-hide-fight-put-practice-during-shooting-unc-n1000981

YouTube has refused to take action after a journalist accused a YouTuber with millions of subscribers of consistent homophobic and racist harassment.

Vox journalist Carlos Maza tweeted last week about the harassment he receives from YouTube star Steven Crowder, who has 3.8 million subscribers.

Maza said that in multiple videos “debunking” his show Strikethrough, Crowder frequently makes repeated reference to Maza’s sexuality and ethnicity. He included a supercut of examples, in which Crowder refers to Maza as a “lispy queer,” and a “gay Latino.”

Following the posting of these videos, Maza said he often wakes up to a “wall of homophobic/racist abuse” on social media, and that last year, he was doxxed resulting in text after text from unknown numbers saying “debate Stephen Crowder.”

Five days after Maza raised his concerns on Twitter, YouTube said it had conducted a review of Crowder’s videos. It found that although Crowder’s language was “clearly hurtful,” it didn’t constitute a violation of its policies.

YouTube added that just because a video remains on the site it doesn’t mean the company endorses or supports it, and said that “other aspects” of Crowder’s channel are still under review.

Maza was bemused by YouTube’s decision. He tweeted:

Maza pointed out that anonymous harassment of him had escalated yet further since he spoke out about Crowder’s videos, with a “Carlos Maza is a f*g” T-shirt having been made available for purchase online. The T-Shirt is a nod to a piece of merchandise on Crowder’s official store, which bears the tag line “socialism is for f*gs.” On Saturday, Maza also said he had been doxxed again.

He also accused YouTube of paying lipservice to LGBTQ rights for cynical gain.

In a video posted on Tuesday, Crowder said Maza’s complaints were a “campaign” to get his channel “deplatformed.”

In a statement sent to The Verge, Vox Media publisher Melissa Bell said YouTube must “remove creators who promote hate.” She added: “By refusing to take a stand on hate speech, they allow the worst of their communities to hide behind cries of ‘free speech’ and ‘fake news’ all while increasingly targeting people with the most offensive and odious harassment.”

A number journalists reacted with dismay to YouTube’s stance on the matter.

YouTube declined to comment further when contacted by Business Insider.

Source Article from https://www.businessinsider.com/youtube-refuses-to-punish-steven-crowder-over-carlos-maza-2019-6

El techo de crédito para obtener una vivienda propia a través del banco del Instituto Ecuatoriano de Seguridad Social (Biess) se incrementó de 150 mil dólares a 200 mil dólares.

El anuncio lo hizo hace pocos días el presidente del Consejo Directivo del IESS, Richard Espinosa.

Se estima que más de 20 mil personas a nivel nacional puedan acceder a un préstamo hipotecario con este nuevo monto, según Espinosa.

“Ayudar a construir un hogar para las familias de nuestros afiliados es una de las tareas fundamentales del Biess, y en ese esfuerzo conjunto estamos empeñados”, dijo. Añadió que este incremento se lo hace porque “las aportaciones y el trabajo de los afiliados deben rendir los mejores frutos posibles”.

El Biess espera que el incremento contribuya a la dinamización del mercado inmobiliario mediante el fortalecimiento de la cadena productiva del sector de la construcción y la generación de nuevas plazas de trabajo.

Más de 11 mil créditos

Desde su creación, el Banco del Instituto Ecuatoriano de Seguridad Social ha entregado un total de 167.000 créditos para vivienda. En lo que va de este año ha desembolsado 11.282 préstamos hipotecarios. (I)

Source Article from http://www.eluniverso.com/noticias/2017/08/22/nota/6343069/iess-incremento-monto-prestamos-hipotecarios

New York City will require police officers, firefighters and other municipal workers to be vaccinated against COVID-19 or be placed on unpaid leave, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Wednesday, giving an ultimatum to public employees who’ve refused and ensuring a fight with some of the unions representing them.

The mandate affecting the nation’s largest police department and more than 100,000 other New York City workers – including trash haulers and building inspectors – carries a Nov. 1 deadline for getting the first vaccine dose, de Blasio announced.

Jailers on Rikers Island, where the city has been grappling with staffing shortages creating unsafe conditions, will be subject to the mandate on Dec. 1.

Of the workers affected by the new mandate, 71% have already received at least one dose of the vaccine, according to the city.

The city previously mandated vaccines for public school teachers and the state has previously mandated vaccines for hospital workers.

City workers who get their first shot by Oct. 29 at a city-run vaccination site will get an extra $500 in their paycheck, the mayor’s said. Workers who don’t show proof of vaccination by Oct. 29 will be placed on leave.

“There is no greater privilege than serving the people of New York City, and that privilege comes with a responsibility to keep yourself and your community safe,” de Blasio said in a statement.

De Blasio had been weighing a vaccine mandate for the police and fire departments and other city agencies for several weeks.

His announcement came amid new uproar over NYPD officers defying even simple measures, like wearing face masks. On Monday, two police officers were seen on video shoving a man out of a Manhattan subway station when he confronted them for flouting rules requiring they wear masks.

The NYPD’s vaccination rate has lagged behind the rest of the city, with some officers flat out refusing to get the shots. Unions representing officers, contending that getting the vaccine is a personal medical decision, have suggested they’ll take legal action to fight a mandate.

About 69% of the NYPD’s workforce is vaccinated, compared with 77.4% of adult New Yorkers who have been fully vaccinated. The NYPD has about 34,500 uniformed personnel and about 17,700 people in non-uniformed support positions.

More than 60 NYPD employees have died of COVID-19, including five patrol officers, eight detectives and the former chief of transportation. The fire department, whose EMTs and paramedics were working around the clock in the early days of the pandemic, lost 16 workers to the virus.

Police Commissioner Dermot Shea and fire Commissioner Daniel Nigro have said they support a vaccine mandate, with Shea telling reporters earlier this month that given the “emergency situation that we’re in, it makes sense.” Nigro said at a fire department memorial service, “I think it’s time.”

