| 2020 Vision Thursday: Why Kamala Harris is struggling in the polls Posted: 19 Sep 2019 07:05 AM PDT  Pundits have been speculating about the state of Sen. Kamala Harris's campaign ever since one of her staffers accidentally left an internal briefing memo that included the phrase "summer slump" at a Manchester, N.H., restaurant earlier this month.
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| Texas man wanted for allegedly divorcing his wife without her knowledge Posted: 20 Sep 2019 12:32 PM PDT  A Texas man is wanted by police after he allegedly filed for and completed divorce proceedings against his wife without her knowledge.
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| PHOTOS: Tropical Storm Imelda floods Texas Posted: 20 Sep 2019 06:30 AM PDT  The slow-churning remnants of Tropical Storm Imelda flooded parts of Texas on Thursday, leaving at least two people dead and rescue crews with boats scrambling to reach stranded drivers and families trapped in their homes during a relentless downpour that drew comparisons to Hurricane Harvey two years ago.
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| 'Shocked and devastated': Connecticut father, son die in tragic fall after riding ATVs in abandoned quarry Posted: 20 Sep 2019 07:55 AM PDT  A father and son died after they both fell off a 75-foot cliff in Connecticut Wednesday, WVIT-TV reported.
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| Why Trump had a wad of cash in his back pocket Posted: 19 Sep 2019 07:57 AM PDT  "I don't carry a wallet because I haven't had to use a credit card in a long time," he told reporters aboard Air Force One. "I do like leaving tips to the hotel. I like to carry a little something."
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| Elizabeth Warren Declares War on Lobbying, Hires Lobbyist One Day Later Posted: 20 Sep 2019 04:24 AM PDT  Is she serious?
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| Architect Reinaldo Leandro on the Art of Building Design and Personal Style Posted: 20 Sep 2019 12:17 PM PDT |
| 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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| Third Photo of Justin Trudeau in Blackface Threatens to Destroy His Progressive Reputation Posted: 19 Sep 2019 08:54 AM PDT  REUTERS/Chris WattieThe progressive reputation of Justin Trudeau is in ruins Thursday morning after a third instance emerged of the Canadian prime minister wearing racist dark face-paint.The first photo that surfaced, showing Trudeau in 2001 wearing brownface as part of an Aladdin costume, would have been enough to turn some voters off him forever. But, within hours, a second photo was published of him wearing blackface to sing the Jamaican folk song "Day-O," followed by a third video of him sticking his tongue out wearing dark makeup.What was initially assumed to be a deeply stupid and offensive costume at one theme party now looks like it was just one instance of a deeply troubling habit.Trudeau admitted he "made a mistake" late Wednesday after the first photo was published. That showed him wearing brownface makeup to an "Arabian Nights"-themed gala at the Vancouver private school where he taught in 2001.The picture, found in West Point Grey Academy's yearbook and published by Time magazine, shows Trudeau with his face, neck, and hands darkened—along with him wearing a turban and robes. While he was not the only one pictured in costume at the gala, he appeared to be the only one pictured in brownface. "Obviously I regret that I did it, I'm really sorry I did it," Trudeau told reporters Wednesday evening. "I take responsibility for my decision to do that. I should have known better... I didn't know it was racist at the time."Media relations lead of the Liberal Party of Canada, Zita Astravas, confirmed to Time that it was Trudeau in the photo. "It was a photo taken while he was teaching in Vancouver, at the school's annual dinner which had a costume theme of 'Arabian Nights.' He attended with friends and colleagues dressed as a character from Aladdin," Astravas said. In addition to the yearbook photo, he also disclosed to reporters that he once participated in a high school play "with makeup on"—but he did not elaborate further. That photo was then found shortly afterward.The third video, published Thursday morning by Canada's Global News, appears to show Trudeau's face covered in dark makeup while he sticks his tongue out. It appears his arms and legs are also covered in dark makeup. A senior member of the Liberal campaign reportedly told the network that it was Trudeau in the video but didn't comment further.The photos, which surfaced as Trudeau is ramping up his re-election campaign, sparked an outpouring of criticism on Twitter, where many accused the Canadian prime minister of racism. Trudeau announced his re-election bid this month amid accusations he meddled in a corruption case. When asked by reporters if he would consider resigning over the photo, he said only that the incident "calls for important conversations.""I have worked all my life to create opportunities for people to fight against racism, I can stand here and say I made a mistake... I should have known better then, but I didn't and I'm sorry," he said. "I'm going to be asking Canadians to forgive me... I'm disappointed and pissed off at myself."New Democratic Party leader Jagmeet Singh blasted the prime minister, claiming that his public calls to fight discrimination and his behavior in private were at odds."Who is the real Mr. Trudeau? Is it the one behind closed doors, the one when the cameras are turned off that no one sees?" Singh asked, according to The Globe and Mail. "Is that the real Mr. Trudeau? Because more and more, it seems like it is."The National Council of Canadian Muslims also said Trudeau wearing brownface was a "reprehensible" act that "hearkens back to a history of racism, slavery, and an Orientalist mythology that is unacceptable.""While we recognize that people can change and evolve over two decades, it is critical that the prime minister immediately and unequivocally apologize," executive director Mustafa Farooq told the newspaper.Earlier this year, a similar yearbook photo of Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam wearing a racist costume was uncovered—prompting calls for him to resign. He is currently still in office. Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey also recently apologized for participating in a blackface skit in college.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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| High school sparks controversy over 'ridiculous' lunch: 'It's honestly sad' Posted: 20 Sep 2019 11:24 AM PDT  A Minnesota high school is facing criticism for serving a meal that many people have since called "ridiculous."
