| Mom aims head-on at a tanker to kill herself, sons. When truck dodges, she doubles back Posted: 17 Aug 2019 02:25 PM PDT  Police say a Gainesville, Florida, mom of two young boys told a friend she was going to kill herself and her sons by crashing her car with everyone inside.
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| Cathay Pacific's torrid week ends with shock CEO resignation Posted: 16 Aug 2019 03:39 AM PDT  Cathay Pacific announced the shock resignation on Friday of its CEO Rupert Hogg, compounding a torrid week for the Hong Kong carrier after it was excoriated by Beijing because some staff supported pro-democracy protests. The 72-year-old airline has been left reeling after it became ensnared in the hardening of rhetoric from the communist mainland over ten weeks of anti-government protests that have plunged Hong Kong into crisis. Over the last two weeks the airline emerged as a target on the mainland after some of its 27,000-strong workforce took part in, or voiced support for, the protests.
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| Trump Must Not Break His Promises to Gun-Rights Supporters Posted: 16 Aug 2019 03:30 AM PDT  Following the model of George H. W. Bush, Donald Trump is taking a major step toward becoming a one-term president. Bush thought he could become more popular by betraying his promises to defend the Second Amendment. Trump now feels the same; according to the New York Times, he has ordered his staff to work with Senate Republicans to pass a major gun-control package that would set the stage for gun confiscation. Bush's Good Talk and Hostile Action Let's remember how gun control worked out for George H. W. Bush. Like Trump, Bush had a long record of supporting some gun control; that record was part of the reason he lost the Texas Senate race in 1970 and the presidential primaries in 1980. Also as with Trump, the campaign that won Bush the presidency was strongly pro–Second Amendment: Shortly before running for president in 1988, Bush joined the NRA. His acceptance speech at the Republican Convention touted his devotion to gun rights. In a September 1988 public letter to the NRA, he promised to oppose gun bans and other forms of gun control.Bush won the general election in a landslide against the inept Democratic nominee, Michael Dukakis, who as governor of Massachusetts had declared that only the police and military should have guns. Bush's victory margin was so large that the pro–Second Amendment vote was not essential. Gun voters did, however, amplify Bush's win by carrying him to victory in states such as Pennsylvania, Montana, and Maryland.Bush's campaign promises apparently meant little to him. A few weeks into the Bush presidency, the administration was set back on its heels by the Senate's rejection of Secretary of Defense John Tower. Some conservative activists had raised concerns that Tower had a drinking problem, and that was the end of the nomination. So the White House cast about for what they thought would be a popular issue, and they chose gun control.In Stockton, Calif., a seriously mentally ill career criminal had murdered elementary-school children in a schoolyard. If California had had a functional criminal-justice system, the criminal would have been behind bars and receiving mental-health treatment.Bush denounced what he called "automated attack weapons" — that is, guns with a military appearance. Although the guns looked like machine guns, they functioned differently, with a much slower rate of fire — the same rate as common handguns. But Bush couldn't be bothered to know the difference between reality and appearance, and neither could many other politicians and the media. The same is true today.Using administrative authority, Bush banned the import of so-called "assault weapons" — almost all of which actually had well-established use in hunting and target shooting. In the courts, the Bush administration's lawyers insisted that individuals had no Second Amendment rights. Bush's Department of Housing and Urban Development urged local public-housing authorities to prohibit tenants from owning firearms in their homes. Bush promoted an early version of what would later become the 1994 Clinton-Biden crime bill, including a ban on many ordinary firearms. The leading Republican supporter was South Carolina senator Strom Thurmond, the longtime segregationist and opponent of civil liberties.In 1991, Bush soared to 89 percent popularity after winning the First Gulf War against Iraq's Saddam Hussein. (At the time, few people realized that Bush's decision to let the tyrant stay in power would set the stage for more terrorism and another war.) Yet Bush had few accomplishments on the domestic side. He had already violated his "read my lips: no new taxes" pledge — and was perhaps surprised to find that the people who hated him before he broke his promise hated him just as much afterwards.In search of a domestic accomplishment, Bush again proposed a grand bargain: He would sign a crime bill with gun control if the bill would also eliminate the exclusionary rule for firearms seized as evidence. That rule, created by Supreme Court decisions starting in 1914, prevents the courtroom use of evidence that is obtained through illegal police conduct. The Bush proposal would have allowed government agents to break into someone's home with no warrant, no probable cause, and no exigent circumstances, ransack the home to look for a gun, and then use evidence of the seizure in court against the individual. Too bad for the Fourth Amendment.Perhaps Bush's opposition to judicial controls on law-enforcement misconduct was not surprising. Under his administration, federal law-enforcement agencies — including the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms -- had become notorious for legally