2019年7月1日星期一

Yahoo! News: Education News

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Yahoo! News: Education News


Trump’s Visit to North Korea is an Alarming Message to China

Posted: 01 Jul 2019 06:57 AM PDT

Trump's Visit to North Korea is an Alarming Message to ChinaOn Sunday in the "Peace Village" of Panmunjom in the Demilitarized Zone, President Donald Trump stepped over the Military Demarcation Line and took twenty steps into North Korea with Kim Jong-un, the dictator of the Hermit Kingdom. The pair immediately walked back another twenty into the South, where they met for fifty minutes.The brief visit by the president of the United States of America to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea delighted Kim, who smiled broadly and constantly. Almost certainly, the forty-step outing alarmed Xi Jinping, the Chinese ruler, who was not in attendance.Trump is now the first sitting American leader to go to North Korea. Yet that was not the important element of Sunday's events. In all probability, he planned those activities to both rile Chinese leaders and upend relations in North Asia.The American president on Saturday, just before his much-anticipated meeting with Xi in Osaka at the G20, tweeted about the possibility of his meeting Kim in the DMZ. The timing of the tweet is unlikely to have been a coincidence. There was speculation that at his meeting with Trump, Xi was going to offer cooperation on North Korea as a means of obtaining concessions on other issues. That is surely why Xi's first trip to North Korea took place in June, just before the G20. Beijing and Washington, of course, are locked in what most observers term a "trade war," the primary topic of conversation at the Trump-Xi meet in Osaka. With the tweet, however, Trump seemed to be saying to his Chinese counterpart that he did not need Beijing's help on North Korea.


Antifa attack conservative blogger Andy Ngo amid violence at Portland Proud Boys protest

Posted: 30 Jun 2019 04:51 AM PDT

Antifa attack conservative blogger Andy Ngo amid violence at Portland Proud Boys protestA conservative writer has been attacked by antifascists amid violence at clashing demonstrations in Portland.Andy Ngo was surrounded and beaten by protesters wearing black with their faces concealed, while being covered in a milkshake, eggs and spray on Saturday.He was taken to hospital for treatment after posting a video showing bruises and cuts to his face and neck."I just got beat up by the crowd," Mr Ngo said. "I was in the middle of the street and they stole my GoPro and punched me several times in my face and my head. I'm bleeding."He had been covering protests against the male chauvinist Proud Boys group, which is known for street fighting, in the Oregon city.Three people have so far been arrested for offences including assault on a public safety officer, harassment and disorderly conduct. Police said five protesters and three police officers were treated by medics for injuries during the protests, and three people were taken to hospital after being attacked with weapons.One counter-demonstration had been organised by Rose City Antifa, which accused the Proud Boys of "planning to invade downtown Portland, looking for targets for violent attacks".They called for people to "defend our city" in an online blog that accused Mr Ngo of Islamophobia and promoting the Proud Boys.Mr Ngo is an editor at online magazine Quilette but opponents characterise him as a far-right campaigner and criticised him over a Wall Street Journal article published last year entitled: "A visit to Islamic England." His lawyer, Harmeet K Dhillon, said doctors were monitoring Mr Ngo's head injuries in hospital.Supporters have already donated more than $70,000 (£55,000) to a crowdfunding page called the Protect Andy Ngo Fund.Local media reported that only 30 people turned up for the original protest – a "patriot prayer" rally – in Portland's Pioneer Courthouse Square on Saturday afternoon.Police attempted to keep them apart from a larger counter-demonstration in Lownsdale Square, where the Portland Mercury observed organisers giving out "milkshakes" in antifascist-branded cups.The Portland Police Bureau said it later received reports of individuals throwing "milkshakes" with a substance mixed in that was similar to a quick-drying cement, adding: "One subject was arrested for throwing a substance during the incident."The trend of "milkshaking" right-wing figures started in the UK last month, when the British anti-Islam activist Tommy Robinson was targeted, and has since spread to the US.Disorder broke out when a group of antifascist protesters left their designated area and marched towards the Proud Boys rally, repeatedly trying to get around police blockades.One banner read "f*** Nazis and fascists", while some protesters waved a banner for the Satanic Portland Antifascists and chanted: "Not hate, no fear, Proud Boys are not welcome here."Footage showed scuffles between opposing protesters, while several antifascists were wearing face coverings or helmets, and carrying homemade shields, bats and weapons. The Portland Police Bureau said two protests from Chapman Square and Lownsdale Park Square merged and started an unpermitted march towards Pioneer Square that stopped traffic."There were multiple assaults reported, as well as projectiles thrown at demonstrators and officers," a statement added. "There were also reports of pepper spray and bear spray being used by people in the crowd. Officers deployed pepper spray during the incident."Two officers were pepper sprayed, another was punched and a colleague was hit in the head with a projectile during what police labelled a "civil disturbance".After issuing a dispersal order, three people were arrested. A 23-year-old man was charged with second-degree assault and assault of a police officer, a 21-year-old man was charged with harassment and a 23-year-old woman with disorderly conduct and harassment.Assistant police chief Chris Davis said: "There are hundreds of peaceful free speech events in the city in a given year that do not result in violence. Unfortunately, today some community members and officers were injured. "We are actively investigating these incidents to hold those responsible accountable." Police are appealing anyone who witnessed or filmed violence to contact crimetips@portlandoregon.gov.


Judge: Rep. Duncan Hunter's trial can detail alleged affairs

Posted: 01 Jul 2019 05:40 PM PDT

Judge: Rep. Duncan Hunter's trial can detail alleged affairsJurors can hear evidence of U.S. Rep. Duncan Hunter's alleged extramarital affairs when they consider charges the California Republican looted campaign cash to finance vacations, golf outings and other personal expenses, a judge said Monday. Prosecutors revealed salacious details about the married congressman's lifestyle in court filings last week, saying he used campaign money to illegally finance a string of romantic relationships with lobbyists and congressional aides. U.S. District Judge Thomas Whelan said the allegations were relevant to whether campaign money was spent illegally and spoke to motive and intent.


