| Intelligence whistleblowers face a dangerous path to Congress Posted: 20 Sep 2019 03:31 PM PDT  One of the most perplexing questions for outsiders about the Trump whistleblower is if the complaint was so urgent, why didn't the whistleblower go straight to Congress?
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| Bill de Blasio's net worth as he pulls out of 2020 presidential race Posted: 20 Sep 2019 01:24 PM PDT  New York Mayor de Blasio announced that he is officially dropping out of the 2020 presidential race -- here's a look at his current finances.
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| 'It's happening': Alien enthusiasts descend on Area 51 for a UFO party Posted: 20 Sep 2019 09:41 AM PDT  An event that began as a Facebook joke is expected to attract several thousand people to a remote area of the Nevada desert over the next three days.
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| Iran issues 'battlefield' warning and U.S. deploys troops Posted: 21 Sep 2019 08:10 AM PDT  Any country that attacks Iran will become the "main battlefield", the Revolutionary Guards warned Saturday after Washington ordered reinforcements to the Gulf following attacks on Saudi oil that it blames on Tehran.
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| Sheriff: 1 officer dead, 1 injured in Louisiana shooting Posted: 20 Sep 2019 05:17 PM PDT  One police officer was fatally shot and another wounded Friday after a vehicle chase north of New Orleans, authorities said. Mandeville Police Chief Gerald Sticker confirmed one officer's death and the other's injury from gunfire in his community on the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain, near U.S. 190 and Louisiana Highway 22. Sticker said at a news conference that the wounded officer, who's being treated at Lakeview Regional Medical Center, is expected to survive.
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| AOC's first congressional endorsements reflect subtle shift away from outsider status Posted: 20 Sep 2019 02:00 AM PDT  Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez appears to be playing more of an insider game in some of her recent endorsements. But she's insisting her insurgency is focused on policy, not merely disruption.
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| Dozens detained in Kazakhstan at anti-China protests Posted: 21 Sep 2019 06:36 AM PDT  ALMATY/NUR-SULTAN (Reuters) - Police detained dozens in Kazakhstan's two largest cities on Saturday as they took part in the latest protest against China's influence in the Central Asian republic. Neighboring China is already one of Kazakhstan's largest investors and trade partners and a plan to relocate a number of Chinese plants and factories to the former Soviet republic has faced public opposition. The latest round of protests on Saturday was organized by supporters of Mukhtar Ablyazov, a fugitive banker living in France who has been the fiercest critic of Kazakhstan's first president, Nursultan Nazarbayev.
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| At School, 'Everyone Vapes,' and Adults Are in Crisis Mode Posted: 21 Sep 2019 07:17 AM PDT  CRYSTAL LAKE, Ill. -- In Alabama, a school removed the doors from bathroom stalls to stop students from sneaking inside to vape. In Colorado, a school decided to forfeit a school volleyball game after finding "widespread vaping" and other infractions by the team. And in Pennsylvania, at a school where administrators have tried installing sensors to detect vaping in bathrooms and locker rooms, students caught with vape devices face a $50 fine and a three-day suspension.At least 530 people have been sickened by mysterious lung illnesses related to using e-cigarettes with nicotine or vaping THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, and at least eight have died. That has sent high schools, the epicenters of youth vaping, racing to give teenagers a new, urgent message: Vaping can be deadly.Federal health officials have yet to pinpoint an exact cause of the recent illnesses, but the alarming pattern has put principals and teachers into crisis mode. They are holding assemblies to warn students about the dangers. They are getting creative with rules to make it harder for students to secretly vape in school bathrooms, hallways and even classrooms. They are trying to train parents and teachers on the wide array of vape devices, which look like pens or flash drives and which many adults do not even recognize.During an assembly at one suburban Chicago high school this week, hundreds of students, many dressed in school colors of orange and black in honor of homecoming, saw an X-ray image of a young man's lungs, cloudy and damaged, on an auditorium screen.He had recently been hospitalized after vaping and placed in a medically induced coma for a week, a substance-abuse consultant told the students from a stage."His lungs are now that of a 70-year -old. He's in his 20s," the consultant, Ashleigh Nowakowski, said. "Can you imagine how that's going to affect the rest of his life? He can't run. He can't play sports."The students watched solemnly. A few squirmed in their seats.Administrators at American high schools have long tried to warn students about the risks of vaping, which gained popularity several years ago as an alternative to cigarettes and works by heating liquid and turning it into vapor to be inhaled. But the outbreak of illnesses has brought new levels of urgency and attention to the issue. Students who had brushed off the warnings in the past, saying that vaping was relatively harmless, could no longer do so.After the assembly, at Crystal Lake Central High School, 45 miles northwest of Chicago, some students said they were skeptical that vaping was as dangerous as the presentation suggested.The students told of a high school ecosystem where vaping devices are easily obtained, and refill cartridges with THC oil, known as carts, are sold for $20 apiece. It is not uncommon, these students said, for seniors to sell vape pens to freshmen, eager to take up vaping.Opportunities to vape discreetly are everywhere, they said -- in an empty hallway, a bathroom stall or the back row of a classroom where a teacher cannot possibly monitor every student's move. Older students said they tended to leave campus for lunch, vaping in their cars along the way."It's rare to find someone who doesn't do it," said Alexis Padilla, 16, a junior. "You can't go on social media without someone's videos of them doing it."Last week, the Trump administration said it planned to ban most flavored e-cigarettes and nicotine pods, an attempt to curtail use among teenagers. States tend to regulate e-cigarettes like other nicotine products, and laws vary from state to state. At least a dozen states have passed laws restricting sales of e-cigarettes to young people; in Illinois, Arkansas and other states, the legal age for purchasing nicotine products, including e-cigarettes, is 21. In Texas, minors can be fined for possessing e-cigarettes.But many teenagers sidestep the age restrictions by buying e-cigarettes online or from friends.In one group of the Crystal Lake students -- girls carrying patterned backpacks and wearing tattered Chuck Taylors -- three said they personally knew people who had become seriously ill after vaping.One friend who had vaped nicotine for two years using a Juul, the dominant seller in the market, was hospitalized with a respiratory lung defect, but has recovered, one student said. Another girl who vaped regularly suddenly couldn't breathe one day, the students said, and she now has to use an inhaler every four hours.Sophia Scarfe, a 17-year-old senior, said her parents routinely sent her news articles about the dangers of vaping. Many students have moved beyond vaping nicotine, she said, routinely using THC oils