KAKISTOCRACY

Judge rules Ken Cuccinelli was unlawfully appointed to head U.S. immigration agency

Deputy Secretary of Department of Homeland Security Ken Cuccinelli makes remarks at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), Friday, February 28, 2020, in National Harbor, Maryland. Thousands of conservative activists, elected officials and pundits gathered to hear speakers on the theme "America vs. Socialism". Photo by Mike Theiler/UPI | License Photo

March 1 (UPI) -- A federal judge on Sunday ruled that Ken Cuccinelli was unlawfully appointed to his position atop the agency responsible for processing U.S. immigration requests and invalidated a pair of his directives.

Advocacy groups last year filed a lawsuit challenging Cuccinelli's role as acting director of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and asking that asylum policy he instituted after taking office be reversed.

The suit stated that Cuccinelli didn't satisfy legal requirements to serve in the role under the Federal Vacances Reform Act.

U.S. District Court Judge Randolph Moss ruled that Cuccinelli was not lawfully appointed as acting director of the USCIS in 2019 because the position of principal deputy he assumed before taking the role was not a "first assistant" job as outlined in the Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998.

"Under that commonsense understanding of the meaning of the default provision, Cuccinelli does not qualify as a 'first assistant' because he was assigned the role of principal on day-one and by design, he never has served and never will serve 'in a subordinate capacity' to any other official at USCIS," Moss wrote.

He added that the acting secretary created a position that is "second in command in name only."

"Cuccinelli may have the title of principal deputy director and the Department of Homeland Security's order of succession may designate the office of the Principal Deputy Director as the 'first assistant' to the director, but labels -- without any substance -- cannot satisfy the FVRA's default rule under any plausible reading of the statute," he wrote.

Cuccinelli currently serves as acting deputy secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees UCIS.

Moss also ruled that due to Cuccilenni's unlawful appointment he lacked authorities to issue directives reducing the time asylum-seekers in "credible fear" proceedings have to receive counsel from lawyers and barring asylum officers from granting extensions allowing migrants to prepare for interviews.

Coronavirus Is 2020 Democrats’ New Case Against Trump

The Democratic 2020 candidates are building new messages around the coronavirus, pivoting off their more typical arguments as the outbreak soaks up media attention

Reporting From
Summerville, South Carolina
Posted on February 29, 2020

Tasos Katopodis / Getty Images

The remaining Democratic presidential candidates have united in the last week on a core message: The coronavirus outbreak proves how important it is to defeat President Donald Trump.

The global health crisis — which has rattled global markets and has now been reported in multiple western US states without known connections to the virus’ spread in Asia — has been woven into virtually every Democratic candidates’ messaging in the last week, with just days to go before the biggest primary day of the year.

Michael Bloomberg is airing an ad titled “Pandemic” across TV nationwide. Elizabeth Warren put out an early plan for preventing the spread of infectious diseases. Amy Klobuchar has talked about containing the virus as a way of transcending partisan politics. And Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders, Pete Buttigieg, and Tom Steyer are all talking about the virus as they campaign ahead of the South Carolina primary on Friday and in 16 Super Tuesday contests next week.

The common factor: Each candidate has turned the outbreak into a new, potent critique of Trump, hitching their individual campaign messaging to a story that has otherwise begun to pull Americans’ attention away from the presidential election.

As the president has contradicted warnings from health officials and focused on controlling messaging around the outbreak by placing Vice President Mike Pence in charge of the response, Sanders, the frontrunner in the Democratic primary, has sent a series of statements from his campaign this week on Trump’s “inadequate, misleading, and dangerous” handling of the crisis.

“It turns out that Donald Trump is in Charleston today,” he said at a Friday morning campaign event in St. George, South Carolina, of the rally Trump had planned later that night.

In stops across the state on Friday, the day before the South Carolina primary, Sanders repeatedly accused Trump of meddling in the Democratic nominating process by holding a rally here when he should be focusing on the ongoing health crisis.

“Now, I want you to think — think about what it says about this guy,” Sanders said in St. George. “Everybody knows there is a coronavirus spreading all over the world. Very frightening, stock market is tanking. You would think that you'd have a president of the United States leading — working with scientists all over the world, bringing people together to figure out how we're gonna deal with this crisis. He is here in South Carolina. He doesn't even have any opposition in the Republican primary — why is he here? He's here to try to disrupt the Democratic primary. How pathetic and how petty can you be?”