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| An attorney forced out of the CIA's watchdog office is representing the Trump whistleblower Posted: 19 Sep 2019 12:07 PM PDT  Andrew Bakaj, an attorney who left the CIA in 2014 after facing professional retaliation for trying to work with intelligence community whistleblowers is now representing the U.S. official who reportedly filed a complaint alleging wrongdoing by President Trump.
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| Alien enthusiasts descend on Nevada desert near secretive U.S. base Posted: 19 Sep 2019 12:27 PM PDT  Scores of UFO enthusiasts converged on rural Nevada on Thursday for a pilgrimage of sorts to the U.S. installation known as Area 51, long rumored to house government secrets about alien life, as law enforcement officials beefed up security around the military base. Visitors descended early in the day on the tiny desert town of Rachel, a short distance from the military site, in response to a recent, viral social-media invitation to "storm" Area 51 on Friday, raising concerns by local authorities of unruly crowds overwhelming the community. Situated about 150 miles (240 km) north of Las Vegas, the remote hamlet of just 50 year-round residents lacks a grocery store or even a gasoline station.
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| Stranded cars, rescues and deadly flooding: Waters slowly begin receding in Houston after Imelda Posted: 20 Sep 2019 11:21 AM PDT  As floodwaters began slowing receding in Houston, police worked to clear freeways of hundreds of stranded vehicles after four days of relentless rain
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| India Is Planning a Huge China-Style Facial Recognition Program Posted: 19 Sep 2019 02:00 PM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- India is planning to set up one of the world's largest facial recognition systems, potentially a lucrative opportunity for surveillance companies and a nightmare for privacy advocates who fear it will lead to a Chinese-style Orwellian state.Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government will open bids next month to build a system to centralize facial recognition data captured through surveillance cameras across India. It would link up with databases containing records for everything from passports to fingerprints to help India's depleted police force identify criminals, missing persons and dead bodies.The government says the move is designed to help one of the world's most understaffed police forces, which has one officer for every 724 citizens -- well below global norms. It also could be a boon for companies: TechSci Research estimates India's facial recognition market will grow sixfold by 2024 to $4.3 billion, nearly on par with China.But the project is also ringing alarm bells in a nation with no data privacy laws and a government that just shut down the internet for the last seven weeks in the key state of Kashmir to prevent unrest. While India is still far from implementing a system that matches China's ability to use technology to control the population, the lack of proper safeguards opens the door for abuses."We're the only functional democracy which will set up such as system without any data protection or privacy laws," said Apar Gupta, a Delhi-based lawyer and executive director of the Internet Freedom Foundation, a non-profit group whose members successfully lobbied the government in 2015 to ensure net neutrality and reject platforms like Facebook Inc.'s Free Basics. "It's like a gold rush for companies seeking large unprotected databases."Black MarketA draft data protection bill presented to the government last year still hasn't been approved by the cabinet or introduced into parliament. The country has already had problems implementing Aadhaar, one of the world's biggest biometric databases linking everything from bank accounts to income tax filings, which been plagued by reports of data leaks and the growth of a black market for personal information.So far, not much is known about which companies might bid on the facial-recognition system. Minutes of a meeting with potential bidders, obtained by the Internet Freedom Foundation through a right to information request, showed unidentified companies sought clarifications on integrating facial recognition data with state databases and whether it should be able to identify people with plastic surgery.Vasudha Gupta, a spokeswoman for the Home Ministry, didn't respond to an email seeking comments about the system.For some in the police force, the system will be an essential tool to fight crime if implemented properly. India has seen more than 100 terrorist attacks in the last three decades, including one on luxury hotels and a train station in Mumbai that killed 166 people in 2008.'Powerful Tool'Nilabh Kishore, who headed a unit fighting organized crime in the state of Punjab until last year, had success against gangsters after he set up a system linking data from police stations across the state."A system that can identify criminals is invaluable -- facial