| Black Republican prosecutor appointed to racially charged Ahmaud Arbery case Posted: 14 May 2020 02:12 PM PDT  Joyette M. Holmes was appointed as the fourth prosecutor in the case of Ahmaud Arbery, a black man gunned down in February by two white men while on a jog in Georgia.
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| Some evangelicals fear the 'mark of the beast' from a coronavirus vaccine Posted: 14 May 2020 11:32 AM PDT  Peggy Popham, who described herself as a lifelong Republican, said that while her beliefs about the coronavirus vaccine "have a lot to do with my political views," they also "go along with my faith." "I'm 70 and I've gotten sick before," said Popham. But, she added, "I would not take the vaccine."
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| Crowds pack Wisconsin bars hours after court stops coronavirus stay-at-home order Posted: 14 May 2020 03:40 PM PDT  Hours after the Wisconsin Supreme Court struck down the state's stay-at-home order, bars were packed with crowds forgoing masks and social distancing recommendations during the coronavirus pandemic.
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| The fight is on for progressives to push Biden to the left. They might just win Posted: 15 May 2020 05:59 AM PDT  Progressives should know that Biden does not have a set ideology - which means his policies are still very much in flux and in playJoe Biden has had a hard time capturing the hearts of progressive Democrats. Like the media, progressive Democrats tend to see him as a centrist – a status quo candidate who just wants to return the US and the world to the pre-Trump era. Even Biden's collaborations with Bernie Sanders, including the recently announced unity taskforces, are often dismissed as pure window-dressing. But this kind of blithe dismissal of the presumptive Democratic nominee misreads both the politician and the times.It is true that Biden was never a very progressive Democrat, but neither was he a particularly conservative one. He has been a classic "centrist Democrat". But it's important to note that this places him not in the political center of the US electorate, but in the center of the Democratic party – a party that has shifted left significantly since 2016, as has Biden.Biden is a realist. He knows when the times are a-changin'. That's why he joined Barack Obama in 2008 and why he has moved to reconcile with Sanders in 2020. After two powerful primary campaigns, Biden is smart enough to acknowledge that Sanders represents the direction the party's base is moving to, and that he could shape that transformation.As Gabriel Debenedetti argues in his excellent New York magazine article on the Biden campaign, the Covid-19 pandemic has opened Biden's eyes to the need for a more radical approach to policy and governance. As Biden told a group of donors: "The blinders have been taken off because of this Covid crisis."Crises can lead to fundamental changes. While we mainly focus on the darkest consequences, such as Adolf Hitler's rise to power in the wake of the Great Depression, that same crisis also gave rise to the greatest progressive project in US history: Franklin D Roosevelt's New Deal. While heralded as a "radical" by many today, FDR was in many ways a realpolitiker, politically expedient and adjustable to the mood of the times.But perhaps the best comparison would be FDR's protege Lyndon B Johnson, the southerner who, in an atmosphere of intense polarization over civil rights and in the wake of the national trauma of the assassination of John F Kennedy, introduced some of the most important civil rights legislation in US history. As with Johnson, the current crisis provides Biden with an opportunity to step out of the shadow of his charismatic and inspiring Democratic predecessor, Obama, and become a much more transformative president.To be clear, this is not a foregone conclusion. Moderates, both Democrats and Republicans, also see Biden as a great opportunity, in their case to re-establish the status quo. Many of them have been around Biden for years, if not decades, and play important roles in his campaign – I'm looking at you, Larry Summers.But the recently announced unity taskforces – on the climate crisis, criminal justice reform, economy, education, healthcare and immigration – show a more mixed picture. First, they much better reflect the ethnic and gender diversity of the contemporary Democratic party and its electorate – with many prominent African American and Hispanic members as well as twice as many female than male co-chairs. Second, they include many prominent progressives, including Sanders surrogates such as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Pramila Jayapal – hardly politicians who will accept a token role.While some "Bernie or bust" keyboard warriors will invariably denounce these progressives as sellouts, and some jaded progressives as naive, they are actually realists who should be supported and strengthened. Few politicians understand the signs of the times better than Ocasio-Cortez. She knows that the country and the party are changing, and she understands that the Covid-19 crisis provides a unique opportunity to accelerate that change.Moreover, these progressives realize that Biden does not have a set ideology, but is in many ways an empty vessel whose domestic policies and priorities are still very much in flux and in play. In other words, progressives have two fights to fight: one for a President Biden, against the Republicans, and one for a progressive Biden presidency, against the moderate Democrats. * Cas Mudde is a Guardian US columnist and the Stanley Wade Shelton UGAF professor in the school of public and international affairs at the University of Georgia. His latest book is The Far Right Today
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| Italy to allow travel to and from abroad from June 3 Posted: 15 May 2020 05:32 PM PDT  Italy's government on Saturday approved a decree which will allow travel to and from abroad from June 3, in a major development as it moves to unwind one of the world's most rigid coronavirus lockdowns. The government will allow free travel across the country from that same day. In a bid to contain the contagion, Italy was the first European country to impose nationwide restrictions in March, only sanctioning an initial relaxation of the rules on May 4, when it allowed factories and parks to reopen.
