| FBI arrests member of rightwing militia accused of detaining migrants Posted: 20 Apr 2019 01:51 PM PDT  Larry Mitchell Hopkins accused of illegal weapons possession after videos apparently showed men stopping migrants in New MexicoMen including Jim Benvie, a spokesman for the militia calling itself the United Constitutional Patriots, share cigarettes while patrolling the US-Mexico border in Sunland Park, New Mexico last month. Photograph: Paul Ratje/AFP/Getty ImagesA member of an armed rightwing militia group accused of illegally detaining migrants at the US-Mexico border has been arrested, officials said on Saturday.The FBI arrested Larry Mitchell Hopkins, 69, for alleged unlawful possession of firearms and ammunition , days after his group posted videos that appeared to show armed men stopping migrants at the border in New Mexico, ordering them to sit on the ground and coordinating with US border patrol agents to have them taken into custody."Today's arrest by the FBI indicates clearly that the rule of law should be in the hands of trained law enforcement officials, not armed vigilantes," the New Mexico attorney general, Hector Balderas, said in a statement.On Thursday, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) called for an investigation into the pro-Trump, anti-immigrant men who have been patrolling the border and calling themselves the United Constitutional Patriots (UCP).The ACLU in New Mexico described the group as "an armed fascist militia organization" made up of "vigilantes", saying they were working to "kidnap and detain people seeking asylum" and had directly made illegal arrests and held migrants at gunpoint.Hopkins' role in the group was unclear, and it was also not clear if he was facing any charges directly related to the videos of the men stopping migrants. The New Mexico attorney general's office described Hopkins as a "dangerous felon who should not have weapons around children and families" and labeled him an "armed individual detaining migrants at the border".An FBI statement on the arrest did not mention the militia group or the detention of migrants, but noted that Hopkins has also gone by the name Johnny Horton Jr and that he was due to appear in court on Monday.In one video posted last Monday night by Jim Benvie, a member of the armed group, it appeared the men were ordering around dozens of migrants, including many children, and telling them to sit. Benvie narrated: "There's no border patrol here. This is us."The men appeared to call border patrol agents, who later were seen. The ACLU, in a letter to state officials, said the group had targeted nearly 300 migrants in Sunland Park, New Mexico, which is along the Mexico border and adjacent to El Paso, Texas.The militia members advocated for Trump's proposed border wall on the video streams and echoed the president's anti-migrant rhetoric, warning of an "invasion".There have also been concerns that the men, who wear military-style clothes, could be misrepresenting themselves as border patrol agents. In another video, Benvie filmed himself stopping a group of four adults and three children and said "border patrol" as he approached, before calling for another member of his group to join him. In an apparent call to border patrol, one man said: "Hello, I've got seven over here."The UCP has previously presented itself as a group of "volunteers" aiding border patrol and supporting Trump. In recent years, there have been numerous reports of an increase in paramilitary groups and xenophobic activists surveilling the border, working with US agents and targeting undocumented people.The UCP has not responded to the Guardian's requests for comment.On Thursday, a Customs and Border Protection spokesperson said border patrol "welcomes assistance from the community" but "does not endorse private groups or organizations taking enforcement matters into their own hands".The Daily Beast reported that Hopkins has a history of pushing far-right conspiracies and has a conviction for impersonating an officer and felony firearm possession. He could not be reached on Saturday and it was not immediately clear if he had a lawyer.Stephanie Corte, an immigrant rights campaign strategist with the ACLU in New Mexico, said her group was still trying to make contact with the detained migrants and was uncertain if any had been released."Our next focus is to try to get their story and making sure they feel safe to tell their story of being held at gunpoint," she told the Guardian, adding that the ACLU would explore legal options.She said she hoped authorities would work to make sure this does not happen again."We absolutely believe that this was completely unlawful," she said. "We're hoping those involved will be brought to justice."
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| 'More damning than all those reports': Watergate, Whitewater officials react to Mueller report Posted: 18 Apr 2019 07:27 PM PDT  Those involved in high-profile investigations into past presidents had a lot to say about special counsel Robert Mueller's report.
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| The Latest: Columbine moves ahead with memorial events Posted: 19 Apr 2019 04:54 AM PDT  LITTLETON, Colo. (AP) — The Latest on the investigation of a woman believed to have posed a threat to schools in Colorado (all times local):
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| French interior minister warns of yellow-vest riots on Saturday Posted: 19 Apr 2019 05:59 AM PDT  The French interior minister warned on Friday that violence could flare up on the 23rd Saturday of yellow-vest protests, as authorities banned marches around the fire-gutted Notre-Dame cathedral. The warning comes after weeks of relative calm, with the marches attracting declining numbers as yellow-vest protesters waited for President Emmanuel Macron's expected response to their various demands which include lower taxes and more government services. Christophe Castaner, the interior minister, said domestic intelligence services had informed him of a potential return of rioters intent on wreaking havoc in Paris, Toulouse, Montpellier and Bordeaux, in a repeat of violent protests on March 16.
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| The Army Passed on This Glock Gun (And It Could Be Your Gain) Posted: 20 Apr 2019 01:00 AM PDT  The ultimate Glock? The Army may have chosen Sig Sauer's P320 for its Modular Handgun System program over Glock's offerings, but that doesn't mean you have to: Glock plans on releasing a civilian variant of its 9mm Glock 19 pistol to civilian buyers this month, the company announced today.(This article by Jared Keller originally appeared at Task & Purpose. Follow Task & Purpose on Twitter. This article first appeared in 2018.)Glock's commercial pistol, dubbed the 19X, is the company's first stab at a crossover model, combining the Glock 17 frame with a Glock 19 barrel. With a "marksman barrel" and ambidextrous slide-stop levers, the pistol is designed to be as versatile as it is powerful, "almost like a [1911] Commander-style situation where you've got the shorter barrel with the full-sized grip frame," as national sales manager Bob Radecki told Army Times on Jan. 2.The new 9mm Glock 19X from Glock
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| Assad urges progress on Idlib deal ahead of Syria talks Posted: 19 Apr 2019 03:31 PM PDT  Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Friday called for progress on a stalled buffer zone deal around jihadist-dominated Idlib region ahead of fresh talks aimed at ending his country's eight-year war. Assad met envoy Alexander Lavrentiev from key ally Russia in Damascus to discuss the negotiations due April 25-26 in Kazakhstan. Iran and Russia are the major supporters of the Syrian regime, and along with rebel backer Turkey have sponsored repeated rounds of talks in the Central Asian nation.