New York City’s mandate comes as other cities are starting to punish – and even fire – first responders who fail to meet vaccine requirements.

In Seattle, six police officers and 11 firefighters are slated for termination after that city’s vaccine mandate took effect Monday. Another 93 Seattle officers and 66 firefighters were sidelined Tuesday while seeking religious or medical exemptions.

Sergeant Randy Huserik of the Seattle Police Department told CBS News that detectives have been forced to pitch in and go on emergency calls.

“We have, over the last year and 10 months, I’ve had in excess of 300 officers separate from the department,” he said.

Meanwhile, in Spokane, Washington, firefighter Tim Archer joined about 20 other colleagues who have also been relieved for resisting the state’s vaccine mandate.

“I really felt like this is in violation of the civil rights that God has given us,” Archer told CBS News.

In Massachusetts, a police union said at least 150 state troopers are resigning over that state’s mandate. In Washington State, as of Tuesday, 127 state troopers have been fired for defying a vaccine mandate and another 32 have resigned or retired rather than getting vaccinated.

In Chicago, where city workers are required to log their vaccine status, Mayor Lori Lightfoot last week accused the president of that city’s police union of trying to “induce an insurrection” by encouraging officers to defy that requirement – even after the union’s former president died of COVID-19. The dispute is now in court.

Under an executive order signed by de Blasio last month, NYPD officers have either had to be vaccinated or show proof of a negative COVID-19 test each week.

The state has mandated vaccines for health care workers and people in New York City must show proof of vaccination to eat indoors at restaurants or to attend sporting events – or even play in them.

One of the city’s biggest basketball stars, Brooklyn Nets guard Kyrie Irving, has been banned from playing or practicing for refusing to get the vaccine. In barring the seven-time all star, the team cited New York City rules that pro athletes playing for a team in the city must be vaccinated against COVID-19 to play or practice in public venues.

De Blasio’s position on vaccine mandates has evolved.

He initially allowed public school teachers to get the vaccine or submit regular negative COVID-19 tests, but toughened the rule this summer by requiring all teachers to get a vaccine with no test-out option.

Thousands of teachers and other school employees got the vaccine in the days before the deadline, city officials said.

Earlier this month, the Supreme Court denied a challenge to the teacher vaccine mandate, showing a potential legal pathway for expanding the requirement to other city agencies.

Source Article from https://www.cbsnews.com/news/covid-vaccine-mandate-new-york-city-workers/

La rama suiza de HSBC, uno de los bancos más grandes del mundo, ayudó a clientes de más de 200 países a evadir impuestos asesorándolos sobre como eludir a las autoridades fiscales de cada nación, según reveló una investigación internacional en la que participó la BBC.

Además, un ataque suicida en Bagdad dejó este lunes al menos 13 muertos y decenas de heridos en un barrio predominantemente chiita de la capital, segun informaron autoridades iraquíes.

El presidente ruso Vladimir Putin dijo que Estados Unidos y sus aliados son los culpables del conflicto en Ucrania entre el gobierno y los rebeldes separatistas prorrusos. Este lunes, Angela Merkel y Barack Obama hablarán en Washington sobre cómo resolver esta crisis.

Egipto suspendió indefinidamente su liga de fútbol después de que 22 aficionados murieran en una estampida ocurrida en un estadio de El Cairo.

El cantante británico Sam Smith se consagró como el ganador de la noche en la entrega de los Grammy al llevarse cuatro premios de los seis a los que aspiraba.

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Source Article from http://www.bbc.co.uk/mundo/video_fotos/2015/02/150209_video_boletin_noticias_np

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo suggested Friday that Yujing Zhang, the woman who breached security at President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago, Florida club, may have been a Chinese spy.

Pompeo said on “CBS This Morning” that there was an active investigation into the incident where 32-year-old Zhang was arrested.

“I think this tells the American people the threat that China poses, the efforts they’re making inside the United States, not only against government officials but more broadly,” Pompeo said.

Zhang’s arrest has surfaced broader security concerns across several law enforcement agencies, as she has reportedly been charged by federal prosecutors and is under investigation by the FBI’s Counterintelligence Division in South Florida for possible ties to Chinese intelligence services, according to the Miami Herald.

Read more: The arrest of a woman carrying a USB stick with malware into Mar-a-Lago exposes glaring flaws in the resort’s security, as FBI reportedly investigates whether she is a Chinese spy

Zhang was on resort property after showing two Taiwanese passports to Secret Service agents and telling them she was a club member trying to use the pool, Secret Service Agent Samuel Ivanovich said in a Saturday court filing.

Upon her arrest, agents discovered she was carrying a laptop, a hard drive, and a thumb drive containing “malicious malware” and spoke better English than she had initially presented to security.

The private property presents a unique security challenge to federal agents, as Trump has previously hosted official visits on the property, in close proximity to resort guests.

The Secret Service said in a statement after Zhang’s arrest that it “does not determine who is invited or welcome at Mar-a-Lago; this is the responsibility of the host entity. The Mar-a-Lago club management determines which members and guests are granted access to the property.”

Zhang is due to appear in court next week

Watch Pompeo’s full interview below »

Source Article from https://www.businessinsider.com/pompeo-chinese-woman-arrested-at-mar-a-lago-example-of-china-threat-2019-4

Residents in President Biden’s home state of Delaware – which he represented in the Senate for more than three decades – saw a $15 decrease in their utility bills in 2018, replacing the anticipated $65 increase. 

The reason was the Tax Cut and Jobs Act, according to the Delaware Public Service Commission, in announcing the rate cut from Delmarva. The tax reform package that President Trump signed in late 2017, among other things, slashed the corporate tax rate from 35% to 21%. 