recognition is a powerful tool," said Kishore, who is now deputy inspector general of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police. "But human intentions are also very important. You can make the best of technology, but if human intentions are wrong it can be a tool for misuse."That's particularly a worry for vulnerable minority groups that have long faced discrimination in India. Lower castes and tribals account for about a quarter of the population but constitute 34% of India's prisoners, according to the National Dalit Movement for Justice.In January, the Delhi High Court said it was "unacceptable" that facial recognition had not helped trace any of the 5,000 children missing from the city in three years. Earlier this month, photos and phone numbers from a Madurai city police facial recognition database in the southern state of Tamil Nadu were leaked online.Surveillance ThreatThe threat of foreign spying is also persistent. Last month a federal government think tank criticized the local administration in Delhi for hiring the Indian arm of Chinese firm Hikvision to set up 150,000 CCTVs, saying the move could spur illegal hacking and data leaks to the Chinese government.Foreign surveillance companies operating in India include CP Plus, Dahua, Panasonic Corp., Bosch Security Systems, Honeywell International Inc., and D-Link India Ltd. Many Indian companies won't be able to bid on the facial-recognition system because the current tender requires them to meet standards established by the U.S. National Institute of Science and Technology, according to Atul Rai, chief executive officer of Staqu Technologies, an Indian startup.Rai, whose company has developed facial recognition for eight local police forces, said India doesn't have the same quality cameras as China -- making it harder to meet the goal of being able to identify any person with an integrated system. He also said it would be more difficult to implement a national network in India because state governments are responsible for law and order under its constitution."But if this one happens in line with the government's plan, it should be a China-like system," Rai said. "Any powerful country wants to be like China when it comes to using technology to monitor people -- even western countries."\--With assistance from Santosh Kumar.To contact the reporter on this story: Archana Chaudhary in New Delhi at achaudhary2@bloomberg.netTo contact the editor responsible for this story: Ruth Pollard at rpollard2@bloomberg.netFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Officials: Political donor caused deadly overdose during sex Posted: 19 Sep 2019 10:31 PM PDT  Gemmel Moore had moved back home with his mother in Texas two years ago and was missing Los Angeles when he texted a photo of syringe in an arm to a wealthy gay man he knew in California. Buck bought a plane ticket for Moore and had a car pick him up a week later at the airport. Federal prosecutors released new details Thursday as they charged Buck, 65, with distributing methamphetamine resulting in Moore's death on July 27, 2017.
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| 5 Reasons Why the Saudi Oil Attacks Won’t Lead to War with Iran Posted: 20 Sep 2019 12:45 AM PDT  Miscalculation is unlikely when open conflict would come with high costs for both countries, costs that neither their leaders nor their publics are willing to accept.
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| Colt to stop making AR-15 rifles, weapon of choice in US mass shootings Posted: 20 Sep 2019 10:53 AM PDT  Legendary US gun manufacturer Colt has said it will no longer produce the AR-15, blaming market forces rather than the semi-automatic rifle's role in some of the country's worst mass shootings. "Over the last few years, the market for modern sporting rifles has experienced significant excess manufacturing capacity," said the company's chief executive Dennis Veilleux in a statement released on Thursday. For that reason, "we believe there is adequate supply for modern sporting rifles for the foreseeable future," he said, noting that his firm would continue to make assault rifles for the US military and law enforcement agencies, as well as its world-famous revolvers.
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| In Nevada desert, Area 51 raid lures festive UFO hunters; three arrested Posted: 20 Sep 2019 06:08 AM PDT  UFO enthusiasts drawn by alien-themed festivities continued to pour into rural Nevada on Friday near the Area 51 U.S. military base, but fears of a mass raid on the remote site or a public safety crisis proved unfounded, with only three people arrested. An estimated 2,300 out-of-towners ventured on Thursday and Friday to the desert region around Area 51, a secretive U.S. Air Force installation long rumored to house government secrets about extraterrestrial life and spaceships. The pilgrimage and two festivals welcoming the visitors were organized after a Facebook user jokingly exhorted readers to "storm" Area 51 on Sept. 20 "to see them aliens." The date chosen for the gathering was never explained.
