Some
anti-Kavanaugh protesters were paid, journalist reveals
A journalist embedded with anti-Kavanaugh protesters says that some
protesters were in fact paid, as President Trump has alleged. A lot of
them were normal people who were mad, said Vice D.C. bureau chief Shawna
Thomas on ABCs This Week, adding, We also saw people who were organized.
She pointed to activists who confronted Sen. Jeff Flake, Arizona Republican,
in an elevator late last month before the Senate Judiciary Committee voted
on the Supreme Court nomination of Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh, who has since
been confirmed. That moment with Jeff Flake on the Hill, Ms. Thomas said.
We talked to one woman who works for UltraViolet who was paid she helped
steer people in the right ways to be able to confront senators. Washington
Times
VOA VIEW: Dems look very bad and they
will pay heavy at midterm for their actions
Alexandria
Ocasio-Cortez: We must 'eliminate the Electoral College'
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a Democratic socialist hoping to represent
New Yorks 14th Congressional District, declared over the weekend that
the Electoral College is a racist American relic that must be abolished.
It is well past time we eliminate the Electoral College, a shadow of slaverys
power on America today that undermines our nation as a democratic republic,
the 28-year-old Boston University graduate tweeted to her 881,000 followers
Saturday afternoon. Ms. Ocasio-Cortez was commenting on a tweet by GQ magazines
Julia Ioffe, who complained that the Electoral College has helped conservatives
get elected.. Washington Times
VOA VIEW: Cortez is a socialist idiot.
Hurricane
Michael strengthens and advances on Florida Panhandle
Hurricane Michael continued to strengthen Monday evening as it moved
toward the Gulf of Mexico and Florida Panhandle, the National Hurricane
Center said. Michael was about 30 miles northwest of the western trip of
Cuba and 520 miles south of Apalachiola, Fla., the NHC said in a 5 p.m.
advisory Monday. The storm was moving north at 9 mph and strengthening
with maximum sustained winds of 80 mph. UPI
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Crackdown
at U.S.-Mexico border shows asylum system in crisis
After a dramatic six months of vigorous immigration enforcement
at the Mexico border, U.S. Customs and Border Protection is expected soon
to release the full fiscal year's border apprehension statistics. Projected
numbers, said Everard Meade, director of the Trans-Border Institute at
the University of San Diego, show about 370,000 people were apprehended
at the southwestern border in the year ending Sept. 30. That would be down
from a high of 1.6 million in 2000. UPI
VOA VIEW: American are losing to those
who want to take over without firing a shot.
President
Trump apologizes to Brett Kavanaugh and his family at ceremonial swearing-in
as Supreme Court justice
Speaking at a swearing-in ceremony for Associate Supreme Court Justice
Brett Kavanaugh in the East Room of the White House Monday evening, President
Trump apologized to Kavanaugh and his family "on behalf of our nation"
for what he called a desperate Democrat-led campaign of "lies and deception"
intent on derailing his confirmation. "On behalf of our nation, I want
to apologize to Brett and the entire Kavanaugh family for the terrible
pain and suffering you have been forced to endure," Trump began. "Those
who step forward to serve our country deserve a fair and dignified evaluation,
not a campaign of political and personal destruction based on lies and
deception. What happened to the Kavanaugh family violates every notion
of fairness, decency, and due process. In our country, a man or a woman
must always be presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty." Fox
VOA VIEW: Trump made great remarks.
Trump
to chiefs of police: Cops are great, Kavanaugh accusers and critics are
evil
President Donald Trump touted his commitment to law enforcement in
Orlando on Monday, urging Chicago to adopt controversial stop-and-frisk
policies and calling the critics and accusers of newly appointed U.S. Supreme
Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh evil people. My administration will always
cherish and support the men and women in blue and we are proud to do it,
Trump told hundreds of law enforcement officials gathered for a convention
of the International Association of Chiefs of Police. We will always have
your back, now and forever, the president promised. Miami
Herald
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Bill,
Hillary Clinton to embark on speaking tour amid #MeToo backlash
Bill and Hillary Clinton on Monday announced they will embark on an
international 13-city speaking tour shortly after November's midterm elections,
with tickets running as high as $745 and speculation swirling that the
former secretary of state could announce yet another presidential bid.
The tour, which kicks off in Las Vegas, is set to run from November 2018
to May 2019. It will include several stops in the U.S. and Canada, and
will cover the high-profile couple's thoughts on "one of the United States
most controversial and unpredictable presidential elections," according
to the event's organizer, Live Nation, which also handles speaking arrangements
for former First Lady Michelle Obama and musicians like Taylor Swift and
Jay-Z. Fox
VOA VIEW: How many fools are going to
give up their money to listen to the Clinton fools.