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| Google is making it easier for Android users in Europe to pick a new browser Posted: 18 Apr 2019 06:03 PM PDT  We've known for a while now that Google offered Android users in Europe a different experience than international customers, and that's because the European Union really wants Google to behave a lot less like a monopoly than before. Google lost three major anti-trust cases in the region, including one that concerns Android.The European Commission slapped Google with three multi-billion fines in each case, which Google has contested. But the company agreed to make changes to its business models, and the changes also concern its mobile operating system. We know now what changes are in place for Android in Europe.Google explained in a new blog post on the matter that Android users in Europe will get search app and browser options, and showed the world what those prompts will look like.The new screens will be shown the first time a user opens Google Play after receiving an update. We're looking at two screens, one for search and one for browsers, as follows below.Each screen will present the user five apps, including the ones that are installed. The apps that are not installed will show up based on their popularity, but they'll show up in a randomized order.A third screen will be shown to users when they install a search app. Google will ask whether they want to change Chrome's default search engine the next time they open the browser.These screens will show up on both existing and new Android phones in Europe in the coming weeks, Google explained, and their implementation will "evolve" over time.
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| FBI Arrests New Mexico Border Militia Leader Larry Mitchell Hopkins Posted: 20 Apr 2019 02:00 PM PDT  PAUL RATJE/GettyThe FBI arrested a 69-year-old New Mexico man who allegedly illegally detained immigrants crossing the border under the guise of working for the United States Border Patrol.Larry Mitchell Hopkins, who runs The United Constitutional Patriots (UCP), an armed border militia group that spreads far-right conspiracies and rounds up asylum seekers on the border, was arrested by FBI in New Mexico Saturday on charges of possessing firearms and ammunition as a convicted felon. Recent video footage released by UCP shows two members holding what appear to be semi-automatic rifles near immigrants, many of them children. The group also peddles conspiracy theories and produces a radio show where members spread information about QAnon, and accuse migrants of associating with ISIS. Hopkins has also claimed that president Trump has personally asked him about 'Muslim immigration.'UCP and Hopkins claim to work with Border Patrol, which has publicly denied doing so. Border Patrol agents sometimes appear in the periphery of the groups videos, which show camo-clad UCP members interacting with migrants at the southern border."There's no question about whether or not we work with Border Patrol," said Jim, a UCP spokesperson who declined to give his last name. "That's all documented, and not just once. It's documented hundreds and hundreds of times over in the videos that I post.""U.S. Customs and Border Protection does not endorse private groups or organizations taking enforcement matters into their own hands," a Border Patrol official told The Daily Beast.Border Patrol is not supposed to interact with border vigilantes, but has been documented doing so. A Mother Jones reporter who embedded with a border militia in 2016 witnessed the group getting information from Border Patrol agents.UCP is only one of several vigilante groups patrolling the southern border with guns.New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas issued a statement on Saturday, praising the FBI over Hopkins' arrest. "This is a dangerous felon who should not have weapons around children and families," Balderas wrote in a statement. "Today's arrest by the FBI indicates clearly that the rule of law should be in the hands of trained law enforcement officials, not armed vigilantes."Hopkins, of Flora Vista, N.M., is expected to have an initial appearance in U.S. District Court in Las Cruces, New Mexico on Monday. Federal authorities said they would not released additional details about Hopkins' arrest until after the appearance.The arrest was the latest fallout for the group. On Friday, the UCP Facebook group announced to its members that they no longer accept donations through PayPal, as the service has suspended their account. "TO ALL PATRIOTS, I wish to thank all of you that has donated to the Border Ops mission up till now. We can no longer accept payments thru PAYPAL, they have permanently suspended our account," the post read. "... And is hold $1300.00 in donations for 180 days. I am looking for another outfit that we can go thru."PayPal and GoFundMe announced Friday that they would no longer allow UCP to raise funds on their platforms.A PayPal spokesperson told BuzzFeed News in a statement that UCP had been banned from their platform following a video that shows the group rounding up nearly 200 migrants."The account associated with United Constitutional Patriots has been closed due to a violation of our Acceptable Use Policy," the spokesperson told BuzzFeed News. "We do not allow PayPal services to be used to promote hate, violence, or other forms of intolerance that is discriminatory."Read more at The Daily Beast.
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| What We Learned—and Didn’t Learn—From the Mueller Report Posted: 19 Apr 2019 08:53 AM PDT  The document sheds new light on Mueller's exhaustive investigation into whether Donald Trump or his campaign colluded with Russia in the 2016 election and whether the president obstructed justice. Did Trump conspire in Russia's efforts to help him? Mueller found sweeping Russian efforts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election, including numerous contacts with Trump campaign officials and an extensive social media campaign, but couldn't establish that any American conspired in those efforts.
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| Officials: South Carolina school girl died of natural causes Posted: 19 Apr 2019 03:45 PM PDT  WALTERBORO, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina authorities said Friday that the death of a fifth grade girl at school last month was due to natural causes and not a fight with another student, which they described as lasting only seconds. But the family of the girl disagreed, saying she was repeatedly antagonized by the other student.
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| 'Still alive!': Notre Dame's 180,000 bees survive cathedral fire Posted: 19 Apr 2019 09:41 AM PDT  The 180,000 bees live in three hives on Notre Dame's roof as part of an effort since 2013 to help prevent bee die-off.
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| UPDATE 1-Ukrainian presidential candidates trade insults in rowdy stadium debate Posted: 19 Apr 2019 12:25 PM PDT ![UPDATE 1-Ukrainian presidential candidates trade insults in rowdy stadium debate]( "UPDATE 1-Ukrainian presidential candidates trade insults in rowdy stadium debate") The two men vying to be Ukraine's next president traded insults in a raucous debate on Friday in front of thousands of supporters before an election that could put a comedian with no political experience in charge of a country at war. The debate, held in a hulking football stadium, was one of the last opportunities for incumbent President Petro Poroshenko to try to overhaul a significant lead in the opinion polls enjoyed by his challenger Volodymyr Zelenskiy, a comic. At stake in Sunday's election is the leadership of a country on the frontline of the West's standoff with Moscow following 2014 protests that caused Poroshenko's Kremlin-backed predecessor to flee into exile, and foreshadowed Moscow's annexation of Crimea.