unjustifiable and excessive violence, often with deadly consequences for the victims. Then as now, most federal agents were decent people, but the Bush administration from the top down encouraged the recklessly violent ones.In September 1992, the National Rifle Association declined to endorse Bush for reelection. Instead, the association concentrated its resources on candidates in other races who had kept their promises. Bush lost handily to Arkansas governor Bill Clinton, in part because Bush's conservative base had realized that while Bush talked like a Texan, he governed like a northeastern aristocrat.The Clinton administration did everything it could to promote gun control, including winning enactment of a gun ban as part of its 1994 crime bill. (The one that most Democratic presidential candidates today accurately denounce as a disaster for civil rights.)Clinton's overreach on guns played a major role in flipping control of the House and Senate in the 1994 elections, electing the most pro-gun Congress since the early 1920s. As this experience showed, it's better to be under frontal attack from an overt enemy than to be stabbed in the back by a purported ally. Trump's Good Talk and Planned Actions Trump's embrace of the Bush model is reported to include support of the Toomey-Manchin bill from 2013. The bill would forbid individuals to sell firearms to each other if the sales took place at a gun show or were advertised publicly; instead, the sellers would have to use gun stores as middlemen. As federally licensed retailers, gun stores must keep records on firearms transactions, and they contact the FBI or its state counterpart for a background check on buyers. All this has nothing to do with reducing mass shootings. From the Aurora theater to Newtown to Las Vegas, the guns used by mass shooters are overwhelmingly acquired by persons who passed background checks, or who could have passed any proposed system of checks. In a few cases, such as the shooting at Sutherland Springs, Texas, the criminal should have been stopped by the existing background-check system but wasn't, because the relevant conviction had not been reported to the FBI's National Instant Check System. Since 2008, Congress has enacted a variety of laws to address the problem of incomplete data.Like Bush and Clinton, Trump is determined to "do something" — even if that something is useless when it comes to preventing mass shootings. A RAND Corporation study evaluated different gun-control laws. According to RAND, which can hardly be accused of being "pro-gun," the social-science evidence does not provide even "limited" support for background checks, "assault weapon" bans, or other gun control having any effect on mass shootings.The Toomey-Manchin bill was promoted with the sweetener that it would toughen the existing ban on a federal gun registry and would improve the laws protecting the interstate transportation of firearms. In fact, close reading of the bill showed that it expressly authorized a vast amount of new gun registration and gutted the existing protections for interstate transport for persons who travel to the most restrictive states, such as New York, New Jersey, and Massaschusetts. It would have vastly increased data collection and retention on law-abiding gun owners.As the Obama administration's Department of Justice admitted in a 2013 memo, "universal background check" laws are unenforceable without gun registration. Retail gun sales are already registered via record-keeping by the retailer. When a dealer retires, all of his registration records must be delivered to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, where they are digitized. (ATF is currently not supposed to make its database searchable by the purchaser's name.) The purpose of the background-check laws being pushed in Congress and the states is to expand registration by requiring the use of gun stores as intermediaries for transfers between private individuals — even loaning your shotgun to your cousin for a week.Centralizing registration will be a future demand of the gun-prohibition lobby after Trump surrenders to the current demands. That is what has been enacted in California, where the government now has a comprehensive list of almost all gun owners and their particular firearms — thanks to records created for "universal background checks."Once there is registration, the next step is confiscation. Since 1967, all firearms in New York City have been centrally registered. Starting with mayor David Dinkins in the 1980s and continuing ever since, including under the regime of Michael Bloomberg, the registration lists have been used for confiscation, as more and more once-legal guns have been outlawed by the city council or the legislature.The New York City Administrative Code explains the process in section 10-303.1. When the city council decides that something is an "assault weapon" (a definition that has repeatedly expanded), the police are supposed to mail a notice to the licensed owner of the registered gun. The owner has two choices: 1. "peaceably surrender his or her assault weapon" to the police commissioner, who may destroy it or keep it for police-department use; 2. "lawfully remove such assault weapon from the city of New York."After the confiscation process for "assault weapons" was established, a slow-motion confiscation was introduced for more firearms. According to section 10-306, it is illegal in New York to acquire a rifle of shotgun with an ammunition capacity of more than five. Existing registered owners may keep theirs, but may not pass them on to heirs. The only dispositions allowed are surrender to the police, removal from the city, or sale to a licensed firearms dealer.Central registration lists have likewise been used for confiscation in Australia and the