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| House Democrats float $3 trillion coronavirus bill, Republicans reject it Posted: 14 May 2020 07:57 AM PDT  Democrats in the House of Representatives unveiled on Tuesday a $3 trillion-plus coronavirus relief package with funding for states, businesses, food support and families, only to see the measure flatly rejected by Senate Republicans.
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| Medal of Honor recipient dies; saved lives in Afghanistan Posted: 14 May 2020 05:21 PM PDT  WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) — Former Army Staff Sgt. Ronald Shurer II, who received the Medal of Honor in 2018 for braving heavy gunfire to save lives in Afghanistan, has died of cancer. Miranda Shurer said her husband died Thursday in Sibley Memorial Hospital in Washington, D.C. She said he was diagnosed with cancer three years ago. Ronald Shurer II received the nation's highest military honor from President Donald Trump in a formal White House ceremony attended by 250 people.
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| China Threatens to Place Apple, Boeing, and Other U.S. Firms on ‘Unreliable Entities’ List Posted: 15 May 2020 10:11 AM PDT  China is preparing to place U.S. companies including Apple and Boeing on an "unreliable entities list" in response to newly announced sanctions on tech giant Huawei."China will take forceful countermeasures to protect its own legitimate rights," a source told China's government-owned Global Times. The country could cease purchasing planes made by Boeing, and impose restrictions or even launch investigations into Qualcomm, Cisco, or Apple under Chinese anti-monopoly and cybersecurity laws.The threat comes after the U.S. Commerce Department announced sanctions that would prevent companies from selling semiconductor ships to Huawei if the chips are manufactured with American technology. The U.S. considers Huawei a national security threat, alleging that the Chinese government can gain access to data gathered by Huawei networks around the world.Senator Ben Sasse (R., Neb.) welcomed the new sanctions on Friday."Let's cut to the chase: China's main export is espionage, and the distinction between the Chinese Communist Party and Chinese 'private-sector' businesses like Huawei is imaginary," Sasse said in a statement. "Huawei's supply chain depends on contracts with American companies and the Commerce Department ought to take a careful look at how we can effectively disrupt our adversary."The Global Times reported earlier this week that the Chinese government was considering sanctions on U.S. lawmakers who have taken a hawkish line against the country, including Senators Josh Hawley (R., Mo.) and Tom Cotton (R., Ark.).
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| Lawyers for suspect in Arbery shooting say facts point to "different narrative" Posted: 15 May 2020 01:12 PM PDT  "Those facts will be revealed where all facts that matter are revealed: in a courtroom," said an attorney for Gregory McMichael.
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| Fact check: Dr. Anthony Fauci, Bill Gates won't profit from drug remdesivir Posted: 15 May 2020 05:47 AM PDT  Claims that the infectious disease expert and the philanthropist created or will profit from the potential COVID-19 treatment are false.
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| Americans calling for herd immunity should look at Sweden's coronavirus experiment to see why it won't work Posted: 15 May 2020 01:20 PM PDT  Health officials have called the concept of herd immunity dangerous and said it could take years to reach without a vaccine.
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| 2020 election: Joe Biden says anyone who believes Tara Reade should not vote for him in November Posted: 15 May 2020 05:42 AM PDT  Joe Biden has said anyone who believes accuser Tara Reade, who's claimed he harassed her while working in the Senate, should not vote for him come November, but confessed he doesn't remember the staffer.The former vice president and assumed Democratic presidential nominee spoke to Lawrence O'Donnell for MSNBC on Thursday to discuss his bid to unseat Donald Trump come November.