instead. "Vaping anything else other than nicotine is way more common," she said.Alcohol is still widely consumed among teenagers, they said. But "vaping is the big thing," said Nyanan Bey, 17, a senior.One student openly laughed when she heard a widely cited statistic from the 2019 National Youth Tobacco Survey that estimated that 1 in 4 youths between the ages of 12 and 17 have tried vaping nicotine or THC at least once."Yeah, that's too low," she said. "Literally everyone vapes."Health officials suspect that vaping-related illnesses and deaths are underreported, and that doctors have only recently begun to connect vaping to mysterious lung ailments.And educators said they were beginning to grapple with the reality that a new generation of American teenagers, who would be loath to pick up cigarettes, are now addicted to nicotine through vaping.There is nothing out of the ordinary about the students at Crystal Lake Central, a school of 1,500 students, said Steve Greiner, student services coordinator."The kids in our school are like any other school," he said. "People are really starting to realize, 'Holy cow, this was seen as the answer to our prayers to get people off cigarettes.' Now it's turned into this."Administrators there have stationed teachers in the hallways between classes to deter vaping. Some have worried that Crystal Lake is only 30 miles from a town in Wisconsin where the police this month said they uncovered an illegal vape-pen factory that was producing 3,000 cartridges of THC-laced oil a day, with a distribution network that is believed to have been extensive.At a separate informational session for teachers in the auditorium after school on Wednesday, another substance-abuse consultant guided teachers through the world of teenage vaping. The numbers "710" -- which spell "oil" upside down -- are a code for vaping, the consultant explained. Vaping devices might be found in unlikely, out-of-view places -- inside the cord of a hoodie or dangling from a key chain. "Girls sew them into their jeans, next to the zipper," Dave Shutters, the dean of students, added.In Crystal Lake, the typical response to a student caught vaping is counseling and other efforts to provide information about the dangers. Some schools have tried vaping support groups.At Nerinx Hall, an all-girls Catholic school in the St. Louis area, students are planning a peer-driven "amnesty week," where they hope to make an "emotional appeal" to one another and offer a chance to dump vaping equipment at a secure drop-off location, said Meta Stephens, the senior class treasurer."We really want it to be no pressure: You will not get in trouble for this," said Stephens, 17, who is helping plan the event this fall. "We really just want to help you stop if you want to."This article originally appeared in The New York Times.(C) 2019 The New York Times Company
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| 3 people have died as Tropical Depression Imelda strikes Texas with flash floods 'worse than Harvey' Posted: 20 Sep 2019 11:27 AM PDT  Tropical Depression Imelda may drop up to 35 inches of rain onto southeastern Texas, the same region devastated by Hurricane Harvey.
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| Trump slams 'partisan' whistleblower, Biden pushes back Posted: 21 Sep 2019 12:22 AM PDT  US President Donald Trump on Friday vigorously rejected a whistleblower's claim of wrongdoing, amid reports he used a call with Ukraine's president to pressure him to investigate the son of Trump's Democratic rival Joe Biden. The whistleblower's secret complaint has triggered a tense showdown between Congress, whose Democratic leaders are demanding to review the complaint, and the executive branch which has barred them from doing so. It has also raised concerns Trump sought to strong-arm Ukraine into providing damaging information on the president's possible 2020 challenger, which would represent dangerous foreign meddling in the US election -- similar to the interference blamed on Russia in 2016, when Trump defeated Hillary Clinton.
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| Could Bermuda feel effects from Jerry next week? Posted: 21 Sep 2019 03:08 AM PDT  While the worst of Jerry spared the northern Caribbean, forecasters believe the tropical storm will directly impact Bermuda next week.Jerry weakened from a Category 1 hurricane to a tropical storm early Saturday morning while passing a few hundred miles to the north of the northern Leeward Islands, Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. Jerry is seen swirling north of the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico Saturday afternoon. (GOES-EAST/NOAA) Although Jerry has been moving towards the west-northwest over the past few days, a cold front set to sweep off the East Coast of the United States on Monday will pull the tropical system northward early next week.While this northward turn will spare the United States from direct impacts, Jerry will still enhance the rough surf battering Florida's east coast through the weekend.Jerry's expected northward turn may put the storm on a collision course with Bermuda. "Jerry will pass close to or perhaps over Bermuda Tuesday or Tuesday night," AccuWeather Hurricane Expert Dan Kottlowski said.Jerry is expected to regain Category 1 hurricane status by this time. A Category 1 hurricane has maximum sustained winds of 74-95 mph with higher gusts. "Bermuda can experience potentially dangerous winds, flooding rain, storm surge and rough surf as a result of Jerry," AccuWeather Meteorologist Mary Gilbert said."These impacts will be amplified if Jerry does ultimately pass right over the islands," she added.Just this past week, former Major Hurricane Humberto unleashed fierce winds as it passed just to the north of Bermuda.Bermuda's building codes require dwellings to withstand sustained wind speeds of 110 mph (177 km/h), which is the equivalent of a high-end Category 2 hurricane. A majority of properties are made of stone and mortar.As a result, structural damage is likely to be minimal with Jerry, even with its projected path very close to or over Bermuda.However, strong winds can toss around loose items like toys and cause them to become potentially deadly projectiles. Power outages and tree damage may also occur.Residents should make sure to secure or safely house any outdoor furniture, planters or decorative items ahead of Jerry's arrival.Waterspouts can occur within Jerry's rain bands.The rain and wind could hinder any continued recovery efforts from Humberto, according to Gilbert.Conditions will dramatically improve across Bermuda later Wednesday as Jerry gets swept northeastward.AccuWeather meteorologists will be closely monitoring any potential impacts Jerry may have on Atlantic Canada late next week.In the wake of Jerry, several other tropical disturbances are being closely monitored across the Atlantic basin.
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| Michelle Carter, who encouraged boyfriend to kill himself, denied early release from prison Posted: 21 Sep 2019 09:59 AM PDT  The Massachusetts Parole Board called Michelle Carter's behavior 'irrational' and lacking sincerity as the board denied her early release request.
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| The Latest: Man suspected of shooting Chicago cop captured Posted: 21 Sep 2019 02:45 PM PDT  Chicago police say a man believed to be the suspect in the shooting and wounding of an officer has been shot and captured. Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi (goo-lee-EHL'-mee) tweeted Saturday that officers apprehended a "person of interest" believed to be 45-year-old Michael Blackman following an armed encounter with officers and a daylong manhunt. Guglielmi says the individual was shot by police and no officers were injured.