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| Converse introduces trans-themed shoes for Pride and Twitter is happy for once Posted: 20 Apr 2019 07:19 AM PDT  Brands sometimes go too hard during Pride season. Every once in a while, however, they get it right.The year 2019 has already brought us one *actually good* example. Converse recently introduced its LGBTQ Pride sneaker line, which now includes sneakers modeled after the Transgender Pride flag.This is the first time Converse has ever had a trans-specific sneaker.SEE ALSO: Mapping state-by-state tech trends: Most popular dating appsThe trans-specific sneakers currently retail for $80. Customers can also customize their own rainbow Pride shoes and add Trans Pride flair.Regardless of how you feel about corporate participation during gay Pride, this is a huge symbolic step forward. Advocates for the trans community have long complained that gay and lesbian people dominate the LGBTQ movement. Recognizing the trans community as a separate -- though equally sneaker-worthy community -- is emblematic of a larger cultural shift. Trans people are clearly moving into the public spotlight, and they can show that (if Converse is their thing) on their feet.Twitter was largely enthusiastic about the move.> TransIsBeautiful > Thank you @Converse for making a trans PRIDE shoe this year! > My 11 year-old-son is ECSTATIC! ️ pic.twitter.com/E6lcqIEvfA> > -- Rachel Q. Lyons (@RachelQLyons) April 15, 2019> CONVERSE HAS A NEW PRIDE COLLECTION THAT INCLUDES TRANS PRIDE SNEAKERS FOR THE FIRST TIME!!!!!!!! > > SHOP HERE: https://t.co/afn0Gc9nwy (affiliate link) pic.twitter.com/TptVcjY87E> > -- Alysse Dalessandro (@readytostare) April 19, 2019> I thought "which of my trans friends would rock Converse decked out in the colors of the trans flag," and then immediately realized the answer was "all of them." pic.twitter.com/E5NPDfPgMY> > -- Aram Vartian (@vartian) April 19, 2019> Me, looking at the chuck taylor pride collection for this year: *not super impressed* > Converse: we have trans shoes now > Me, out loud: DAMMIT pic.twitter.com/oqzpDUqaOD> > -- Rowan Adventurezone (@politebotanist) April 20, 2019> Y'all let me know when @converse lets me put trans flags on these (and they come in my size). pic.twitter.com/3ZOq9Y6rss> > -- Xan (@AlexandriaDVine) April 20, 2019> Look! You can make them with the pride base but then add trans pride touches. I'm in love! pic.twitter.com/bGtajM2QjF> > -- We'll Have A Gay Old Time (@IssaMeBrianO) April 19, 2019This Twitter user perhaps said it best.> Fuckin converse put the Trans flag on some shoes like.....yes fine I will buy them you stupid brand, ill bow to capitalism just this once> > -- Thank you gay dad (@Darius_lives) April 19, 2019Happy incredibly early Pride, everyone! WATCH: Meet the 10-year-old drag kid shaping the future of drag youth
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| Suicide bombers in deadly attack on Afghan ministry Posted: 20 Apr 2019 08:10 AM PDT  Suicide bombers and gunmen attacked the communications ministry in central Kabul on Saturday, officials said, in a deadly, hours-long assault that destroyed weeks of relative calm in the capital. The Taliban said it had "nothing to do" with the attack, which left some 2,000 people stranded in the tall office building for hours at the start of the Afghan work week. "As a result of today's explosion/attack in Kabul city, two people have been martyred (killed) and 6 others are wounded," the health ministry spokesman wrote in a tweet, adding 3 of the injured were women.
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| It sure looks like Samsung’s Galaxy Fold is a piece of junk Posted: 19 Apr 2019 05:46 AM PDT  Remember a little over 7 months ago when I told you that you shouldn't get excited about Samsung's first foldable phone? Well, here we are.Samsung has plenty of strong suits. It is the top-selling smartphone vendor in the world, after all. It makes gorgeous AMOLED screens for mobile devices. The company also makes some of the best components in the world and has a booming chip business. One thing Samsung is not good at, however, is first-generation products. In fact, "not good" is far too kind... Samsung is awful at designing first-generation products.We've seen it time and time again. Samsung's strength is refinement, as evidenced by its Galaxy S and Galaxy Note smartphone lines. Early generations were terrible, plasticky iPhone copycats. Now Samsung's current-generation flagship phones are market leaders in so many ways. The Galaxy S10+ might be the best all-around Android phone I've ever tested, and the Note 10 sounds like it will be even more impressive. But the Galaxy Fold is nothing short of an absolute disaster, just like I said it would be. In fact, the only way the Galaxy Fold launch could possibly be any worse is if batteries start exploding like they did back in 2016 when Samsung had to cancel production of its Galaxy Note 7 and recall every single phone it sold.It's official: the first widely available smartphone with a foldable display is a piece of junk. Feel free to check it out when it hits store shelves next Friday. But for the love of whatever or whomever you pray to, don't buy one.Yesterday I briefly touched on the huge new issues facing Samsung's Galaxy Fold. The company gave out phones to bloggers for review, and a shockingly high percentage of those phones are breaking. Anything above a 0% failure rate would be shocking for review units of a new smartphone, to be frank, and a quick search yielded more bloggers complaining of broken phones than bloggers who said their Fold units were working fine. That's insane.Many of the issues we've been hearing about stem from the fact that the Galaxy Fold appears to have a screen protector pre-applied on the display. As with all Android phones that ship with cheap plasticky screen protectors, the first thing reviewers did when they got the phones was peel it off. The problem, as we now know, is that Samsung failed to tell most of them that the plastic layer in question is actually an integral part of the display. Long story short, peeling it off breaks the phone.https://twitter.com/MKBHD/status/1118580472576118787Now, there are a few glaring issues here. First, can you imagine a company being so horrible at design that it's going to sell a $2,000 smartphone with an integral plastic film on the screen that can easily be peeled off? Can you imagine a company being so naive as to think that some customers won't end up peeling it off even with better messaging? And what happens when the phone has been used for a while and the adhesive at the edges of that film inevitably begins to peel on its own?This is one of the worst smartphone design decisions I have ever seen. It's absolutely unforgivable.Then there were other bloggers who found that the screens on their Galaxy Fold review units were malfunctioning without having touched that stupid film at all. That's right, the displays are spontaneously breaking on a new smartphone that has one major selling point: the display. The foldable OLED screen on the Galaxy Fold is literally the only thing about the phone that is exciting. And it's breaking for no discernible reason.Here's the thing: the Galaxy Fold would be a horrible phone even if it didn't have these issues. The design is terrible, with a giant notch bitten out of the top corner for the front-facing cameras. And I do mean GIANT, as you can see in the image above. On top of that, the crease at the center of the display is visible while you use the phone, it doesn't fold all the way closed, it's uncomfortably thick in your pocket, and the outer screen is ridiculously tiny with giant bezels above and blow it.This phone is junk.The idea of foldable smartphones is cool and exciting, but it absolutely is not ready for primetime right now. The Galaxy Fold never should have seen the light of day. Samsung rushed to be the first company with a widely available foldable smartphone, which is nothing new for Samsung. It often rushes to be first with a new type of product, and the results are garbage each and every time.Maybe Huawei will have better luck in a couple of months when it releases the Mate X. It certainly sports a far better design than the Galaxy Fold, and the construction seemed vastly superior when we played with it briefly at MWC 2019. But we won't know for certain until we get our hands on a review unit.In the meantime, do yourself a favor and keep your wallet in your pocket when the Galaxy Fold is released next week.