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| FedEx Pilot Detained in China for Item Found in Luggage Posted: 20 Sep 2019 01:51 AM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- A FedEx Corp. pilot was temporarily detained in southeastern China after authorities found hundreds of air-gun pellets in his luggage prior to boarding a commercial flight to Hong Kong, marking the delivery firm's latest setback in the country.The pilot, who was held in the city of Guangzhou, was later released on bail and the company is working with relevant authorities to understand the facts better, Memphis-based FedEx said in an email. Geng Shuang, spokesman at China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said at a briefing Friday that he was detained after being found with 681 air-gun pellets in his luggage.While FedEx didn't provide details, a Wall Street Journal report earlier cited people familiar with the matter as saying Chinese authorities have started a criminal probe on the former U.S. Air Force colonel for allegedly carrying ammunition illegally. China notified the U.S. consulate in Guangzhou about the matter and the case is still under investigation, Geng said.FedEx has been under particular scrutiny in recent months, after Huawei Technologies Co. said documents it asked to be shipped from Japan to China were diverted to the U.S. instead without authorization. In another incident, FedEx said it mistakenly rejected a package containing a Huawei phone being sent to the U.S. from the U.K., a claim China rebuffed.Separately, police in China's Fujian province started an investigation into a package containing a gun delivered by FedEx to a company in China, state media reported in August. Chinese authorities also began probing FedEx on suspicion of illegally handling a package sent to Hong Kong containing knives, Xinhua News Agency reported in early September.The fracas over the Huawei packages has seen FedEx targeted in Chinese state media, with Beijing considering adding the company to a list of so-called unreliable entities it is drafting, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg in June.China Mulls FedEx Blacklisting After Huawei Delivery ErrorsAfter the U.S. slapped curbs on Huawei, China's Commerce Ministry announced the creation of the list in late May to target firms that the government says damage the interests of domestic companies.(Updates with foreign ministry comment in second paragraph.)\--With assistance from Thomas Black, Feifei Shen and April Ma.To contact the reporter on this story: Young-Sam Cho in Hong Kong at ycho2@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Young-Sam Cho at ycho2@bloomberg.net, Emma O'BrienFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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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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| Climate change could turn oceans from friend to foe, UN report warns Posted: 19 Sep 2019 08:28 PM PDT  Global warming and pollution caused by humanity's carbon-heavy footprint are ravaging Earth's oceans and icy regions in ways that could unleash misery on a global scale, a landmark UN report to be unveiled next week will warn. The underlying 900-page scientific report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is the fourth such UN tome in less than a year, with others focused on a 1.5-Celsius cap on global warming, the decline of biodiversity, as well as land use and the global food system. All four conclude that humanity must overhaul how it produces, distributes and consumes almost everything to avoid the worst ravages of global warming and environmental degradation.
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| Boy, 4, who was diagnosed with autism and cancer within months of each other beats odds Posted: 20 Sep 2019 02:05 PM PDT  A 4-year-old boy who was diagnosed with autism and cancer within three months has impressively beaten the odds
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| Jeffrey Epstein victim says Prince Andrew bought her vodka at a London club when she was 17 before having sex with her Posted: 20 Sep 2019 02:21 PM PDT  Virginia Roberts Giuffre, who has accused Jeffrey Epstein of sex trafficking her, explained how the late financier's close associate Ghislaine Maxwell coerced her into having sex with Prince Andrew of Britain.
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| Newsmaker: The anti-Netanyahu? Ex-general Gantz poised for top office Posted: 19 Sep 2019 05:30 AM PDT  Benny Gantz has little of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's worldly polish or flair as a showy ideologue - and that may be exactly why so many weary Israelis want the ex-general in top office. A towering and laid-back former military chief, Gantz appears to have edged out the conservative Netanyahu in a Tuesday election, but not enough to win a governing center-left majority in parliament led by his Blue and White party. A weakened Netanyahu, whose right-wing Likud party also fell short of victory, called on Gantz, 60, on Thursday to join him a broad, unity government.