Elsewhere in the state, Buttigieg centered his more typical argument for generational change in politics on the virus. “This is not a kind of national security issue that we’re used to dealing with from the past,” he said in Charleston on Friday. “This virus does not care what country it is in. It’s not going to be stopped by a big wall. These kinds of issues, whether it’s global health security, cyber security, election security, are going to require a focus on the future, just as right here at home.”

In Summerville, SC, Steyer told an audience that coronavirus would have a profound economic impact on the United States and other countries and slammed the Trump administration’s response.

“This is Trump’s incompetence in a neon sign going like, ‘I stink at my job. Yeah, I am a dummy! Ok?’ by Donald Trump,” Steyer told the crowd. “This was announced on December 31st, he is so late on this that it’s crazy. He’s two months late to do anything.”

Steyer told the crowd that Trump’s response had been inadequate and that the spread of coronavirus was Trump’s “Katrina.”

“It’s his moment where he’s like, ‘whoa! I have a job to do? Who knew!’”


Scott Olson / Getty Images

Bloomberg has talked about the US response to the virus as a management failure from the Trump administration, contrasting it with his own experience in New York City and at his company. He mentioned the coronavirus epidemic at the top of his remarks during campaign events on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday in several Super Tuesday states. Bloomberg slammed Trump’s “incompetence” in dealing with the virus and accused the president of “burying his head in the sand.”

“This week, the stock market has plunged partly out of fear,” Bloomberg said on Friday morning at a rally in Memphis. “But also because investors have no confidence that this president is capable of managing the crisis.”

“The market is pricing in the president’s management incompetence and we are going to pay a heavy cost for that, in addition to the more serious health crisis we face,” Bloomberg said. “We have to first worry about our health, but the economy is also the way we make a living.”

Biden has also been sticking closely to his own experience when he’s talked about coronavirus this week, frequently beginning by talking about the Obama administration’s response to the Ebola crisis in 2014. On Friday, Biden directly criticized how the Trump administration has reportedly asked Anthony Fauci, head of of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, not to speak about the virus without White House approval.

“We didn’t do it by silencing scientists,” the former vice president said Friday night in Spartanburg, South Carolina. “You notice what has been recently said. The president of the United States and Vice President Pence told Mr. Fauci, one of the leading scientists in the world on pandemics, he was not able to speak out. The scientists have been silenced. This president makes everything personal. He thinks that this coronavirus is a conspiracy to defeat him. No, I mean, look at what they’re saying."

Biden got more pointed from there.

"This may be the one place and a concrete example of where the reputation for a president to tell the truth is of great consequence,” he said. “No, I really mean it, think about it. When he tells you, don’t worry, or worry, how many of you can go to the bank on that?"

Candidates are also beginning to reckon with the fact that an outbreak in the US, along the lines of what the Centers for Disease Control suggested is possible, could radically disrupt normal campaigning in the coming weeks.

In an interview with BuzzFeed News in McLean, Virginia, on Saturday, Bloomberg wouldn’t rule out cancelling upcoming campaign events if the virus continues to spread.

"I think you can't say never,” he said. “I think it's unlikely that it will get that bad. But you have to prepare for everything, that's the problem with Trump, he doesn't prepare for anything.”

Bloomberg criticized Trump for calling the virus a “hoax” — “how dumb can you be?” he said — and said, “you have to assume the worst when you're preparing, [it] doesn't mean you have to change your life until you find out how bad it is. But the president is supposed to be way ahead and getting ready for the worst case scenario just because that's the way you have to do it, you're going to save lives."

Ryan Brooks, Ruby Cramer, and Henry J. Gomez reported from South Carolina. Rosie Gray reported from Virginia.

BUZZFEED NEWS

AND THE WINNER OF THE SOUTH CAROLINA DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY IS



SENATOR JIM CLYBURN'S FISH FRY
WITHOUT HIS LAST MINUTE ENDORSEMENT 
BIDEN WOULD NOT HAVE WON!

Pete Buttigieg Is Ending His Campaign. He Was The First Gay Candidate To Seriously Contend For The Presidency.
"After a year of going everywhere, meeting everyone, defying every expectation, seeking every vote, the truth is that the path has narrowed to a close for our candidacy, if not for our cause."

Henry J. GomezBuzzFeed News Reporter

Katherine MillerBuzzFeed News Reporter

Posted on March 1, 2020

Alex Wong / Getty Images

Pete Buttigieg has ended his presidential campaign, the former mayor told a crowd in his home city of South Bend, Indiana on Sunday evening.