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| Robert Mueller Made One Mistake: He Trusted Bill Barr Posted: 19 Apr 2019 01:41 AM PDT  Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast/GettyTwo days before the 50th anniversary of Robert Mueller being seriously wounded while leading his platoon against a numerically superior enemy in Vietnam, his latest service to the nation was released in the form of the Special Counsel's Report.In a morning press conference before the release, Attorney General William Barr seemed to give a friend of three decades his due after two years of lies and slander by our president."I would also like to thank Special Counsel Mueller for his service and the thoroughness of his investigation, particularly his work exposing the nature of Russia's attempts to interfere in our electoral process," Barr said.A few breaths later, Barr committed one of the great public betrayals of our history.The country's most senior law enforcement officer actually sought to justify President Trump's mendacious attacks against Mueller and the investigation he had been appointed to conduct."As the special counsel's report acknowledges, there is substantial evidence to show that the president was frustrated and angered by a sincere belief that the investigation was undermining his presidency, propelled by his political opponents, and fueled by illegal leaks," Barr said.In fact, the report acknowledges no such thing.What the report does demonstrate is that Mueller conducted an exceedingly fair, determinedly thorough investigation.Just as he had on the battlefield a half century ago, Mueller performed brilliantly.His one mistake was to trust his supposed friend Barr.To call Barr a human hedgehog would be unfair if the resemblance were confined to his appearance. But he also shares a hedgehog's unique "self-anointing," a behavior that involves licking an object whose smell the creature finds attractive until it works up a froth that it then rubs on itself.Barr must have worked up considerable froth in the presence of the president. He smelled like pure Trump on March 24, when he offered a four-page document that was was supposed to be an honest appraisal of the evidence Mueller so carefully gathered under such trying circumstances.Barr reeked of The Donald when he subsequently spoke of the FBI "spying" on the Trump campaign. During his public betrayal of Mueller at Thursday's press conference, Barr twice said there was "no collusion." He implicitly excused even Trump's demonstrable lies concerning an effort to fire Mueller because of fictitious "conflicts."As he exonerated Trump, Barr failed to note that page two of Volume II of the very document he was releasing states, "While this report does not conclude that the president committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him."The report further states, "If we had confidence after a thorough investigation of the facts that the president clearly did not commit obstruction of justice, we would so state."Mueller apparently did not foresee that Barr would effectively see Trump exonerated anyway. Mueller also did not likely anticipate that when releasing the report, Barr would say Trump's behavior must be put "in context" and accepted.The report documents that Trump lied, lied, and lied again—and pressured his subordinates to do the same.The true source of the frustration and anger that Barr describes was partly the refusal of several staffers to be as unprincipled as their president.The most prominent of those who stood up to the president was White House Counsel Don McGahn, nephew of the late Atlantic City lawyer/fixer Paddy McGahn. The uncle cleared the way for Trump's casinos and the nephew might therefore have been expected to be situationally flexible. But the uncle was also a thrice-wounded Marine and recipient of the Navy Cross. The report describes the nephew as responding more like a Marine than a fixer/lawyer.The big test for Don McGahn came after Trump instructed him to have Mueller fired for supposed "conflicts," in June 2017. Mueller would subsequently find himself in the bizarre position of investigating an attempt to stop him from investigating. "The president cited as conflicts that Mueller had interviewed for the FBI Director position shortly before being appointed as special counsel, that he had worked for a law firm that represented people affiliated with the president, and that Mueller had disputed certain fees relating to his membership in a Trump golf course in Northern Virginia," the report notes.The report adds that Steve Bannon told Trump the purported conflicts were "ridiculous." Mueller had never been interviewed for the FBI Director. He had not represented any Trump people, even if others at his very large law firm had. As for the supposed golf course fee dispute, the report says:"In October 2011, Mueller resigned his family's membership from Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, Virginia, in a letter that noted that, 'We live in the District and find that we are unable to make full use of the Club,' and that inquired 'whether we would be entitled to a refund of a portion of our initial membership fee,' which was paid in 1994."The report adds, "About two weeks later , the controller of the club responded that the Muellers' resignation would be effective Oct. 31, 2011, and that they would be 'placed on a waitlist to be refunded on a first resigned / first refunded basis...' The Muellers have not had further contact with the club."McGahn said he would quit rather than fire Mueller on fictitious grounds, and went so far as to pack up his office. Trump relented, and that might have been that, had the "fake news" not reported the truth."In early 2018, the press reported that the president had directed McGahn to have the special counsel removed in June 2017 and that McGahn had threatened to resign rather than carry out the order," the report says. "The president reacted to the news stories by directing White House officials to tell McGahn to dispute the story and create a record stating he had not been ordered to have the special counsel removed. McGahn told those officials that the media reports were accurate in stating that the president had directed McGahn to have the special counsel removed. The president then met with McGahn in the Oval Office and again pressured him to deny the reports."The report continues, "The president asked McGahn whether he would 'do a correction,' and McGahn said no."The president also asked McGahn in the meeting why he had told Special Counsel's Office investigators that the president had told him to have the special counsel removed. McGahn responded that he had to, and that his conversations with the president were not protected by attorney-client privilege."Trump inquired about McGahn's habit of jotting down what was said during meetings with him. The report says, "The president then asked, 'What about these notes? Why do you take notes? Lawyers don't take notes. I never had a lawyer who took notes.' McGahn responded that he keeps notes because he is a 'real lawyer' and explained that notes create a record and are not a bad thing. The president said, 'I've had a lot of great lawyers, like Roy Cohn. He did not take notes.'"Anybody who was around Roy Cohn knew that he did not want to be hampered by a record and that he always sought to make the truth whatever best suited him at the moment. And Cohn was not just Trump's lawyer; he was young Donald's mentor.To read the litany of Trump's lies as detailed in the Mueller report is to feel that Cohn's spirit has risen from the crypt in Queens that he shares with his mother. Trump also lies about the successful firing of FBI Director James Comey. Then there are the lies about the Mueller investigation itself. The report describes a moment on the south lawn last August: "In an impromptu exchange with reporters that lasted approximately five minutes, the president twice called the special counsel's investigation a 'rigged witch hunt.'"So said the president who sought to rig the firing of a resolutely honest prosecutor.At another moment, the report says, "The president described the special counsel's investigation as 'a witch hunt that ends in disgrace.'"The actual disgrace belongs to Trump and to Barr. In assuming the scent of the president, the human hedgehog seems to have also assumed the scent of Trump's mentor. Cohn spoke endlessly about loyalty, but was always ready to betray a friend.In Barr's case, that is Mueller, whose only big mistake in the investigation was trusting him. It's nearly 50 years since Mueller led his platoon from potential disaster, despite a bullet wound to the thigh. This is one of the qualities that has long made America great. Barr, and Trump, and his truth-indifferent supporters, all owe Mueller an apologyRead more at The Daily Beast.
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| Aircraft Carrier Alliance: Will Britain Build India a New Queen Elizabeth-Class Carrier? Posted: 19 Apr 2019 05:24 AM PDT  Will India's next aircraft carrier be a British design?British defense contractor BAE Systems is offering a Queen Elizabeth-class design as a contender for India's third aircraft carrier, which will be built in India."BAE Systems has begun discussions with India regarding the potential for basing development of the second Indigenous Aircraft Carrier (IAC-2) project on the successful Queen Elizabeth Class design," said a BAE statement. "The design is adaptable to offer either ski jump or catapult launch and can be modified to meet Indian Navy and local industry requirements."India currently operates one aircraft carrier, the 45,000-ton Vikramaditya, which is actually the former Soviet carrier Admiral Gorshkov. That ship has been plagued by engine problems as well as reliability issues with its MiG-29K fighters.Under construction is India's first indigenous carrier, the 40,000-ton Vikrant, while is scheduled to go to sea in 2020. But as is often the case with Indian-built defense projects, the vessel has suffered from problems such as massive cost overruns and disputes with Russian contractors who are supplying materials for the Indian-built ship.