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| Son who threw his terminally ill 79-year-old mother to her death spared jail Posted: 20 Sep 2019 11:13 AM PDT  A teacher who threw his terminally ill 79-year-old mother to her death from a first-floor balcony spared jail as judge describes it as a "mercy killing". A "devoted, loving son" who killed his dying mother to end her suffering by dropping her from a first floor fire escape at a care home has been given a suspended jail term. Robert Knight, 53, pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of his 79-year-old mother June at an earlier hearing at Basildon Crown Court. The languages teacher had denied murder and was cleared by a jury. Judge Samantha Leigh, sentencing Knight at Basildon Crown Court on Friday, told him: "You are someone who acted out of love and desperation. "You have been punished enough and you have to live with what you have done." She went on to describe it as a "mercy killing". Knight was sentenced to 24 months in prison suspended for 24 months. The incident happened at Langley Lodge Care Home in Westcliff, Essex, where Mrs Knight was receiving end-of-life care. Credit: EAST NEWS PRESS AGENCY Knight, of The Fairway, Leigh-on-Sea, signed into the care home on the evening of December 10 and lifted his mother out of bed. He dropped her from a fire escape and there was "no planning" involved, the judge said. The judge said: "This is a very sad case - anyone listening to the details of Mrs Knight's illness and her condition couldn't fail to be moved." She added that to "watch someone you love suffer as she was suffering... is truly cruel". The court heard that Mrs Knight had dementia and Alzheimer's disease, and a post-mortem report showed she had a twisted bowel that would have caused her pain. Knight visited her regularly, brushing her hair and cutting her nails, the judge said. She added that a "do not resuscitate" notice was in place at the time and care home staff "didn't think she would survive the night" from December 9 to December 10 last year. "You were convinced that she was suffering and it was more than you could bear," the judge told Knight. "You are described as a devoted, loving son," she added. "This case, I'm sure, was a very finely balanced one as to whether it was in the interest to prosecute in the first place." Michael Levy, mitigating, said Knight had no previous convictions, was remorseful, had admitted manslaughter and had spent more than nine months in custody while criminal proceedings were under way. Knight was ordered to complete 60 days of rehabilitation as part of his sentence, before he walked free from court.
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| House votes to end forced arbitration in business disputes Posted: 20 Sep 2019 10:40 AM PDT  The House approved a bill Friday to end forced arbitration clauses that prevent workers and consumers from filing lawsuits in disputes with companies over employment practices, billing or civil rights. Supporters, mostly Democrats, said the bill would restore access to justice for millions of Americans who are now locked out of the court system and forced to settle disputes against companies in a private arbitration system that often favors the company over the individual. Opponents, mostly Republicans, said the measure would make it harder for individual workers or consumers by forcing them into lengthy, expensive court fights that may end up shutting them out of the justice system entirely.
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| Trump announces sanctions but says won't strike Iran Posted: 20 Sep 2019 02:01 PM PDT  US President Donald Trump on Friday announced new sanctions on Iran that he said were the toughest-ever against another country but indicated he did not plan a military strike, calling restraint a sign of strength. The Treasury Department renewed action against Iran's central bank after US officials said that Tehran carried out weekend attacks on rival Saudi Arabia's oil infrastructure, which triggered a spike in global crude prices. "We have just sanctioned the Iranian national bank," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.
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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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| Gerald Bostock Was Fired. He Wants His Supreme Court Case to Help Change LGBTQ Rights in America. Posted: 20 Sep 2019 01:43 AM PDT  Courtesy Gerald BostockGerald Bostock relished doing his job. He was proud of helping young people. Until 2013 he worked for Clayton County, Georgia, managing the county's CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) program, which trained and assigned volunteers to represent children who have experienced abuse or neglect in court proceedings."Imagine having a job you love, that's your dream job, and all of sudden losing it," Bostock, 55, from Doraville, Georgia, told The Daily Beast. In 2013, Bostock was suddenly fired by Clayton County. Bostock claims it was because he is gay, the firing coming after it was revealed to colleagues that he played for a local gay softball league. He was also subject to homophobic slurs, he claims.Now Bostock's case is one of three historic LGBTQ discrimination cases that will be heard at the Supreme Court on Oct. 8. (The Daily Beast reported on the other two cases, involving former funeral director Aimee Stephens and skydiver Donald Zarda, in detail recently.)Inside the Supreme Court Discrimination Cases That Could Change LGBTQ RightsIn all three cases, SCOTUS will consider—and ultimately adjudicate—whether current sex discrimination laws protect LGBTQ people from workplace discrimination. "For me it has been extremely emotional," Bostock told The Daily Beast of the last six years of legal fighting. "I lost my livelihood, and my source of income. I even lost my medical insurance, and at a time I was just recovering from prostate cancer. It's been a long six-year journey not only to clear my name, but also help make it so no one has to go to work in fear of being fired for who they are, how they identify, and who they love."The lawyers in all three SCOTUS cases claim that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, and national origin, includes sexual orientation and gender identity, under the "sex" classification.All three cases represent as momentous a moment for LGBTQ rights and equality at the Supreme Court as the Defense of Marriage Act and marriage equality rulings did in 2013 and 2015, respectively.Two of the cases focus on gay-related discrimination and will be heard together—Bostock's and Zarda's. The case of Stephens, who alleges her employer discriminated against her because she is transgender, will be heard separately.The cases are being heard against the backdrop of the stymied passage of the Equality Act, which would enshrine anti-LGBTQ discrimination protections in federal law (28 states presently have no protections for LGBTQ employees). The act passed in the House of Representatives but has little chance of getting passed in a Republican-controlled Senate.Thomas J. Mew, partner at Buckley Beal in Atlanta and one of Bostock's attorneys, told The Daily Beast: "This is a landmark case because we're in a situation where right now in too many parts of the country a gay or lesbian individual can marry their partner on Sunday and then be fired for their sexual orientation on Monday."Mew said, "What this situation is screaming out for is a uniform federal standard, and application of the law that protects LGBTQ men and women. Whether the individual is protected or not from discrimination should never be contingent on the luck of the geographical draw."As summarized by SCOTUSBlog, Bostock claimed that the county falsely accused him of mismanaging public money, when it really fired him for being gay.In the other cases, lower courts have delivered rulings in favor of Zarda and Stephens. But so far in Bostock's case, a district court ruled that Title VII did not cover sexual orientation, a ruling upheld by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit—and so Bostock has brought his case to the Supreme Court.Brian J. Sutherland, partner at Buckley Beal and another of Bostock's attorneys, told The Daily Beast that the "plain language of the Civil Rights Act clearly applies to sexual orientation. You can't consider a person's sexual orientation without considering his or her sex, and you can't consider a person's sex when you're making an employment decision against them."A spokesperson for Clayton County, Georgia, told The Daily Beast they would not discuss the case, adding: "We do not comment on pending litigation."Jennifer King, executive director of Georgia CASA, told The Daily Beast that the organization was aware of the Supreme Court case "and its potential to further define protections under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act."King revealed that Georgia CASA has not had involvement with any resulting legal proceedings, nor been a party to the case. "Georgia CASA does not have direct authority in personnel matters at local affiliates; we are not responsible for any hiring or termination decisions," King wrote in an email to The Daily Beast. "Our focus continues to be on our mission of supporting and providing volunteer advocacy for children experiencing foster care. As a state network of independent affiliates, Georgia CASA embraces the diversity of its volunteers, staff, and supporters and actively works to engage advocates who are inclusive and representative of the communities and children the CASA program serves."The Trump administration—led by Solicitor General Noel J. Francisco and Department of Justice attorneys—has argued that Title VII does not include sexual orientation or gender identity, and therefore it is perfectly legal to fire and discriminate against people on the grounds that they are LGBTQ. "Unfavorable treatment of a gay or lesbian employee as such is not the consequence of that individual's sex," the Justice Department argued, "but instead of an employer's policy concerning a different trait—sexual orientation—that Title VII does not protect."* * *Bostock said he was not only immensely fulfilled by his work for Clayton County but also that the program was immensely successful and had received many awards for its work. He received favorable performance reviews. "My employer loved me doing my job."It was when he joined the Hotlanta Softball League in January 2013 "that my life started to change," said Bostock."Negative comments about my sexual orientation started surfacing, disparaging comments about my participation within the league, and the fact I was promoting the CASA program within what was said to be 'the gay community' of Atlanta."Both the national and Georgia CASA chapters have strict inclusion and anti-discrimination policies, including around sexual orientation, Bostock said. "I did nothing wrong and nothing differently, other than joining a gay softball league," insisted Bostock.He and his lawyer declined to say what anti-gay slurs had been said to him. "I need my day in court in order to do that," said Bostock.The day he was fired, Bostock went to work and his key-swipe no longer worked. His subsequent termination was abrupt."I was completely shocked and devastated. Everything flashed before me in an instant: all my hard work given to the county for 10 years advocating for child abuse and neglect victims, and all my successes and achievements—all of that being taken away from me suddenly because of my sexual orientation. The timeline speaks for itself."It was both physically and emotionally draining for me. I was still recovering from prostate cancer. The stress of this alone prolonged my recovery. As I moved through this journey I learned that it was a much bigger issue than just me. Because it is an issue of national importance, I thought someone should make the issue known and bring it to the attention of the courts. I didn't want this to happen to anyone else. I didn't want anyone else to experience what I've gone through for the last six years."Going to the Supreme Court and being part of a landmark case was "exciting but surreal," said Bostock. "This is no longer about me, it's about the LGBTQ community that deals with this issue every day throughout our country. Homophobia is not acceptable, and workplace discrimination of any form is just wrong."Bostock said he was "living proof" of Clayton County's homophobia. "But what about the children still in foster care in Clayton County? We had achieved the benchmark of serving 100 percent of children in care, and it is now my understanding the program is no longer supplying a CASA volunteer for every child in the courts. Those children have become re-victimized. "What about children in care who identify as LGBTQ? What kind of message does this case send to them? They have lost a positive role model. They lost somebody they could look up to. I think Clayton County have sent a very homophobic message to them that their lives don't matter. "What about the gay softball league, and the LGBTQ community within Atlanta—all those wonderful people interested in the program and volunteering? It's also a very homophobic message sent to that community: 'You're not welcome to participate in the Clayton County court program.' There are lots of homophobia-related issues at play here, and a lot of victims as a result of it."