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| U.S. Senator Burr steps aside as committee chair as FBI probes stock trades Posted: 13 May 2020 11:10 PM PDT  U.S. Senator Richard Burr will step aside as chairman of the powerful Senate Intelligence Committee, after the FBI seized his mobile telephone in a major escalation of a probe of his stock trades before the downturn caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Burr contacted him on Thursday morning to inform him of his decision to move aside temporarily during the investigation. "We agreed that this decision would be in the best interests of the committee and will be effective at the end of the day tomorrow," McConnell said in a statement.
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| Photos taken 1 year apart show potentially troubling sign in volcano. Posted: 15 May 2020 12:28 PM PDT  The Halema'uma'u crater on Kilauea, located in Hawaii, has been relatively quiet over the last year after a frenzy of activity in 2018, which all began with an explosive eruption of ash 30,000 feet into the air during May. But, since at least 2019, there has been a change that scientists believe could pose a potential danger to the Big Island. Water has started to collect in the caldera to form a lake.A caldera is a large crater left behind in a volcano after an eruption. From 2010 until 2018, a lava lake had filled the caldera rather than water. That changed in May 2018 when the eruption caused the lava lake to drain, collapsing the caldera floor and causing a hole nearly as deep as the 1,776-foot One World Trade Center. The eruption also created a 459-foot cliff (140 meters) north of the crater.About a year later, a helicopter pilot flying over the volcano noticed a mysterious green pool of water in the Halema'uma'u crater. A second report of the same findings from a helicopter passenger prompted USGS-Hawaiian Volcano Observatory researchers to survey the green pool of water.It was then discovered that water had indeed started to pool into the lowest part of the Halema'uma'u crater, and ever since the water was discovered in 2019, the depth of the lake has been steadily growing. The sequence of satellite images above shows Halema'uma'u crater before the lava lake drained (left), after the caldera floor had collapsed (middle) and after water pooled on the crater floor for nine months (right). (Joshua Stevens / Landsat data from the U.S. Geological Survey) "We know that the crater floor dropped a little more than 70 meters below the water table in 2018. Any time that you punch a hole below the level of the water table, water is eventually going to come in and fill that hole," explained Don Swanson, a volcanologist at the U.S. Geological Survey's Hawaiian Volcano Observatory. The pool of water in the Halemaʻumaʻu Crater on Aug. 7, 2019. (USGS / D. Swanson) Currently, the water has an area larger than five football fields combined and is approximately 100 feet (30 meters) deep, according to NASA's Earth Observatory.The water has also changed color from the original chalky green to a rusty brown, due to chemical reactions happening in the water. The pool of water in the Halemaʻumaʻu Crater on April 21, 2020\. Since its discovery in 2019, the pool has slowly been growing. (USGS / M. Patrick) As for how the water could affect a future eruption of the volcano, Swanson said it could contribute to an explosive eruption, since one of the main factors behind a big volcanic explosion is the amount of water and other gases that get caught up inside the magma."In one case, magma could rise quickly up the conduit and intersect with the lake," said Swanson. "In the second, the crater floor could collapse and drop all of the water down to a zone where it would be quickly heated into steam."While an explosive eruption remains possible for Kilauea, Swanson said the next eruption could also happen slowly and all the water could evaporate."We do not want to be alarmist, but we also need to point out to the public that there is an increasing possibility of explosive eruptions at Kilauea," said Swanson.Only time will tell what is in store for Kilauea, but for now, the volcano is being closely researched and monitored by geologists.Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.
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| US sends oil to Belarus, seeking to diversify from Russia Posted: 15 May 2020 08:55 AM PDT  The United States has dispatched a shipment of oil to Belarus, which is seeking to diversify its supplies after a price dispute with Russia, the Belarusian government said Friday. The 80,000-ton shipment is expected to arrive at the Lithuanian port of Klaipeda in June and from there will sent by rail to Belarus. Foreign Minister Vladimir Makei said cooperation with the U.S. on oil is "an element of energy security."