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| Church apologizes after video shows cleric inviting kids to spit, slap and cut him for Easter lesson Posted: 20 Apr 2019 09:58 AM PDT  An associate pastor at Impact City Church in Pataskala, Ohio, invited abuse from youths, including spitting, slapping, and allegedly cutting.
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| Banks ordered to disclose bondholder information to Puerto Rico board Posted: 18 Apr 2019 07:11 PM PDT  A judge on Thursday ordered banks to comply with a request from Puerto Rico's federally created financial oversight board to disclose customer information related to certain debt issued by the bankrupt U.S. commonwealth. The ruling boosts a potential effort by the board to recover billions of dollars in payments made to bondholders should a federal court hearing Puerto Rico's bankruptcy cases choose to invalidate disputed debt issued by the government and its agencies. U.S. Magistrate Judge Judith Gail Dein's order said "good cause exists" to grant the board's motion, which seeks to compel banks to submit bondholder names and addresses along with Puerto Rico debt payments the bondholders received between 2013 and 2017.
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| NOT REAL NEWS: A look at what didn't happen this week Posted: 19 Apr 2019 01:11 PM PDT  A roundup of some of the most popular but completely untrue stories and visuals of the week. None of these is legit, even though they were shared widely on social media. The Associated Press checked these out. Here are the real facts:
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| Two top deputies resign from Chicago prosecutor's office Posted: 19 Apr 2019 01:04 PM PDT  Two top deputies to the Chicago prosecutor whose office handled the Jussie Smollett case are resigning.
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| A backpack with a flexible screen? Sure, Sony, why not Posted: 18 Apr 2019 07:05 PM PDT  The race among consumer electronics giants to develop all manner of screens that flex and fold -- and to attach them to phones, tablets and more -- is starting to get a bit extreme.We saw over the past 24 hours, for example, the results of Samsung rushing to be the first with a foldable smartphone, with reports from several high-profile reviewers and journalists that their Galaxy Folds easily broke after just a day of usage. We've also covered myriad plans and patents from other tech companies that likewise want to rush into the flexible game, and now along comes Sony with a patent for a flexible display that can be attached to a bag -- like a handbag, or backpack.Ladies and gentleman, we've either reached peak flexible display or are very close to it.The Sony patent, published towards the end of March, was spotted by Dutch tech news blog LetsGoDigital, which reports that it depicts a bag with a flexible display module. The display also uses the same kind of "electronic paper" screen found in e-readers, which tends to require less power and background lighting. It's also thinner and more flexible than a typical LCD display.In terms of other aspects of the design, the bag is shown including a switch that can either be a button or a slider. It would allow the user to change what's shown on the display.The design also calls for both an "automatic" and "manual" mode, which are exactly what those suggest. Those would control what's shown on the display. Additionally, the screen connects to the bag through multiple removable contact points, so you can use the bag for, you know, things that don't involve screens.As the LetsGoDigital report notes, this is not the first example of a bag with a display. Last year, for example, the Pix backpack was released that showed animated patterns on it. Whether or not Sony ever does anything with this patent, meanwhile, it does serve as one more reminder that we're going to start seeing flexible screens pretty much everywhere now, even if manufacturers don't totally know what to do with them yet.
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| North Korea: US Marine arrested in connection with ‘violent raid’ of embassy in Madrid, sources say Posted: 20 Apr 2019 05:27 AM PDT  A former US Marine who was allegedly involved in a raid of the North Korean embassy in Madrid has been arrested, according to sources familiar with the case.Christopher Ahn was arrested on Thursday in connection with the incident, when a group of at least 10 people stormed into the embassy, restrained and physically beat some personnel and held them hostage for hours in February.Spanish investigators have said the group stole computers and hard drives before fleeing to the United States, where they shared the stolen material with the FBI.US federal agents also reportedly raided the apartment of Adrian Hong, the leader of self-styled human right group Cheollima Civil Defence, this week in relation to the investigation.Cheollima Civil Defence, which is seeking to overthrow North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, has claimed responsibility for the incident but denied that they used violence.Mr Ahn is thought to be the first person arrested in relation to the raid.A Spanish judicial source said the stolen material has been returned to the North Korean embassy, two weeks after the FBI sent it to the Spanish court investigating the raid.The incident came just days before the second summit between Donald Trump and Mr Kim, which resulted in a failure to come to agreement about the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula.North Korea's foreign ministry denounced the incident as a "grave terrorist attack" and suggested that the FBI was involved.The US State Department has denied that accusation.Cheollima Civil Defence has said the incident was not an attack and claimed it had been invited into the embassy."We were invited into the embassy, and contrary to reports, no one was gagged or beaten," the group wrote on their website."Out of respect for the host nation of Spain, no weapons were used. All occupants in the embassy were treated with dignity and necessary caution."The group also claimed that the US government was not involved with the incident until after the event.However, a judge for Spain's National Court has accused the group of violently beating embassy officials and putting them in "shackles and flanges".The judge also said three members of the group took an official into the embassy basement and tried to persuade him to defect from North Korea.Although documents released by the Spanish court said several members, including Mr Hong, had fled to the United States, their whereabouts are unclear.The court is seeking their extradition.Agencies contributed to this report
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| House Democrats Issue Subpoena for Full Mueller Report Posted: 19 Apr 2019 06:28 AM PDT  The first official step in what will likely be a lengthy legal battle
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| In Bosnia, 'master' blacksmith had to shoe an egg Posted: 19 Apr 2019 07:25 AM PDT  To be worthy of the title of master, a blacksmith in Kresevo in central Bosnia had to perform a delicate task -- shoe an egg without breaking it. It's an Easter tradition requiring a blacksmith to decorate an egg shell by nailing on it a miniature iron horseshoe. Now Stjepan Biletic wants to have this ancient know-how recognised by UNESCO as part of the world's cultural heritage.
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| Journalist who covered Columbine reflects on lives unlived Posted: 19 Apr 2019 12:05 PM PDT  NEW YORK (AP) — Daniel. Rachel. Isaiah.
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| Three mountaineers presumed dead in Canada avalanche Posted: 19 Apr 2019 08:09 AM PDT  Three world-renowned professional mountaineers -- two Austrians and an American -- were missing and presumed dead after an avalanche on a western Canadian summit, the country's national parks agency said Thursday. American Jess Roskelley, 36, and Austrians Hansjorg Auer, 35, and David Lama, 28, went missing Tuesday evening in Banff National Park, according to media reports.