His narrow victory in Iowa marked the first time a gay candidate and a millennial won a presidential nominating contest in US history. Buttigieg, in a speech from South Bend, announced his decision first by recalling some of the values that guided his campaign.

“Today is a moment of truth,” Buttigieg said. “After a year of going everywhere, meeting everyone, defying every expectation, seeking every vote, the truth is that the path has narrowed to a close for our candidacy, if not for our cause. Another of those values is responsibility. And we have a responsibility to consider the effect of remaining in this race any further. Our goal has always been to help unify Americans to defeat Donald Trump and to win the era for our values. And so we must recognize that at this point in the race the best way to keep faith with those goals and ideals is to step aside and help bring our party and our country together."

Buttigieg's decision could help moderate Democrats consolidate their support around a single candidate as they look to keep Bernie Sanders, the independent democratic socialist, from winning the party's nomination. Buttigieg, who in recent weeks frequently criticized Sanders' policy proposals as too extreme, did not encourage his supporters to unite behind anyone else. But Virginia Rep. Don Beyer — the first member of Congress to endorse Buttigieg — quickly did, shifting his endorsement to former vice president Joe Biden just days before Virginia votes with other Super Tuesday states.

The Sunday announcement brings to an end Buttigieg's stunning rise from unknown mayor of Indiana's fourth largest city to major presidential candidate.

“He surprised everyone through the whole campaign and continues to do the best thing for our party and our country,” Nan Whaley, the mayor of Dayton, Ohio, and one of the earliest supporters of Buttigieg’s campaign said Sunday after word of his plans to drop out spread.

And his rise from relative anonymity to Iowa caucus winner echoed Jimmy Carter’s victory nearly 45 years ago — an outsider with the promise of understated, honest political restoration. 

(WHICH IS WHY HE MET WITH CARTER THIS MORNING BEFORE ANNOUNCING, EP)

But Buttigieg couldn't turn his successes in Iowa and New Hampshire — close finishes with or behind Bernie Sanders — into the broad coalition needed to secure a Democratic nomination. His struggles in reaching black and Latino voters dominated coverage for months, and resulted in poor showings in Nevada and South Carolina as the primary moved into states with more diverse electorates.

Facing tough results for a second week in a row, Buttigieg told supporters late Saturday night, "I am determined to earn every vote on the road ahead."

But on Sunday, after meeting with Carter himself and attending events to commemorate the Civil Rights movement in Alabama, Buttigieg decided to end his campaign, cutting short a trip that would have taken him to Texas.

One adviser to the campaign, who requested anonymity to speak candidly, attributed Buttigieg’s downturn in recent weeks to delayed results in Iowa that “stole coverage” from what was Buttigieg’s most successful night as a candidate.

Buttigieg, ultimately, won the most delegates in the caucus state where the campaign heavily organized and the candidate spent months, balancing a national media-friendly strategy and the local presence. (Sanders won the first and second alignment in the state under the unusual rules that caucuses follow.) But those results came weeks after, and never — despite Buttigieg's caucus-night victory address — delivered the emphatic fundraising and media bounce the campaign had planned.

The adviser also noted the swell of media attention around Minnesota's Amy Klobuchar after her third-place finish in New Hampshire — behind Buttigieg — and around Mike Bloomberg, who didn’t compete in the first four states.

There was, the adviser argued, a “preoccupation with the media on everything besides actual results from Iowa and New Hampshire.”

Signs of money troubles began to show after New Hampshire, when sources told BuzzFeed News that dozens of field organizers were told their jobs were ending for budgetary reasons. In the days before Nevada, Buttigieg announced a $13 million fundraising goal he said he needed to hit by this week's Super Tuesday contests. The campaign, according to updates it had been issuing publicly, hadn't yet hit the mark by the time South Carolina results were announced Saturday.

Buttigieg had hoped to use Iowa and New Hampshire as a spring board to greater things, a strategy in part presaged by Barack Obama's 2008 campaign.

Buttigieg, in fact, modeled much of his approach on the Obama campaign, which galvanized millennial voters a decade ago. He spoke in the aspirational language about the day after Trump, projects the same kind of detached intellectualism, and centered his identity as the first gay candidate (and the perceived electoral risk that accompanies that identity) in how Barack Obama approached his own position as the party’s first black nominee and then the first black president.

It didn't work the same for Buttigieg after the first two states.