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| 35 Outdoor Fire Pit Ideas That Are Lit Posted: 15 May 2020 09:39 AM PDT |
| Broward Cop, Fired for Hiding During High School Shooting, Will Be Reinstated with Back Pay Posted: 14 May 2020 08:25 AM PDT  A Broward County police officer who was fired after he hid behind his car at the start of the 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School will be reinstated with full back pay and return to his rank, the Broward Sheriff's Office union said on Wednesday.The officer, Sergeant Brian Miller, was fired for "neglect of duty" along with three other deputies in the wake of the shooting. Officers were criticized for failing to enter the building immediately during the shooting, in which 17 students and faculty were killed and another 17 injured.Miller had challenged his termination with the support of the BSO union, which said an arbitration ruling found that "BSO violated Sgt. Brian Miller's constitutional due process rights and improperly terminated him." Miller's salary for the year 2017 was $138,410.25.An investigation by the Marjory Stoneman Douglas Public Safety Commission in the wake of the shooting found that Miller was the first officer to arrive at the high school as shots were being fired, but hid behind his car and did not radio in for 10 minutes.Florida governor Ron DeSantis, a Republican, in January 2019 suspended Broward County head sheriff Scot Israel, who has been accused of mishandling the BSO's response to the shooting though a lack of coordination. The Florida Senate Rules Committee in October recommended removing Israel from his post entirely, after which DeSantis appointed officer Gregory Tony to head the BSO. Tony is now facing off against Israel in the 2020 election.
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| 50 Years After the Jackson State Killings, America's Crisis of Racial Injustice Continues—and Shows the Danger of Forgetting Posted: 14 May 2020 09:00 AM PDT  Police unleashed a 28-second barrage that killed two young people. Today, though the nation retains a vivid memory of the violence at Kent State, Jackson State has been largely forgotten
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| 'They came to kill the mothers': Shock, blame swirl after Afghan hospital attack Posted: 15 May 2020 07:35 AM PDT  "They went through the rooms in the maternity, shooting women in their beds. It was methodical," a Doctors Without Borders representative said.
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| House to vote on additional $3 trillion coronavirus aid package Posted: 15 May 2020 05:51 AM PDT  The House of Representatives is pushing forward with a vote on an additional $3 trillion coronavirus response bill that has been met with skepticism from Republicans.
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| Biden Says if Voters Believe Tara Reade, ‘They Probably Shouldn’t Vote for Me’ Posted: 15 May 2020 05:09 AM PDT  Joe Biden on Thursday again addressed allegations of sexual assault from former staffer Tara Reade, saying that voters should not choose him in the November elections if they believe Reade's claims.Voters "should vote their heart and if they believe Tara Reade, they probably shouldn't vote for me," Biden said on MSNBC's The Last Word. "I wouldn't vote for me if I believed Tara Reade."When host Lawrence O'Donnell asked whether the former vice president has any recollection of Reade, Biden responded "to be honest with you, I don't.""Look at Tara Reade's story," Biden went on. "It changes considerably. But I don't want to question her motive. I don't want to question anything other than to say the truth matters."Reade alleges that Biden sexually assaulted her in spring 1993, while working as a staffer for the then-senator from Delaware. While accounts from friends and former neighbors as well as a court document from 1996 confirm that Reade had discussed an alleged incident that occurred in Biden's offices, no evidence has been found that would conclusively prove Biden guilty. Biden has categorically denied Reade's claims, pointing out that her story has changed over time.Biden has received support from numerous Democratic politicians, including presumptive choices to be his running-mate in the November elections. Senators Kamala Harris (D., Calif.) and Amy Klobuchar (D., Minn.) have both backed Biden. The former vice president has also received endorsements from Hillary Clinton and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.).
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| The second Boeing 777X just flew for the first time – take a look at the enormous new flagship Boeing hopes will be its redemption Posted: 14 May 2020 02:51 PM PDT  The Boeing plane is the largest twin-engine jet to ever take to the skies and will carry more passengers than its predecessor while using less fuel.
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| Naked doll hanging by a noose prompts fight at armed anti-lockdown protest in Michigan Posted: 14 May 2020 11:56 AM PDT  A fight broke out between anti-lockdown protesters in Michigan after one began waving an American flag with a doll tied to the pole by a noose around its neck.As armed demonstrators gathered at Michigan's State Capitol to denounce the governor's stay-at-home orders, one man began waving his flag with the naked doll attached in one hand while also carrying an axe in the other.
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| Hong Kong shop offers 'tear gas' flavor ice cream Posted: 14 May 2020 08:16 PM PDT  Tear gas is among the new flavors at a Hong Kong ice cream shop. The main ingredient is black peppercorns, a reminder of the pungent, peppery rounds fired by police on the streets of the semi-autonomous Chinese city during months of demonstrations last year.
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| First storm of hurricane season won't make landfall on Florida's coast but will bring rain, rough surf Posted: 15 May 2020 08:24 AM PDT  While the first tropical storm of hurricane season 2020 won't hit Florida, it will bring storms and heavy rain.