Hunt for pet-eating python as 9ft snake goes on the loose in Cambridge

Posted: 30 Jun 2019 10:04 AM PDT

Hunt for pet-eating python as 9ft snake goes on the loose in CambridgeRabbit and chicken owners in Cambridge have been warned to be vigilant following the escape of a nine-foot reticulated python. The non-venomous snake is unlikely to pose a threat to human life but could make small animals like rabbits and chickens its prey. Police in Cambridgeshire received reports that a snake had been spotted near Lovell Road in Cambridge. In the early hours of Sunday morning officers attended the area but failed to spot the animal. The snake's owners have been located and provided police with details on the animal. Steve Allain, chairman of the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Amphibian and Reptile Group said the escaped reptile poses a threat to rabbits, chickens and potentially dogs and cats but added that the latter two pets are more like to be able to defend themselves if attacked.  Mr Allain said the threat posed depends on when the animal last ate.  "We don't when it last fed or how hungry it is or how determined it is to find a meal," Mr Allain said.  Mr Allain said the "snake could be anywhere" and would be easier to locate during the colder winter months when it would seek warmth.  "With the hot weather this weekend, it will be comfortable in most places. During the winter, the first place you would look would be in and around cars where they seek the warmth of the engine." An Indonesian woman was swallowed by a 23-foot reticulated python last year but Mr Allain said this smaller creature does not pose a similar threat.  The RSPCA advised anyone that encounters the creature not to approach it. "If anyone finds a snake they believe is non-native the RSPCA's advice is to keep a safe distance, monitor the snake and call the charity's helpline on 0300 1234 999," a spokeswoman said.  Reticulated pythons are the world's longest snake, native to south-east Asia and can grow up to 31.5 feet, according to Encyclopaedia Britannica. They are not venomous. In May, Cambridgeshire Constabulary found a large orange and black striped corn snake out and about. "Road policing officers got a bit of a shock this morning when they came across thissss snake in the grass on Arbury Road in Cambridge," police said on Twitter. The snake was taken to a wildlife centre in Stretham. Anyone who sees the latest snake is asked to notify police on 101.


How to Display the American Flag Correctly on Your Car or Motorcycle

Posted: 01 Jul 2019 11:00 AM PDT

How to Display the American Flag Correctly on Your Car or Motorcycle


Israel will be destroyed in half an hour if America attacks Iran: senior Iranian MP

Posted: 01 Jul 2019 09:17 AM PDT

Israel will be destroyed in half an hour if America attacks Iran: senior Iranian MPIsrael will be destroyed in half an hour if the United States attacks Iran, a senior Iranian parliamentarian said on Monday, according to the semiofficial Mehr news agency.


Booker not sure Biden ‘up to the task’ of fixing US racial injustice

Posted: 30 Jun 2019 11:43 AM PDT

Booker not sure Biden 'up to the task' of fixing US racial injusticeNew Jersey senator and 2020 candidate says Biden has 'an inability to talk candidly about the mistakes he made'Booker at the debate last week. He said: 'Whoever is that nominee needs to be able to pull this country together because we need to reconcile.' Photograph: Mike Segar/ReutersThe Democratic presidential candidate Cory Booker said on Sunday he is not sure Joe Biden is "up to that task" of fixing America's racial injustice.Booker told NBC's Meet the Press: "Whoever our nominee is going to be, whoever the next president is going to be, really needs to be someone who can talk openly and honestly about race with vulnerability because none of us are perfect, but really call this country to common ground, to reconciliation."I'm not sure if Vice-President Biden is up to that task, given the way this last three weeks have played out, and, frankly, I know whoever is that nominee needs to be able to pull this country together because we need to reconcile."Biden leads most national and state polls; Booker performed strongly in the first debate this week and is at the rear of the leading pack. Booker, the New Jersey senator, made his remark on Sunday in response a question about a contentious exchange between Biden and Kamala Harris at the second debate in Miami.Harris interjected during a discussion of race and policing, noting that as the only black candidate on the stage, she should be able to respond. She then focused on Biden and attacked his record on race.Campaigning recently, Biden warmly recalled his working relationship with segregationist senators. Opponents pressed him to apologize, but he refused."I do not believe you are a racist," Harris said on the debate stage, as she looked directly at Biden. "But … it is personal. And it was actually hurtful to hear you talk about the reputations of two United States senators who built their reputations and career on the segregation of race in this country."Harris also accused Biden – who early in his long political career opposed the federally mandated bussing of students as a way to integrate schools – of propping up policies that would have kept minority students like herself out of majority white districts."There was a little girl in California who was part of the second class to integrate her public schools, and she was bussed to school every day," Harris said. "And that little girl was me."Visibly upset, Biden said "that is a mischaracterization of my position across the board. I did not praise racists. That is not true."Booker, who is African American, told NBC Biden has "an inability to talk candidly about the mistakes he made, about things he could've done better, about how some of the decisions he made at the time in difficult context actually have resulted in really bad outcomes."He went on: "We have one destiny in this nation and right now the vice-president to me is not doing a good job at bringing folks together. In fact, and I've heard this from people across the country, he's causing a lot of frustration and even pain with his words."Another candidate, Julián Castro, also weighed in, when asked if he thought Harris's criticism was "relevant"."Oh, of course," Castro, the former San Antonio mayor and US housing secretary, told NBC. "I think it's relevant. I think the record of all of the candidates that are running, including Vice-President Biden's record, is relevant and his stance on busing is relevant as well."What I took as his position being that he allowed local communities to make a decision, essentially relying on states' rights, I think he's going to have to continue to explain how that was a good position. Because we've had a very painful history in this country of trying to desegregate communities."That pain is still there in this country, and he's going to have to address that – not only in the debate, but I think going forward."


The American Medical Association Is Taking a More Aggressive Approach on Abortion Legislation

Posted: 01 Jul 2019 04:00 AM PDT

The American Medical Association Is Taking a More Aggressive Approach on Abortion LegislationThe doctors' group, is taking an assertive stance arguing that North Dakota's laws interfere with doctor-patient relationships.


How America's F-22s (Now Near Iran) Could Strike If War Breaks Out

Posted: 30 Jun 2019 08:00 AM PDT

How America's F-22s (Now Near Iran) Could Strike If War Breaks OutTaken on Jun. 27, 2019 the pictures in this post show U.S. Air Force (USAF) F-22 Raptors arriving at Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar.  The Raptors are deployed to Qatar for the first time in order to defend American forces and interests in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility.The USAF did not give the total number of F-22s deployed, but a handout picture showed at least five the warplanes over the base.The F-22 movement comes a week after an Iranian surface-to-air missile (SAM) shot down a U.S. Navy MQ-4C Triton drone over the Strait of Hormuz. Iran said the drone was in its airspace, but Washington claims it was over international waters.


Ocasio-Cortez: Ivanka Trump is not a 'qualified diplomat'

Posted: 30 Jun 2019 08:29 AM PDT

Ocasio-Cortez: Ivanka Trump is not a 'qualified diplomat'Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez sharply criticized the White House on Saturday night after video emerged of an awkward Ivanka Trump moment at the G-20 summit.