Are
wireless voting machines vulnerable? Florida, other states say theyre
safe enough
Barely a month before midterm elections, voting
integrity advocates and electronic voting experts want the federal government
to issue an official warning to states that use voting machines with integrated
cellular modems that the machines are vulnerable to hacks, potentially
interfering with the ballot counting. Once seen as a useful tool to provide
quick election results, voting machines with cellular modems are now subject
to fierce debate over how easy it would be to break into them and change
the results. Such machines are certified for use in Florida, Illinois,
Michigan and Wisconsin. Miami Herald
As
Storms Keep Coming, FEMA Spends Billions in Cycle of Damage and Repair
In the exact spot where Hurricane Katrina demolished
the Plaquemines Parish Detention Center, a new $105 million jail now hovers
19 feet above the marsh, perched atop towering concrete pillars. Described
by a state official as the Taj Mahal of Louisiana corrections, it has
so much space that one of every 27 parish residents could bunk there. But
on an average day in the first half of this year, more than 40 percent
of its 872 beds went unoccupied, making it one of the emptiest jails in
the state, records show. And because of its isolated, flood-prone location,
the jail still must be evacuated before any major storm or risk becoming
an accidental Alcatraz.
New York Times
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Mike
Pence 'deeply troubled' about missing Saudi journalist
The White House has ended its six-day silence on the disappearance
of Saudi dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi, with the vice-president,
Mike Pence, saying he was deeply troubled and warning that the free
world deserves answers. A few hours earlier on Monday, Donald Trump made
his first reference to the case, but was more tentative, telling reporters
he was concerned about some pretty bad stories about Khashoggis fate.
Hopefully that will sort itself out, the president said but added: Right
now nobody knows anything about it. Other Saudi allies made statements
on Monday. The UK foreign office said reports Khashoggi was abducted or
killed by the Saudi government were extremely serious allegations. The
French foreign ministry said Khashoggi was a recognised and respected
Saudi figure. Guardian
VOA VIEW: Saudi Arabia has to must clear
the air.
Trump
makes nice with Rosenstein
for now
Former U.S. attorney Harry Litman, Weekly Standards
Bill Kristol, Daily Beasts Betsy Woodruff, Fmr. DOJ Spokesman Matthew
Miller and NYTs Jim Rutenberg on Trumps latest meeting with his deputy
AG Rod Rosenstein weeks after the report indicating Rosenstein suggested
recording the President. MSNBC
School
under fire for turning blind eye to female students false sex assault
allegations
A Pennsylvania high school has come under fire
for its handling of false sexual assault allegations brought against a
male student by five mean girls who are accused of targeting the teen
because they just dont like him. School officials were forced to put
out a statement on Monday defending their actions after local reports revealed
that nothing was ever done to punish the female classmates. The number-one
priority of the Seneca Valley School District is the safety and well-being
of our students, staff, parents and volunteers who enter our buildings,
the statement said, according to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. We have
policies and procedures in place to protect individuals, and we communicate
to all employees on these policies and work hard every day to provide a
safe and caring learning environment for all. New
York Post
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Taylor
Swift foray into politics sparks praise and fury
When pop megastar Taylor Swift praised two Democratic candidates in
her home state of Tennessee, she broke a years-long policy of keeping her
politics to herself.
Her endorsements drew much praise but also a fierce backlash. Some
white supremacists who have formed an odd cult following around the singer
cried betrayal, while some more mainstream fans said she should have stuck
to her music. On Monday, Donald Trump joined in, saying he now liked Swifts
music about 25% less.
Guardian
VOA VIEW: Swift has hurt her career.
How
John Roberts will manage the Supreme Court's conservative majority
The confirmation of Justice Brett Kavanaugh puts
the US Supreme Court firmly on conservative terrain and Chief Justice John
Roberts at a personal crossroads. If this court is going to break out of
its predictable political mold on major legal controversies in America,
it will be up to the inscrutable 63-year-old chief justice, whose ideology
now lands him at the center of the bench, between the four liberals and
the four most dependable conservatives. Yet unlike Anthony Kennedy, who
Kavanaugh succeeded, Roberts is no centrist conservative with a record
of joining the left on closely watched social policy disputes, such as
to uphold abortion rights. The instincts of Roberts, who rose in Washington
as he served Republican administrations, have always rested with the right
wing. CNN
Columbus
vs. Indigenous Peoples Day, and why there's still a push for a name change
Evanston made the change in 2016. Oak Park switched over in 2017. Both
municipalities replaced Columbus Day (observed the second Monday in October)
with Indigenous Peoples' Day on their city calendars. And while parades
in honor of Columbus continue locally, dozens of cities, from Los Angeles
to Cincinnati, have renamed the October holiday after activists pushed
to shift the focus, arguing that Columbus was more responsible for violent
colonization than the discovery of a new continent. The first Indigenous
Peoples' Day actually was in 1989 in South Dakota, but its been a growing
movement ever since, said Heather Miller, executive director of the American
Indian Center in Chicago. The day got a lot of recognition in 1992, when
Berkeley, Calif., became the first city to rename the holiday Indigenous
Peoples Day. Thats when this movement really started, and its been going
and moving forward ever since then. I believe there are now 13 states that
have made the change, and theres a plethora of cities who have also made
the change. Chicago Tribune
VOA VIEW: Columbus Day should be forever.