* * *Attorney Sutherland invoked the 1989 SCOTUS case involving Ann Hopkins, a Price Waterhouse employee who sued her employer after she was denied partnership because her firm objected to how she dressed and did her makeup. When the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Hopkins, it made clear that gender stereotyping was as actionable as sex discrimination. "This also supports the conclusion that sexual orientation discrimination is a form of sex discrimination that is prohibited by the law," said Sutherland.There had also been amendments to the Civil Rights Act, "supporting expansive interpretations of the law," Sutherland added. "The Civil Rights Act should be interpreted broadly, and the Supreme Court has recognized that it reaches broadly, and it should be interpreted broadly to include sexual orientation discrimination as a prohibited form of sex discrimination."The present rightward-tilting makeup of SCOTUS does not concern Sutherland."We are confident and expect to be successful. The legal arguments we are making are grounded in the text and history of the law. The right to work is not a political issue. That's what the Civil Rights Act is about when it comes to discrimination: People need to be judged according to their work performance. This is a straightforward application-of-the-law issue."As an employee, Bostock, said Sutherland, was an "incredibly effective employee developing a program that served at-risk children in the Clayton County juvenile system. He won awards. Nothing changed except he joined a gay recreational softball league." The case was dismissed without a chance to go trial and so, said Sutherland, "a large part of this is to give Gerald his day in court to show evidence to support his claim—that he was fired because of his sexual orientation."Bostock's career in child welfare services ended after he was fired in 2013. He couldn't get an interview in that field, he said. He has since become a mental health counselor working at Georgia Regional Hospital. "I'm still making a difference, but with adults, not children. I've always been a person who wanted to give back and make a positive difference in the community around me, but my passion was working with children, and that was the job I was good at. The program I ran had great success, and had national and statewide accolades—and having that passion taken away from you for doing nothing wrong is just hurtful. "Working with children absolutely is and always has been my passion since graduating from college and starting my career."Bostock's lack of success in the lower courts has been "difficult and hurtful," but motivating to "keep pushing forward with my legal team. Without the support of my partner as well as my family and circle of friends, I don't know if I would have had the strength and ability to do what I've done. They've been by my side the entire time and I love them dearly. They have been a great support and source of strength for me." (Bostock said he was now cancer-free, and no longer plays softball.)This reporter asked Sutherland and Mew if LGBTQ rights and equality would be placed on a surer footing if a piece of law—like the Equality Act, if it ever passes—mentioned sexual orientation and gender identity as specifically prohibited grounds of discrimination.Sutherland reiterated that it wasn't necessary: The current law prohibited sexual orientation discrimination as a form of sex discrimination.Bostock himself told The Daily Beast: "I will continue in my fight for equality and equal rights for all. Any American who wants to work and is able to work should have that right without fear of losing their job because of who they are, how they identify, and who they love."I am proud of who I am, and the man I have become—and I am very proud of the hard work and success I had in Clayton County. Nobody is going to take that away from me. I hope and pray that others have that same self-confidence, and follow this path with me, so we can ensure that nobody goes to work in fear of losing their job."Read 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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| American Airlines Mechanic who Sabotaged Plane before Takeoff Suspected of ISIS Ties Posted: 19 Sep 2019 10:41 AM PDT  A federal judge denied bail on Wednesday to an American Airlines mechanic, who has been incarcerated since July for sabotaging a plane with 150 people on board, due to suspicions the mechanic has ties to ISIS.Abdul-Majeed Alani was arrested on September 5 and confessed to tampering with a Boeing 737 at Miami International Airport weeks earlier, grounding the plane before it had a chance to take off. He told investigators at the time that he was upset over a contract dispute involving a union, and decided to ground the plane so that he could obtain overtime work.However, investigators subsequently found videos of mass murders committed by ISIS on Alani's cell phone.In the Wednesday bail hearing, prosecutors announced that Alani has a brother in Iraq who may be involved with ISIS, and that Alani had previously expressed his desire for Allah to harm non-Muslims.Alani's lawyer requested bail to be posted at $200,000 but Magistrate Judge Chris M. McAliley denied the request, deeming Alani a flight risk.Alani has been a mechanic at American Airlines for thirty years and does not have a criminal record. He is a U.S. citizen.Court documents assert that Alani used a piece of foam to obstruct the plane's air data module, which tracks air speed and other critical flight data. Security camera footage from July 17 shows Alani tampering with the aircraft.The plane had left the gate and reached the runway just before takeoff when the pilots received an error message, after which they aborted the takeoff.