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| Stacks of cash shown at trial of Sudan's toppled leader Bashir Posted: 21 Sep 2019 12:28 PM PDT  Stacks of cash piled high were shown as evidence on Saturday against ousted Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir at his trial on charges of possessing illicit foreign currency and corruption. Millions of euros and Sudanese pounds were found at Bashir's residence in April after he was overthrown and detained by the military following months of demonstrations against his rule. The court heard four defense witnesses on Saturday, including Abubakr Awad, who was minister of state for the presidency until Bashir's fall, before it was adjourned until next Saturday.
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| U.S. Plan to Add Mideast Troops After Attack Draws Pelosi Rebuke Posted: 21 Sep 2019 11:37 AM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. will send a "moderate" number of troops to the Middle East and additional missile defense capabilities to Saudi Arabia in response to last weekend's attack on oil facilities, top Pentagon officials said. The top Democrat in Congress said the actions are unacceptable.Secretary of Defense Mark Esper said Friday that the decision came at the request of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates and represented a "first step" in the U.S. response. He reiterated U.S. statements that evidence collected to date shows Iran was responsible for the attacks. The briefing by Esper and General Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, followed a meeting of national security officials at the White House."Iran is waging a deliberate campaign to destabilize the Middle East," Esper told reporters at the Pentagon. He added that the U.S. has shown "great restraint" in responding so far, but called the strike on Saudi Aramco facilities on Saturday a "dramatic escalation."Esper and Dunford are still deciding on the specific number of troops and weapons systems but said the personnel deployment will be relatively small, not numbering in the thousands, and that more details would be forthcoming.House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Saturday said the decision is an attempt by the administration to circumvent the will of Congress, which adopted resolutions to block arms sales to the Saudis and U.A.E. and condemn the Saudis for the "continued assault" on men, women and children."These unacceptable actions are cause for alarm," Pelosi said Saturday in a statement. "Americans are weary of war, and have no interest in entering another Middle East conflict, particularly on behalf of Saudi Arabia."In addition to the U.S. missile defense assistance, Esper said "we are calling on many other countries who all have these capabilities to do two things -- stand up and condemn these attacks" and also contribute equipment.U.S. and Saudi analyses of the attack have described the strike as complex, involving a mix of low-flying drones and cruise missiles coming from the north. The attack exposed glaring vulnerabilities in Saudi Arabia's defense capabilities despite having spent hundreds of billions of dollars on weaponry in recent years.Swarms of Drones"There's an international action led by the U.S. and in coordination with the Saudi kingdom to protect the navigation in the gulf and the Arabian sea," Saudi Arabia's Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Adel Al-Jubeir said in a news conference in Riyadh on Saturday. This way "tankers and oil supplies are not subject to any complications from Iran," he said.Saudi Arabia has already taken delivery of Patriot-3 hit-to-kill missiles bought years ago to defend against cruise and ballistic missiles. The kingdom earlier this year finalized a long-sought after contract for Lockheed Martin Corp.'s Thaad missile interceptors designed to intercept ballistic missiles at higher altitudes. It's not known whether any Thaad batteries have been delivered."No single system is going to be able to defend against a threat like" the combination of systems launched against Saudi Arabia last week, Dunford said. "But a layered system of defensive capabilities would mitigate the risk of swarms of drones or other attacks that may come from Iran."U.S. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo, who has repeatedly said Iran was responsible for the attack, returned early Friday from a two-day trip to Saudi Arabia and the U.A.E., saying he wanted to begin building a coalition that would organize a response to Iran.During a news conference earlier Friday, President Donald Trump signaled he's trying to avoid a military conflict. Trump campaigned in 2016 on getting the U.S. out of Mideast conflicts and he's repeatedly criticized the second U.S. invasion of Iraq."I will say I think the sanctions work, and the military would work," Trump told reporters. "But that's a very severe form of winning."On Friday the Treasury Department announced it is sanctioning Iran's central bank and sovereign wealth fund, a move aimed at squelching any remaining trade the country conducts with Europe and Asia.The Blame GameIranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif warned that any U.S. or Saudi strike on his country in response to the attacks on the kingdom's critical oil facilities would lead to "all-out war.""I know that we didn't do it," Zarif told CNN. "I know that the Houthis made a statement that they did it."Zarif later said in a post on Twitter that it was "curious" the Saudis "retaliated" against Yemen when Iran was blamed for the attacks. "It is clear that even the Saudis themselves don't believe the fiction of Iranian involvement."Yemeni Shiite Houthi rebel leader Mahdi al-Mashat announced Friday the halt of drone and ballistic missile attacks on Saudi Arabia. He also called on the Saudi-led coalition to lift the blockade on the port of Hodeidah and reopen Sana'a International Airport."We judge other parties by their deeds and actions and not by their words," Saudi Arabia's Al-Jubeir said.\--With assistance from Dana El Baltaji, Donna Abu-Nasr and Salma El Wardany.To contact the reporters on this story: Tony Capaccio in Washington at acapaccio@bloomberg.net;Glen Carey in Washington at gcarey8@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Bill Faries at wfaries@bloomberg.net, Kevin WhitelawFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Kevin Hart Likely To File Lawsuit Against Company Who Built His Barracuda Posted: 21 Sep 2019 03:09 PM PDT  Hart along with the other two people involved in the crash are said to be armed with lawyers.Whenever anything happens to a celebrity, whether it's good, bad, major, or mundane, news circulates as fast as a dry Christmas tree going up in flames after being doused in gasoline. That's what happened with one of the biggest names in Hollywood today, Kevin Hart, when his insanely modified 1970 Plymouth Barracuda dubbed Menace was involved in a major accident on Labor Day weekend which left the classic in a pile of twisted metal.Now that actor/comedian Kevin Hart has been released from the hospital after sustaining three fractures to his spine that required back surgery, it is said that he is now in the process of preparing a lawsuit against Speedkore, the company who built his beastly 720-horsepower Plymouth Barracuda that was powered by a modern 6.4L Hemi V8 and topped with a Whipple supercharger. In addition, the driver, Jared S. Black, and the backseat passenger who sustained minor injuries, have also hired lawyers due to the lack of safety equipment in the car which is said to have a roll cage, airbags, and five-point harnesses. They believe the addition of these safety features would have prevented their injuries.According to TMZ, the big issue is that Speedkore should have refused the job to Hart even if he wanted the custom car to come without safety equipment. TMZ contacted 10 different custom car companies to see if they would still offer cars without safety equipment considering the Hart crash, and 8 out of 10 said that they still would.The California Highway Patrol is still investigating the crash but talks of changing the laws revolving around classic cars are already in the works. If this legislation is approved, that means that all cars, no matter how old, must have seatbelts or harnesses installed to be legal and road worthy. While safety is no doubt a priority, these classics have been around for decades without any of these features. Also, this means drilling holes into million-dollar Concours cars just to add tacky seatbelts that will hardly ever be used. Plus, it is not unheard of for these laws to trickle over to other states. So, if Kevin Hart, and the two others involved in the crash, file lawsuits against SpeedKore over safety equipment, what impact will that have on the impending changes on California laws regarding safety restraints in muscle cars? No doubt it would have a negative impact for classic car owners that are forced to drill into their beloved classic cars to add features they have never been equipped with.It was Labor Day weekend when Hart threw the keys to his powerful '70 Barracuda over to his friend, Jared Black. A female passenger crammed in the back, although, it is unsure where she was sitting due to a rear seat delete. They set off for Mulholland drive, an infamous road known as "The Snake" that is notorious for bad accidents. It features twists and turns with large drop-offs on each side. Black lost control of the car on Mulholland where it went down an embankment and crashed through a wooden fence. Both Hart and Black suffered back injuries, and the woman with them suffered minor injuries.One should know what could go wrong when toying with a car of that caliber. Knowing the raw power it possesses, and still getting rowdy with it anyway should not be a fault of the manufacturer, but the fault of those knowing and getting in anyway. Even the rear passenger got in knowing that there was no seat for her to occupy. Source: TMZ Read More... * Watch A 1970 Chevy Chevelle LS6 Barn Find * One-Up Your Buddies With This Monster 1972 Chevy C50
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| DHS contradicts Candace Owens on same day she testifies before Congress about white nationalism Posted: 20 Sep 2019 07:18 PM PDT  Conservative commentator Candace Owens said white nationalism is "just election rhetoric" on the same day DHS added violent white supremacist extremist to its list of priority threats.