Civil Rights Watchdogs Say Facebook Is Still Failing on White Supremacy

Posted: 01 Jul 2019 11:48 AM PDT

Civil Rights Watchdogs Say Facebook Is Still Failing on White SupremacyDavid McNew/Getty ImagesSome civil rights watchdogs say Facebook's "Civil Rights Audit," which recommends a crackdown on white nationalism and related ideologies, is a step in the right direction but doesn't go far enough.On Sunday, Facebook released a progress report about its ongoing internal investigation into how the company handles civil rights issues on the platform. With contributions from more than 90 civil liberties organizations, the report suggests a blueprint for how Facebook can fix its spotty record on racism, discrimination, and voter intimidation. The progress report also addresses Facebook's current policy on white nationalist content, which civil rights leaders have criticized as insufficient. If Facebook wants to clean up the site, it will have to take on the report's recommendations and more, those experts say."I think they've been trying to play in this gray area for far too long and that's come back to haunt them," Henry Fernandez, member of the digital civil rights coalition Change the Terms, told The Daily Beast. Fernandez was referring to Facebook's often-inconsistent approach to racist content.A 2018 Motherboard investigation found that while Facebook prohibited discussion of "white supremacy," it allowed discussion of "white nationalism" and "white separatism," both of which are racist ideologies stemming from white supremacy.This year, after a broad backlash about its insufficient policy, Facebook banned explicit discussion of white nationalism and white separatism. Still, the company declined to take immediate action on white nationalist posts that didn't explicitly use the term. (Facebook said the coded language was too difficult to detect and remove.)The half-step against white nationalism meant that prominent white nationalists could continue posting. A week after Facebook announced its ban on white nationalism, it refused to pull a white nationalist video by Canadian hate-monger Faith Goldy. At the time, a Facebook spokesperson told HuffPost that the video did not promote white nationalism but was merely a discussion about ethnicity. (Facebook banned Goldy and several neo-Nazis the following week.)Facebook's frequent reversals have led some civil rights groups to accuse it of making up its policies on the fly."The burden still remains on victimized community members to report content and hope that the company will address the problem," Muslim Advocates, a civil rights group said in a statement on Facebook's civil rights audit. "Facebook's piecemeal approach to these issues will not result in long-term solutions, and the time has come for the company to honor its commitment to fix these problems."Fernandez said he suspected Facebook hadn't studied its subject matter closely enough."I think the teams they put together lacked the expertise and the diversity to understand and articulate why there is no distinction between white nationalism, white separatism, and white supremacy," he said.He pointed to revelations this week that Customs and Border Patrol agents had used Facebook groups to disparage immigrants and Latina congresswomen. The new civil rights audit called Facebook's definition of white nationalism "too narrow" and suggested Facebook take action against all white nationalist content, even if it doesn't use the term explicitly.The audit also announced the creation of an internal Civil Rights Task Force, comprised of senior Facebook execs, which will meet monthly. But if the task force is to make real changes, it needs more than monthly meetings of C-suite executives, Fernandez said."The problem is, what they're saying they'll now have—a committee chaired by Sheryl Sandberg and then a couple outside consultants meeting monthly—seems pretty thin compared to the scale of problems they have," he said. "I think they need to figure out how they're going to embed that civil rights structure much more deeply in the organization." Read more at The Daily Beast.Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast hereGet our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.


Japan restricts exports to South Korea over wartime labour row

Posted: 01 Jul 2019 01:31 AM PDT

Japan restricts exports to South Korea over wartime labour rowJapan on Monday imposed restrictions on exports used by South Korea's chip and smartphone companies, ramping up long-simmering tensions between the US allies over the use of forced labour during World War Two. Seoul quickly hit back, saying the measures violated international law and threatening to raise the issue at the World Trade Organisation. The move raises the stakes in a protracted dispute over South Korean court rulings requiring Japanese firms to compensate victims of a wartime forced labour policy.


World's biggest divorce settlement will see Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, pay $38 billion to wife, MacKenzie

Posted: 30 Jun 2019 11:01 AM PDT

World's biggest divorce settlement will see Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, pay $38 billion to wife, MacKenzieJeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon and the world's richest man, is to pay $38bn (£29bn) to settle the divorce with his wife of nearly 26 years, MacKenzie Bezos. A judge is expected to rubber-stamp the world's most expensive divorce settlement this week, confirming an agreement which will see Ms Bezos, taking a four per cent stake in the online shopping behemoth. The couple, who have four children, married in 1993, before Mr Bezos set up Amazon from his garage in Seattle. Ms Bezos, 49, who will become the world's fourth richest woman, has promised she will hand over at least half the settlement to charity. She announced her intention to make a massive donation in a blog on a website set up by The Giving Pledge, an organisation founded by Warren Buffett and Bill Gates, which encourages the super-rich to devote more than half their wealth to philanthropic causes. MacKenzie is going to be amazing and thoughtful and effective at philanthropy, and I'm proud of her. Her letter is so beautiful. Go get 'em MacKenzie. https://t.co/S2gLLBQyRQ— Jeff Bezos (@JeffBezos) May 28, 2019 Ms Bezos, an author, wrote: "I have a disproportionate amount of money to share.  "My approach to philanthropy will continue to be thoughtful. It will take time and effort and care. But I won't wait. And I will keep at it until the safe is empty." Her generosity was hailed by Mr Bezos on Twitter who voiced his pride at the gesture by his soon to be former wife. The agreement dwarfs previous massive divorce settlements with the previous record having been set by Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev was ordered by a Swiss court to pay more than $4.5 billion to his ex-wife, Elena.


Errant missile from Syria-Israel clash lands on Cyprus

Posted: 30 Jun 2019 07:10 PM PDT

Errant missile from Syria-Israel clash lands on CyprusAn errant missile struck Cyprus early on Monday, skimming the densely populated capital Nicosia and crashing on a mountainside in what authorities described as a spillover from strikes between Israel and Syria. The explosion occurred around 1 a.m. (2200 GMT Sunday) in the region of Tashkent, also known as Vouno, some 20 kms (12 miles) northeast of Nicosia, with the impact starting a fire and heard for miles around. An Israeli air strike was underway against Syria at the time.


Plane was sold months before it crashed in Texas, killing 10

Posted: 01 Jul 2019 02:01 PM PDT

Plane was sold months before it crashed in Texas, killing 10Officials have not yet released the identities of the 10 people killed when a small plane crashed at a suburban Dallas airport, but the aircraft's former owner said Monday that he sold it earlier this year to a Texas-based company. No information has been released to explain why the Beechcraft BE-350 King Air crashed into a hangar and burst into flames Sunday morning after taking off from Addison Municipal Airport. Todd DeSimone, the general manager of Chicago-based jet charter company Planemasters, said Monday that he sold the plane to a company based in Addison called EE Operations.


Russia's Killer Su-57 Stealth Fighter and S-400 Headed to a NATO Member?