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| Federal Judge Hints at Possible Contempt Charge for Flynn Posted: 14 May 2020 06:43 AM PDT  The federal judge overseeing the criminal case against former national-security adviser Michael Flynn is weighing charges of perjury or contempt for Flynn even as the Justice Department seeks to have the case dismissed.Judge Emmet Sullivan said he has appointed a former federal judge to argue against the Justice Department's controversial move to dismiss the case against Flynn, who pled guilty in 2017 to lying to the FBI about his Russian contacts but withdrew his guilty plea earlier this year.Sullivan said Tuesday he will allow third parties to weigh in on the case before dropping the charges and directed a retired judge, John Gleeson, to recommend whether Flynn should receive a criminal contempt charge for perjury. Sullivan's order directs Gleeson to determine whether Flynn's admission that he lied to the FBI, which was made under oath on two separate occasion, amounted to perjury, since he later reversed himself and said he never lied to the agents.Gleeson, a Clinton appointee who served as a federal judge in New York, has expressed suspicion that the DOJ's move was tainted by political influence."Government motions to dismiss at this stage are virtually unheard of," Gleeson wrote along with several other authors in a Washington Post op-ed published Monday. "There has been nothing regular about the department's effort to dismiss the Flynn case. The record reeks of improper political influence."Flynn was fired by President Trump after the revelation that he made contradictory statements to Vice President Mike Pence about whether he had discussed sanctions with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak. The retired three-star general pled guilty during Trump's first year in office to making false statements to the FBI regarding his contacts with the Russian ambassador. In January, however, he claimed he never lied to investigators."I did not lie to them. I believed I was honest with them to the best of my recollection at the time," Flynn said in a January legal filing. "I still don't remember if I discussed sanctions on a phone call with Ambassador Kislyak nor do I remember if we discussed the details of a UN vote on Israel.""I tried to 'accept responsibility' by admitting to offenses I understood the government I love and trusted said I committed," Flynn added.The Justice Department said last week that the charges against Flynn should be dropped, arguing that Flynn's FBI interview in January, 2017 was "untethered to, and unjustified by, the FBI's counterintelligence investigation into Mr. Flynn" and "conducted without any legitimate investigative basis."The case against the former national-security adviser arose from special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into the Trump campaign's contacts with Russia.
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| Hundreds of child weddings thwarted in Ethiopia as coronavirus locks girls out of schools Posted: 14 May 2020 11:09 AM PDT |
| Coronavirus: Trump says Dr Fauci's warning 'not acceptable' Posted: 14 May 2020 05:28 AM PDT  The president criticises his task force expert's caution about reopening the US too quickly.
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| Al-Qaeda and Islamic State cross swords in Sahel Posted: 15 May 2020 04:15 AM PDT  Al-Qaeda and the Islamic state group have turned their guns on each other in the Sahel, according to experts, fracturing a period of cooperation that has held for years. The semi-desert African region has seen years of conflict with Islamic militants, who first emerged in northern Mali in 2012 before sweeping into the centre of the country, and neighbouring Burkina Faso and Niger.
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| Colorado police are looking for a man seen at a grocery story wearing a KKK hood with a swastika Posted: 15 May 2020 11:53 AM PDT  Amid the pandemic, Coloradans, like other Americans, have been asked to cover their faces in public, when social distancing isn't possible.
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| Officer who made 'closed casket' remark after police killing is suspended Posted: 15 May 2020 09:45 AM PDT  "I think it's going to be a closed casket, homie," the officer was heard saying in a video of the fatal shooting of Dreasjon Reed by Indianapolis police on May 6.
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| Brazil's health minister resigns after one month on the job Posted: 15 May 2020 08:42 AM PDT  Brazil's health minister resigned Friday after less than a month on the job in a sign of continuing upheaval over how the nation should battle the coronavirus pandemic, quitting a day after President Jair Bolsonaro stepped up pressure on him to expand use of the antimalarial drug chloroquine in treating patients. Dr. Nelson Teich, an oncologist and health care consultant, took the job April 17 faced with the task of aligning the ministry's actions with the president's view that Brazil's economy must not be destroyed by restrictions to control spread of the virus. Teich's predecessor, Luiz Henrique Mandetta, also had rejected the use of chloroquine, which also had been touted by U.S. President Donald Trump as a treatment.