Delaware is one of at least 38 states to pass along the corporate tax rate cut to customers, according to data compiled by Americans for Tax Reform. That includes the current president’s birth state, where the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission announced in 2018 a monthly credit to customer bills for 17 electric, natural gas, and water and wastewater utilities, totaling more than $320 million.

INFLATION NUMBER SURGES BY MOST SINCE 2008 RECESSION, WITH CONSUMER PRICES JUMPING 5% OVER LAST YEAR

Now the Biden administration is proposing to increase the corporate tax to 28%. That’s still lower than it was before Trump’s tax reform package – but some fear enough to force power bills to increase. 

Investor-owned utility companies, such as electric, gas and water companies, are regulated entities and required by law to get their billing rates approved by state public utility commissions. The commissions must consider how tax liability and other expenses factor into the cost of operation. Utility companies have significantly less flexibility in how to absorb such costs. 

“Those taxes are passed directly to the public utility customers,” Americans for Tax Reform President Grover Norquist told Fox News. “With public utilities, all agreed to the rate of return. … Regulated businesses can’t move money around.”

The Trump corporate tax cut in 2017 reportedly led more than 100 public utilities across the country to return $90 billion to customers, according to annual SEC 10-K filings. After the tax cut, public service commissions had to enter settlements with public utility companies to determine what to do with the excess accumulated deferred income tax balances, or EADIT.

Biden has repeatedly promised that he would not increase taxes on anyone earning less than $400,000 annually. However, because of how utility rates are determined, these corporate tax hikes could turn into an indirect tax on utility rate payers.

COTTON PRESSES DEFENSE SECRETARY ON ‘ANTI-AMERICAN INDOCTRINATION’ AS AUSTIN DEFENDS DIVERSITY PUSH

White House press secretary Jen Psaki dismissed this concern when asked about it in April. 

“Well, I would say that there’s no reason that that is what needs to happen. We have evidence of what happens,” Psaki said. “Back in 2017, when Republicans prioritized tax cuts for big corporations over investing in working people, there were many arguments made about what the impact would be: the benefits would be passed on to consumers, they would invest in R&D, there would be jobs created. None of that happened.  …  So I would say that’s not a concern we have at this moment in time.”

The utility rate cuts that accompanied the corporate tax cut spanned the country in red, blue and battleground states. This included some of the most populous states, such as Texas, where at least 10 companies cut rates; New Jersey, where 14 utility companies passed it on to customers; Virginia, where at least a dozen companies cut rates; and nine companies out of Ohio and six companies in Illinois passed along the savings. Residents in smaller states, such as Utah and Vermont, also benefited, as did ratepayers in both Carolinas, both Dakotas and the two early presidential contest states of Iowa and New Hampshire. 

As with any legislation, Biden will have to rely on the support of Democratic Sens. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona and Joe Manchin of West Virginia. 

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In Arizona, at least 10 utility companies, including electric, water and waste water companies, cut rates or provided refunds in the hundreds of millions, attributed to the corporate tax cut. In West Virginia, at least three companies passed on savings from the corporate rate cut to customers. These were Appalachian Power Company, which reportedly saved $235 million; Potomac Edison that reportedly saved $85 million and West Virginia American Water Company reportedly saved $4.6 million

“Any increase in the corporate tax rate increases the bills you pay, particularly with publicly regulated corporations,” Norquist said. “This is going to affect the public utilities in all 50 states.”

Source Article from https://www.foxnews.com/politics/biden-corporate-tax-hike-utility-bills

There was a school of thought that said former Vice President Joe Biden would begin to sink in the polls the moment he announced his candidacy for the Democratic presidential nomination. Biden’s first day in the race, the thinking went, would be his best day.

In fact, the opposite has happened. Since formally becoming a candidate on April 25, Biden has shot up in the polls. On announcement day, Biden held a 6.3-point lead over second-place Sen. Bernie Sanders in the RealClearPolitics average of polls. Today, that lead is 23.5 points. That is a big change.

Polls do not tell us who will win an election months from now. But they do tell us what is happening at this moment. And at this moment, Democratic voters, who are sometimes said to be moving left and itching to transform the United States with a “Green New Deal,” “Medicare for All,” and through-the-roof taxes on the rich, are in fact responding to a decidedly more centrist appeal.

That appeal, from Biden, is a promise not to fundamentally remake American society but to restore things to the way they used to be. And “the way they used to be” means before President Trump.

Obviously, Democratic voters want to replace a Republican president with a Democratic president. But they are especially dismayed by Trump — and some, driven by increasingly strident news coverage, seem to have gone nearly ’round the bend about him.

But for some center-left Democrats, the solution to the Trump Problem — that is, the fact that Trump is president — might not be the “Green New Deal” or “Medicare for All.” It is to restore the pre-2017 order in American politics. And Biden, Barack Obama’s vice president from 2009 to 2017, is the physical embodiment of that old order.

That is what Biden promises. Nearly every day, he repeats some version of his core campaign pledge: “I want to restore the soul of this country.”

Biden’s unexpected choice of Charlottesville, Va., as the theme of his announcement was a way of saying that something has gone terribly wrong in the U.S. and that he wants to return to the pre-Trump past. Addressing a real or imagined moral crisis is one way for an opposition candidate to run against an incumbent president whose term has brought solid economic growth, low unemployment, and higher wages.

How long will Biden’s lead last? Who knows? There is simply no telling how the Democratic race will play out. In the last two Republican nomination contests, we saw one race, in 2012, in which several candidates alternated holding the lead before Mitt Romney finally won. In the other, in 2016, we saw Trump lead a big field virtually the entire time. Now, with an even bigger Democratic field, the race dynamics are not yet clear.

Plus, for Biden specifically, there will always be the issue of age. Biden will be 78 years old on inauguration day 2021. That is the same age Trump would be upon leaving office, should he serve eight years. But Biden would be just beginning his presidency nearing the age of 80. That is totally uncharted territory in U.S. history. (By the way, one other candidate, Sanders, is even older.)

