Why Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard is continuing her bid for president

THERE ARE THREE CANDIDATES IN THE DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY TWO MEN AND A WOMAN OF COLOUR WHO IS DELIBERATELY DISMISSED BY THE MSM AND PUNDITS 

BEATRICE PETERSON, ABC News•March 7, 2020

Why Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard is continuing her bid for president
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The field for Democrats has significantly narrowed over the past month, going from almost two dozen candidates in the beginning of the race to just three: former Vice President Joe Biden, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and a name that has, at times, been left out: Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard.
Gabbard, despite failing to come in first place in any presidential primary in the country, has stressed she’s staying in the race. She is facing an uphill battle to get to the 1,991 delegates needed to secure a nomination for the first Democratic convention ballot.
When asked by ABC News why she's continuing her bid, Gabbard said this campaign is "an opportunity to speak to Americans every single day about the sea change we need in our foreign policy."
On the campaign trail she has talked at length about the cost of war, also noting the physical and financial toll of war.
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"In Afghanistan right now, we're spending $4 billion of your taxpayer dollars every month," Gabbard said. "This money could be used here."

PHOTO: Democratic presidential candidate Rep. Tulsi Gabbard listens to a question at a Town Hall meeting on Super Tuesday, March 3, 2020, in Detroit. (Bill Pugliano/Getty Images)

The Hawaii lawmaker told ABC News that in order to have a successful implementation of any of her competitors domestic policy proposals, they would have to "depend upon an end to military interventionism and the new cold war and nuclear arms race – all of which will waste trillions of dollars."
She said at the core of her campaign is the message that "successful domestic policy is inseparably linked to a successful foreign policy."

MORE: CNN, Univision to host March Democratic debate in Arizona, a 2020 battleground

At the height of the 2020 Democratic Party primary, Gabbard was one of six women vying to be the Democratic nominee for president. And with the departure of Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren from the race this week, Gabbard is the last woman, person of color, veteran and millennial in the race.

Oklahoma State University Professor Farida Jalalzai has written about women presidents across the globe and notes Gabbard’s candidacy faced several challenges.
"You could maybe say that there are certain issues that perhaps she prioritizes more than others that haven't gained as much traction, for example," she said. "And of course, you also point to the big things, like she doesn't have. She doesn't have much in the way of fundraising."

PHOTO: Democratic presidential candidate Rep. Tulsi Gabbard hugs and greets a crying supporter as she holds a Town Hall meeting on Super Tuesday Primary night on March 3, 2020, in Detroit. (Bill Pugliano/Getty Images)

When compared to many of her competitors, Gabbard has been able to sustain her bid for president on a lean campaign.

According to ABC News analysis, the campaign has raised only $11.1 million since launching in January 2019. And by the end of the month, her campaign had $2 million cash on hand.

"A lot of other candidates who have outraised and outspent us by multiple times have not been able to stay in the race," Gabbard told ABC News. "I have been very fiscally responsible with the dollars that people are contributing to our campaign to maximize their effect and being able to get our message out to voters in the early states and across the country."

Her campaign is fueled by a small team of staffers, volunteers, friends and family members. She flies commercial to cut down costs, renting at times affordable hotel rooms and Airbnbs to save as much money as possible.

She told ABC News, "It is the power of our volunteers the power of individuals who are recognizing the need to bring about this kind of change in our leadership where we have a government of by and for the people that makes it possible for us to continue this mission."

MORE: Biden takes command of race, amid signs the party never left him: Analysis

The highest primary finish she’s had to date was in American Samoa, where she placed second behind former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg, the billionaire with seven paid staffers on the territory, who has since ended his bid for presidency.

Gabbard, 38, hails from a long line of Samoans, born at LBJ Hospital in the village of Faga'alu.

Her grandmother Aknesis Agnes "Pako" Yandall Gabbard was known for her pineapple pie and cakes sold at the Gabbard family bakery in Leloaloa.

"It was especially meaningful to my family and me to receive such strong support from voters in my place of birth," she told ABC News following her win.

MORE: Sanders, Biden spar on Twitter over Social Security, beating President Trump

And unlike several of the past 2020 candidates, Gabbard says she hasn’t spoken to Biden or Sanders.

When asked what it means to pick up delegates -- thus becoming the second woman of color ever to do so -- she said gender shouldn't matter.

MORE: After Super Tuesday, Joe Biden Is A Clear Favorite To Win The Nomination

"To be honest, I’ve never believed that someone should vote for or against a candidate because of their gender, race or religion and so on," she said. "I feel strongly that we should vote for the candidate that best represents our values and who’s best prepared, who cares about the American people, who is motivated by a sincere desire to be of service to our people and our country."

She added that the president should be someone "prepared to be the commander-in-chief, and who will unite the American people."