Posted: 29 Jun 2019 09:30 PM PDT

Russia's Killer Su-57 Stealth Fighter and S-400 Headed to a NATO Member?On May 18 2019, Erdogan stated that not only was the S-400 purchase a "done deal"—but that Turkey would engage in "joint production of the S-500 after." The S-500 is an even more advanced Russian SAM system.Amongst a host of factors behind the downward spiraling relations between Turkey and its NATO allies, one of increasing consequence is Turkey's contravention of U.S. sanctions on Russia when it signed in 2017 a $2.5 billion deal to purchase advanced S-400 surface-to-air missile systems.Turkish president Recep Erdogan has stood by the deal, even as U.S. lawmakers are threatening to ban the delivery of the 120 advanced F-35 stealth jets Turkey has ordered, and expel Turkish companies from the program entirely.(This first appeared earlier in June 2019.)Currently, the S-400s are due to arrive in July 2019 and become operational in September.  Meanwhile, the U.S. has frozen F-35-related shipments to Turkey since April.


Top Democrats criticise Trump for ‘photo-op’ meeting with Kim Jong-un on North Korea border

Posted: 30 Jun 2019 02:11 PM PDT

Top Democrats criticise Trump for 'photo-op' meeting with Kim Jong-un on North Korea borderCandidates for the Democratic presidential nomination are speaking out against Donald Trump's venture into North Korea, the first time a sitting US president has stepped into the country.The Republican president met with the North Korean leader in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) that divides North and South Korea on Sunday, in a meeting that appeared to have been planned on a whim earlier in the week. Joining many critics who called the journey a publicity stunt, nominees for the top Democratic spot voiced negative opinions of the weekend meeting."Our President shouldn't be squandering American influence on photo ops and exchanging love letters with a ruthless dictator," wrote senator Elizabeth Warren on Twitter on Sunday morning. "Instead, we should be dealing with North Korea through principled diplomacy that promotes US security, defends our allies, and upholds human rights."Senator Kamala Harris also used the platform to voice concern, tweeting "This President should take the North Korean nuclear threat and its crimes against humanity seriously. This is not a photo-op. Our security and our values are at stake."In an interview on ABC, Senator Bernie Sanders said he had "no problem" with the president meeting with Kim Jong-un but that he didn't want a meeting to "simply be a photo opportunity.""What's going to happen tomorrow and the next day?" senator Sanders continued. "He has weakened the State Department."Candidate Julian Castro also said he did not condemn meeting with adversaries, but did express concerns Mr Trump was raising the profile of a dictator by meeting with the North Korean leader three times with nothing to show for it."He's doing it backward," Mr Castro said.A spokesman for former vice president Joe Biden said the president was "coddling" dictators at the expense of U.S. national security.Senator Amy Klobuchar, also running for the candidacy, compared the move to a moment between neighbours."It is not as easy as just going and bringing a hot dish over the fence to the dictator next door," she said.Additional reporting by Reuters


With Kavanaugh in Place, Supreme Court Takes Bumpy Right Turn

Posted: 01 Jul 2019 01:00 AM PDT

With Kavanaugh in Place, Supreme Court Takes Bumpy Right Turn(Bloomberg) -- The arrivals of Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court stoked liberal fears that bedrock precedents on divisive issues including abortion and federal regulatory power were in danger.That may still be true. But the term that ended last week showed that the road to fulfilling long-held conservative goals will feature some speed bumps.In the first term since Kavanaugh succeeded swing vote Anthony Kennedy, conservatives won a major ruling that shielded partisan gerrymanders from constitutional challenges. They also triumphed on property rights and the death penalty.Those victories were offset by a decision that, for now, stopped the Trump administration from asking about citizenship on the 2020 census. Another ruling preserved some of the power of federal agencies, and the court has refused so far to take up an abortion case.The court is undoubtedly more conservative with President Donald Trump's two appointees on the bench. As the nation moves into a long and contentious election season, the court's move to the right will give Trump fuel to fire up his base and Democrats fodder for making the court a major campaign issue of their own.Conservative WinsBut the just-finished term underscores the limits to that shift, or at least to its speed."There were major leaps -- for example, blessing partisan gerrymandering in federal court," said Tom Goldstein, a Washington lawyer who founded scotusblog.com, which tracks the court. "But in other cases, the conservatives were content to just advance the law methodically."In a term in which 21 rulings were decided by a single vote -- representing almost a third of the docket -- the conservatives formed a 5-4 majority only seven times.Some of those rulings were big ones, though, particularly the decision last week that said the Constitution doesn't let judges throw out voting maps for being too partisan. That ruling gave state lawmakers a new license to draw maps aimed at maximizing their own political advantage. It could bolster Republicans in the 2020 elections.Precedents OverturnedThe conservatives -- Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, Chief Justice John Roberts, and Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito -- also ruled that people could go directly to federal court to claim that a government regulation unconstitutionally took private property without compensation.That was one of two decisions that explicitly overturned a precedent. A 1985 ruling had required property owners to press their claims first in state court, a potentially less hospitable forum.Dissenting Justice Elena Kagan said the ruling "smashes a hundred-plus years of legal rulings to smithereens," a contention Roberts disputed in his majority opinion.The five conservatives were also in the majority in a 5-4 ruling that let Missouri give a lethal injection to a convicted murderer who said his rare medical condition means he would probably choke on his own blood.Let's Stick TogetherConservatives got a bigger majority, 7-2, for a ruling that let a 40-foot cross remain as a World War I memorial in a Maryland intersection. Alito's opinion for the court was narrow, noting that the monument is almost a century old and leaving open the possibility that newer religious displays might be judged differently.Disagreements among the conservatives tempered their ability to shift the law. Each of the five joined the liberal wing -- Justices Kagan, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer and Sonia Sotomayor -- at least once in a 5-4 or 5-3 ruling. The liberals won 10 cases in which they stuck together and were joined by a single conservative justice.Some of those rulings were narrow, better characterized as fending off conservative victories than pushing the law to the left. The liberals joined with Roberts to reaffirm a 1997 ruling that often requires judges to defer to an agency on the meaning of ambiguous regulations.That opinion limited the circumstances in which courts should yield to agencies -- so much so that Gorsuch said in dissent that the 1997 precedent had become a "paper tiger" and predicted it would eventually be overturned.Citizenship QuestionThe liberals also aligned with Roberts to put on hold the Trump administration's effort to add a citizenship question to the decennial census. Although Roberts agreed with the administration and his fellow conservatives on a number of points, he diverged enough to put in the plan in doubt.Roberts and the liberals said the administration's explanation for the move was "contrived." The Commerce Department now has a chance to provide better justification but will be racing the clock. The administration previously said the questionnaire needed to be finalized by June 30."This term showed that it is not impossible to secure progressive victories in this court," said Elizabeth Wydra, president of the progressive Constitutional Accountability Center. "But make no mistake, the Roberts court is deeply conservative and we saw several seeds planted" that she said "could bear fruit for an extreme conservative agenda in terms to come."Libertarian GorsuchGorsuch joined the liberals four times, twice in criminal cases. He wrote the majority opinion striking down a provision that increased sentences for some people convicted of carrying a firearm during a violent crime, saying it was unconstitutionally vague.The ruling drew a sharp dissent from Kavanaugh, who called it a "serious mistake." He said it "will make it harder to prosecute violent gun crimes in the future."Gorsuch has inherited the role of the late Justice Antonin Scalia, whom he succeeded, as the court's civil libertarian in criminal cases, said Josh Blackman, a constitutional law professor at South Texas College of Law in Houston."Like Scalia, Gorsuch's opinions are not driven by empathy for those who break the law," Blackman said. "Rather, he is generally skeptical of the federal government's powers to deprive people of life, liberty and property."Antitrust CaseThe firearms case wasn't the only one that divided the two Trump appointees. Kavanaugh joined the liberals in an antitrust decision forcing Apple Inc. to defend against claims that it artificially inflated prices at its App Store. Gorsuch dissented with his fellow conservatives.The two Trump appointees agreed 70% of the time, identical to Kavanaugh's agreement level with Breyer and Kagan, according to statistics compiled by scotusblog.com.But both "flexed their conservative bona fides" this term, said Leah Litman, a constitutional law professor at the University of Michigan.. They "willingly agreed to overturn several longstanding precedents in areas ranging from constitutional rights to administrative law."That left Roberts controlling the court on its most important decisions."This is now, truly, the Roberts court," said Kannon Shanmugam, an appellate lawyer at Paul Weiss in Washington. "While the court's general direction was not consistent, the chief justice played a pivotal role in the most important decisions."To contact the reporter on this story: Greg Stohr in Washington at gstohr@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Joe Sobczyk at jsobczyk@bloomberg.net, Laurie Asséo, Ros KrasnyFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.