United Kingdom, both touted as models by American gun-control advocates. Laws to Reduce Mass Shootings Red-flag laws could stop mass shootings at least occasionally, which is why I testified in favor of such laws before the Senate Judiciary Committee last March. But unless the laws have very strong due-process protections (which the bills being pushed by the gun-control lobbies do not), these laws are easy to abuse. Trump himself demonstrated the problem by claiming that CNN host Christopher Cuomo should be prohibited from owning guns because Cuomo lost his temper and yelled at a lout who was harassing him and his family at a restaurant.Donald Trump did once propose something that would greatly reduce mass shootings. "I will get rid of gun-free zones," he promised over and over when addressing the NRA annual meeting in 2016. During the campaign he also promised, "I will get rid of gun-free zones in schools, and — you have to — and on military bases. My first day, it gets signed, okay? My first day. There's no more gun-free zones."Actually, he did nothing on the first day, and very little since then — not even on federal property, where many of the gun-free zones could be ended by executive-branch regulatory changes.The Army Corps of Engineers owns millions of acres of recreational land, and the corps' regulations ban Americans from possessing defensive arms while visiting or camping on that land. Just before the Ninth Circuit was slated to hear oral arguments in a constitutional challenge to that ban, the Trump administration told the court that the administration was considering changing the regulation. But the regulation was never changed. Instead, the Trump administration issued guidance to citizens to request written individual permission from a district commander to possess a defensive arm.The gap between Trump's promises and actions is unfortunate, because the vast majority of mass shootings take place in so-called gun-free zones. As studies of active-shooter incidents show beyond doubt, killing sprees almost always end when the people starting shooting back at the criminal. If law enforcement or security guards are already there, that's good. But the police cannot be everywhere at once, and the minutes that it takes for the police to arrive are the criminals' window of time for murder.Unlike Trump, President Obama actually did get rid of some gun-free zones. In 2009, Obama signed legislation to allow persons to carry arms on the lands (though not buildings) of national parks, national monuments, and national wildlife refuges when in compliance with the host state's laws for lawful carry. The carry reform was attached to a bill on credit-card reform that Obama favored. Additionally, Obama signed defense-appropriations bills that ended gun registration for military personnel in off-base housing and that allowed licensed handgun carry on-base by some personnel.Ever since 2015, Trump has always talked big about this support for gun rights. He has one major accomplishment: unsigning the U.N. gun-control treaty that Obama had signed in 2013. He also signed a bill in early 2017 that blocked proposed Obama gun-control regulations.Gun-rights activists might tolerate Trump's very high ratio of talk to action. But they won't tolerate him switching sides. Arrogance and Ignorance Donald Trump has flirted with the Bush model before, endorsing gun control in a February 2018 meeting with Senators Feinstein and Schumer. But Trump quickly pulled back. Now he seems more determined, apparently believing that the NRA, which is embroiled in internal conflicts and lawsuits over management issues, is too weak to stop him. Like many New Yorkers, Trump does not realize that the NRA itself is a consequence of American gun culture. If the NRA disappeared tomorrow, American gun owners would spontaneously self-organize in defense of their rights. The same is true for the pro-life movement, the environmental movement, and many others. Strike down their national organizations, and thousands of grassroots organizations will arise to take their place.The same is not true for the anti-gun movement. There has always been a hard core of anti-gun extremists, exemplified by the 20 percent of persons in opinion polls who want to ban all handguns. But the anti-gun grassroots never did spontaneously self-organize to any significant degree. Today, that doesn't matter, since anti-gunners are now organized by the best professional organizers that money can buy, thanks to Michael Bloomberg and other malefactors of great wealth. This creates the impression among some politicians that the anti-gun movement is larger than ever before, in terms of voting support. This is not true, but the anti-gunners are now much more visible.Trump imagines that he will win reelection because the other party's nominee will be so extreme. He should ask Jimmy Carter about that one. In 1980, Ronald Reagan's ideas were indeed far from the center of gravity of American politics. But the American people were tired of Carter's weakness, indecisiveness, and incompetence, and by a landslide they decided to give the opposing candidate a chance.Trump's personal flaws are different from Carter's, but more visible. In childish and unpresidential public behavior he far exceeds the previous record-holder, Bill Clinton.For over three decades I have been in close contact with grassroots gun-rights activists. In 2016 there were a few such activists who genuinely liked Trump; the vast majority viewed him with disgust, based on his character. Yet these same activists worked relentlessly to get gun owners to the polls and thereby carried Trump to narrow victories in Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania. If Trump follows through on his plans to betray them, they won't forgive and they won't forget.
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| The Latest: At least 13 arrests in Portland protests Posted: 17 Aug 2019 03:44 PM PDT  Police in Portland, Oregon, arrested at least 13 people during demonstrations by right-wing groups and antifascist counterprotesters that have continued for hours. Police spokeswoman Lt. Tina Jones said at least one person was taken to a hospital Saturday and three others evaluated by medics. The demonstrators were met by a huge police presence of more than two dozen local, state and federal agencies.
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| Client says Arizona massage therapist's 'cuddling' session turned sexual Posted: 17 Aug 2019 03:56 PM PDT  A Phoenix woman's complaint says a "cuddling" session with a massage therapist turned sexual.
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| Mexico to deport U.S. citizen suspected of supporting 'violent jihad' Posted: 16 Aug 2019 12:15 PM PDT ![Mexico to deport U.S. citizen suspected of supporting 'violent jihad']( "Mexico to deport U.S. citizen suspected of supporting 'violent jihad'") Mexican authorities arrested a U.S. citizen suspected of supporting militant Islamists in an example of Mexico's security cooperation with the United States even as the two neighbors grapple with sharp disagreements over trade and migration. The unidentified American man sought by Interpol was under investigation for supporting terrorist groups and will be deported to the United States later on Friday, the Mexico's attorney general's office said in a statement. The man was detained at a migrants office near Mexico's border with Guatemala in the town of Huehuetan with the help of officials from Mexico's National Migration Institute.
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| 'Explosive' situation on migrant rescue boat in limbo off Italy Posted: 16 Aug 2019 03:05 PM PDT  The captain of a Spanish charity ship carrying 134 rescued migrants warned Friday of an "explosive" situation on board the vessel anchored within swimming distance of Italy's Lampedusa island but forbidden to approach. Italy has evacuated a handful of people from the Open Arms ship for medical treatment but far-right Interior Minister Matteo Salvini refuses to allow the vessel to dock despite other European countries agreeing to take in the people on board. The captain of the ship operated by Proactiva Open Arms, Marc Reig, said the migrants, rescued after leaving chaos-stricken Libya, were "broken psychologically".
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| How Kamala Harris was shaped by 'the People's Republic of Berkeley' Posted: 16 Aug 2019 11:23 AM PDT  Kamala Harris grew up in the radical environs of Berkeley and spent her childhood at marches and protests with her parents. But she went to law school and became a prosecutor, an unexpected career choice that she has to explain — and defend — to Democratic voters as she seeks the presidency.
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| Shell workers in Pennsylvania say they were told to either attend a recent Trump event, or not get paid Posted: 17 Aug 2019 09:10 AM PDT  Workers at a new Shell plant in Pennsylvania were told they had to attend a speech by President Donald Trump in order to get paid.
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| Tlaib refuses to visit under Israel's set conditions Posted: 16 Aug 2019 02:23 PM PDT  Diala Shamas of the Center for Constitutional Rights says Israel's decision to ban Tlaib is "troubling," and that the country is treating congresswomen "the same way they deal with all Palestinians."
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| Yemen rebel drone attack targets remote Saudi oil field Posted: 17 Aug 2019 10:04 AM PDT  Drones launched by Yemen's Houthi rebels attacked a massive oil and gas field deep inside Saudi Arabia's sprawling desert on Saturday, causing what the kingdom described as a "limited fire" in the second such recent attack on its crucial energy industry. The attack on the Shaybah oil field, which produces some 1 million barrels of crude oil a day near the kingdom's border with the United Arab Emirates, again shows the reach of the Houthis' drone program. Shaybah sits some 1,200 kilometers (750 miles) from Houthi-controlled territory, underscoring the rebels' ability to now strike at both nations, which are mired in Yemen's yearslong war.