Jalalzai noted that Gabbard "also gets scrutinized a lot, you know, and in part this question of, well, why are you in the race? Is a really telling one."

She said Warren and California Sen. Kamala Harris -- who left the race in early December 2019 -- both had attractive resumes, but were also viewed as unelectable after the loss of the first woman to be on the top of the ticket for either party, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

It is a challenge New York Rep. Shirley Chisholm who, before Gabbard, was the last woman of color to ever win a delegate as a presidential nominee in the Democratic Party, once said she also faced.

PHOTO: Rep. Shirley Chisholm announces her entry for Democratic nomination for the presidency at the Concord Baptist Church in Brooklyn, New York, Jan. 25, 1972. (Don Hogan Charles/New York Times Co./Getty Images, FILE)

Chisholm, the first African American woman elected to Congress -- arrived at the Democratic National Committee Convention in Miami, Florida "unbought and unbossed" with less than three dozen delegates. She ran a campaign that was underfunded and had little support, having failed to secure the support of the Congressional Black Caucus, of which she was a co-founder, or the National Organization for Women, in a year where they wielded influence on the Democratic Party platform.

Chisholm was largely fighting an uphill battle alone as the Watergate scandal loomed in the backdrop of the convention. And while Chisholm said she ran to win, that doesn’t mean she expected to win, experts said.

Anastasia C. Curwood, an associate professor at the University of Kentucky who is writing a book about Chisholm, said the former congresswoman "wanted to be a figure who would lead to change."

"She knew that it was extremely unlikely that she would be the one to win. But, but what she wanted was to start the process," Curwood told ABC News.

MORE: 2020 presidential candidate Rep. Tulsi Gabbard surfs and pitches sports in an appeal to voters

While in many ways Chisholm's political ideology and challenges were different from Gabbard's, they both could have an impact by helping shape the outlook of future politicians through the idea of surrogate representation, Jalalzai said.

Surrogate representation is a way that politicians represent more than just people in their particular district,"as a member of a visible minority group, you are able to communicate messages about that group beyond your own district lines."

Why Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard is continuing her bid for president originally appeared on abcnews.go.com

Business Insider
The DNC just made it mathematically impossible for Tulsi Gabbard to make the next debate, leaving Biden and Sanders one-on-one

Associated Press Despite her initially having a remote chance at qualifying for the next televised debate, Rep. Tulsi Gabbard will be a day late and more than a few delegates short. The Democratic National Committee announced the new threshold for the March 15 debate would be 20% of all delegates awarded so far, a steep task for Gabbard, given her campaign's resources and track record of poor performances so far. It's unclear why Gabbard is still in the race, but the bar being raised all but ensures a one-on-one debate between former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders.

Little girls have to wait 4 more years, Warren says, as race loses female candidates

Four years ago, a major political party nominated the first female presidential candidate in history. Even before Hillary Clinton topped the ticket, there was Shirley Chisholm, the first black major-party candidate to run for president and the first woman ever to run for the Democratic Party's nomination. And two years ago, women turned out in droves to elect a sweep of women to Congress. Now, there are no realistically viable female candidates left in the 2020 race for president.

 

© Melina Mara/The Washington Post via Getty Images Democratic candidate for President Sen. Elizabeth Warren does a pinky swear with a little girl at the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines, Iowa on Aug. 10, 2019.

Six women -- a record number -- entered the race this election cycle, but with the latest departure of Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, there are no top-tier female candidates left in the running. Although Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard is still in the race, it's all but certain a heterosexual, white male in his 70s will secure the presidency.


Some have raised the question: How did sexism play into the 2020 primaries?

Warren tried to dodge what she called a "trap question" moments after announcing she would drop out. Still, she acknowledged that it was impossible to detach herself from the gender factor.

"If you say, 'Yeah, there was sexism in this race,' everyone says 'whiner,'" Warren told reporters outside of her home Thursday. "And if you say, 'No, there was no sexism,' about a bazillion women think, 'What planet do you live on?'"

When asked about the legacy her presidential run will create for other women and little girls, who she shared "pinky promises" with on the trail, Warren choked up.

"One of the hardest parts of this is all those pinky promises. And all those little girls who are going to have to wait four more years. That's going to be hard," Warren said. "I take those pinky promises seriously."

Warren expanded on the gender factor in an interview with Rachel Maddow Thursday night. While she said that it's possible for a woman to take the White House, "perhaps soon," she also acknowledged the pain she felt that it wasn't sooner.MORE: Women running for public office can now borrow clothes for free with this new program

"I walked through my headquarters today and ... I saw all those women who said, 'Thank you for being smart and making that OK. Thank you for talking over men sometimes because I'm just damn tired of always having it go the other way.' It's one of the hardest parts about this ... but it doesn't mean it's not going to happen. It doesn't mean it's not going to happen soon," Warren said.