And despite also being the first millennial candidate to win a presidential nominating contest, Buttigieg's appeal resonated most with older Democrats, not peers and certainly not the next generation of voters, who prefer Sanders to all others. Buttigieg's actual political views remained somewhat opaque to the electorate — but over the course of the campaign, he shifted toward a considerably more moderate presentation and policy purview.

But his candidacy — especially in the muted response at times to its historical nature — marks off just how much has changed in the United States. When Obama ran for office in 2008, most Democrats and even he did not support marriage equality.

MORE ON THIS
Pete Buttigieg Condemned Bernie Sanders And His Movement After Losing The Nevada Caucuses

Henry J. Gomez · Feb. 22, 2020
Pete Buttigieg Is Winning. But Does He Have A Phase 5?

Henry J. Gomez · Feb. 13, 2020

Henry Gomez is a political reporter for BuzzFeed News and is based in Cleveland, Ohio.
Contact Henry J. Gomez at henry.gomez@buzzfeed.com.

Katherine Miller is an editor for BuzzFeed News and is based in New York. Contact this reporter at katherine.miller@buzzfeed.com

MAYOR PETE FOR GOVENOR
Pete Buttigieg Changed What It Means For LGBTQ Candidates To Run For Office

Pete Buttigieg “changed minds” with his now-ended 2020 campaign, LGBTQ advocates said.

Henry J. GomezBuzz Feed News Reporter

Molly Hensley-Clancy BuzzFeed News Reporter

Posted on March 1, 2020

Alex Wong / Getty Images

Pete Buttigieg ended his presidential campaign the same way that he had started it: with his husband at his side. For the first time, an openly gay candidate had made a serious run for the White House.

Pete and Chasten Buttigieg made waves when they kissed on stage the day they got into the race — an image that in so many ways announced the new era Buttigieg was, in the words of his campaign slogan, trying to win.

Soon they appeared together on the cover of Time magazine under a simple headline: First Family. And on Sunday night, as the campaign came to a close in South Bend, Indiana, they kissed again, after Chasten offered a stirring tribute.

“On my way to find Pete, after falling in love with Pete, Pete got me to believe in myself again,” Chasten said. “And I told Pete to run because I knew there were other kids sitting out there in this country who needed to believe in themselves, too.”

Pete Buttigieg, South Bend’s 38-year-old former mayor, soon echoed that sentiment on stage.

“We sent a message,” he said, “to every kid out there wondering if whatever marks them out as different means they are somehow destined to be less than, to see that someone who once felt that exact same way can become a leading American presidential candidate with his husband at his side.”

LGBTQ activists and advocates, and even some of Buttigieg’s critics in the gay community, were quick to mark his candidacy as a sign of progress: someone who had broken barriers and opened not just minds, but avenues.

“Never in my life did I believe we would see a viable gay candidate for president,” Rufus Gifford, a top Democratic fundraiser who backs former vice president Joe Biden for president, told BuzzFeed News. “From the moment he entered the race he touched lives, perhaps none more than the young LGBT people around the world who saw in him their hopes and dreams.”

“He broke ground,” Gifford added. “He changed minds. He will never be forgotten. But we haven’t seen the last of him.”

Annise Parker, the former mayor of Houston and the head of Victory Fund, which supports LGBTQ candidates, was among Buttigieg’s core endorsers. She was expected to be among Buttigieg’s surrogates this week as the Democratic primary shifted to Texas and other Super Tuesday states.

“He’s changing the lives of young LGBT people because he’s in the race, but he’s changing the possibilities for our candidates, as well,” Parker said in an interview Sunday night. “There’s definitely a Pete effect, where people say, ‘Look at how he’s doing, look at how he’s being received. It’s not a positive that he’s openly LGBT, but it’s not necessarily a negative, but if he can do it, I can do it.’ We see that all across the country.”

Rep. David Cicilline, a Rhode Island Democrat who as mayor of Providence was the first openly gay mayor of a state capital, said Buttigieg’s candidacy “moved our entire country forward.”

“We should all take a moment to appreciate the historic significance of the Buttigieg campaign,” Cicilline, who did not endorse in the primary, said in a statement to BuzzFeed News. “An openly gay mayor of a small Midwestern city won the Iowa caucus and established himself in the top tier of presidential candidates this year.”

Buttigieg, a military veteran with a background in business consulting, had presented himself as a more moderate voice in the Democratic field, and several of his LGBTQ supporters said Sunday they appreciated how his exit could help moderate Democrats consolidate their support around a single candidate.