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| Jeffrey Epstein investigators remain puzzled by his apparent suicide days later Posted: 16 Aug 2019 09:10 AM PDT  Jeffrey Epstein's apparent suicide in a New York City jail cell has left federal investigators with more questions than answers about how the accused child sex trafficker managed to seemingly escape facing justice one final time. The federal Bureau of Prisons has attempted to understand in recent days how Epstein managed to take his own life at the Metropolitan Correctional Centre, despite guards being assigned to check his cell every 30 minutes. Officials are also working to learn why Epstein's cellmate was moved out of their cell the day before the disgraced financier was found unresponsive on Saturday morning and later pronounced dead. Attorney General William Barr has described "serious irregularities" at the prison where Epstein was held and reports have suggested the guards watching over him fell asleep for about three hours at the time of his death. But the Justice Department has not released additional details about the missteps that led to his death before he was set to stand trial over new trafficking and conspiracy charges. The department's Inspector General has launched an investigation into the death, along with the FBI. The lack of details has led to an emergence of unfounded conspiracy theories alleging Epstein was killed by the "deep state," or that the multi-millionaire fled to a secretive island and was replaced by a body-double. Those claims were given a megaphone by the White House when Donald Trump retweeted posts on Twitter suggesting there was a link between Epstein's death and Bill Clinton. Still, investigators remained focused on discovering the most rudimentary facts surrounding his apparent suicide, CNN reported on Friday.That includes a question of whether a prison staff member first found Epstein unresponsive while delivering breakfast to the prisoners, or if someone was already providing aid when he was discovered. The Bureau also wants to know whether the guards documented their checks during the time of Epstein's death, the outlet reported, and whether there is surveillance footage from inside the jail that matches those logs.There are other confounding factors to Epstein's death that may add fuel to the fire of conspiracy theories that has already been stoked by the president, including that his cellmate was moved out of their shared space a day before his death. He had also reportedly been found unresponsive weeks earlier after an apparent suicide attempt and was placed on suicide watch. The New York Medical Examiner's Office has not yet released its comprehensive autopsy results, and did not return requests for comment.However, Epstein was no longer on suicide watch at the time of his death, according to officials. The Bureau reportedly believed he had faked the initial suicide attempt.Members of Congress have requested details into the Justice Department's handling of Epstein's death and provided the department with a deadline of next week.
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| EXCLUSIVE-China-owned oil tanker changes name in apparent effort to evade U.S. sanctions Posted: 16 Aug 2019 03:40 AM PDT ![EXCLUSIVE-China-owned oil tanker changes name in apparent effort to evade U.S. sanctions]( "EXCLUSIVE-China-owned oil tanker changes name in apparent effort to evade U.S. sanctions") SINGAPORE/KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 16 (Reuters) - While in the Indian Ocean heading toward the Strait of Malacca, the very large crude carrier (VLCC) Pacific Bravo went dark on June 5, shutting off the transponder that signals its position and direction to other ships, ship-tracking data showed. A U.S. government official had warned ports in Asia not to allow the ship to dock, saying it was carrying Iranian crude in violation of U.S. economic sanctions. A VLCC typically transports about 2 million barrels of oil, worth about $120 million at current prices.
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| Store clerk found guilty of murder for chasing, fatally shooting teen who stole $2 drink Posted: 16 Aug 2019 09:15 AM PDT  The former convenience store employee was accused of gunning down a teenager that stole a beer from a Tennessee convenience store.
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| 2020 Vision: Trump gets surprise Log Cabin Republicans endorsement Posted: 16 Aug 2019 11:23 AM PDT  During the 2016 election the conservative LGBT organization declined to endorse him for president.
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| Smiling cops take selfie near where dead baby was just found. Missouri city apologizes Posted: 17 Aug 2019 05:09 AM PDT  "The photos were by no means meant to take away from the extremely serious nature of the incident," city officials say.
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| Gingrich on Tlaib visiting Israel, Trump's New Hampshire rally, 2020 Democrat polls Posted: 16 Aug 2019 04:26 AM PDT  Former House speaker and Fox News contributor Newt Gingrich talks the news of the day on 'Fox & Friends.'
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| Thailand's lost baby dugong dies from shock, eating plastic Posted: 17 Aug 2019 03:59 AM PDT  An 8-month-old dugong nurtured by marine experts after it was found lost near a beach in southern Thailand has died of what biologists believe was a combination of shock and ingesting plastic waste, officials said Saturday. The female dugong — a large ocean mammal — was named "Marium" and became a hit in Thailand after images of biologists embracing and feeding her with milk and seagrass spread across social media. Veterinarians and volunteers had set out in canoes to feed Marium up to 15 times a day while also giving her health checks.
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| X-Ray Scans Uncover da Vinci's Hidden Painting in All Its Glory Posted: 16 Aug 2019 06:30 AM PDT  The breakthrough confirm's Leonardo's legacy: "Always adjusting, always seeking more."