"You get in the fight because you just got to keep beating at it until you finally break the thing. We'll know that we can have a woman in the White House when we finally elect a woman to the White House," she added.

 

Democratic Presidential Candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren makes pinky promises with little girls and before a get-out-the-vote event at Rundlett Middle School in Concord, N.H., on Feb. 9, 2020.

1/7 SLIDES © The Washington Post via Getty Images

Warren's chief strategist, Joe Rospars, was more direct in lamenting the "unfair double standards women face."

"No amount of sympathy, empathy or study can give me a real sense of the unfair double standards women face every single day. But advising Elizabeth as she navigated that tightrope gave me a small glimpse. It's wild and rage-inducing and exhausting," Rospars said in a Twitter thread.

Another former female presidential candidate this cycle, New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand also weighed in on Twitter following Warren's departure, even linking to an organization that backs female candidates.

"I know days like today are tough. Trust me, I really know. But I also know that the best path forward is to dust ourselves off and get to work on the things we can control, like taking back the Senate from Mitch McConnell," Gillibrand said.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the first woman in U.S. history to hold her title, also had strong words when asked Thursday about the likelihood of a female president.

Asked whether Democratic voters did not select a woman nominee because they feared a woman could not beat President Donald Trump, Pelosi first said, "I think anybody could beat President Trump," before expanding on her answer. "I don't think you get a woman president by saying, 'We should have a woman.' You get a woman president saying, 'This is the best person for the job,' and any one of them could have fulfilled that description."MORE: Who's running for president in 2020?

"Every time I get introduced as the 'most powerful woman blah blah blah,' I almost cry because I'm thinking I wish that were not true," Pelosi continued.

"I so wish that we had a woman president of the United States, and we came very close to doing that -- a woman who was better qualified than so many people who have sought that office and even won it," she added, seemingly referring to how former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton won the popular vote by at least 3 million votes.

Pelosi said she had always thought the public would be "much more ready for" a woman president than for a woman speaker.

"I think the American people are ready," she added. "I never thought we would have a woman speaker of the House before a woman president, because if you want to talk about tradition or whatever that is, this is a marble ceiling. It's not a glass ceiling."

The man who defeated Clinton in the electoral college, Trump, also commented after Warren's exit. When asked if sexism was a factor in her departure from the race, Trump called her a "mean person."

"I think lack of talent was her problem," Trump told reporters at the White House Thursday. "She had a tremendous lack of talent. She was a good debater. She destroyed Mike Bloomberg very quickly like it was nothing. That was easy for her, but people don't like her."

"She is a very mean person, and people don't like her. People don't want that," the president added.MORE: Women are running for office in historic numbers. Here are 10 female candidates to watch.

"Sexism was at the core of this election and 2016," said Dr. Ashley Dreff, director of women and gender studies and an assistant professor of religion at High Point University. "Women are continually held to double standards and higher standards in society. Warren and Clinton were both easily the most eloquent, intelligent and qualified persons for president. Warren, especially, not only had a vision, but had plans for that vision. Every time she faced undue criticism, she adjusted and clarified her plan, and then was criticized again. Most of the male candidates have not come close to Warren's level of detail and have not been criticized for it."

Warren's departure came just days after another prominent female senator, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, dropped out. Klobuchar also was asked on Friday about the lack of female representation left in the race.

"I think that having so many women up there on that stage, it was groundbreaking on its own. Literally the first night of the debate in the primary, we doubled the number of women that had ever run for president, on the first night," she said.

Klobuchar also revealed that the former Democratic nominee for president Hillary Clinton sent her a "very nice email" after she left the trail.

"When Hillary ran, it was a hard heartbreak for those of us that support us, when she didn't make it. But she literally did break the glass ceiling. And we're seeing higher numbers [of women running] than we ever did," she said.

Anastasia Curwood, an associate professor and director of African American and Africana studies at the University of Kentucky College of Arts and Sciences, and an expert on Shirley Chisholm, suspects that Chisholm would be "disappointed" with the lack of women of color running for president.

"My guess is that she just would have been stunned that it took so long for somebody else to come on, especially women of color, to get any delegates. We still haven't seen a black woman get delegates again," Curwood said. "She probably would have been pretty disappointed."

When Clinton ultimately lost the electoral college vote to Trump, she addressed the base of women and "little girls" in her concession speech who mobilized around her.

"To all of the little girls who are watching this, never doubt that you are valuable and powerful and deserving of every chance and opportunity in the world to pursue and achieve your own dreams," she said.

Between Clinton's concession speech and Election Day in 2018, a record number of women ran for Congress and state legislatures -- but Clinton said sexism still plays a pernicious role in elections, especially those for commander in chief.