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| Joe Biden: People who believe Tara Reade 'probably shouldn't vote for me' Posted: 15 May 2020 10:49 AM PDT  Joe Biden said people who believe Tara Reade's assault allegations "probably shouldn't vote for me. I wouldn't vote for me if I believed Tara Reade."
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| Make Your At-Home Dining Experience Fit for a Five-Star Restaurant Posted: 15 May 2020 10:52 AM PDT |
| Trump says he would mobilize military to distribute coronavirus vaccine Posted: 15 May 2020 08:56 AM PDT  The president expects a vaccine to be available by the end of the year, a much shorter timeline than most experts suggest.
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| Mexico's president pushes back on government forecast coronavirus could impoverish millions Posted: 14 May 2020 07:01 PM PDT  Mexico's President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador pushed back on Thursday against a government report that forecast the coronavirus pandemic could drag millions of Mexicans into extreme poverty in Latin America's second largest economy. CONEVAL, the autonomous public agency that measures poverty, said in a report published on Monday that between 6.1 million and 10.7 million Mexicans could be added to the ranks of extreme poverty in 2020 alone. Lopez Obrador said his government is working on a document that will explain his administration's strategy for protecting Mexicans, especially those mired in poverty.
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| The most common coronavirus symptoms in children — and how to know if they have a rare post-virus inflammatory syndrome Posted: 14 May 2020 11:28 AM PDT  Children seem to be less vulnerable to the disease than older populations, but some are experiencing serious illness. Here's how to spot the signs.
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| 'Surge' in illegal bird of prey killings since lockdown Posted: 15 May 2020 04:10 AM PDT  The RSPB says it has been "overrun" by reports of birds of prey being illegally killed.
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| China uses trade as weapon to silence virus criticism Posted: 15 May 2020 03:45 AM PDT  Trying to silence criticism over the coronavirus pandemic, China is deploying a well-used weapon — trade sanctions. Beijing has blocked some imports of Australian beef after Prime Minister Scott Morrison's government, endorsed by Washington, called for a robust inquiry into the origins of the outbreak and rebuffed Chinese demands to back off. The move is the first time Beijing has used access to its huge markets as leverage in its campaign to deflect blame for the outbreak.
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| Fighter jet crashes at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida; pilot ejected and taken to hospital Posted: 15 May 2020 11:39 AM PDT  An F-22 fighter jet crashed Friday at the Eglin Air Force Base reservation. The plane wasn't part of the flyover planned to honor coronavirus workers.
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| Nation's first execution during coronavirus pandemic involves man claiming innocence Posted: 15 May 2020 10:46 AM PDT  Walter Barton, 64, has been on trial five times for a murder he says he didn't commit. Concerns persist over blood spatter evidence.
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| Religious Far Right Mounts Anti-Abortion Attack on COVID-19 Vaccine Posted: 15 May 2020 12:34 AM PDT  As universities and pharmaceutical companies race to put out the first COVID-19 vaccine, some sectors of the religious right are gearing up to fight it, based on tenuous ties to what they call "the abortion industry" and a biblical teaching about "the mark of the beast." LifeSite News, a Catholic, anti-abortion website, has gathered more than 350,000 signatures on a petition protesting mandatory coronavirus vaccination orders—none of which have actually been issued. The petition starts with the kind of big-government concerns that have become a hallmark of anti-shutdown protests, claiming that "fear of a disease" could inadvertently lead to support for "the hidden agenda of governmental as well as non-governmental bodies" with plans to "restrict personal freedoms.""The so-called 'public health experts' have gotten it wrong many times during the current crisis," the petition states. "We should not, therefore, allow their opinions to rush decision-makers into policies regarding vaccination."How the Hunt for a Coronavirus Vaccine Could Go Horribly WrongFurther down, the petition raises the issue of stem cell research used in the production of vaccines. A number of life-saving vaccines—from the chickenpox to measles—are cultured in human stem cells originating from legally aborted fetuses, a process long approved by the Food and Drug Administration. At least one pharmaceutical company is currently using these stem cell lines to test a vaccine, according to a letter sent to the FDA by two dozen religious leaders. The LifeSite petition calls the use of these stem cell lines "a total non-starter," stating that the organization "opposes immorally-produced vaccines using aborted fetal cell lines." (A note at the bottom of the page, seemingly meant to distance the organization from the anti-vaxxer crowd, states that LifeSite has no position on "any particular coronavirus vaccines produced without such moral