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| Tears and shouting as Australia dilutes Pacific climate warning Posted: 16 Aug 2019 12:20 AM PDT  A Pacific summit has descended into tears, recriminations and shouting between pro-coal Australia and low-lying island nations facing an existential threat from climate change. The annual Pacific Island Forum wrapped up in Tuvalu late Thursday with Australia and the group's 17 other members sharply at odds, potentially undermining Canberra's efforts to curb China's growing influence in the region. "There were serious arguments and even shouting, crying, people, leaders were shedding tears," Tuvalu Prime Minister Enele Sopoaga told Australia's national broadcaster ABC after the summit broke up with a communique with "watered down" language on global warming.
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| Frustrated Philadelphia mayor calls for gun control. Here's why it hasn't happened in his city. Posted: 16 Aug 2019 01:16 PM PDT  Following a standoff between police and an armed gunman, Philadelphia's mayor calls on legislators to let the city pass its own gun laws.
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| Mormon church warning: Beware of those fancy coffee drinks Posted: 16 Aug 2019 08:59 AM PDT  The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has issued a warning to members that coffee is prohibited no matter how fancy the name, that vaping is banned despite the alluring flavors and that marijuana is outlawed unless prescribed by "competent" doctors. The article says it aims to clear up issues that could be confusing for young people within the religion's "Word of Wisdom," a set of rules about what foods and drinks are good for members and what substances they should avoid. The rules prohibit alcohol, tobacco, illegal drugs and coffee and tea.
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| All The Most Delicious Ways To Use Up Leftover Thanksgiving Turkey Posted: 16 Aug 2019 07:28 AM PDT |
| Argentina detains businessman at center of Mexican corruption scandal Posted: 16 Aug 2019 08:40 PM PDT ![Argentina detains businessman at center of Mexican corruption scandal]( "Argentina detains businessman at center of Mexican corruption scandal") Argentine authorities and Interpol detained on Friday a businessman who was at the center of a Mexican corruption scandal in 2004 that hurt the reputation of Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who at the time was Mexico City's mayor and is now the nation's president. The detained Argentine businessman Carlos Ahumada was filmed in 2004 giving bundles of money to Lopez Obrador's main ally in the City Council, Rene Bejarano. Support for Lopez Obrador at the time was battered by the graft scandal.
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| Afghan palace emerges from ruins as centenary nears Posted: 16 Aug 2019 02:29 PM PDT  Inside an imposing building in Kabul, a team of welders hastily fuse a sweeping metal bannister to a grand staircase. With questions looming over Afghanistan's future and a possible deal between the US and the Taliban imminent, the war-torn nation is this month hoping to briefly celebrate its past -- and Darulaman will be the centrepiece. Work at the famed palace must be completed by August 19, the date marking 100 years of Afghan independence from Britain, when President Ashraf Ghani will inaugurate the newly renovated structure.
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| 'A new Hawaiian Renaissance': how a telescope protest became a movement Posted: 16 Aug 2019 10:30 PM PDT  Demonstrators opposed to the building of a telescope on Mauna Kea, the state's highest peak, have forged a communityThe actor Jason Momoa exchanges a traditional greeting with an elder while visiting protesters last month. Photograph: Hollyn Johnson/APOn Hawaii's Big Island, a protest against a $1.4bn observatory on Mauna Kea, a mountain considered sacred by many Native Hawaiians, is entering a second month. In that time, the protest site has swelled from a few hundred to several thousands, attracted celebrity visitors, and built a community of Native Hawaiians who see it as a pivotal moment.The protest site sits at an elevation of 6,632ft, where the cold wind whips across hardened lava fields. But amid this inhospitable environment, weeks of demonstration have given rise to a sense of permanence.The site stretches across a two-lane highway, where trucks flying a Native Hawaiian flag and the upside-down state flag line both sides of the road. A "Kūpuna tent", where the elders of the community gather, is strategically placed to block an access road up the mountain in order to stop construction vehicles from reaching the summit.New arrivals are encouraged to sign in at an orientation station. There is a tented cafeteria providing free meals, and a community-run medic station, daycare and school. Along the barren roadside, tropical flowers have been casually stuck in traffic cones. People pound taro, a Hawaiian crop, in the traditional way on wooden boards to make poi, a local dish.The protest stems from controversy over the fate of Mauna Kea, the tallest peak in Hawaii and the proposed site of an enormous observatory known as the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT). The summit, 