The new and improved Gay Street sign is all over NYC Pride Twitter

Posted: 30 Jun 2019 11:37 AM PDT

The new and improved Gay Street sign is all over NYC Pride TwitterThis year the New York City Pride March marks 50 years since the Stonewall Riot, and the parade is  bigger and more colorful than ever. As the march makes its way to Greenwich Village, one street sign in particular is popping up on social media as a symbol of 2019's much-needed focus on inclusion in the queer community. It's pure coincidence that Gay Street intersects with Christopher Street right near the Stonewall Inn -- the "Gay" of Gay Street is a family name -- but its location on the parade route makes it prime real estate for a statement on what pride means in 2019. Take a look:> The famous Gay Street sign, representing a wide spectrum of gender expression. Near Christopher Park in Greenwich Village, NYCPride pic.twitter.com/8vTUJKsr50> > -- ken ┬┴┬┴┤(・_├┬┴┬┴ (@kensadahiro) June 29, 2019The sign was one of many changes made around the city to celebrate Pride Month. > For the LGBT folks in the city today, I hope you all know that New York City will always stand with you. Enjoy PrideNYC today!!!! pic.twitter.com/FKpz1tEXQx> > -- Craig Anderson (@canderson1989) June 30, 2019The temporary changes to the Gay Street sign were part of an "Acceptance Matters" campaign by MasterCard, which raises questions about the place of corporations in New York's Pride Month celebrations. This particular installation seems to be popular on social media, however, for its reminder that every element of the LGBTQIA+ community deserves to feel proud of their identity.  WATCH: 'History repeats itself': LGBTQ elders discuss how Stonewall impacted their organizing during the AIDS crisis


U.S. stocks end higher Monday after China trade truce, S&P 500 hits new record closing

Posted: 01 Jul 2019 04:11 PM PDT

U.S. stocks end higher Monday after China trade truce, S&P 500 hits new record closingStocks finished higher after the White House agreed to resume trade talks with China.


Navy SEAL trial exposes divide in normally secretive force

Posted: 30 Jun 2019 03:58 PM PDT

Navy SEAL trial exposes divide in normally secretive forceIt was called the "The Sewing Circle," an unlikely name for a secret subsect of Navy SEALs. Its purpose was even more improbable: A chat forum to discuss alleged war crimes they said their chief, a decorated sniper and medic, committed on a recent tour of duty in Iraq. The WhatsApp group would eventually lead to formal allegations that Special Operations Chief Edward Gallagher fatally stabbed a wounded Islamic State captive in his care and shot civilians in Iraq in 2017.


Two killed in accident at Shell Auger platform in Gulf of Mexico

Posted: 01 Jul 2019 05:53 AM PDT

Two killed in accident at Shell Auger platform in Gulf of Mexico"One other non-life-threatening injury was sustained and that individual is being treated at a nearby hospital," Shell said in an emailed statement. A Shell employee and a contractor with Danos Inc, an oilfield services provider, were killed during a routine test of a lifeboat launch and retrieval capabilities at the platform located 214 miles south of New Orleans, the statement said. The platform remains in operation, Shell said.


Houston man found alive in crashed car 5 days after going missing

Posted: 01 Jul 2019 07:43 AM PDT

Houston man found alive in crashed car 5 days after going missingVolunteers were about to call off the search when one of them found a car bumper, which led to the missing man's Honda with him still inside.


Sad: Iran's Kowsar Jet Is Just an Old Copy of an F-5F

Posted: 01 Jul 2019 07:06 AM PDT

Sad: Iran's Kowsar Jet Is Just an Old Copy of an F-5FIran is currently under economic and diplomatic pressure from a raft of sanctions reimposed by the U.S. earlier this month, and the unveiling could be seen as a bid to show self-sufficiency and military might in the face of that pressure.Iran says its new Kowsar fighter jet has flown. President Hassan Rouhani was on scene to see the jet – which is a carbon copy of the American F-5F – undergoing flight trials.Test flights of the Kowsar, took place on Aug. 21, 2018 on the eve of the National Day of the Defense Industry, according to semi-official Mehr News Agency. It was unclear whether the jet's first public display flight has yet taken place.The Kowsar can be used for "short aerial support missions" and is equipped with systems that "promote precision targeting," according to state media.Rouhani called on the Iranian military to strengthen their readiness in the face of enemy threats in a speech during Tuesday's defense show."When we say we are ready for defense, it means that we seek the establishment of sustainable peace," Rouhani said.