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Global warming
report, an 'ear-splitting wake-up call' warns UN chief
The IPCC, or Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), issued
the report from Incheon, Republic of Korea, where for the past week, hundreds
of scientists and government representatives have been poring over thousands
of inputs to paint a picture of what could happen to the planet and its
population with global warming of 1.5°C (or 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit).
Limiting global warming will require far-reaching and unprecedented changes
to human behaviour, according to the panel. "We are already seeing the
consequences of 1°C of global warming through more extreme weather,
rising sea levels and diminishing Arctic sea ice, among other changes,
said Panmao Zhai, Co-Chair of one of the IPCC Working Groups. This report
by the worlds leading climate scientists is an ear-splitting wake-up call
to the world. It confirms that climate change is running faster than we
are and we are running out of time - UN chief Guterres. UN
The
trade war will hit US and Chinese growth next year, the IMF warns
The trade war is set to take its toll on the American and Chinese economies
in 2019. The International Monetary Fund on Tuesday cut its growth forecasts
for the United States and China, citing the recent waves of tariffs the
world's top two economies have imposed on each other. The more pessimistic
forecast comes as the clash between Washington and Beijing threatens to
keep escalating. "Trade policy reflects politics, and politics remain unsettled
in several countries, posing further risks," the IMF said in its latest
World Economic Outlook. "The impacts of trade policy and uncertainty are
becoming evident at the macroeconomic level, while anecdotal evidence accumulates
on the resulting harm to companies." CNN
Puerto
Rico's grim prognosis: The island may never recover
A year after Hurricane Maria swept across Puerto Rico, leaving some
2,975 people dead and knocking the economy on its back, it is becoming
increasingly clear that the U.S. territory may never fully recover from
the storm. Puerto Rico was already insolvent before the 2017 storm, with
creditors and the island's government deep in negotiations about how to
jumpstart the economy or strip it bare to pay off $70 billion owed to bondholders.
And the island's government owes another $50 billion it doesn't have to
cover current and future pensions. Even before Maria, half a million people
had left Puerto Rico and its economy had been steadily shrinking since
2005. After the hurricane, there's even less to work with. CBS
VOA VIEW: PR needs to wise up and elect
better people.
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UN stands
ready to support Haiti after earthquake hits northern coast Guterres
The Secretary-General is saddened to learn of the tragic loss of life
and injuries caused by the earthquake in north-west Haiti on 6 October,
said a statement issued by Mr. Guterres spokesperson. The quake, which,
according to press reports, struck overnight Saturday near Port-de-Paix,
off Haiti's northern coast, has left at least 11 people dead and more than
100 wounded. Tremors were reportedly felt in the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince,
as well as in neighboring Dominican Republic and in eastern Cuba. In todays
statement, the UN chief extended his condolences to the families of the
victims and to the Government of Haiti. The United Nations stands ready
to support the Government of Haiti in the response efforts, the statement
concluded. This is the strongest earthquake to hit Haiti since 2010, when
the tiny island nation was devastated by a 7.3 magnitude temblor, which
affected some three million people overall. UN
Ryan
Zinke approves ban on new mining claims on public land near Yellowstone
.S. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke approved a 20-year ban on new mining
claims in the towering mountains north of Yellowstone National Park on
Monday, after two proposed gold mines raised concerns that an area drawing
tourists from the around the globe could be spoiled. As Zinke signed the
mineral ban at an outdoor ceremony in Montana's Paradise Valley, a bank
of clouds behind him broke apart to reveal the snow-covered flank of Emigrant
Peak. The picturesque, 10,915-foot mountain has been at the center of the
debate over whether mining should be allowed. The former Montana congressman
was joined by local business owners and residents who pushed for the ban
after companies began drafting plans for new mines in an area frequented
by wolves, elk, bears and other wildlife. "I'm a pro-mining guy. I love
hardrock" mining, Zinke said. "But there are places to mine and places
not to mine." CBS
Hurricane
Michael live updates: Heading toward Florida, could be Category 3 at landfall
Hurricane Michael was upgraded from a tropical storm as it churns in
the Gulf and is forecast to become a major Category 3 storm when it makes
landfall in the Florida Panhandle later this week. Already a Category 1
hurricane with sustained winds of 75 miles per hour, Michael is traveling
north at a rate of 7 miles per hour. The National Hurricane Center predicts
that Michael will reach major hurricane status on Tuesday night or Wednesday
morning as it nears the coast with sustained winds of 120 mph. ABC
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