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| Four Turkish soldiers killed in clashes with PKK - ministry Posted: 20 Apr 2019 01:46 AM PDT ![Four Turkish soldiers killed in clashes with PKK - ministry]( "Four Turkish soldiers killed in clashes with PKK - ministry") Four Turkish soldiers were killed on Friday in clashes with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) near the border with Iraq, Turkey's Defence Ministry said on Saturday. Demiroren News Agency said a military base had been attacked in the mountainous Cukurca district of Turkey's southeastern province of Hakkari, prompting the Turkish military to respond with a "large-scale" military operation. "As part of ongoing operations in the Turkey-Iraq border, two soldiers were killed in clashes with terrorists despite all efforts to save them," the ministry said, adding a total of four soldiers were killed and six wounded.
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| Speed test between the US Galaxy S10 and the global version might surprise you Posted: 19 Apr 2019 11:01 AM PDT  Every year, Samsung releases two versions of its flagship phones: One with a Qualcomm processor, and one with its own Exynos processor. This is once again the case for the Galaxy S10, which comes equipped with the Snapdragon 855 in the United States, and the Exynos 9820 in several other regions around the world.In past years, the Exynos chipset has often outperformed Qualcomm's latest Snapdragon, but there were signs early on that Samsung's new processor might struggle to match Qualcomm's in 2019. As it turns out, the Snapdragon 855's impressive benchmark scores did indeed translate over to real-world usage, as PhoneBuff shows in a video featuring a speed test that pits the Snapdragon Galaxy S10 against the Exynos Galaxy S10.As in his other speed test videos, the self-proclaiming PhoneBuff has both phones open sixteen apps consecutively, while waiting for each of them to load before moving on to the next. Although most of the apps opened at about the same speed on both phones, the Snapdragon S10 was never slower than the Exynos S10. Any time there was a discrepancy, the phone with the Snapdragon processor came out on top:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ts6DWsktKxYAgain, due to the benchmarks, this shouldn't surprise anyone, but after lagging behind in previous years, it's nice to know that American Android fans are getting the "better" version of the phone this time around. That said, phones are so ridiculously fast at this point, that the differences between top-of-the-line processors are going to be minuscule (as demonstrated by the twelve second difference above), but at least we know we're not missing out this time.
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| NFL defensive back Ha Ha Clinton-Dix's college degree withheld for $1 debt Posted: 19 Apr 2019 01:43 PM PDT  Chicago Bears defensive back Ha Ha Clinton-Dix tweeted Thursday that the University of Alabama is holding his degree, which he earned in 2018, over a $1 unpaid debt. It's unclear why Clinton-Dix owes Alabama a single dollar but he should have no problem finding the pocket change as he recently signed a one-year, $3 million deal with the Bears in the offseason.
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| 'House of horrors': California couple sentenced to life in prison for torturing their children Posted: 19 Apr 2019 03:36 PM PDT  David and Louise Turpin, who pleaded guilty in February to torture and false imprisonment, are eligible for parole after 25 years.
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| Here Are All of the 2020 Hyundai Sonata's Available Colors—Including Yellow Posted: 20 Apr 2019 06:30 AM PDT |
| Trump and impeachment: where Democrats stand after Mueller Posted: 20 Apr 2019 11:37 AM PDT  Elizabeth Warren and Rashida Tlaib have called for action, but many lawmakers say more information is needed firstElizabeth Warren was the first 2020 presidential candidate to call for impeachment. Photograph: Kristopher Radder/APLong before a redacted version of the Mueller report was released this week, the winds of impeachment were swirling around Donald Trump's presidency.Nonetheless, the findings in the 448-page report, which include 11 instances in which Trump or his campaign engaged in potential obstruction of justice, have increased pressure on prominent Democrats to take a stand on the issue.Articles of impeachment would have to pass the Democratic-controlled House. But to remove the president from office, two-thirds of the Republican-controlled Senate would need to vote in favor.The House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, has repeatedly resisted calls for impeachment. She and other Democrats fear the process, which would be overwhelmingly likely to fail in the Senate, would become a political distraction and that the party should instead bet on the ballot box in 2020 as the way to get Trump out of the White House.Nonetheless, in the wake of the Mueller report, prominent Democrats including presidential contenders, committee chairs and rank-and-file lawmakers found themselves having to position themselves as for impeachment, against it … or somewhere in between. For impeachment> I read the Mueller report. When I got to the end, I realized this is a point of principle. Because it matters not just for this president, but for all future presidents. No one is above the law. pic.twitter.com/RdAHQYoH0V> > — Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) April 20, 2019Elizabeth Warren: The Massachusetts senator was the first 2020 presidential candidate to call for impeachment, writing that not holding such proceedings "would suggest that both the current and future presidents would be free to abuse their power in similar ways"."The severity of this misconduct demands that elected officials in both parties set aside political considerations and do their constitutional duty," she tweeted. "That means the House should initiate impeachment proceedings against the president of the United States."Julián Castro: The former housing secretary and hopeful for the Democratic nomination said he would support Congress opening impeachment proceedings, telling CNN "it would be perfectly reasonable for Congress" to do so.Tom Steyer: The billionaire explored running for president until January, with impeachment as a key part of his platform. Despite deciding not to run, he has continued to pursue impeachment. In response to Warren's support, he said she was "one of the people in Washington who has the moral courage to do what's right".> We're going to impeach the motherfucker> > Rashida TlaibRashida Tlaib: A month before the redacted Mueller report was released, the Michigan representative introduced an impeachment resolution. "We all swore to protect our nation, and that begins with making sure that no one, including the president of the United States, is acting above the law," Tlaib wrote in a letter to colleagues. She also called for Trump's impeachment on her first day in office in January, in a Detroit Free Press opinion piece and at a swearing-in event, where she commented: "We're going to impeach the motherfucker."Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: On Thursday, Ocasio-Cortez said she would sign-on to Tlaib's resolution, in the wake of the Mueller report. "Many know I take no pleasure in discussions of impeachment. I didn't campaign on it, and rarely discuss it unprompted," the New York representative and progressive star tweeted. "We all prefer working on our priorities: pushing Medicare for All, tackling student loans, and a Green New Deal. But the report squarely puts this on our doorstep."Maxine Waters: The Californian who chairs the House finance committee – and who has been attacked by Trump – backed impeachment on Thursday. "Congress's failure to impeach is complacency in the face of the erosion of our democracy and constitutional norms," she said. "Congress's failure to impeach would set a dangerous precedent and imperil the nation as it would vest too much power in the executive branch and embolden future officeholders to further debase the US presidency, if that's even possible."Al Green: The Texas representative has pushed for impeachment since Trump fired the FBI director James Comey in May 2017, forcing two unsuccessful votes on the articles of impeachment. He continues to push on. "I call for the impeachment of the president of the United States of America," Green said in a press conference streamed on Facebook. "This rests solely now on the shoulders of the Congress of the United States of America." Against impeachmentNancy Pelosi speaks on Capitol Hill. Photograph: Yuri Gripas/ReutersNancy Pelosi: The speaker of the House has a delicate path to tread and has not encouraged voters to believe she will initiate impeachment proceedings, instead pointing to fierce oversight of the White House by Democratic-led committees."Let me assure you that whatever the issue and challenge we face, the Congress of the United States will honor its oath of office to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States to protect our democracy," she told reporters this week. "We believe that the first article – Article I, the legislative branch – has the responsibility of oversight of our democracy, and we will exercise that."