Even if Democrats want to restore the old order, they might decide a younger candidate should do the job.

They might also want a candidate without Biden’s record of fizzling out in presidential campaigns. In his first run for president, in 1988, Biden withdrew amid a plagiarism scandal before any votes were cast. In his second run, in 2008, he quit after finishing fifth in the Iowa caucuses. So, he has run twice and never even made it to the New Hampshire primary.

Now, though, Biden stands ahead of the field. Democrats know how old he is, they know he has lost in the past, and they still like him.

There’s a truism that elections are always about the future, not the past. That’s often the case. But what if it isn’t this time? A lot of political truisms did not hold up in the 2016 election, which was won by a man with another promise of restoration, to “Make America Great Again.”

Now, many Democrats seem happy to support a candidate who pledges to take them back a few years. Again, that could change, but for the moment, it shows how many Democrats yearn to return to a time before Trump.

Source Article from https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/columnists/byron-york-joe-biden-and-restoring-the-old-pre-trump-order

Peter Manfredonia, the fugitive University of Connecticut student wanted in two killings, was caught in Maryland after a manhunt that stretched on for days, police announced Wednesday night.

Manfredonia was taken into custody at a truck stop in Hagerstown near the Washington County Sheriff’s Office following a six-day, multi-state manhunt involving several law enforcement agencies after he allegedly killed two men and bolted from Connecticut on Sunday.

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The University of Connecticut senior was not injured and no officers were hurt.

The Hagerstown Police Department said an Uber driver dropped off Manfredonia, 23, in the city on Tuesday.

Investigators said the rampage began last Friday when Manfredonia allegedly hacked to death Ted DeMers, 62, with a machete in Willington, Conn.

He then went to another home and allegedly held another man hostage before stealing his guns and truck and speeding to Derby, Conn.

In Derby, Manfredonia is believed to have shot and killed Nicholas Eisele, a former high school classmate, and forced Eisele’s girlfriend into her 2016 Black Volkswagen Jetta before leaving the state. She was found uninjured in Columbia, New Jersey. Police found Eisele shot to death on Sunday.

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Pennsylvania police said Manfredonia took an Uber to a Walmart in East Stroudsburg, not far from the New Jersey border. Police discovered through interviews with the driver and from security camera footage that Manfredonia walked behind the store and onto railroad tracks, investigators said.

Credit: Connecticut State Police

State police also noted that Manfredonia had been seen on surveillance video at a Sheetz in Chambersburg, Pa. A Hyundai Santa Fe reported stolen Monday was recovered near the Sheetz.

RELATED: UConn student captured in Maryland grew up on same street as Adam Lanza

Police later suspected Manfredonia to be in the Hagerstown, Md., area, where a ride-hailing service dropped off someone matching his description Wednesday.

Investigators have not elaborated on a possible motive for the crimes.

Manfredonia is a 2015 graduate of Newtown High School. He is a senior at the University of Connecticut, but has not lived on the campus in Storrs, Conn., at the time of the crimes or during recent semesters, UConn spokesperson Stephanie Reitz told WVIT.

A lawyer for the suspect’s family, Michael Dolan, said Wednesday that Manfredonia, an honors engineering student at UConn, had not shown signs of violence. He said the Newtown native had a history of depression and anxiety, but would not say whether he was on any medication for those conditions.

“This came as a total surprise to everybody based on Peter’s past,” he said. “He’s been a kind-hearted person who has no history of violence or any trouble with the law.”

Fox News’ Marta Dhanis, Danielle Wallace and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source Article from https://www.fox5dc.com/news/peter-manfredonia-fugitive-uconn-student-wanted-in-2-killings-caught-in-maryland-after-manhunt

El golero de la selección nacional, Fernando Muslera, llegó a Turquía quince minutos antes de que los militares cerraran el aeropuerto. Dice que no percibe un clima de violencia, aunque por precaución está en su casa.

“Estoy sorprendido. Llegué desde Montevideo hace tres horas al aeropuerto y quince minutos después los militares lo cerraron. Estoy en mi casa y me ha llamado todo el mundo, dicen que la cosa está difícil pero yo veo gente en la calle. Incluso vi que en el aeropuerto había militares pero también mucha gente y ellos se fueron. Como no sé turco no entiendo muy bien lo que está pasando, pero hay mucha gente en la calle y no nada violento”, dijo el futbolista a El País.

Muslera está solo, sin su familia, porque mañana debe sumarse a la concentración de su equipo, el Galatasaray, en Suiza. “Por ahora no tengo ninguna indicación. Tengo que irme mañana a Suiza pero voy a esperar para ver si me muevo o me quedo en Estambul”, dijo a El País.
“Hace tiempo que la cosa está complicada por acá, yo voy a esperar”, agregó.

Source Article from http://www.elpais.com.uy/informacion/muslera-quince-minutos-golpe.html

White House aides describe the strategy not so much as delegation but as an concerted effort to restore confidence with a public battered by the contradictory messaging and scorched-earth politics of the Trump years. In just over a week, the White House has booked 80 TV and radio interviews with 20 senior administration officials, members of the Covid-19 response team and Cabinet secretary designates. They’ve had officials on each major network, booking them on every Sunday show in the first week. And they are working with CNN to have three of the doctors in charge of its Covid-19 response take questions from the public during a coronavirus town hall, said Mariel Sáez, the White House director of broadcast media.

Who’s not been booked for any sit-down interviews: Biden.

But the president hasn’t exactly been absent either. He appeared for brief ceremonies where he signed executive orders and delivered mostly scripted remarks. He’s taken a handful of questions from the news media. And he’s expected to give a major foreign policy address on Monday amid a planned trip to the State Department, his first visit to a Cabinet agency.