Julián Castro calls Trump Jr a ‘coward’ over racist attack on Kamala Harris

Posted: 30 Jun 2019 07:46 AM PDT

Julián Castro calls Trump Jr a 'coward' over racist attack on Kamala HarrisPresident's son retweeted and then deleted post claiming Harris is not 'American black' but comes from 'Jamaican Slave Owners'Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris. Photograph: Michele Eve Sandberg/REX/ShutterstockDonald Trump Jr is "like a coward" for tweeting and deleting a racist attack on Kamala Harris, Democratic presidential candidate Julián Castro said on Sunday.Racist criticism of Harris proliferated online after Thursday's second debate, in which she shone in opposition to former vice-president Joe Biden, particularly when she grilled him over his past opposition to bussing as a way to racially integrate schools.Harris announced a fundraising surge after the debate, with $2m coming in over 24 hours. The RealClearPolitics.com national polling average puts her fourth in the Democratic field, behind Biden, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren.During the debate on Thursday, Donald Trump's oldest son reposted a message from Ali Alexander, a far-right personality, which said: "Kamala Harris is implying she is descended from American Black Slaves. She's not. She comes from Jamaican Slave Owners. That's fine. She's not an American Black. Period.""Is this true?" Trump Jr asked. "Wow."Harris's father is Jamaican and her mother was from India. Castro, the former mayor of San Antonio and US housing secretary, who would be the first Hispanic president, performed strongly in the first debate on Wednesday. On Sunday he appeared on CNN's State of the Union."It's disgusting," he said of Trump Jr's tweet. "It has no place in our politics. This is the game that these folks play. They put something out there. You notice what he did. He tweeted it out and then he deleted it like a coward, so he can say, 'Oh, that was a mistake.'"But he knows what he's doing. He's giving voice to these racist utterances about Senator Harris. We need to dispel them immediately and condemn them and then not give them any more life, because they're disgusting."Castro was not alone in defending the senator and criticising Trump Jr. Most of the Democratic candidates did so. The Vermont senator Bernie Sanders, for example, tweeted: "Donald Trump Jr is a racist too. Shocker."Donald Trump's birther comments: a short historyPete Buttigieg, the mayor of South Bend, Indiana, wrote: "Kamala Harris has been powerfully voicing her Black American experience. Her first-generation story embodies the American dream. It's long past time to end these racist, birther-style attacks."That was a reference to "birther" conspiracy theorists who claim Barack Obama, born to an American mother and a Kenyan father, was not born in the US and was thus not qualified to be president. Donald Trump rose to political prominence by championing such attacks, before admitting Obama was born in the US.Some rightwing social media accounts have accused Harris of being an "anchor baby" – a derogatory term used to describe children born in the US to immigrant parents.Also on CNN on Sunday, Amy Klobuchar was asked if she believed attacks on Harris were being generated by Russians, as she seemed to imply in her first response to Trump Jr's tweet."I have no idea who's responsible for it," she said. "I just know that [Russia has] messed around on the internet many times with bots and other things and there has been some connection to them way past the 2016 presidential election."I think the bigger point I was making in light of President Trump hanging out with Vladimir Putin again is that we as a country are supposed to be about the truth."


Top Selling Cars From Barrett-Jackson Northeast Auction

Posted: 01 Jul 2019 11:18 AM PDT

Top Selling Cars From Barrett-Jackson Northeast AuctionIt was a big weekend for Barrett-Jackson!As we reported on Friday, the last front engine, C7 Chevrolet Corvette crossed the auction block at Barrett-Jackson and received a staggering $2.7 million bid, but it wasn't the only car in Mohegan Sun in Connecticut worth watching. The docket represented a diverse group of cars, and six of the ten sold set new auction records for the company. "We're so appreciative of all our guests, sponsors and exhibitors who contributed to this auction and made it such an extraordinary event," said Craig Jackson, chairman and CEO of Barrett-Jackson. "Thanks to everyone's participation and efforts, we hit incredible milestones as we wrote new pages in automotive history. Chief among those was a new charity auction record set by the last-built C7 Corvette. This special moment closed an era for Corvette and also raised critical support for our nation's heroes. We built so much momentum this year in Scottsdale, Palm Beach and the Northeast that we can't wait to top it off in Las Vegas this October."Overall, 545 vehicles were sold for a total of $21.8 million, with an almost unheard of 100-percent sell through rate. In addition, 470 pieces of automobila sold, bringing the total sales up to over $24 million. The top 10 from the Northeast Auction are:Last-Built 2019 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 (Lot 3001) - $2.7 million (charity vehicle) 2008 Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren Roadster (Lot 671) - $280,500 2019 Chevrolet Corvette Yenko/SC Stage II Convertible Serial 1 (Lot 663) - $258,500* 1954 Buick Special Custom Coupe "G54" (Lot 694) - $220,000* 1969 Ford Bronco Custom SUV (Lot 669) - $203,500* 1967 Ford Mustang Eleanor Tribute Edition (Lot 665) - $187,000 2016 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Custom 6X6 (Lot 654) - $181,500* 1997 Toyota Supra Anniversary Edition (Lot 711) - $176,000* 2017 Dodge Viper GTC ACR (Lot 664) - $172,700 2014 Ferrari California Convertible (Lot 673) - $170,500* 1971 Plymouth 'Cuda Resto-Mod (Lot 685) - $165,000 1967 Ford Shelby GT500 (Lot 667) - $165,000 *An asterisk represents a Barrett-Jackson auction record. "Collector cars are the heart and soul of everything we do," said Steve Davis, president of Barrett-Jackson. "But we've gone a step further to create an immersive lifestyle experience around the auction that's unmatched in this great hobby. We offered terrific symposiums led by top automotive experts and hands-on exhibits. For the first time since its introduction, Ford offered select rides to the public in the adrenaline-pumping Ford GT supercar. Only at Barrett-Jackson can you drive home the car of your dreams, rub shoulders with industry legends and make memories that will last a lifetime." Read More... Barrett-Jackson Consigns the Vault Portfolio For Northeast Auction David Maxwell Collection At Barrett-Jackson's Northeast Auction


Which Employers Offer Student Loan Repayment?

Posted: 01 Jul 2019 06:46 AM PDT

Which Employers Offer Student Loan Repayment?Student loan debt can make it difficult for graduates to achieve their financial goals. In some cases, young professionals may be forced to choose between paying off student debt or saving for retirement at a time when it's essential to start doing the latter. Some employers provide student loan repayment assistance as an employee benefit.


Right-wing protesters, 'antifa' clashes bring chaos to streets of Portland, Oregon

Posted: 30 Jun 2019 12:49 PM PDT

Right-wing protesters, 'antifa' clashes bring chaos to streets of Portland, OregonOrder was restored to the streets of Portland, Oregon, after protests that clogged streets, crippled public transit and left at least 8 people hurt.