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| History buff finds ships that sank in 1878 in Lake Michigan Posted: 20 Sep 2019 06:41 PM PDT  A diver and maritime history buff has found two schooners that collided and sank into the cold depths of northern Lake Michigan more than 140 years ago. Bernie Hellstrom, of Boyne City, Michigan, said he was looking for shipwrecks about 10 years ago when a depth sounder on his boat noted a large obstruction about 200 feet (60 meters) down on the lake bottom near Beaver Island. "I've made hundreds of trips to Beaver Island and every trip I go out the sounder is on," he told The Associated Press on Friday.
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| Israel Could Not Survive Hamas' Missiles Without The Iron Dome Posted: 21 Sep 2019 01:30 AM PDT  Israel lives in a dangerous neighborhood.
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| Greek police arrest suspect in 1985 TWA aircraft hijacking Posted: 21 Sep 2019 04:16 AM PDT ![Greek police arrest suspect in 1985 TWA aircraft hijacking]( "Greek police arrest suspect in 1985 TWA aircraft hijacking") Greek police have arrested a 65-year-old Lebanese man suspected of involvement in the 1985 hijacking of a Trans World Airlines (TWA) plane in which a U.S. navy diver was killed. A Greek police official said on Saturday the suspect had disembarked from a cruise ship on the island of Mykonos on Thursday and that his name came up as being wanted by German authorities. The suspect was being held in a high-security prison until German authorities identify him as the person wanted, the source added.
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| ‘House Hunters’ host Suzanne Whang dies at 56 after long battle with cancer Posted: 20 Sep 2019 09:03 AM PDT  Suzanne Whang, who hosted HGTV's "House Hunters" for nearly a decade, died on Thursday after a long battle with breast cancer.
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| After Iran bombs Saudi oil infrastructure, should the United States retaliate? Posted: 20 Sep 2019 09:16 AM PDT  Iran's attack reveals weakness. Trump can do nothing and wait for sanctions to continue crushing the mullahs' regime.
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| Bill Maher Makes the Case for Joe Biden: He Is ‘Mildly Embarrassing’ But Not ‘Insane’ Like Trump Posted: 20 Sep 2019 09:16 PM PDT  HBOHBO's Bill Maher ended his Friday night broadcast of Real Time by taking aim at Republicans and conservative pundits who defend President Donald Trump regardless of what he says and does, introducing a new concept: Catch-23.During his "New Rules" segment, Maher explained to his viewers that "Catch-22 meant if you claimed to be insane to get out of combat, it actually proved you were sane." On the other hand, "Catch-23 is if Donald Trump never makes you insane, you are insane!"Noting that Republicans love to toss around the term "Trump Derangement Syndrome" to brush aside criticism of the "Dear Leader" as nothing but liberals being "sore losers" who can't accept Trump is president, Maher admitted there was some of that on the left before asking: "Have you watched this man over the last four years?!"Playing a montage of Trump's most bizarre moments at his campaign rallies, the HBO star snarked that Republicans somehow came to the conclusion that this was "how a president behaves" before pointing out that conservatives were correct to say liberals haven't gotten over Trump.John Oliver Drags Joe Biden Over 'Record Player' Gaffe at Democratic DebateBill Maher Exposes Tomi Lahren on 'Real Time' "You're right. we haven't gotten over it, because no one should," he exclaimed.Maher went on to highlight the president taking North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Saudis at their words, adding that this is "what Trump Derangement Syndrome really is: pretending that all of this is perfectly acceptable behavior for an American president and defending the indefensible.""That's deranged," he quipped. "That's a syndrome. And it's coming from the right. It's like body odor: if you smell it all the time, it's probably you."This prompted the acerbic comic to make a case for supporting Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden even if he "rapidly declines and legit loses his mind," telling Republicans: "I am going to pretend 'nothing to see here,' just like you're doing now."Maher would go on to encourage Democrats to vote for Biden even if he devolves from the current "mildly embarrassing gaffe machine who mixes up stories and waits 'til he's onstage for his eyeball to explode and his dentures to fall out.""That guy would not be nearly broken and crazy enough to teach the Republicans the lesson they need to learn," he noted. "For this, I need Joe Biden to be full-on, forgot-to-wear-pants, crumbs-in-the-hair, screaming-at-the-toaster nuts!"Maher continued: "And when Republicans say, 'Wait a minute, how can you give unwavering support for someone who's clearly lost it?' I'll say, 'I don't know, you tell me.'"The veteran comedian told his audience that in private, they'll go ahead and admit that their guy is nuts, but publicly they'll be in full denial mode, pointing to Fox Business host Stuart Varney's assertion that Trump has never lied as a prime example of how to act.Rolling his eyes at Varney's obsequiousness, Maher said he wanted to see Biden do "every fucked-up thing a celebrity ever did"—such as wear a meat dress or interrupt Taylor Swift at an awards show—just so he could tell Republicans that Biden's "a different kind of president.""And after he plows the presidential limousine through a farmer's market, I'll say, 'Why so upset, Republicans? That's just Biden being Biden,'" Maher concluded.Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
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| '90s kids were asked to do 'simple things' to save the Earth. Gen Z is thinking bigger Posted: 20 Sep 2019 11:37 AM PDT  A 1990s book told kids of the "simple things" to do to affect the environment. Today, many say bigger changes are needed to stop climate change.