13,796ft above sea level, is said to be an ideal location to look into deep space. TMT is expected to capture images 'that look back to the beginning of the universe. Protesters, who call themselves kia'i, or "protectors", argue the construction will further desecrate Mauna Kea, which is already home to about a dozen telescopes.The sun sets behind telescopes at the summit of Mauna Kea in Hawaii. Photograph: Caleb Jones/APKealoha Pisciotta, one of the protest leaders and a spokesperson for Mauna Kea Anaina Hou, a Native Hawaiian group, says the movement is "pushing back on corporate culture" through Hawaiian concepts of "Kapu Aloha", which emphasizes compassionate responses, especially towards opponents, and "Aloha ʻĀina", a saying that translates to "love of the land"."We are just joining the world's indigenous movements," Pisciotta says. "We need Kapu Aloha ... to bring back the balance from the insanity and destruction of our earth."Pisciotta said that the protesters were showing the world a way "to really live differently" while protecting the land."For Native Hawaiians, there is a question of our right to self-determination as defined by international law, but I think it's so much bigger than that," said Pisciotta. "It's about us learning to live and be interdependent." Why are the protests happening?Protesters continue their vigil, on 19 July. Photograph: Bruce Asato/APHawaiians consider Mauna Kea sacred for numerous reasons. The mountain is known as the home to Wākea, the sky god, who partnered with Papahānaumoku, the earth goddess. Protesters hope to protect and help restore the native ecosystem on Mauna Kea.But the protests are also part of a legacy for Native Hawaiians that goes back to 1893, when the Hawaiian Kingdom was overthrown. Hawaiians lost their land as well as their culture, as the latter was suppressed through law and religion. It wasn't until the 1970s, during a period of cultural flourishing known as the Hawaiian Renaissance, that the Hawaiian language was allowed to be spoken in school and that the hula was revived.The period was defined by its own resistance movement, as activists focused on stopping the US military from using Kahoʻolawe, one of the eight main Hawaiian Islands, as a target for bombing practice. After more than a decade of peaceful protests and occupations of the island, the US government ended the live-fire training in the 1990s.Some see the latest protest action as a new Hawaiian Renaissance. Days are punctuated by the blowing of the conch shell to announce ceremonies that include chanting, hula, and hoʻokupu (offerings). Several celebrities with Hawaii ties have travelled here to participate, including Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Jason Momoa, and Jack Johnson.Hawaii's governor, David Ige, right, watches a performance during a visit to the ninth day of protests against the Thirty Meter Telescope, on 23 July. Photograph: Jamm Aquino/AP"The atmosphere here is incredible. We're all here protecting our ʻāina [land]", said Kamuela Park, a protester at the site. He added that it had been "awesome to see people from all spectrums coming here in support".Peaceful demonstrators have faced one major confrontation with police. Three days into the protest, 38 kūpuna (revered elders) were arrested for blocking the road that leads to the construction site. That same day, Hawaii's governor, David Ige, signed an emergency proclamation giving law enforcement more control over the area and allowed them to bring in National Guard troops. Images of the elderly being arrested quickly spread, garnering sympathy for the movement and attracting more people to the site. What comes next?Demonstrators block a road at the base of Hawaii's tallest mountain, on 15 July. Photograph: Caleb Jones/APNegotiations between government officials and protesters have slowed since the arrests. On 30 July, the governor rescinded his emergency proclamation. He also extended the window during which construction could begin from 60 days to two years, meaning the protesters would theoretically need to block the road until September 2021."I want to assure everyone that we are committed. Our law enforcement officers will remain at the site to ensure the safety of all of those involved," said Ige at a press conference. "We continue to seek and find a peaceful solution to move this project forward."While tensions may have eased, protesters have said they will stay until they stop TMT from being built. Demonstrators proved their endurance in early August as many of them stayed at the protest site while two consecutive storms passed by the islands.Pisciotta, who used to work at the Mauna Kea observatories as a telescope systems specialist, says the movement has been especially "huge" for young people."Some of the elders, they lived through the time it was prohibited to speak the language," she says. Now younger Hawaiians grow up speaking it in school and with strong cultural affiliations. Hawaiian youth who are camping out are helping to organize donations, teaching some of the courses at the community-led school, and spreading the word on social media."In our philosophy, the land and the people are one," said Pisciotta, about Aloha ʻĀina. "So it was a rallying point for the renaissance and now this is a kind of new renaissance."