problems.")The stem cells used in vaccine development come from two fetuses aborted more than 50 years ago and, according to vaccine expert Dr. Paul Offit, contain "incredibly small amounts of [their] DNA." The Pontifical Academy for Life, National Catholic Bioethics Center, and former Pope Benedict XVI have all determined that using vaccines cultured in stem cells is acceptable in the interest of public health, not least because they are so far removed from any actual abortion. Just last year, the Pontifical Academy stated that parents could vaccinate their children with a "clear conscience" that the use of most modern vaccines "does not signify some sort of cooperation in voluntary abortion." Still, some religious leaders have gone so far as to declare that they will not accept a COVID-19 vaccine developed with these products—even though experts the world over agree a vaccine is the best chance to stop a pandemic that has already killed some 300,000 people."So sad… even with Covid-19 we are still debating the use of aborted fetal tissue for medical research," Bishop J. Strickland of Tyler, Texas, tweeted in April. "Let me go on record...if a vaccine for this virus is only attainable if we use body parts of aborted children then I will refuse the vaccine...I will not kill children to live."What Are the Most Promising Coronavirus Treatments, Vaccines, and Tests?Deacon Keith Fournier, founder of the Common Good Foundation, tried to convince his Twitter followers this week that some COVID-19 vaccines are being made using "body parts from unborn babies.""I GUARANTEE I, and any other Pro-Life Catholic and any other TRUE Christians will NEVER use such a vaccine. NEVER. NEVER," he wrote.The religious leaders who wrote to the FDA did not go quite as far, instead urging the U.S. government not to fund vaccines developed through stem cell technology. The letter to FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn states that the leaders "strongly support efforts to develop an effective, safe, and widely available vaccine as quickly as possible.""However, we also strongly urge our federal government to ensure that fundamental moral principles are followed in the development of such vaccines, most importantly, the principle that human life is sacred and should never be exploited," the letter says.Others have tried to tie the vaccine to abortion through donations from Bill Gates, who has pledged $300 million to developing and distributing a vaccine. LifeSiteNews has long opposed Gates for his donations to Planned Parenthood and support of contraception and abortion access. Its petition claims the billionaire "should not be permitted to influence policy decisions on a coronavirus vaccination program." "Unwitting citizens must not be used as guinea pigs for New World Order ideologues, or Big Pharma, in pursuit of a vaccine (and, profits) which may not even protect against future mutated strains of the coronavirus," the petition reads.Trumpists Believe Bill Gates Is Using Coronavirus to Implant Brain ChipsOther religious figures have decried Gates' participation because of a popular but ludicrous conspiracy theory that suggests the billionaire will plant a microchip in every injection. Ronnie Hampton, a free Methodist pastor who died of the virus in March, told followers before his death that the vaccines would have "some type of electronic computer device that's gonna put some type of chip in you and maybe even have some mood, mind-altering circumstances.""They're saying that the chip would be the mark of the beast," he added, referring to a belief among some Christians that the anti-Christ will one day return and physically mark his followers.Pastor Curt Landry of Oklahoma, meanwhile, claimed the vaccine would not contain the mark of the beast itself, but a microchip that the government could use to track who was willing to accept it."Do not pray, do not hope, do not think, 'Oh, praise God they are going to have a vaccine,'" he told followers in a YouTube video. "That vaccine is from the pit of Hell. Do not pray for those vaccines, and do not take the vaccine. These vaccines are going to be coming. They are not going to be good. They're not good for you physically, and spiritually, they're a set-up for what shall come later." The conspiracy theory seems to have come from a Reddit AMA in which Gates suggested that countries would eventually have digital certificates to show who has recovered from the virus, who has been tested recently, and who has received the vaccine. He did not say anything about microchips.The "mark of the beast" theory, meanwhile, has been roundly dismissed by religious scholars. Writing for the Logos Academic Blog, minister and theology PhD Matthew Halstead argued that the mark of the beast is something given to people who willingly worship the anti-Christ—not something you accidentally ingest in a Gates-funded vaccine. Christians should not fear the vaccine unless they plan on using it as a symbolic expression of their "willful and public rejection of the Christian faith," he wrote. "If that's you and if that's your plan," he added, "then it's not the vaccine that's the problem."