As main protagonists go, Biden’s role has been comparatively limited — a startling contrast to the omnipresent president who preceded him. Donald Trump didn’t so much love the spotlight as he sought to totally consume it. Whether he was sending Twitter screeds at all hours or shouting answers over the ear-splitting blades of his presidential aircraft, Trump craved media attention like no American leader before him.

Biden’s current approach is nearly the antithesis. It also stands in contrast to how he operated earlier in his career. As a senator, he was known for his loquaciousness. As vice president, there was an ever-simmering fear in the White House that he would trample on the message of the day with his proclivity to freelance (a fear that often did not become realized).

Biden’s own White House aides are now as ubiquitous as he is, some perhaps even more so. Already, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious diseases expert, domestic policy adviser Susan Rice, economic adviser Brian Deese and climate heads John Kerry and Gina McCarthy have cycled through the White House briefing room to answer questions. Press Secretary Jen Psaki was non-committal as to when Biden may be taking questions there, offering that they are always looking for opportunities to do so. Trump, during his early time in office, brought the cameras in for his sit down with automobile industry leaders as well as union leaders and workers. He did the same for speeches at the CIA and DHS, and traveled to Philadelphia for a televised address to the congressional GOP retreat. Whereas Biden has not done a television interview, Trump had conducted three by this point in his presidency.

“He’s secure. He’s not threatened by someone else being in the spotlight,” Paul Begala, the veteran Democratic strategist, said of Biden. “In fact, I think he likes that. He’s showing the country that he’s pulled together a really talented and diverse team.”

During the presidential campaign, Biden turned his pledge to hire and rely on the advice of experts into a weapon against Trump. And his advisers went into the transition acutely aware of the history of presidents who shouldered too much of the load. Jimmy Carter, the first president elected after Richard Nixon left office, was a poor delegator and quickly came to be seen as unable to meet the demands of the office.

“You can start with character, then you go to candor, compassion, all of the things that Trump lacked and Biden and his team are talking about,” Begala said. “But then you have to go to actually getting stuff done. They seem to be enormously aware of the fact that simply not being Trump is no longer enough.”

Among those taking to the airwaves is White House chief of staff Ron Klain, who is seen inside the administration as someone the public trusts on the pandemic. Klain has had a major public presence in messaging around Covid, with interviews and an active Twitter persona he developed since managing the Obama administration’s Ebola response.

During that crisis, Klain himself discovered the importance of capable deputies. On days when public anxiety about the virus was rising, he coined an acronym and emailed people “PTFOTV.” “Everyone in my office knew what PTFOTV stood for,” Klain told POLITICO last year. “It was ‘Put Tony Fauci On TV.’”

Fauci, who maintained high approval ratings during Trump’s final year, is now back in the role and being deputized by Klain all over again. And, in his media renaissance, he has gone to some length to tout his liberation from Trump. “The idea that you can get up and talk about what you know, what the evidence is, what the science is,” Fauci said, “it is somewhat of a liberating feeling.”

But with that freedom comes complications for an administration that is simultaneously putting many top officials out in public and hoping they all stay on the same message. In a Thursday event sponsored by the National Education Association, Fauci stressed Biden wants to keep to his goal of reopening most K-8 schools within his first 100 days. But Fauci added it “may not happen because there may be mitigating circumstances,” a hypothetical scenario the White House has avoided entertaining.

There’s little doubt that whomever replaced Trump in the White House would keep their public utterances more in line with historical standards. On Twitter alone, Biden has yet to announce anything approaching news, let alone reveal — as Trump often did — that he’d fired a top aide or scuttling his party’s congressional negotiations.

Silence can have its advantages. Former president Barack Obama went long stretches without popping up in public, particularly as Congress engaged over high-stakes negotiations. His aides were eager to deploy him when his input would have the most impact. And they were mindful, too, that Obama’s entry into a public debate could instantly polarize it — and give Republicans a handy political foil.

During his own campaign, Biden perfected the act of laying low, to such an extent that Democrats joked he was part of an Avengers-like ensemble rather than a solo act.

Some, including people close to Biden, say while it’s not a driving factor, there is a generational component to his decision not to scramble for attention. At 78, he is the oldest president in history. His tech savviness is not regularly touted. He has pledged to be a bridge to a future generation of Democrats — who welcome whatever bit of the attention he can give them.

One of those next-generation Democrats, Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.), recalled speaking privately with Biden after he dropped out of the presidential race. Biden, Swalwell told POLITICO, said “he would do all he could if elected to ‘pass the torch.’” The congressman said he believes Biden views the deployment of experts and surrogates as a nod to the public that the government is working on its behalf.

“These are the faces,” Swalwell said of Biden’s current approach. “It’s not a show.”

Some faces in the administration have been more prominent than others. Vice President Kamala Harris has been by Biden’s side at many meetings and appearances, as her press team has been careful to note. This week, she was deployed for interviews with TV stations and editorial boards in Arizona and West Virginia, states with Democratic senators the administration is courting to support its priorities.

Then there’s Pete Buttigieg, known for his non-stop media hits during his presidential bid and as one of the Biden campaign’s most effective surrogates.

Buttigieg has made a dizzying number of appearances in his new role as Transportation secretary designate, stopping off at “The View,” “Morning Joe” (twice) and another MSNBC show, CNN (twice), NPR, Jimmy Fallon’s Tonight show, local TV stations in Green Bay and Detroit, an interview with the Washington Post, and a sit-down with “Captain America” star Chris Evans’ media company — all since mid-December.

Presidential nominees traditionally hold to a strict code of omertà before the Senate waves them through. But a Buttigieg adviser said the issues he’s talking about — Covid relief, Biden’s “Buy American” executive order, and climate change — are all “important transportation priorities that Pete is eager to get to work on at DOT, if confirmed.”

Buttigieg’s actual role in the administration has sometimes taken a back seat to whatever news is dominating the day. In a recent CNN interview with Don Lemon, he was asked about the Senate impeachment hearings involving Trump, Biden’s devotion to unity, and the president’s reversal of the transgender military ban — a topic to which he has a personal connection as an openly gay veteran.