“I expect his decision is not about what’s good for him, but what’s good for the country,” Rich Eychaner, a top Buttigieg donor from Iowa, wrote via email. “As a soldier he knows the ultimate victory supersedes any one life. I hope he throws his support behind VP Biden so the party can emerge with a centrist to win in November and begin to heal our country.”

Buttigieg’s milder brand of politics was not universally admired in the LGBTQ community. Some activists criticized him for being too fixated on the fight for marriage equality — a battle already won, and one that doesn’t necessarily speak to the needs of some of the community’s most vulnerable. 

THIS LAW IS NOT WRITTEN IN STONE ANY MORE THAN ROE VS WADE

HE AND HIS HUSBAND WERE NORMALIZING BEING A SAME SEX MARRIED COUPLE

TRUE HE WAS NOT A 'GAY' CANDIDATE, IN NOT MAKING LGBTQ ISSUES HIS TOP OR ONLY PRIORITY, IT WAS ONE AMONG MANY AGAIN NORMALIZING IT

FINALLY HE WAS A CHRISTIAN GAY MAN, NORMALIZING HIS FAITH TO OTHER 
CHRISTIANS 

EP

And Buttigieg further antagonized some advocates by initially declining an invitation to address a major LGBTQ forum in Iowa last year and by criticizing LGBTQ media.

Drew Anderson, a Democratic strategist and LGBTQ activist in Indiana, is among those who found himself disappointed with Buttigieg’s candidacy at times. Like others, he felt the former mayor could have done more to advance the movement’s causes, particularly with regard to racial and social justice issues.

“We need to be reflective of how inclusive we’re portraying the movement to be,” Anderson said Sunday. “The movement needs to really back up their commitment to inclusivity and intersectionality.”

Anderson nevertheless believes Buttigieg’s run was significant.

“When you analyze Pete Buttigieg’s candidacy,” he said, “one thing to note is how great of a role model he was for LGBTQ youth. It really gives those young kids someone to look up to.”

Anderson also has some ideas for Buttigieg’s future: a run for governor of Indiana.

Buttigieg’s only past run for statewide office — for treasurer in 2010 — resulted in a landslide loss. And Indiana is a deeply conservative state where the former governor, Mike Pence, backed a religious freedom law that critics said allowed discrimination against LGBTQ people, before retreating under pressure. But Buttigieg now has a national profile and donor network, and Anderson thinks one profound way he can advance the LGBTQ cause is by giving Indiana a gay governor.
“He actually, whether or not himself or insiders realize it, has a legitimate shot,” Anderson said. “He would be the most viable Hoosier to run.”


MORE ON PETE BUTTIGIEG

DEODATO VERY TOGETHER 1976 
00:00 - 04:51 01 Peter Gunn

04:51 - 08:31 02 Spanish Boogie 08:31 - 13:54 03 Amani 13:54 - 18:44 04 Black Widow 18:44 - 23:30 05 Juanita 23:30 - 27:57 06 I Shot The Sheriff 27:57 - 32:37 07 Theme From Star Trek 32:37 - 36:25 08 Univac Loves You*** Arranged By – Eumir Deodato Bass – Anthony Jackson (tracks: A3), Tony Levin (tracks: A4), Will Lee (tracks: A1, A2, B2, B3) Congas – Rubens Bassini (tracks: A1, A2, A4, B1 to B3), Sammy Figueroa (tracks: A3) Drums – Chris Parker (2) (tracks: A1, A2, B3), Nick Remo (tracks: B2), Paul Marchetti (tracks: A3, B1, B4), Steve Gadd (tracks: A4) Guitar – David Spinoza* (tracks: A1, A2, B3), Jerry Friedman (tracks: A1, A2, B3), John Tropea (tracks: A1, A2, A4, B3), Ray Gomez (tracks: A1, B2, B3) Horns – Sam Burtis (tracks: A4, B1) Keyboards, Synthesizer, Percussion, Bass [Arp], Bass [Mini-moog] – Eumir Deodato Producer – Eumir Deodato Saxophone [Tenor], Flute, Horns – Danny Mourose (tracks: A1, A2, A4, B1, B2) Trumpet, Horns – John Gatchell (tracks: A2, A3, A4) Vocals – The Ellington Sisters (tracks: A1, A2, B2, B3)

***This article is about the corporate organizations that built the UNIVAC lines of mainframe computers. For the original UNIVAC computer, see UNIVAC I.

UNIVAC (Universal Automatic Computer) is a line of electronic digital stored-program computers starting with the products of the Eckert–Mauchly Computer Corporation. Later the name was applied to a division of the Remington Rand company and successor organizations.