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| The Latest: Greek refugee camp unable to house new arrivals Posted: 20 Sep 2019 03:33 PM PDT  The Ocean Viking had assisted Maltese authorities and pulled the migrants from an overcrowded wooden boat on Thursday in international waters. The Ocean Viking initially counted 36 people but corrected the number to 35 after the Friday transfer. Malta has refused to take the remaining people, arguing they were found in international waters where Libya has search and rescue duties.
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| Europe Has Its Very Own Missile Defense System Posted: 20 Sep 2019 07:00 PM PDT  The Aster missile defense idea might end up being a victim of politics.
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| Ethiopia says detains suspected Islamist militants planning attacks Posted: 21 Sep 2019 12:32 PM PDT ![Ethiopia says detains suspected Islamist militants planning attacks]( "Ethiopia says detains suspected Islamist militants planning attacks") Ethiopia said on Saturday it had arrested an unspecified number of Islamist militant members of the Somali group al Shabaab and Islamic State who were planning to carry out attacks in the country on various targets including hotels. Some of those arrested were carrying out intelligence work including photographing potential targets, the National Intelligence Security Services (NISS) said in a statement read out on state-affiliated broadcaster Fana. "The group was ... preparing to attack hotels, religious festivities gathering places and public areas in Addis Ababa," NISS said.
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| White supremacist who praised ‘psychedelic Nazis’ caught with stockpile of guns and LSD Posted: 21 Sep 2019 03:14 AM PDT  In a secret chat last November, according to court filings, two associates of a violent white supremacist group discussed whether drug use was in line with their political beliefs."Psychedelic Nazis . . . There's nothing more Aryan than entheogenic drug use," Andrew Thomasberg, 21, texted a friend, according to prosecutors, referencing plants that have psychedelic effects. But, he added, "Drug addiction is untermensch" – a Nazi term for people considered subhuman.
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| On Kavanaugh and the FBI, time to investigate the investigation: Sen. Whitehouse Posted: 20 Sep 2019 02:00 AM PDT  Why didn't the FBI pursue tip-line leads and interview witnesses? As a US attorney, I wouldn't have made charging decisions on such cursory work.
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| Meghan Markle's stylish Stuart Weitzman boots are almost 70 percent off -- and they're perfect for fall! Posted: 20 Sep 2019 09:19 AM PDT  The duchess is known for a few signature looks when it comes to her royal style: a messy bun, a sleek pantsuit and her affinity for Stuart Weitzman heels.
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| Breaking Down the Whistleblower Frenzy Posted: 21 Sep 2019 03:30 AM PDT  The Democrats' media narrative of impeachment portrays President Trump and his administration as serial law-breakers who, true to form, obstruct all congressional investigations of wrongdoing. This then becomes the analytical framework for every new controversy. There are at least two fundamental problems with this.First, our constitutional system is based on friction between competing branches vested with separate but closely related powers. The Framers understood that the two political branches would periodically try to usurp each other's authorities. Congress often does this by enactments that seek to subject executive power to congressional (or judicial) supervision. Presidential pushback on such laws is not criminal obstruction; it is the Constitution in action.Second, we've become so law-obsessed that we miss the forest for the trees. Often, the least important aspect of a controversy -- viz., whether a law has been violated -- becomes the dominant consideration. Short shrift is given to the more consequential aspects, such as whether we are being competently governed or whether power is being abused.These problems are now playing out in the Trump controversy du jour (or should I say de l'heure?): the intelligence community whistleblower.As this column is written on Friday afternoon, the story is still evolving, with the president tweeting as ever, and the New York Times producing a report by no fewer than eight of its top journalists, joining the seven (and counting) who are working it for the Washington Post, which broke the story.It stems from -- what else? -- anonymous leaks attributed to former intelligence officials. Whether they are among the stable of such retirees now on the payroll at anti-Trump cable outlets is not known. While the media purport to be deeply concerned about Trump-administration law-breaking in classified matters, there is negligible interest in whether the intelligence officials leaking to them are flouting the law.A Promise to Ukraine? In any event, we learn that an unidentified "whistleblower" has filed a complaint with the intelligence community's inspector general (IGIC), relating that President Trump had recent interaction with an unidentified foreign leader during which the president made a "promise" which is not further described to us, other than that the whistleblower found it very "troubling." The inference that President Trump is the subject of the complaint (or at least a subject) derives from the fact that intelligence officials say it involves someone who is "outside the intelligence community," and that there are issues of "privilege" that justify non-disclosure to Congress. (The president is "outside" the intelligence community in the sense of being over it as chief executive; and, as I discussed in a column earlier this week, presidents have executive privilege, which shields communications with advisers.)The latest news to break suggests that the communications (there is more than one) relate, at least in part, to Ukraine. The whistleblower complaint is believed to have been filed on August 12. President Trump is known to have spoken by phone with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky on July 25. Rudy Giuliani, who is Trump's private lawyer (and who hired me as a prosecutor many years ago), has been open about urging Ukraine to pursue an investigation implicating Democratic presidential hopeful Joe Biden. Specifically, when he was Obama-administration vice president, Biden is rumored to have pressured Ukraine to fire a prosecutor who was conducting a corruption investigation of a natural-gas company. Biden's son, Hunter, sat on the company's board, and his law firm was lavishly compensated.Thus, the theorizing in anti-Trump circles is that an intelligence official privy to details of the July 25 call must have learned that the president made a quid pro quo arrangement with Ukraine, promising some kind of assistance in exchange for movement on an investigation that could politically wound Trump's potential 2020 opponent. (A CNN interview that became a spirited argument between Giuliani and Chris Cuomo got lots of play on Friday. Meanwhile, to my knowledge, there has not been much congressional interest in examining Obama-administration and Clinton-campaign dealings with Ukraine in 2016, when our government encouraged Kiev to investigate Paul Manafort, and a leak about a claim of lavish cash payments to Manafort resulted in his removal as Trump's campaign chairman.)President Trump is pooh-poohing the whistleblower complaint as a fabrication by "Radical Left Democrats and their Fake News Partners, headed up again by Little Adam Schiff." That last derogatory reference is to the California Democrat and Trump antagonist who chairs the House Intelligence Committee. Conveniently omitted by the president are the facts that (a) the whistleblower has tried to comply with federal law and go through government channels rather than leaking information to the Trump-hostile media; (b) the IGIC to whom the whistleblower made his report is a Trump appointee, namely Michael Atkinson, a career Justice Department prosecutor who got the IGIC gig in 2018; and (c) Atkinson concluded that the whistleblower's complaint was