These Flavorful 4th of July Cupcakes Are Better Than Fireworks

Posted: 01 Jul 2019 10:23 AM PDT

These Flavorful 4th of July Cupcakes Are Better Than Fireworks


Georgia Supreme Court orders review of slain baby case

Posted: 01 Jul 2019 09:34 AM PDT

Georgia Supreme Court orders review of slain baby caseThe Georgia Supreme Court has ordered a trial judge to review whether a teenager was properly sentenced to life without parole after he was convicted of fatally shooting a baby in the face. De'Marquise Kareem Elkins was 17 when the baby was slain in his stroller during a failed street robbery on March 21, 2013. Police said Elkins shot 13-month-old Antonio Santiago between the eyes after the boy's mother refused to hand over her purse when she was threatened while walking in coastal Brunswick, about 70 miles (112 kilometers) south of Savannah.


Mexicans hail Paris designer amid cultural appropriation row

Posted: 30 Jun 2019 11:30 AM PDT

Mexicans hail Paris designer amid cultural appropriation rowItalian designer Maurizio Galante gave a lesson Sunday in how to take inspiration from indigenous cultures without being accused of cultural appropriation. With the fashion world shaken this month by the Mexican government threatening legal against New York-based label Carolina Herrera for "ripping off" native designs, Galante gave Mexican artisans top billing in his Paris haute couture show. The courtier worked with Mexico's top fashion institute and makers in 18 parts of the country on a collection which picked up on the ongoing sartorial dance between Aztec, Mayan and other native cultures and Europe.


The 2021 Ram Dakota Mid-Size Pickup Could Be the Jeep Gladiator's Cheaper Cousin

Posted: 01 Jul 2019 05:00 AM PDT

The 2021 Ram Dakota Mid-Size Pickup Could Be the Jeep Gladiator's Cheaper CousinRam already confirmed that a mid-size truck is in the works, and this is what we know about it so far.


UPDATE 4-Taiwan's president to visit U.S. in July, angering China

Posted: 30 Jun 2019 08:16 PM PDT

UPDATE 4-Taiwan's president to visit U.S. in July, angering ChinaTaiwan President Tsai Ing-wen will spend four nights in the United States in July while visiting Caribbean diplomatic allies, her government said on Monday, angering China, which urged Washington not to allow her to visit. China says self-ruled Taiwan is merely a Chinese province with no right to state-to-state relations, calling it the most sensitive and important issue in ties with the United States, which has no formal ties with Taipei, but is its chief diplomatic backer and supplier of arms.


Woman dies after allegedly contracting flesh-eating bacteria at a Florida beach

Posted: 01 Jul 2019 06:46 AM PDT

Woman dies after allegedly contracting flesh-eating bacteria at a Florida beachFlorida woman dies after falling into the ocean and suffering a cut which allegedly led to necrotizing fasciitis.


After debate debacle with Kamala Harris, Joe Biden must prove he can do better in Detroit

Posted: 01 Jul 2019 05:49 AM PDT

After debate debacle with Kamala Harris, Joe Biden must prove he can do better in DetroitA crowd of Democrats led by Harris will be grabbing for the torch if Biden doesn't redeem himself at the next set of debates July 30-31.


The 25 Highest-Paying Jobs Without a Degree Requirement

Posted: 01 Jul 2019 06:00 AM PDT

The 25 Highest-Paying Jobs Without a Degree RequirementYou don't need a four-year degree to score these jobs.


After high arsenic reports, Keurig Dr Pepper pulls bottled water sold at Target, Walmart

Posted: 30 Jun 2019 02:19 PM PDT

After high arsenic reports, Keurig Dr Pepper pulls bottled water sold at Target, WalmartAll bottles of unflavored Peñafiel mineral spring water are part of a voluntary withdrawal, Keurig Dr Pepper said in a statement Friday.


Flash flooding in parts of West Virginia from severe storms

Posted: 30 Jun 2019 04:50 PM PDT

Flash flooding in parts of West Virginia from severe stormsSevere weekend thunderstorms caused flash flooding that knocked homes off their foundations and washed out roads in several mountainous counties of West Virginia, prompting Gov. Jim Justice to announce plans Sunday to declare a state of emergency in the region. The National Weather Service issued a flood warning for portions of northern and eastern West Virginia after several inches of rain fell rapidly on Saturday night. The statement said the governor also authorized the state Department of Homeland Security and the West Virginia emergency management director to speed state resources to those in need.


Man freed after 17 years in prison when newly examined fingerprints prove his innocence

Posted: 01 Jul 2019 03:04 AM PDT

Man freed after 17 years in prison when newly examined fingerprints prove his innocenceA man who spent 17 years behind bars for an armed robbery he did not commit has finally been freed after new fingerprint evidence proved his innocence.Royal Clark Jr walked out of a Louisiana jail last week the day after his 41st birthday. He was convicted of the crime on his 25th birthday, back in 2002."I don't know what to say," a tearful Mr Clark told reporters and crowds of well-wishers.There were times he had abandoned any hope he might be released from his 49-year sentence, he admitted."I'm not going to sit here and lie and tell you I didn't," he said, when asked if he given up. "[But] I can't let anger direct me. I can't let my past be my future."Mr Clark was arrested after an armed robbery at a Burger King in 2001. The only evidence against him was an employee of the restaurant, who incorrectly identified Mr Clark as the robber.But a team of lawyers at the Innocence Project New Orleans pressed the courts to re-examine fingerprints found at the scene, which when run through a state database proved to belong to another man, Jessie Perry, who had already been convicted of other robberies."As district attorney, my obligation to seek justice does not end upon conviction," the local district attorney Paul Connick said in a statement."When the evidence reveals an individual was wrongfully convicted, my office will take action to correct that injustice."Outside the jail Mr Clark's son, also called Royal, spoke about the absence of his father from his life.Royal Clark III was only a baby when his father was locked up. "My mama couldn't always be there for me. She had to work," he said, his father's arm draped over his shoulder.Tears streamed down his father's face. "He was supposed to be there to teach me."Kia Hall Hayes, from the Innocence Project, said the miscarriage of justice showed how unreliable eyewitness testimony could be."His case serves as another example of the unreliability of eyewitness identification evidence, the importance of judges allowing juries all the tools they need to assess the evidence accurately, and the danger of relying exclusively on such evidence to take away someone's liberty," she said.Mr Clark is the second person to be exonerated in Louisiana based on fingerprint evidence this year.In March, Archie Williams was freed after serving 36 years for a rape once the authorities had finally agreed to run fingerprint evidence through an updated state database.The Innocence Project said the state should now create a legal right for prisoners to access such databases where it could clear their names.But in Mr Clark's case, the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office said they were only able to re-test the fingerprint evidence from the Burger King holdup because of new techniques, which were not available back in 2002.