The BINAC, built by the Eckert–Mauchly Computer Corporation, was the first general-purpose computer for commercial use. The descendants of the later UNIVAC 1107 continue today as products of the Unisys company.

US Deploys Dangerous Nuclear Weapon for First Time Ever


An EA-18G Growler takes off from the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln in the Persian Gulf, 2019

Critics fear that after decades of nuclear disarmament to deter their deployment, the likelihood of their use may now increase.

The United States announced on Tuesday the deployment, for the first time, of a low-powered nuclear weapon on board a submarine, with the intention of dissuading Russia from using similar weapons.


Related: 

US Suspends Compliance on Nuclear Weapons Treaty with Russia

In this context, marked by the alarm of a large-scale conflict between the U.S. and Iran, the U.S. Navy deployed the W76-2 nuclear warhead on a submarine-launched ballistic missile.

The W76-2 has an estimated explosive yield of five kilotons, compared to the yield of 455 kilotons and 90 kilotons of nuclear warheads already deployed on U.S. submarines.

"Potential adversaries like Russia believe that the use of low-powered nuclear weapons will give them an advantage over the United States and its allies and partners,", said a statement from Pentagon number two, John Rood, confirming information released by a group of experts from the Federation of American Scientists (FAS).

For the experts at the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, the W76-2 warhead, which has an estimated power of five kilotons - three times less than the 15 kilotonnes of the Hiroshima bomb-, is "a dangerous weapon based on poor strategic thinking”.

Critics fear that after decades of nuclear disarmament to deter their deployment, the likelihood of their use may now increase.

If a U.S. submarine is forced to launch a missile with a reduced nuclear charge, the enemy will have no way of knowing the power of the weapon headed toward it, which will pose a problem: the enemy could foresee the worst and respond with a high-powered nuclear weapon, they explain.

Bernie Sanders, a U.S. senator and presidential candidate, who defines himself as a "democratic socialist", reacted reacently to this matter through his twitter account.In my humble opinion, a great nation is not judged by the number of billionaires or nuclear weapons it has.It is judged by how it treats the weakest and most vulnerable people amongst us.— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) February 1, 2020

Furthermore, today two U.S. Navy EA-18G Growlers have flown autonomously controlled from a third manned aircraft, in the first such test for this electronic warfare specialized aircraft.

As part of the test conducted during a recent exercise at Patuxent River Naval Air Base (Maryland), the two fighter planes acted as drones, while a third manned Growler flew as a mission controller during the experiment, reported the manufacturer Boeing Co. in a statement.

The first test of this type showed that the EA-18G could be used as a "force multiplier" for real-life operations, increasing "survivability" and "situational awareness" for pilots "without increasing workload," said Tom Brandt, head of Boeing's unmanned and manned equipment demonstration.

"This technology allows the Navy to extend sensor range while keeping manned aircraft out of harm's way," he added.

This kind of escalation presupposes that the United States believes that a nuclear war can be won.

Trump Considering Restrictions at Mexican Border Over Coronavirus

Published 29 February 2020
Asked at a White House press briefing if he was considering closing the U.S.-Mexico border, Trump said: "Yes, we are thinking about the southern border."

The United States is considering shutting the country's southern border with Mexico to control the spread of the new coronavirus, President Donald Trump said on Saturday, as his administration announced new limits on travelers who have visited Iran and recommended against travel to hard-hit areas of Italy and South Korea.




Mexico's government said on Friday it had detected three cases of coronavirus infection in three men who had all recently traveled to Italy, making the country the second in Latin America to register the fast-spreading flu-like illness.

Asked at a White House press briefing if he was considering closing the U.S.-Mexico border, Trump said: "Yes, we are thinking about the southern border."

Later in the press briefing, however, Trump played down possible restrictions at the U.S.-Mexico border. "We're thinking about all borders," he said. "We have to think about that border, but ... this is not a border that seems to be much of a problem right now. We hope we won't have to do that."

Mexico's foreign ministry said in a statement that it had not been notified of any restrictions at the border.

"Regarding the possible restrictions on entering the U.S. border with Mexico, the government of Mexico has not received any official proposal," the foreign ministry said. "Both governments have maintained close and effective communication, especially the health authorities."

Earlier on Saturday, Reuters, citing two Department of Homeland Security officials, reported that the Trump administration was considering imposing entry restrictions at the U.S.-Mexico border.