Rather than duck, Buttigieg followed the lead set by others in Biden’s orbit and engaged, calling Biden’s order an example of what it really means to “support our troops.”

Natasha Korecki contributed to this report.

Source Article from https://www.politico.com/news/2021/01/31/joe-biden-spotlight-464003

The Trump administration has been on high alert in response to what military and intelligence officials have deemed specific and credible threats from Iran against U.S. personnel in the Middle East.

But President Trump is frustrated with some of his top advisers, who he thinks could rush the United States into a military confrontation with Iran and shatter his long-standing pledge to withdraw from costly foreign wars, according to several U.S. officials. Trump prefers a diplomatic approach to resolving tensions and wants to speak directly with Iran’s leaders.

Disagreements over assessing and responding to the recent intelligence — which includes a directive from Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, that some American officials interpret as a threat to U.S. personnel in the Middle East — are also fraying alliances with foreign allies, according to multiple officials in the United States and Europe.

Trump grew angry last week and over the weekend about what he sees as warlike planning that is getting ahead of his own thinking, said a senior administration official with knowledge of conversations Trump had regarding national security adviser John Bolton and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

“They are getting way out ahead of themselves, and Trump is annoyed,” the official said. “There was a scramble for Bolton and Pompeo and others to get on the same page.”

Bolton, who advocated regime change in Iran before joining the White House last year, is “just in a different place” from Trump, although the president has been a fierce critic of Iran since long before he hired Bolton. Trump “wants to talk to the Iranians; he wants a deal” and is open to negotiation with the Iranian government, the official said.

“He is not comfortable with all this ‘regime change’ talk,” which to his ears echoes the discussion of removing Iraqi President Saddam Hussein before the 2003 U.S. invasion, said the official, who like others spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private deliberations.

When asked about the accounts of Trump’s frustration with Bolton, National Security Council spokesman Garrett Marquis said, “This reporting doesn’t accurately reflect reality.”

Trump is not inclined to respond forcefully unless there is a “big move” from the Iranians, a senior White House official said. Still, the president is willing to respond forcefully if there are American deaths or a dramatic escalation, the official said.

While Trump grumbles about Bolton somewhat regularly, his discontent with his national security adviser is not near the levels it reached with Rex Tillerson when he served as Trump’s secretary of state, the official added.

Trump denied any “infighting” related to his Middle East policies in a tweet on Wednesday. “There is no infighting whatsoever,” Trump said. “Different opinions are expressed and I make a decisive and final decision — it is a very simple process. All sides, views, and policies are covered. I’m sure that Iran will want to talk soon.”

On Wednesday morning, the president attended a Situation Room briefing on Iran, a person familiar with the meeting said.

Pentagon and intelligence officials said that three distinct Iranian actions have triggered alarms: information suggesting an Iranian threat against U.S. diplomatic facilities in the Iraqi cities of Baghdad and Irbil; U.S. concerns that Iran may be preparing to mount rocket or missile launchers on small ships in the Persian Gulf; and a directive from Khamenei to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and regular Iranian military units that some U.S. officials have interpreted as a potential threat to U.S. military and diplomatic personnel. On Wednesday, the State Department ordered nonessential personnel to leave the U.S. missions in Baghdad and Irbil.

In Tokyo on Thursday, visiting Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said Tehran was exercising “maximum restraint.”

“We believe that escalation by the United States is unacceptable and uncalled for,” Zarif told his Japanese counterpart, Taro Kono.

U.S. and European officials said there are disagreements about Iran’s ultimate intentions and whether the new intelligence merits a more forceful response than previous Iranian actions.

Some worry that the renewed saber-rattling could create a miscalculation on the ground, said two Western officials familiar with the matter. And Iran’s use of proxy forces, the officials said, means it does not have absolute control over militias, which could attack U.S. personnel and provoke a devastating U.S. response that in turn prompts a counter-escalation.

Bolton warned in a statement last week that “any attack on United States interests or on those of our allies will be met with unrelenting force.”

Military officials have described themselves as torn between their desire to avoid open confrontation with Iran and their concern about the recent intelligence, which led the commander of the U.S. Central Command, Gen. Kenneth McKenzie Jr., to request a host of additional military assets, including an aircraft carrier and strategic bombers.

Multiple officials said uniformed officers from the Joint Chiefs of Staff, led by its chairman, Marine Corps Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr., have been among the leading voices articulating the costs of war with Iran.

Other officials said the view that deterrence rather than conflict was required was “monolithic” across the Pentagon and was shared by civilian officials led by acting defense secretary Patrick Shanahan, whom Trump nominated last week to remain in the job but who has not yet been confirmed by the Senate. As the tensions have intensified, Shanahan has been in touch multiple times a day with other senior leaders, including Bolton, Pompeo and Dunford, officials said.

Some defense officials have described Bolton’s more aggressive approach as troubling.

Defense officials said that they are considering whether they will field additional weaponry or personnel to the Persian Gulf region to strengthen their deterrent against possible action by Iran or proxy groups, but that they hope additional deployments will prevent rather than fuel attacks.

Trump’s fears of entangling the United States in another war have been a powerful counterweight to the more bellicose positions of some of his advisers.

Trump has called the Iraq War a massive and avoidable blunder, and his political support was built in part on the idea that he would not repeat such a costly expenditure of American blood and treasure.

A new deal with Iran, which Trump has said he could one day envision, would be a replacement for the international nuclear compact he left last year that was forged by the Obama administration. Trump’s early policy on Iran, which predated Bolton’s arrival, was aimed at neutralizing the pact and clearing the way for an agreement he thought would more strictly keep Iran in check.

Trump’s administration has been frustrated, however, that Iran and the rest of the signatories to the nuclear agreement have kept it in force.