> The avenue is not impeachment. The avenue is further disclosure to the American people> > Hakeem JeffriesHakeem Jeffries: The New York representative who chairs the House Democratic caucus said voters were much more interested in issues beyond impeachment. "The avenue is not impeachment," he said this week. "The avenue is further disclosure to the American people."Angus King: The independent senator from Maine, who caucuses with Democrats, said the decision to keep Trump as president – or not – should be taken by voters. "In my view, there's an even better political process coming right down the road on almost the same time frame and that's the elections of 2020," King told CNN on Friday. "For Congress to go through an impeachment process would be, it would take probably 18 months, which would lead right up to the election. And it would be divisive." Somewhere in betweenPete Buttigieg: The mayor of South Bend, Indiana, another 2020 hopeful who has surged in the polls, said there was "evidence that this president deserves to be impeached". But he also said it was up to Congress to decide whether to proceed, prompting debate over his true meaning.> The idea is to find out exactly what went on, who did what> > Jerrold NadlerJerrold Nadler: The chairman of the House judiciary committee said his panel would hold "major hearings" with prominent people featured in the Mueller report. The New York representative, who has subpoenaed the unredacted report, has discussed impeachment repeatedly as it would originate with his committee. This week he remained noncommittal."The idea is not whether to debate articles of impeachment," Nadler said. "The idea is to find out exactly what went on, who did what, what institutional safeguards were gotten around and how they were gotten around, and then decide what to do about it."Amy Klobuchar: The Minnesota senator, running for the Democratic nomination, falls very much on the "let's investigate more" side of things. She told reporters on Friday she wants to see Mueller testify before the Senate judiciary committee, of which she is a member. "I think you've seen all the senators are very cautious about talking about this because we would be the jury if there was any kind of an action brought over from the House," she said.Kamala Harris says 'there is definitely a conversation to be had' about impeachment. Photograph: Gerald Herbert/APKamala Harris: "I think that there is definitely a conversation to be had on that subject," the California senator and presidential hopeful told MSNBC on Thursday, "but first I want to hear from Bob Mueller and really understand what exactly is the evidence that supports the summary that we have been given today."Cory Booker: Speaking in Nevada on Friday, the New Jersey senator, who is also a member of the judiciary committee and a 2020 hopeful, said it was too soon to discuss impeachment because Congress has not seen the unredacted report and has not had a chance to interview Mueller. "There's a lot more investigation that should go on before Congress comes to any conclusions like that," he said.Bernie Sanders: At a South Carolina campaign stop on Friday, the Vermont senator ignored questions from reporters about impeachment. Instead he tweeted: "While we have more detail from today's report than before, Congress must continue its investigation into Trump's conduct and any foreign attempts to influence our election."> We must also work to do everything we can to protect our future elections from the significant threat of foreign interference, and I call on President Trump and Republican leadership to stop obstructing the necessary work to protect our democracy.> > — Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) April 18, 2019Beto O'Rourke: The 2020 contender and former Texas representative said he believed voters cared more about policy discussions than impeachment, telling reporters on Thursday: "I don't know that impeachment and those proceedings in the House and potential trial in the Senate is going to answer those questions for people."Elijah Cummings: The House oversight committee chairman told MSNBC on Friday the Mueller report revealed actions that were "at least 100 times worse" than those that led to Bill Clinton's impeachment in 1998. "We've got to go against this, we've got to expose it. A lot of people keep asking about the question of impeachment," Cummings said. "But right now, let's make sure we understand what Mueller was doing, understand what Barr was doing, and see the report in an unredacted form, and all of the underlying documents."Eric Swalwell: The California representative, also running for president, told MSNBC on Friday impeachment was "a conversation we have to have as far as holding this president accountable" but stopped short of saying whether he supported impeachment proceedings. "I'm for bringing Bob Mueller in and see what the evidence is," he said.Steny Hoyer: The House majority leader, from Maryland, said the Mueller report was "a damning recitation of lies, misinformation, and malfeasance" that clearly sets a basis for "probable cause that crimes were, in fact, committed". But he did not mention impeachment.
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| Score an entire suite of creative design apps for only $40 Posted: 20 Apr 2019 02:00 AM PDT  We're not about to make assumptions here, but we'd wager that the starving artist myth is partially perpetuated by the fact that design programs are so darn expensive. A subscription to a single app alone can sometimes require you to fork out hundreds of dollars you don't have. We don't know about you, but that's plain robbery.You don't have to put yourself in the red just to score apps that will help you perform a variety of design jobs. The Corel Creative Mac Bundle includes an entire creative design app suite from one of the leading software makers with a few surprise bonuses. And you only have to pay $40 to get the whole set.Check out what's in store: Toast 17 TitaniumThe ultimate DVD burning software, Toast 17 Titanium lets you turn videos into professional-looking discs. It comes equipped with a feature-rich digital media suite that includes screen recording, movie editing tools, and media browser. AfterShot Pro 3RAW images aren't the easiest things to edit and manipulate, but this app makes the process feel like a cakewalk. On top of converting RAW files into editable images without inflicting damage, it also boasts a medley of editing tools you can take advantage of to enhance your shots. Painter Essentials 6Create lifelike artworks with this app that features a selection that's chock-full of realistic painting tools and effects. With just a few clicks, it can help you transform a photo into a painting infused with realism. WinZipNobody has the time to wait for hours when sending files. WinZip compresses data with bank-level AES encryption so you can send and receive files faster and more securely. ParticleShopThis powerful brush plugin for Photoshop and AfterShot 3 breathes new life into your masterpieces with fluid, artistic strokes that are a breeze to use. It features 11 different custom brushes, all of which you can incorporate on your creations to take them to the next level.Usually valued at $309.95, grab the Corel Creative Mac Bundle on sale for only $39.99 -- a savings of 87%. Image: Pexels The Corel Creative Mac Bundle -- $39.99 See Details
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| Yellow vest demonstrators, police clash in Paris Posted: 20 Apr 2019 08:14 AM PDT  Clashes broke out between dozens of demonstrators and police in Paris on the 23rd Saturday of yellow-vest protests after authorities warned that rioters could return to the French capital to spark a new wave of violence. Dozens of black-hooded demonstrators threw rocks at police and some set fire to scooters and trash cans in the center of the French capital, according to Reuters TV footage. Police responded by firing tear gas and stun grenades.
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| Former Sears company sues ex-CEO Lampert, Treasury's Steven Mnuchin over 'asset stripping' Posted: 19 Apr 2019 06:05 AM PDT ![Former Sears company sues ex-CEO Lampert, Treasury's Steven Mnuchin over 'asset stripping']( "Former Sears company sues ex-CEO Lampert, Treasury's Steven Mnuchin over 'asset stripping'") The company that owned Sears and Kmart has sued its ex-CEO Eddie Lampert and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin over accusations of "asset stripping."