Vice President Mike Pence, whom Trump appointed earlier this week to be in charge of the U.S. response to the coronavirus outbreak, said on Saturday the administration will ban non-U.S. citizens who have visited Iran within the last 14 days and are traveling from other countries. There are no direct flights to the United States from Iran.

Deaths in Iran from the coronavirus have risen to 43, an Iranian health official said on Saturday.

The United States already bans the entry of citizens of Iran under travel bans imposed on citizens of several Muslim-majority and other countries, under a measure the administration says is necessary to protect against terrorism attacks.

The State Department is raising its travel advisory to a "Level 4" "Do Not Travel" for regions of South Korea and Italy that are hard hit by the coronavirus, Pence said.

The Trump administration has been considering adding South Korea to the restrictions it has already imposed on travelers to China for more than a week, officials said.

Pence said the State Department will work with Italy and South Korea "to coordinate a screening medical screening in their countries of any individuals that are coming to the United States." Washington state health officials reported the first patient death from coronavirus in the United States on Saturday.

A group of 11 Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives led by Chip Roy of Texas sent a letter on Friday to top Trump administration officials that pressed for details on the plan to contain the coronavirus at the border with Mexico.

"Given the porous nature of our border, and the continued lack of operational control due to the influence of dangerous cartels, it is foreseeable, indeed predictable, that any outbreak in Central America or Mexico could cause a rush to our border," the lawmakers said.

A group of three Republican senators led by Martha McSally, of Arizona, sent a similar letter on Friday to the head of U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

Possible restrictions on travelers coming to the United States from Italy could be complicated by that country's participation in Europe's Schengen agreement, which allows travelers and goods to cross frontiers without checks, according to the DHS officials.

Cuba Defies US Blockade with Booming Tattoo Trade


The steady flow of people either looking to get some fresh ink or to browse the exhibits is evidence something is changing. | Photo: EFE/File photo
Published 28 February 2020

Punters, mostly young and covered in ink, revel in the novelty of having tattoo masters gathered under one roof.

The humming of tattoo machines fills the second floor of the Cuban Art Factory (FAC) in Havana in which participated hundreds of attendees at Pura Aguja, the first multidisciplinary body art event in Cuba.

RELATED:
U.S. Blockade Hinders Organ Transplant Process in Cuba

The former oil factory converted into a cultural center welcomes some 30 artists from across the island for three days, together with guests from Mexico and the United States who offer live demonstrations of tattoos and piercings.

“A super event!”16-year-old Jose says excitedly.

Needles fly over armchairs and stretchers wrapped in plastic as curious crowds gather round.

Nearby, several brands showcase their products, including Afro-Cuban-inspired clothing and jewelry line Beyond Roots, and D’Brujas a small brand of handmade soaps used for tattoo aftercare.

“We believe that it is the first of its kind because it is not an event or an exhibition only about tattoos, but body art in general. We have tried to gather a sample of the best in Cuba.

“We have piercings, essential oils for the skin, henna and participants from several provinces of the country,” Ailed Duarte, organizer of Pura Aguja, told EFE.

In January 2015, Duarte launched a collective of visual artists with her husband, veteran tattoo artist Leo Canosa and the La Marca gallery workshop – the first professional tattoo studio in Cuba.

Pura Aguja organizers work together on strategies to help institutionalizing the profession within the wider arts scene in the country.

According to Duarte, “exhibiting everything from an artistic point of view, with the hygienic measures involved and the responsibility that must be assumed,” is a way of pushing for that recognition.

Nguyen Rodriguez, of the Art Factory team, says workshops and conferences included in this “experiment” also reaffirm the interest of artists to learn, which has cemented FAC as a hub of creativity.

“The evolution that (the tattoo) has had all over the world, but especially in Cuba, where there are fewer things is impressive,” says the visual artist and tattoo artist Doktor Lakra.

The chronic shortage of goods on the island induced by the U.S. blockade, which stirs almost all areas of Cuban life, also affects tattoo studios, who depend on shipments from abroad or the goodwill of friends and colleagues, who travel with suitcases bursting with ink, needles and disposable gloves.

Doktor Lakra, who offered a conference on the origins and symbology of tattoo in prison, said “It is important, not only for tattooists but for people who get tattooed because it changes the general vision that there is a stigma about this world. These kinds of events help that.”

Although men still monopolize the market, women are slowly making their way into the profession.

In Risink Tattoo, only women are behind the needles.

“We are super happy that women have also been encouraged to join this movement that throughout history was more associated with men. In Pura Aguja we have four of them, so welcome women to tattoo,” Ailed Duarte said.