Trump’s anger over what he considered a more warlike footing than he wanted was a main driver in Pompeo’s decision last weekend to suddenly cancel a stop in Moscow and on short notice fly instead to Brussels, where he sought meetings on Monday with the European nations that are parties to the Iran nuclear deal, two officials said. Pompeo was not accorded the symbolic welcome of joining their joint Iran-focused meeting. Instead, he met with foreign ministers one by one.

Pompeo’s visit was meant to convey both U.S. alarm over the recent intelligence on Iran and Washington’s desire for diplomacy, not war, two officials said.

But European leaders, who have been watching the febrile atmosphere in Washington with alarm, have not been convinced, according to conversations with 10 European diplomats and officials from seven countries, all of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive assessments of Washington and Tehran.

Pompeo “didn’t show us any evidence” about his reasons Washington is so concerned about potential Iranian aggression, said one senior European official who took part in one of Pompeo’s meetings. The official’s delegation left the meeting unconvinced of the American case and puzzled about why Pompeo had come at all.

Many officials in European capitals said they fear that conflict with Iran could have a cascading effect on their relations with Washington, ripping open divisions on unrelated issues.

They distrust Trump’s Iran policy, fearing that key White House advisers are ginning up rationales for war. And leaders need to win reelection from citizens who hold Trump in low regard and would punish them for fighting alongside Americans on the Iran issue.

Democratic members of Congress, while traditionally strong supporters of pressuring Iran, have also raised questions about the intelligence and the administration’s apparent flirtation with combat. In a statement on the Senate floor on Wednesday, Sen. Robert Menendez (N.J.), the ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, demanded “answers from this administration about Iran . . . and about what intelligence this administration has.” So far, he said, the administration has ignored those demands and refused to provide briefings.

“We cannot, and we will not, be led into dangerous military adventurism,” he said.

Anxieties over the heightened threat environment spilled over into Capitol Hill on Wednesday during a classified briefing. Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) argued that the intelligence warranted an escalation against Iran, said one person with knowledge of the briefing. In response, Democratic Rep. Seth Moulton (Mass.) accused her of exaggerating the threat in what the person described as a “very heated exchange.”

A representative for Moulton declined to comment. A spokesman for Cheney said the congresswoman “will never comment on classified briefings and believes that any member or staffer who does puts the security of the nation at risk.”

Michael Birnbaum in Brussels, Simon Denyer in Tokyo and Missy Ryan, Karen DeYoung and Carol Morello in Washington contributed to this report.

Source Article from https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/trump-frustrated-by-advisers-is-not-convinced-the-time-is-right-to-attack-iran/2019/05/15/bbf5835e-1fbf-4035-a744-12799213e824_story.html

The winter surge of COVID-19 brutalized much of Los Angeles County, sending case rates and deaths skyrocketing for weeks.

But in some neighborhoods, the pandemic’s wrath was barely felt.

In West Hollywood, Malibu and Playa del Rey, infection rates actually fell, or increased much less than elsewhere, according to a Times data analysis of more than 300 neighborhoods and cities across the county.

Those communities’ relative good fortune can be explained by some obvious demographic factors, such as Malibu’s low housing density and West Hollywood’s large population of singles able to work from home.

But residents and city officials also point to other factors they believe helped keep the pandemic under control: sea breezes, easy access to open space for exercising, a strong culture of mask compliance and, crucially, limited contact with other people.

“I am keenly aware that I am in the minority of people,” said Shayna Moon, a project manager for a technology company who works from home in Playa del Rey, where case rates declined during the surge. “So few people have been protected in the way that people in my age and income bracket and education have been.”

The data analysis underscores the wrenching inequities unveiled by the pandemic in L.A. County and beyond.

Some areas — the Eastside, eastern San Fernando Valley, South L.A. and southeastern part of the county — have been devastated by the coronavirus. Many of these are low-income communities with a high number of residents who are essential workers, putting their lives at risk at supermarkets, manufacturing firms and other businesses. They are far more likely to live in overcrowded conditions, bringing the coronavirus home from work and spreading it among the household.

Hard-hit areas lack the assets — vast recreational open space and a population with the economic means to stay home, get goods delivered and work remotely — of affluent communities that fared better. It was not just living in sprawling single-family homes rather than denser apartments that made the difference, but additional economic and lifestyle factors.

When taken as a whole, these factors paint a tale of two surges — showing that the luxuries of location and privilege play an important role in one’s ability to avoid the coronavirus.

This story, which examined weekly case rates between Nov. 15 and Jan. 15, is about some of the places the holiday surge passed over.

Malibu

In the courtyard of a Malibu shopping plaza last week, Renee Henn, 27, sat on a bench in the sun as people milled around sipping coffee, chatting over lunch at physically distanced tables and popping into a Pilates studio.

Henn, who lives in a house near the beach with her father and his girlfriend, has been able to work remotely for a local tech company during the pandemic. She said lack of density, lifestyle factors and even the Malibu climate could help explain the area’s relatively tame COVID-19 numbers.

“We’re near the water, and the sea air heals,” she said. “Everybody is outside all the time.”

While L.A. County’s coronavirus case rate exploded by 450% during the surge, the case rate for the city of Malibu only doubled. That places it near the top of the list of communities least affected by the surge.

Pricey real estate may have helped to insulate Malibu. The median home value in the seaside community is $2 million, according to census data, and many of the essential workers at restaurants, grocery stores and other businesses in its compact commercial district live outside the area.

The city’s affluent residents were able to pivot to working remotely soon after the pandemic started, and most City Hall services and meetings immediately transitioned to online.

“A lot of people in Malibu were able to adjust to working from home,” said the city’s mayor, Mikke Pierson, “and I think it made a huge difference compared to all the people that had to head out on 9-to-5 jobs that required them to be out among other people.”

Pierson noted that Malibu does not have nursing homes or long-term care facilities (although there have been efforts to establish some), which have been hubs for outbreaks of the virus.