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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| FBI offers $1m reward for captors of Caitlan Coleman and Joshua Boyle Posted: 14 May 2020 09:46 AM PDT  * US-Canadian couple were kidnapped in Afghanistan in 2012 * After release Boyle was cleared of abusing Coleman in CanadaThe FBI has offered a $1m reward for the arrest and prosecution for those responsible for the kidnapping of US citizen Caitlan Coleman and her Canadian husband Joshua Boyle, eight years ago in Afghanistan.The offer of a reward for their captors is the latest twist in the protracted saga of Coleman and Boyle, who were the subject of intense media scrutiny following their dramatic rescue in 2017 – and a subsequent trial over allegations of abuse by Boyle.Shortly after their wedding in 2012, Boyle and Coleman travelled to Afghanistan, where they were kidnapped by a Taliban-linked group shortly after arriving in the restive country. The couple spent five years as captives of the Haqqani network, during which time Coleman gave birth to three children."At times the [guards] could be very violent, even sometimes with the children," Coleman told ABC News in 2017, shortly after their release. "Some of the guards actually actively hated children and would somewhat target [one of our children], try to come up with reasons to hit him, either with a stick or otherwise, claiming that he was making problems, he was being too loud."The family say they were shuffled between different sites and captors – often kept underground – until they were eventually freed by Pakistani soldiers in October 2017 and returned to Canada.But in late December of that year, Boyle was arrested in Ottawa and charged with 19 offenses – including sexual assault, forcible confinement and uttering a death threat – all of which were alleged to have taken place after the family had arrived in the city. The closely watched trial lasted more than a year, culminating in a judge clearing Boyle of all charges in December 2019.Timothy Slater, assistant director in charge of the FBI's Washington field office, told the Canadian Press that agents were still actively working to track down the family's captors but need the public's help. In one proof of life video recorded by the family, Coleman identified her captors – but more information was needed for a breakthrough in the case.
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| Trevor Noah tries to explain Trump's 'ObamaGate' conspiracy. Desi Lydic 'FOXsplains' it. Posted: 14 May 2020 10:43 PM PDT  "For months now, everyone has been asking: When will things just get back to normal?" Trevor Noah said on Thursday's Daily Show. "Well, President Trump hasn't been great at doing the things that could help make that happen -- you know, like expanding testing," he said, "but there is one part of getting back to normal that Trump is definitely an expert in, and that's conspiracy theories." For anyone missing the wondrous days when news cycles were routinely hijacked by "some far-out conspiracy theory that Trump had dreamed up about his enemies," Noah said, "well, good news, those happy days are here again with a brand-new conspiracy Trump and Fox News are calling 'ObamaGate.'""Fox News hasn't been this excited since the last time Colin Kaepernick bent down to tie his shoes, but here's the basic idea of what this is about," Noah said: After the 2016 election, the intelligence community discovered that Michael Flynn, Trump's national security adviser, "was having secret conversations with foreign powers. And now, you might be wondering why those shady conversations were happening in the first place, but that's not important! Keep up! The important part is that they investigated it, and that's what has everyone in Trumpworld so excited right now, because there's new documents that shed light on what happened during that investigation."What do they show? Well, "basically, what the Obama administration did was a standard government procedure that happens thousands of times a year," Noah said. "But that isn't stopping Donald Trump from proposing his favorite solution to any problem: Lock them up." Trump defenders also claim someone illegally leaked Flynn's name and argue Flynn did nothing materially wrong, but "you know what? The full conspiracy theory's actually pretty complicated. I mean, it's too much for my little brain. But luckily, our very own Desi Lydic volunteered to watch Fox News nonstop so that she could help break this ObamaGate scandal down." Watch her "FOXplain" the "scandal" below. More stories from theweek.com The next phase of America's coronavirus problem is a massive housing crisis 5 hilarious cartoons about Trump's vague 'Obamagate' allegations The conservative victimhood complex has made America impossible to govern
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| The future of college tuition in the age of the coronavirus: Yahoo News Explains Posted: 15 May 2020 08:30 AM PDT  As college campuses across the country remain closed amid social distancing orders, graduating high school seniors and their families are stuck with a difficult question: Is college worth the price if classes are online? In turn, the American Council on Education predicts that fall enrollment could decrease by 15 percent or more, leaving colleges and universities with an estimated $23 billion in lost tuition. David Klein, CEO and co-founder of CommonBond, a finance company that specializes in affordable student loans, explains that there may, in fact, be a silver lining here — pressure to enroll students could force universities to address the college tuition crisis that existed long before the coronavirus.
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