Bodies of drowned migrant man, daughter back in El Salvador

Posted: 30 Jun 2019 04:46 PM PDT

Bodies of drowned migrant man, daughter back in El SalvadorThe bodies of a man and his young daughter who drowned while trying to cross the Rio Grande from Mexico to the United States were returned on Sunday to their native El Salvador. Hearses brought the two corpses from Mexico through Guatemala to the Salvadoran town of La Hachadura, where Salvadoran minister of government Mario Duran was on hand to receive the remains. A shocking photo of the lifeless bodies of Oscar Alberto Martinez, who was 25, and his 23-month-old daughter Valeria lying face down in the border river fueled concern and outrage around the world, with some people blaming the US crackdown on border crossings for their deaths.


CORRECTED-UPDATE 1-UN calls for independent probe into Venezuelan navy captain's death

Posted: 01 Jul 2019 10:51 AM PDT

CORRECTED-UPDATE 1-UN calls for independent probe into Venezuelan navy captain's deathCARACAS/GENEVA, July 1 (Reuters) - Venezuelan authorities must conduct an independent and transparent investigation into the death in custody of a navy captain amid allegations of torture, U.N. human rights chief Michelle Bachelet said on Monday. President Nicolas Maduro's government over the weekend confirmed the death on June 29 of Rafael Acosta, arrested eight days earlier for alleged participation in a coup plot, without providing details on the cause of death or commenting on the torture accusations. Human rights organizations and political leaders have accused Maduro's government of torturing Acosta to death and refusing to clarify the circumstances.


Feminism Begins at Home, Ivanka Trump

Posted: 01 Jul 2019 01:48 AM PDT

Feminism Begins at Home, Ivanka TrumpKim Min-Hee/Pool/GettyOn the very same week that her father faced at least his 16th accusation of sexual assault, the president's daughter took the stage at the G-20 to speak on "women's empowerment."  Days after E. Jean Carroll wrote about Donald raping her, and he responded by saying she was "not my type," there was Ivanka again shopping her nebulous "women's empowerment initiative."Trump Will Brush Off E. Jean Carroll's Assault Allegation — but Women Will RememberIt was the first daughter's second time speaking to the G-20. In Berlin in 2017, she had been "put on the spot about her father's attitudes toward women, booed and hissed at by the crowd, and grilled by the moderator about what, exactly, her role is in President Donald Trump's administration."  This weekend, in Osaka, Japan, Ivanka declared that "we must continue to prioritize women's economic empowerment and place it at the very heart of the G20 agenda."  It was her usual shtick: too much gesticulation, overly articulated words strung together to sound impressive but ringing hollow. She wore a light pink Valentino dress that cost more than a semester of community college and reminded me of Princess Amidala from Star Wars as she delivered unobjectionable pablum: "This is a legacy worth fighting for and a future we can be proud to leave to our children."  Speaking of children, I feel comfortable as someone who has benefitted from nepotism saying that being someone daughter doesn't in itself make a person qualified to do anything—yet it is Ivanka's only qualification for her sprawling yet ill-defined job as a "senior adviser" in this White House.   Her father's administration has been notoriously uninterested in "women's empowerment," with its war on reproductive health and support for the global gag rule.  Ivanka's speech was mostly forgotten even as it was delivered, and the moment from this summit most people will remember is the crudely recorded video released by the French government showing her talking to British Prime Minister Theresa May, French President Emmanuel Macron, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde.  Lagarde rolls her eyes and turns away as Ivanka interrupts the conversation to note the male domination of the defense industry. One almost feels bad for Ivanka, so clearly out of her depth.  But if this is an embarrassing moment for Ivanka, it's a mortifying one for the people who are paying for her trip there, the American people.  Ivanka also described her momentary foray into North Korea's demilitarized zone as "surreal."  Perhaps not as surreal as having a former fashion designer and her husband negotiate American foreign policy with the fashion designer's father, the president of the United States.  Ivanka is a cipher, so in a sense she is the perfect vessel for the women's empowerment agenda of an administration run by whim that has no agenda for or for that matter interest in empowering women. It is an administration, though, that knows something about economic growth—when it comes to the Trump brand. As Christopher R. Hill, a former U.S. ambassador to South Korea and other nations, put it: "It says to our allies, to everyone we do business with, that the only people who matter are Trump and his family members."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.


It’s not too late to get popular Alexa and Google enabled Wi-Fi smart plugs for under $7 each

Posted: 01 Jul 2019 08:21 AM PDT

It's not too late to get popular Alexa and Google enabled Wi-Fi smart plugs for under $7 eachIsn't it awesome how you can control all of your smart devices from an app or even with your voice? Well now all your dumb devices can have the same great functionality thanks to the advent of Wi-Fi smart plugs. Plug your fans, lamps, coffee maker and more into the wall through one of these little plugs and you'll instantly add app control as well as voice control thanks to Alexa and Google Assistant support. The possibilities are endless -- I even have my outdoor landscape lights connected to a smart plug and it's awesome. If you want to get in on the action, today is the perfect day to do it. Clip the $6 coupon on the product page and you can pick up a 4-pack of popular Etekcity Smart Plugs for just $26.99. That's only $6.75 a piece, when the same thing from big brands can cost as much as $30 each!Here are the highlights from the product page: * COMPATIBILITY: Works flawlessly with Alexa, Google Assistant & IFTTT. No hub required. Requires a secured 2. 4 Ghz WiFi network, Android 4. 3 or above & iOS 8 or above. * UNLIMITED SMART CONTROL: Wherever you are, turn on/off home electronics. Manage unlimited electronic appliances - one electronic appliance per smart plug. One VeSync app can handle unlimited Etekcity smart essentials. * FEATURES: Set countdown timer, create schedules, track energy usage, schedule lamps and lights by sunrise and sunset or share devices with family members. Get full access to your smart plug via VeSync app. * EASY SETUP: Plug in the smart plug, download VeSync app and follow the in-app instruction. * SAFETY ENSURED: ETL listed and FCC certified. Adopted 5VA flame retardant material, built with overheat, overcurrent and surge protection. Etekcity offers 2-year buyer Warranty and lifetime support. NOTE: A secured 2. 4 GHz WiFi network is required.


These Tasty 4th of July Appetizers Will Get the Party Started

Posted: 01 Jul 2019 10:25 AM PDT

These Tasty 4th of July Appetizers Will Get the Party Started


How, where to get free food and discounts in June

Posted: 30 Jun 2019 06:44 AM PDT

How, where to get free food and discounts in JuneGet a free Wendy's half-size Berry Burst Salad through July 14 with any purchase and the Wendy's app. Plus, find other deals and freebies.


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