 Canada

Guaido Left out in the Cold at Gatineau Lima Group Meeting

By: Arnold August

Demonstrations that took place during the Lima Group meeting in Gatineau, Quebec.
Published 29 February 2020

The peoples of the world must not forget the Trudeau government’s role in Latin America and the Caribbean, the main thrust of which lately, being the attempt to destroy the Bolivarian Revolution.

For the first time since Juan Guaido’s auto-proclamation as so-called interim president of Venezuela in Jan. 2019, a meeting of the Lima group (with its numerous political statements) has failed to even mention his name. All previous meetings of this spurious organization served as pledges to bring Guaido to power and seemed to constitute virtual swearing-in ceremonies. However, he has never been sworn in, nor even come close, except by himself. On Feb. 20, 2020, despite the extremely cold weather (even by Canadian standards), people demonstrated across Canada, including in front of the Lima group venue in Gatineau, Quebec. At the same time, a statement in English, French and Spanish was widely distributed to the public and the media from coast to coast. The message and demonstration slogans focused on the Trudeau government’s role as a U.S. proxy in the Trump-led aggression against the legitimately elected president of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro.


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This constitutes an important lesson for Canadians who are increasingly saying that they must continue not to give an inch to the international or national pressure to convert the anti-imperialist sentiment of millions of Canadians into a pathetic apologist for the Justin Trudeau government’s actions. On the contrary, following the relatively defensive Lima group position in Gatineau (the omission of Guaido), Canadians who understand the situation must seize the opportunity to inform the public and demand that Canada withdraw from the Lima Group. In addition, as also highlighted in the message being sent by demonstrators, there is a desire to step up criticism of the Trudeau government for its domestic policies, such as those being implemented against First Nations peoples, which are in flagrant contradiction with the Lima group’s self-serving, distorted and highfaluting principals of “democracy,” “human rights,” etc., by which they want to judge Venezuela.

The Gatineau meeting was the first Lima group meeting since the recent four-month anniversary of the uprising in Chile, ongoing demonstrations in Haiti, massive demonstrations in Colombia, all met with thousands of arrests, with protesters wounded and murdered, and the appalling aftermath of the coup d’état against Evo Morales. Yet, the representatives of Chile, Haiti, Colombia and Bolivia, presided over by Trump’s main ally, Trudeau, were all there in Gatineau yesterday, judging Venezuela.

The Lima Group meeting in Gatineau also once again insists on interfering in Venezuela and destabilizing it to provide pretexts for more sanctions from U.S. and Canada. In its declaration it says:

“While the Venezuelan Constitution calls for parliamentary elections in 2020, democracy will be fully restored in Venezuela only through free, fair and credible presidential elections. This process must include an independent National Electoral Council, an un-biased Supreme Court, international support and observation, full press freedom and political participation of all Venezuelans.”

This arrogant interventionist statement amounts to preparing the conditions for calling the elections a “fraud,” as no self-respecting country in the world would allow its electoral process to be decided upon in Canada, the U.S. or any other country. To illustrate once again the self-serving nature of this statement, on the very day the declaration was issued, the U.S.-backed Bolivian government, installed by a coup d’état, ruled against Evo Morales running for the Senate in the upcoming elections!

Trudeau was rewarded by the Lima group members with a special made-to-measure clause for him to “lead” on Venezuela, as part of his global search for a seat on the UN Security Council. The clause reads as follows:

“In the coming days and weeks, representatives of the Lima Group will engage in an intensive period of outreach and consultation with all countries that have an interest in the restoration of democracy in Venezuela.”

Thus, Trudeau is being mandated once again to do Trump’s dirty work, opportunistically using his advantage over the other Lima group members thanks to his ability to speak English and French, and thus able to directly reach out to Europe, the Caribbean and elsewhere, hoping to steal the international spotlight and gain votes at the UN for the Security Council seat Canada covets.

Yet, Canada does not deserve a seat on the Security Council. No country that is a faithful ally of the U.S. on all international issues, and that has been severely criticized by UN bodies for its genocidal treatment of its First Nations peoples, should get a seat at that table. Of the countries running in competition with Canada, Norway and Ireland, either would be preferable to Canada. The peoples of the world must not forget the Trudeau government’s role in Latin America and the Caribbean, the main thrust of which lately, being the attempt to destroy the Bolivarian Revolution by supporting the coup d’état against Bolivia’s elected president, thus enabling that country to join the Lima group which of course under Evo Morales, was impossible.