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| 7 Skyscrapers Leading the Way to a Green Future Posted: 17 Aug 2019 01:18 PM PDT |
| DNA leads to arrest in another Florida rape case from 1980s Posted: 16 Aug 2019 01:52 PM PDT  For the second time in a year, authorities in a south Florida community have used DNA evidence to identify and arrest a suspect in a decades-old rape case. Timothy Norris, 60, is charged in the knifepoint rape of a Florida woman at her home in 1983, Coral Springs police spokesman Tyler Reik said Friday. Authorities found Norris serving time for bank robbery at a West Virginia federal prison, Reik said.
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| Donald Trump is touting voter ID laws as an issue in the 2020 election. Here’s why. Posted: 17 Aug 2019 06:09 AM PDT  As Donald Trump ramps up his reelection for 2020 he is resurfacing a controversial gripe held over from 2016: That voter fraud cost him support.
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| A Wisconsin college student was arrested after tearing up a classmate's swastika sign Posted: 16 Aug 2019 11:52 AM PDT  University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee junior Grae Hosmanek was participating in an event organized by Students Supporting Israel when she was arrested.
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| Cal Fire said Tubbs Fire wasn’t caused by PG&E. Victims win the right to sue utility anyway Posted: 16 Aug 2019 05:00 PM PDT  Victims of the deadly Tubbs Fire in 2017 won the right to pursue lawsuits against PG&E; Corp. on Friday in spite of state investigators' declaration that the utility wasn't to blame for the fire.
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| UPDATE 4-Hong Kongers rally against government under stormy skies Posted: 17 Aug 2019 08:17 AM PDT ![UPDATE 4-Hong Kongers rally against government under stormy skies]( "UPDATE 4-Hong Kongers rally against government under stormy skies") Thousands of school teachers joined an 11th weekend of anti-government protests in Hong Kong on Saturday, as shops pulled down their shutters and braced for another restive summer night. Weeks of increasingly violent demonstrations have plunged the city into turmoil. Water-filled barricades fortify the airport and government offices.
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| Appeals court sides with Trump administration on asylum rules Posted: 17 Aug 2019 05:37 AM PDT  Acting CBP Commissioner Mark Morgan weighs in on a federal appeals court's decision to limit the number of people who can cross the border and claim asylum.
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| Unprecedented heatwave 'kills thousands of fish' in Alaska Posted: 17 Aug 2019 04:52 AM PDT  Climate change and warming rivers may have caused the mass death of salmon in parts of Alaska, scientists say.Large numbers of salmon died prematurely in some Alaskan rivers in July according to local reports, and scientists believe the cause could be the unprecedented heatwave that gripped the state last month."Climate change is here in Alaska. We are seeing it. We are feeling it. And our salmon are dying because of it," said Stephanie Quinn-Davidson, a biologist specialising in salmon and the director of the Yukon Inter-Tribal Fish Commission, in a Facebook post.> 200 miles of river. Dead chum consistently along entire stretch. None had spawned. 850 counted, many more missed. Likely ruled out mining, disease/parasites. All signs point to heat stress. Sad to see. Hoping this is not the new normal. climatechange salmon yukonriver alaska pic.twitter.com/zAHWSgy3pg> > — Steph Quinn-Davidson (@SalmonStephAK) > > July 29, 2019
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| American Airlines reviewing rare mix-up of Charlotte passenger boarding wrong plane Posted: 16 Aug 2019 11:52 AM PDT  A flight from Charlotte to Asheville was delayed for almost an hour and a half Wednesday after a man boarded the wrong plane, an American Airlines spokeswoman said Friday.
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| Barbados police say no signs of an intruder in house where British woman found dead Posted: 16 Aug 2019 11:18 AM PDT  Police in Barbados have said there was no sign of any intruder at a home where a British woman was found dead with serious burns. Natalie Crichlow, 44, from London, was on the island to visit her disabled brother. She was found dead on July 28, and her family said an intruder had entered the house and set her alight in her bed. On Friday police in Barbados said there was no sign of an intruder, and there was no flammable liquid found on her clothes. Tyrone Griffith, chief commissioner for Barbados police, said that the fire which killed her began in the kitchen. A post mortem showed she died from an infection, following serious burns. Natalie Crichlow, who was in Barbados to look after her disabled brother The Luton-born make-up artist, a mother of three, was found in the garden. "This matter is being treated as an unnatural death, and intense investigations are ongoing," said Mr Griffith. "At this stage there is nothing to indicate that there was an intruder at the premise." A man who once lived at the house has been interviewed, but Mr Griffith said that he had no involvement in her death. Ms Crichlow's niece said she was concerned that police were not treating the investigation as a murder inquiry.
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