credible and sufficiently serious to be deemed a matter of "urgent concern."'Urgent Concern' -- Another Confusing Dual-Use Term This brings us to a common situation that we rarely notice but that often skews public debate. I'll call it the dual-use term: A word or phrase that has both a common meaning because it is invoked in everyday parlance and a specialized meaning in statutory law -- either because Congress has taken the trouble to define it or the courts have authoritatively construed it."Urgent concern" is a dual-use term. Such terms confuse things because politicians seamlessly shift from the common to the specialized meaning. Frequently, legal consequences limited to the narrower legal sense of the term are triggered by anything that fits the term's broad general understanding. To take a notorious example, "collusion" -- the subject, ahem, of a certain new book -- has both a broad general connotation (concerted activity that can be benign or sinister, or anything in between) and a narrow specialized meaning when invoked in law-enforcement investigations (criminal conspiracy). For years, Chairman Schiff and other Trump critics have intimated that episodes of unremarkable collusion in the broad sense (e.g., negotiating policy or real-estate deals with Russians) are evidence of illegal collusion in the narrow, specialized sense (conspiracy to commit cyberespionage with Russians).The common meaning of urgent concern is obvious: It could describe anything that raises the specter of imminent harm. But urgent concern is also a specialized term in federal law. Under Section 3033(k)(5)(G) (of Title 50, U.S. Code), an "urgent concern" relates to specified problems involving intelligence activities and classified information that are within the responsibility of the Director of National Intelligence. The DNI is the cabinet official who oversees the so-called community of intelligence agencies. The urgent concerns Section 3033 outlines include, for example, violations or abuses of laws or executive orders, or deficiencies in the funding, administration or operation of an intelligence activity. Section 3033 urgent concerns also include misleading of Congress regarding intelligence activities, and reprisals against whistleblowers who report an urgent concern.Notice the difference between the common and statutory meaning.Any executive action that imperils national security, particularly in connection with classified information falling into the hands of a foreign power, could accurately be described as a matter of urgent concern, as that term is commonly understood. Even if there were no Section 3033, and there were no specialized statutory definition of "urgent concern," it would be entirely appropriate for Congress to inquire into such matters.On the other hand, if a situation qualifies as one of the narrower sets of "urgent concerns" defined by Section 3033, it triggers the mandatory reporting procedures prescribed in the statute. To wit, if an intelligence official believes a Section 3033 urgent concern has arisen, that official (a whistleblower) may report the matter to the IGIC with an eye toward its transmission to Congress. The IGIC then has two weeks to decide whether a complaint is credible. If the IGIC so finds, the matter must be referred to the DNI, who must notify the congressional intelligence committees within one week.Section 3033 Does Not Apply to the President Here, the whistleblower (who is reportedly represented by a lawyer well versed in Section 3033) believed President Trump's undescribed promise to the unidentified foreign leader qualified as an "urgent concern" under the statute. On August 12, the whistleblower reported the matter to IGIC Atkinson. In what I believe was an error, Atkinson concluded that the complaint did indeed spell out a Section 3033 urgent concern because it was credible and raised a serious issue. (As we'll see, my quarrel is with the application of the statute to the president; I assume the Trump-appointed IGIC is correct that the complaint is credible and serious.)Atkinson thus notified Joseph Maguire, the acting DNI. Maguire, however, did not believe the matter met the Section 3033 definition of an urgent concern, because it related to an activity by someone not under the authority of the DNI (inferentially, the president). Consequently, Maguire declined to pass the complaint along to the House and Senate Intelligence Committees.As noted above, current and former intelligence officials continue to leak like sieves in their years-long campaign against the sitting president. Thus, the existence of the complaint, the report of it to the IGIC, and the acting DNI's refusal to alert Congress became known to the media and to Chairman Schiff. The chairman is claiming that the Trump administration is violating the law by failing to notify Congress of an urgent concern, as mandated by Section 3033.In my view, Chairman Schiff's claim, based on IGIC Atkinson's interpretation of the statute, is wrong. Section 3033 does not apply to a president's negotiations with or commitments to foreign powers, or to a president's sharing of classified information with foreign powers. To repeat, the statute applies to intelligence activities by government officials acting under the authority of the DNI. If I am right, the Trump administration should not be accused of law-breaking for declining to follow Section 3033, even if the whistleblower had an "urgent concern" in the ordinary understanding of that term.In our system, the conduct of foreign policy is a nigh plenary authority of the chief executive. The only exceptions are explicitly stated in the Constitution (Congress regulates foreign commerce, the Senate must approve treaties, etc.). Congress may not enact statutes that limit the president's constitutional power to conduct foreign policy; the Constitution may not be amended by statute.Consistent with this principle, the Justice Department has long adhered to the so-called "clear statement" rule: If the express terms of a statute do not apply its provisions to the president, then the statute is deemed not to apply to the president if its application would conflict with the president's constitutional powers. Section 3033 does not refer to the president. By its terms, it applies to intelligence-community officials. And, in any event, it may not properly be applied to the president if doing so would hinder the president's capacious authority to conduct foreign policy.At least when a Republican is in the White House, progressives are enthralled by laws that, in effect, empower bureaucrats -- here, "intelligence professionals"- to second-guess and otherwise check the president's power to direct the executive branch. That is not our system.Congress's Selective Interest in Presidential Abuses of Power In conducting foreign affairs, the president may make commitments to other foreign leaders (subject to the Constitution's treaty clause). The president, unlike his subordinates, also has the power to disclose any classified information he chooses to disclose. Like all presidential powers, these may be abused or exercised rashly. When there is a credible allegation that they have been, that should cause all of us urgent concern.To take one example, President Obama misled Congress and the nation regarding the concessions he made to Iran in connection with the nuclear deal (the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action). The Obama administration, moreover, structured the arrangement so that commitments to Iran were withheld from Congress -- as if what were at stake were understandings strictly between Tehran and the U.N.'s monitor (the International Atomic Energy Agency), somehow of no concern to the United States. Representative Schiff's skepticism about Iran became muted when a Democratic president cut the deal. Yet these cloak-and-dagger arrangements with a jihadist regime that proclaims itself America's mortal enemy, in which a U.S. president willfully end-ran the Constitution's treaty provisions and congressional oversight, were and remain urgent concerns for millions of Americans and most members of Congress.So how should we evaluate the current controversy?For starters, we should recognize what is important and what is not. Section 