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| China's Nightmare: How the U.S. Navy Could Sink Its Prized Aircraft Carriers Posted: 19 Apr 2019 03:55 AM PDT  That's a rough analogy to today. Fortress China is festooned with airfields and mobile antiship weaponry able to strike hundreds of miles out to sea. Yes, the U.S. Navy remains stronger than the PLA Navy in open-sea battle. A fleet-on-fleet engagement isolated from shore-based reinforcements would probably go America's way. But that hypothetical result may not make much difference since the two navies are more likely to join battle in confined Asian waters than on the open ocean.Ah, yes, the "carrier-killer." China is forever touting the array of guided missiles its weaponeers have devised to pummel U.S. Navy nuclear-powered aircraft carriers (CVNs). Most prominent among them are its DF-21D and DF-26 antiship ballistic missiles (ASBMs), which the People's Liberation Army (PLA) has made a mainstay of China's anti-access/area-denial (A2/AD) defenses.(This first appeared several years ago.)Beijing has made believers of important audiences, including the scribes who toil away at the Pentagon producing estimates of Chinese martial might. Indeed, the most recent annual report on Chinese military power states matter-of-factly that the PLA can now use DF-21Ds to "attack ships, including aircraft carriers," more than nine hundred statute miles from China's shorelines.
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| Measles Crisis: Judge Dismisses Parents’ Suit Against NYC Posted: 19 Apr 2019 01:48 AM PDT  Photo Illustration by Elizabeth Brockway/The Daily Beast/GettyA New York judge on Thursday dismissed a lawsuit brought against the city's Department of Health by five parents who refuse to vaccinate their children.The dismissal shores up an emergency order declaring the city's measles outbreak a public health emergency. In addition to mandating the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine for children in zip codes affected by the crisis, it threatened parents with fines of up to $1,000.There have been 329 confirmed cases of the viral illness, mostly among observant Jews in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn. "The unvarnished truth is that these diagnoses represent the most significant spike in incidences of measles in the United States in many years and that the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn is at its epicenter," Kings County Supreme Court justice Lawrence Knipel wrote.Knipel debunked the parents' arguments, concluding that their medical objections to vaccines ran counter to scientific evidence; their religious objections weren't supported by doctrine, and were only relevant to school admissions; and their moral objections, such as their insistence on informed consent for vaccines, were misplaced."A fireman need not obtain the informed consent of the owner before extinguishing a house fire," he wrote. "Vaccination is known to extinguish the fire of contagion."Jay Begun, founder of Kindercare Pediatrics in Williamsburg and an instructor in the Department of Pediatrics at Mount Sinai, said the dismissal was a victory for the community."Now more people will be encouraged to immunize their children, and it will create a safer environment for everyone," he said. "This proves that the greater good trumps the marginal opinions of a small segment of the population."But, he added, when it comes to enforcing the order, "the less punitive the better and the more educational the better."One Hasidic father, who asked that his name not be shared in order to protect his privacy, felt that the dismissal was a step toward safety for his community."It is still scary to go out with the kids in Williamsburg, but hopefully this will help turn around the situation," he said.Robert Krakow, the parents' attorney and a frequent representative of parents who claim their children were injured by vaccines, said he wasn't particularly surprised by the judge's decision.Krakow claimed that a new version of the order presented during the hearing said the city could fine parents per day, as opposed to only once, for refusing to vaccinate their children."Wouldn't you expect, when the city handed over the order and said the criminal provisions are removed, that they would also highlight any significant changes?" he said. "I didn't hear them say anything about fines per day. Let's just say we're investigating it."The decision came on the same day that the Health Department announced it had issued summonses to three parents for not vaccinating their children. The department also shut down four yeshivas for not complying with its order that unvaccinated students be forbidden from attending. A daycare that was shut down earlier this week, United Talmudical Academy, reopened today under close supervision by the Health Department.Read more at The Daily Beast.
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| Widows, ace guide to climb Everest to honor Sherpas Posted: 18 Apr 2019 05:47 PM PDT  KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — Five years after one of the deadliest disasters on Mount Everest, three people from Nepal's ethnic Sherpa community are preparing an ascent to raise awareness about the Nepalese mountain guides who make it possible for hundreds of foreign climbers to scale the mountain and survive.
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| Congress subpoenas full Mueller report, escalating battle with Trump’s Justice Department Posted: 19 Apr 2019 10:12 AM PDT  House Democrats issued a subpoena Friday for Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report into Russian election interference, a day after Attorney General William Barr released a redacted version of the nearly 450-page document. The chairman of the House Judiciary Committee said in a statement he expects the Justice Department to comply by 1 May. "It now falls to Congress to determine the full scope of that alleged misconduct and to decide what steps we must take going forward," he said. The subpoena has escalated a confrontation resulting between Congress and the Justice Department in the wake of the explosive report. Mr Barr, an appointee of Donald Trump, has been criticised for his handling of the report after the special counsel concluded its investigation, including his decision to hold a press conference defending the president hours before it was released to the public. While the special counsel declined to prosecute Mr Trump on obstruction of justice, he did not exonerate the president, all but leaving the question to Congress.Mr Mueller's report provides fresh evidence of the president's interference in the Russia investigation and challenges lawmakers to respond. The risks for both parties are clear if they duck the responsibility or prolong an inquiry that, rather than coming to a close, may be just beginning."My committee needs and is entitled to the full version of the report and the underlying evidence consistent with past practice," Mr Nadler said in the statement.But the committee's top Republican, Doug Collins of Georgia, said the subpoena was "wildly overbroad" and that Mr Trump already declined to assert executive privilege in a move of "unprecedented openness." Mr Collins said Nadler was rushing the process for political gain."This is politically convenient," Mr Collins said, allowing the chairman "to grandstand and rail against the attorney general for not cooperating on an impossible timeline."The attorney general sent Congress a redacted version of the report, blacking out several types of material, including classified information, material pertaining to ongoing investigations and grand jury evidence.Mr Nadler said he is open to working with the department "to reach a reasonable accommodation for access to these materials, however I cannot accept any proposal which leaves most of Congress in the dark, as they grapple with their duties of legislation, oversight and constitutional accountability."The materials are due the day Mr Barr is scheduled to testify before a Senate committee and one day before the attorney general is set to appear before Mr Nadler's committee. The chairmen also has summoned Mr Mueller to testify.The Associated Press contributed to this report
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| Meghan McCain goes after anti-vaxxers, slams their 'stupidity' for endangering children Posted: 20 Apr 2019 11:48 AM PDT ![Meghan McCain goes after anti-vaxxers, slams their 'stupidity' for endangering children]( "Meghan McCain goes after anti-vaxxers, slams their 'stupidity' for endangering children") Meghan McCain isn't mincing words when it comes to her take on anti-vaxxers, taking to Twitter Friday to send a message about their "stupidity."
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