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| Drowning of U.S.-bound Honduran mother and son underscores plight of migrants Posted: 19 Sep 2019 06:53 PM PDT ![Drowning of U.S.-bound Honduran mother and son underscores plight of migrants]( "Drowning of U.S.-bound Honduran mother and son underscores plight of migrants") TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras/MATAMOROS, Mexico Sept 19 (Reuters) - W hen Delia Hernandez, 44, bade farewell on Aug. 1 to Idalia Herrera, 27, and nearly two-year-old Iker Cordova, she dreamed her daughter and grandson were fleeing the arid fields of southern Honduras for a bright new life in the United States, she said. Instead, Herrera and Cordova drowned last week in the Rio Grande just shy of Brownsville, Texas, weeks into an anguished wait in the Mexican border city of Matamoros for an asylum hearing with U.S. authorities, migrants there and Herrera's grandmother said.
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| FDA approves oral diabetes drug from Novo Nordisk Posted: 20 Sep 2019 10:57 AM PDT  The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Friday approved an oral version of Novo Nordisk's diabetes drug semaglutide, a boost for the Danish drugmaker, which hopes to transform the market by offering patients a noninjectable treatment.
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| 6 things to know about teenage climate change activist Greta Thunberg Posted: 19 Sep 2019 09:20 PM PDT  Teen climate activist Greta Thunberg has addressed a UN summit, sailed across the Atlantic, and been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.
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| State sending troopers to help fight St. Louis crime Posted: 19 Sep 2019 04:09 PM PDT  Missouri Gov. Mike Parson is sending highway patrol troopers and other state workers to St. Louis as part of an effort to fight the surge of violent crime that has included the killings of more than a dozen children in the region so far this year. Parson said the total cost of the state's commitment, including the 25 state employees who will work in the St. Louis region, is up to $4 million. "This is about targeting violent criminals and getting them off the street," Parson said at a news conference in St. Louis.
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| Russia Can't Stop Israel's F-35 Stealth Fighters Posted: 19 Sep 2019 06:00 PM PDT  Key point: The F-35 operates on another level that Russia's air defense cannot handle.
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| 2019 Editors' Choice Awards: The Best Trucks, SUVs, and Vans Posted: 20 Sep 2019 10:15 AM PDT |
| The Macallan unveils Edition No. 5 -- and it looks like nothing you've ever seen from the brand before [Exclusive] Posted: 20 Sep 2019 09:23 AM PDT ![The Macallan unveils Edition No. 5 -- and it looks like nothing you've ever seen from the brand before [Exclusive]](http://l2.yimg.com/uu/api/res/1.2/FeqZrh.jX9g7ZJmMVH5dXA--/YXBwaWQ9eXRhY2h5b247aD04Njt3PTEzMDs-/https://o.aolcdn.com/images/dims3/GLOB/crop/2700x1770+0+593/resize/1028x675!/format/jpg/quality/85/https://s.yimg.com/os/creatr-uploaded-images/2019-09/51dfca70-dbc2-11e9-bff6-dd3a7bbd36bc "The Macallan unveils Edition No. 5 -- and it looks like nothing you've ever seen from the brand before [Exclusive]") The newest iteration of the Macallan Edition Series, Edition No. 5, might be the most out-of-the-box yet.
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