3033 should be the least of our considerations. As argued above, it very likely does not apply, despite the IGIC's conclusion to the contrary. Its lack of application would not stop the whistleblower from getting the information to Congress (though it may affect whether the whistleblower is protected from reprisals). More to the point, it is irrelevant whether Congress should have been notified within one week of X date as prescribed by statute. Regardless of whether I am right about the statute's inapplicability, the intelligence committees are now on notice and positioned to examine the matter.The issue is not Section 3033 and whether the DNI should have alerted Schiff. The issue is whether President Trump has abused his foreign-affairs powers.On that score, we should withhold judgment until more facts are in. Democrats would have us leap to the conclusion that impeachable offenses have been committed; the president would have us dismiss the matter out of hand as a political contrivance. There are reasons to doubt both of them.For one thing, there has been a three-year campaign by current and former government officials to undermine the Trump presidency by lawless leaks of politicized intelligence. On the other side of the coin, though, IGIC Michael Atkinson is a Trump appointee. It is he who found the whistleblower's complaint serious and credible. And the acting DNI, Joseph Maguire, does not appear to be refuting that conclusion; his quibble (which I share) appears to be that Section 3033 urgent concerns are inapposite where presidential foreign-affairs powers are involved. Many of President Trump's foreign policy moves have been impulsive; it is hardly inconceivable that he could have offered a commitment that was poorly thought through. Giuliani, a key outside adviser to the president, has been pressing the Ukrainians to look into Biden, and, when asked on Friday about whether he discussed Biden in the July call with Ukraine's president, Trump declined to answer directly, replying, "Someone ought to look into Joe Biden."And maybe someone should. The fact that Biden may end up being Trump's rival in the 2020 election does not immunize him from investigation. If he used his political influence to squeeze a foreign power for his son's benefit, that should be explored. Of course, Trump should not use the powers of his office solely for the purpose of obtaining campaign ammunition to deploy against a potential foe. But all presidents who seek reelection wield their power in ways designed to improve their chances. If Trump went too far in that regard, we could look with disfavor on that while realizing that he would not be the first president to have done so. And if, alternatively, the president had a good reason for making a reciprocal commitment to Ukraine, that commitment would not become improper just because, collaterally, it happened to help Trump or harm Biden politically.The president has the power to conduct foreign policy as he sees fit. The Congress has the power to subject that exercise to thorough examination. The clash of these powers is a constant in our form of government. It is politics. For once, let's find out what happened before we leap to DEFCON 1.
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| Young Black Voters to Their Biden-Supporting Parents: 'Is This Your King?' Posted: 20 Sep 2019 12:10 PM PDT  HOUSTON -- A groan erupted at a debate watch party at Texas Southern University last week as former Vice President Joe Biden got a question about slavery and racism and gave an answer about Venezuela and record players.But amid that exasperation, some students channeled their inner Beltway operatives and began a targeted rapid-response campaign.Tyler Smith, 19, texted his grandmother after the debate, hopeful that Biden's meandering answer may have swayed her from supporting him.Amaya St. Romain, 19, mounted a three-day lobbying blitz on her mother and her great-grandmother, making sure they had seen the former housing secretary Julian Castro's criticisms of Biden onstage.In meme-speak, the efforts amounted to Killmonger, the villain in the Black Panther movie, challenging the people of Wakanda: "Is this your king?""I think I'm definitely influencing them," St. Romain said of her family members. "But my dad is definitely still pro-Biden. And I don't really argue with him."If Biden, 76, is going to win the Democratic nomination, it is likely to be because of the support of older black voters, a key constituency for the party and one that polls show is overwhelmingly supportive of the former vice president's candidacy.But if he is to be overtaken by one of his more progressive rivals, the most powerful tool against him may not be opposition research or negative advertisements. Instead, it may be an organic effort by younger black voters -- concerned about Biden's age and more moderate ideology -- to sway their older family members.Biden seems aware of this dynamic. In interviews, he has both acknowledged the generational gap among his black supporters and downplayed its importance, arguing that the support of older, more moderate black voters would be enough to give him an electoral advantage.Still, Biden, by his own admission, would be unwise to underestimate the lobbying efforts of those who are young and politically engaged. At a gathering of the New Hampshire Young Democrats in July, Biden said the same phenomenon -- young people converting their skeptical parents -- had helped fuel his own ascension in politics almost 47 years ago, when he was elected to the Senate as a fresh-faced 29-year-old."The fact of the matter is, you have more influence on how your parents vote than they have on you," Biden said in July. "You may sit at the dining room table, having dinner with your mom and dad, and say, 'I met her and I really like her,' or 'I met him and I really like him.' And your parents will pretend it didn't matter much. But they'll go up, not a joke, they'll go up and say, 'If my kid liked that person that much, and knew them, there must be something there.'"At Texas Southern University, a historically black university founded in 1927 and the site of last week's Democratic debate, dozens of students, ages 19 to 23, differed on their top candidate. Sens. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, and Kamala Harris of California were among the favorites, as was one of the two Texans in the race, former representative Beto O'Rourke.For Biden, though, students carried mixed feelings. They respected his tenure as Barack Obama's vice president, but implicitly rejected his campaign's central premise, that the primary goal of Democrats in the 2020 election should be defeating President Donald Trump.They pointed to systemic problems they said the country must address, such as inequality, climate change and gun violence. The Democratic nominee, they said, should embrace progressive proposals like canceling student loan debt, the Green New Deal and gun buyback programs."Me and my dad have the debate all the time," said Samantha Williams, 19, a sophomore. "We want a candidate that reflects us and what the world is going to look like when we run. But he says what we call 'woke' is really just sensitive."Jaylan Jones, 20, said, "Older people have that conservative outlook on things," even older black Democrats."Young people don't want Biden. We want Beto. We want Bernie," said Jones, a junior. "I think we can convince them."The difference in opinion across generations speaks to the changing politics of black communities, said Rashad Robinson, the president of Color of Change, the racial justice organization. And the historically diverse Democratic field has given voters plentiful options to choose from: multiple black candidates, white progressives who openly back once-radical ideas like reparations, and Biden, who served as vice president to the first black president.Black voters are overwhelmingly members of the Democratic Party, and polls show they have long regarded Trump as a racist president and individual whom they are desperate to replace. A recent national poll of Democratic primary voters from NBC and The Wall Street Journal showed Biden had the support of nearly 50% with black respondents, though others have shown a less commanding