But as a tourist destination, Malibu poses some risks. With up to 15 million visitors a year, Malibu considers crowding on beaches and trails to be a “real concern” during the pandemic, said city spokesman Matt Myerhoff.

To encourage healthy behavior, the City Council in November passed an ordinance requiring the use of masks. It is enforced with a $50 fine that can be avoided if the person in violation complies immediately. The city also placed digital signage along highways encouraging the use of face coverings in public.

“The city has been using all of its communications channels to repeat and reinforce the [Los Angeles County] public health officials’ safety recommendations [and] health orders,” Myerhoff said.

Additionally, the area has plenty of open space. Julia Bagnoli, 36, lives in an “Airstream in the woods,” she said, in the hilly area of Topanga just east of Malibu. She has a number of jobs — including alcohol treatment counseling and teaching yoga at a children’s school — but her primary occupation is Vedic astrology, which she has been able to practice remotely throughout the pandemic.

Compared with her woodsy home, “the city is just more crowded,” she said while playing with her puppy Usha at a shopping plaza on Pacific Coast Highway. She noted that there are only about 10,000 people in Topanga and fewer than 14,000 in Malibu. “There’s like 14,000 people in a four-block radius in Hollywood. We’re just more spread out.”

West Hollywood

West Hollywood, in some ways, would seem a prime candidate as a superspreader locale. The city jams 36,000 people into less than 2 square miles.

But while other densely populated areas in the county, including parts of South L.A. and the San Gabriel Valley, saw coronavirus case rates skyrocket by more than 1,000% during the surge, West Hollywood saw its cases climb by only 46%.

The main difference: household size. West Hollywood is a place where many residents live alone, according to city data. And many of the area’s residents have been able to work from home throughout the pandemic.

Those options are off the table for many of the essential workers and people who depend on multigenerational housing in parts of L.A. that were hit hard by the surge.

Dex Thompson, a 33-year-old actor, said he is the sole occupant of his house near the busy intersection of Fairfax Avenue and Santa Monica Boulevard and has been going on “Zoom auditions” since the start of the pandemic. Even the decision to audition has been deliberate, he said.

“There’s a little bit of narcissism here,” Thompson said of West Hollywood, as he snacked on sushi and beet juice outside Whole Foods. “Everyone feels a little important, like, ‘I’m about to be somebody, and you’re not, so am I going to risk my life for you or for this opportunity?’”

That luxury — of housing, work and choices — has, in many ways, been a determining factor amid the pandemic.

Lisa Cera, a stylist, said she and her business partner have managed to keep their business afloat by working out of her apartment.

Like Thompson, she is the sole occupant of her home, which is around the corner from West Hollywood’s commercial corridor. She has three interns — two of whom work remotely — and is tested for the coronavirus any time she has to step onto a film set.

Although Cera has friends on the East Coast who have contracted COVID-19, she said she didn’t know anyone in West Hollywood who has had it.

Keeping fit may have helped her and others in her neighborhood to stay healthy during the pandemic, she said. She hikes in Runyon Canyon almost every day and is careful to pull her mask tighter when someone gets close to her on the popular trail.

Though ocean breezes and gourmet juices may seem like less-than-quantifiable factors, there is a case to be made for their correlation to health and avoidance of COVID-19.

Lifelong, systemic lack of access to primary healthcare and nutrition, as well as environmental factors like pollution, can contribute to a higher likelihood of illness and death from the virus, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Many of those factors have long plagued the poorer, denser and more diverse parts of the county that were hit hardest during the surge.

West Hollywood’s network of social programs may have also made a difference. The city provided free grocery and meal delivery for vulnerable residents, expanded assistance for renters and small businesses and developed advanced technological outreach and communication efforts, according to city spokeswoman Lisa Belsanti.

Additionally, West Hollywood, like Malibu, passed an ordinance requiring the use of masks in public.

Some residents said the combination of factors worked.

“We’re a small city,” said Douglas, 49, a real estate developer who declined to give his last name. “West Hollywood is good at communicating policies and getting the information out.”

Playa del Rey

In Playa del Rey, an affluent beachfront neighborhood near Los Angeles International Airport, the pandemic has barely registered.

In fact, infection rates declined by 25% during the two-month period identified by The Times.

The area in the heart of Silicon Beach doesn’t have Malibu’s spaciousness, but it seemed to have demographic advantages. The coastal community is largely residential, with a mix of single-family homes and apartments, and it has fewer crowded households than most neighborhoods and cities in the county, according to a Times review of data from the U.S. Census Bureau.

It’s also among the most affluent — and has a high percentage of white-collar workers, meaning many presumably have the advantage of working from home.

Moon, the project manager and a Midwest transplant to the neighborhood, has been cautious about following public health guidelines, she said, expressing gratitude that her employer has allowed her to work from home since April.

Moon said she doesn’t step foot outside her apartment without a mask — and rarely ventures farther than neighborhood groceries and drugstores.

“I assume very little risk on a daily basis. I’ve basically been insulated from it because of the demographic that I’m in,” she said.

But the public health precautions — such as stay-at-home orders and intermittent bans on indoor and outdoor dining — have taken their toll on the neighborhood.

At Playa Provisions, a well-known eatery just off the beach, business is down by 75%.

“We love being that go-to staple and dependable location for people to come,” said Brooke Williamson, the restaurant’s co-owner and co-chef. “Every moment of this has been so painful.”

She and her staff never relaxed their safety precautions, even as the neighborhood fared better than other parts of the county, she said.

“I tried not to think about the area not being dangerous. I always treated my restaurant and staff and family as if we were in the highest-risk areas to try to avoid being relaxed in any way.”

While Williamson talked, more than a dozen people walked by her restaurant. All wore masks.

Source Article from https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-02-28/winter-covid-surge-uneven-in-los-angeles