lead."Black people are strategic voters, particularly older black people," Robinson said. "They're thinking harm reduction. They're doing a deep analysis about what they think white people will accept and won't accept."He pointed to the last Democratic primary, when younger black voters tracked more toward Sanders than their older counterparts, who overwhelmingly backed Hillary Clinton. In 2008, younger black voters supported Barack Obama in much bigger numbers than the electorate at large, until his victory in the Iowa Caucus led to a surge of support."Young people are constantly signaling what's next and what's possible," Robinson said. "And while there's some love for Biden, but sometimes you're in a relationship because you're comfortable and it's what you know."Another Texas Southern student, Christopher Anwuri, 22, said the generational differences in how black voters saw the primary were fueled by opposing theories of political change: incrementalism versus immediate upheaval."This generation is looking for an instant, quick fix for problems," he said. Older black people, meanwhile, think "these things need to take time."It also comes back to Obama, and the long shadow he casts over national Democratic politics, particularly in black communities. Older black voters invoke his name in deference, and cite his embrace of Biden as something that helped him win the trust of skeptical white voters in 2008.To younger generations, many of whom were in high school or younger at the time, Obama's achievements exist on their own. Their first memories of Biden stem from his highly meme-able vice-presidential years. They are also more likely to hold his long and at times controversial record -- on criminal justice, school segregation and the Clarence Thomas hearings, among other things -- against him.Jayla Lee, 19, said older black voters "like Biden because he was with Obama, and they feel like since they could trust Obama that means they can trust him.""But the things we endure are not the things they endured," Lee said. "And I'm looking for someone who can change the things that affect me."Darren Black, 22, said older generations were always "going to ride" for Biden, because "Joe was there with Obama.""But the younger generation, we've seen mass shootings, we're seeing more police brutality -- we're looking at different things," Black said.Yet contrary to their stereotype as idealistic and apathetic, and with the steely pessimism of seasoned political operatives, younger voters expressed a cleareyed understanding that their efforts to lobby their relatives would not necessarily be successful.Asked if she'd had any luck converting her family to more progressive candidates, Williams, a political science major, said, "I'm making no progress. None. Not even a tiny bit. I wish."Williams called her pro-Biden father a lost cause. "We're both opinionated and headstrong people, and I just don't have the energy to go back and forth," she said.Smith, a member of the school's College Democrats, said he liked Biden, but preferred his more left-wing rivals, such as O'Rourke, Castro, Harris or Warren.After the debate, he thought about further pestering his grandmother over her support for Biden, but he reconsidered out of fear of coming off as pushy."You know, it's grandma, so you got to let her have it," Smith said.When reached by phone, however, Smith's grandmother, Alice Varnado, said his previous lobbying efforts had been more successful than he may have realized.Varnado, 69, said she still preferred Biden, but that she had grown concerned about his age in recent months. She said she would vote for whichever Democrat earned the nomination, but she now considers Warren her second choice.Her family members -- Smith and his uncle -- had convinced her."You know, since talking with my grandson and my son, I think I can go with her," Varnado said. "I'm starting to like her. There's been a turning point."This article originally appeared in The New York Times.(C) 2019 The New York Times Company
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| 2 Muslim men say American Airlines canceled flight after crew 'didn’t feel comfortable' Posted: 20 Sep 2019 09:03 PM PDT  Two Muslim men say American Airlines profiled them and canceled their flight after crew members said they "didn't feel comfortable" flying with them.
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| The Best Pocket Knives to Keep on You Every Day Posted: 20 Sep 2019 09:35 AM PDT |
| Saudi Aramco has emerged from attacks 'stronger than ever': CEO Posted: 21 Sep 2019 12:03 AM PDT  Saudi Aramco has emerged from attacks on its oil facilities "stronger than ever", Chief Executive Amin Nasser told employees in a message, adding that full oil production would resume by the end of this month. "The fires that were intended to destroy Saudi Aramco had an unintended consequence: they galvanized 70,000 of us around a mission to rebound quickly and confidently, and Saudi Aramco has come out of this incident stronger than ever," Nasser said in the internal message, on the occasion of the Saudi national day, to be celebrated on Sept. 23. Six days after the assault, which hit at the heart of the Saudi energy industry and intensified a decades-long struggle with arch-rival Iran, the state oil giant Aramco invited reporters on Friday to observe the damage and the repair efforts.
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| Navy Orders Trial for Two in Hazing Death of Green Beret Logan Melgar Posted: 20 Sep 2019 02:33 PM PDT  Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast/handoutA Navy SEAL and a Marine will be tried for the hazing death of Green Beret Logan Melgar, who was allegedly duct-taped and put in a chokehold by his military comrades in Mali two years ago.The Navy announced Friday that Marine Raider Gunnery Sgt. Mario Madera-Rodriguez, 34, and Navy Special Operations Chief Tony DeDolph, 40, were referred to a court-martial on murder and other charges that could land them with life sentences.An admiral made the decision after the evidence against the pair was laid out at a hearing in Norfolk, Virginia, last month, where two other military men who copped pleas took the stand against DeDolph and Madera-Rodriguez.According to testimony by Marine Staff Sgt. Kevin Maxwell and Chief Special Warfare Operator Adam Matthews, Melgar ditched the rest of the team on the way to a party at the French embassy—and they decided to get revenge by hazing him.In the dead of night, they used a sledgehammer to break into Melgar's room and then rushed him. DeDolph allegedly applied a choke hold while Matthews and Maxwell duct-taped Melgar's arms and legs. "The overall intent wasn't to hurt him," Matthews said.How a Green Beret's Hazing Led to Murder Charges for Elite TroopsProsecutors alleged that the group also planned to have a local man molest Melgar, but the admiral declined to add sexual misconduct charges to the court-martial.DeDolph's attorney, Phil Stackhouse, has argued the evidence does not support murder charges."Clearly what happened is a horrible, tragic accident," Stackhouse said. "Based on all the facts in this case, nobody went into that room to kill Staff Sgt. Melgar."Two Alleged Murderers of Green Beret Sgt. Logan Melgar Are Negotiating with ProsecutorsRead more at The Daily Beast.Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast hereGet our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
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| India Has Reason To Fear China's Submarines In The Indian Ocean Posted: 21 Sep 2019 12:30 AM PDT  What could happen?
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| Meghan McCain storms off 'The View' after sparring with Ana Navarro: Watch Posted: 20 Sep 2019 09:43 AM PDT  Conservative 'The View' pundit Meghan McCain walked off set on Friday following a blow-up with guest co-host Ana Navarro.
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| Nikki Haley moves back to S.C., fuels political speculation Posted: 20 Sep 2019 12:17 PM PDT  Nikki Haley, the former U.N. ambassador, will be moving back to her native South Carolina. It's a move that is fueling speculation that she could be returning to politics.
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