"I think we made some progress, but there still was a lot of the unconscious bias and the gendered language that has been used around the women candidates," Clinton told Vanity Fair. "I think it affected all of the women that ran."

Dreff agreed, adding: "We need to continue to teach girls that they can dream, but dreaming necessitates fighting and persisting in our lived reality. This is not easy work. We also need to teach girls that sexism and misogyny exists in this world, and it's probably not going anyway anytime soon."

ABC News' Beatrice Peterson, Lissette Rodriguez, Sasha Peznik and Cheyenne Haslett contributed to this report.

Civil rights activist Rev. Jesse Jackson has endorsed Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) for president, the campaign announced Sunday. 

© Getty Civil rights activist Jesse Jackson endorses Sanders

"A people far behind cannot catch up choosing the most moderate path," Jackson said in a statement. "The most progressive social and economic path gives us the best chance to catch up and Senator Bernie Sanders represents the most progressive path. That's why I choose to endorse him today."

Jackson said Vice President Joe Biden's campaign had not reached out or asked for his endorsement.

Jackson said the Vermont progressive answered the concerns of the black community in his support of voting rights and renewing the U.S. Civil Rights Commission. The civil rights leader plans to speak at a campaign event in Grand Rapids, Mich., Sunday.

He said the "black firewall" has changed the dynamics of the election, and campaigns need to appeal to the black community.

"That's some of what the firewall needs and that Senator Sanders has committed himself to, and that's why I can enthusiastically endorse Senator Bernie Sanders today," he said, citing Sanders's wealth tax and "Medicare for All" plans.

Sanders announced the endorsement on ABC's "This Week" Sunday after host George Stephanopoulos noted Biden's wins on Super Tuesday and support from nine former presidential candidates. Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) offered her support to the former vice president Sunday.

"It's no secret, George, you know politics in this country, we're not going to get the most support of elected leaders, not most governors, not most senators," Sanders responded. "But we are winning the support of grassroots America because we have an agenda that speaks to working people."

"[Jackson has] been a leader in helping to transform this country, an aide to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., so we're proud," Sanders said.


JUST IN: Sen. Bernie Sanders tells @GStephanopoulos that civil rights activist Jesse Jackson will endorse him later today.

"We have the support of virtually every major grassroots organization." https://t.co/X1LhrSyd0J pic.twitter.com/ABbajFTKab- This Week (@ThisWeekABC) March 8, 2020

Biden won 10 of 14 states that voted in Super Tuesday and now sits at 664 delegates. Sanders has 573 delegates allocated to him, although the Super Tuesday delegates have not been completely distributed

---30---

`We can do it,' say young believers fueling Sanders campaign

The Canadian Press March 8, 2020

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — They've watched their parents and friends struggle to pay medical bills. They've spent time in Spain, Australia and other countries where people don't have the same worry. They live at home instead of the college dorm to try to cut down on what they'll owe in loans. They question whether to have kids in an environment where the effects of climate change are getting worse by the day.

The young Bernie Sanders supporters who gathered for a Super Tuesday watch party in Michigan came with reasons both personal and ideological for wanting him to be president. But they were all asking the same question: Why can't things be different?

“Young people are aspirational," said Jaclyn Schess, 24, a health economics researcher at the University of Michigan. She sat on a folding chair inside the Sanders campaign's Ann Arbor office watching returns projected on a screen from the online news network The Young Turks. "We can look at what's happening now without being weighed down by the failures of the past and say ‘Our country deserves better. ... We can do it.'”

As Sanders tries to top former Vice-President Joe Biden for the Democratic presidential nomination, the Vermont senator and self-described democratic socialist's most enduring support has come from voters under age 30 like Schess. They are moved by Sanders' vision for the country — of a place where everyone has health care, college is free and rich people and corporations don't have more political influence than teachers and students — and his consistency on the issues.

They don't believe his ideas are unrealistic or unaffordable. To them, the main argument that President Donald Trump and others have used against Sanders — that he's a “socialist” who wants to give everything away for free — isn't at all scary and may be a point in Sanders' favour .

Those young voters remain the backbone of Sanders' effort, though they weren't enough for him to stop Biden from leapfrogging him in the delegate count on Super Tuesday. Sanders won four states out of 14, including California, with support from 57% of voters under 30, according to AP VoteCast surveys of voters across eight of the states that voted.

But those young voters made up just 15% of the vote, putting pressure on Sanders to increase that vote share or broaden his appeal — or both — as the race moves on to Michigan, Washington, Missouri, Mississippi on Tuesday and elsewhere after that.

The biggest delegate haul this week will be Michigan. Sanders defeated Hillary Clinton there in 2016, thanks in part to strong support in counties that are home to colleges such as the University of Michigan and Michigan State University.

A big part of Sanders' success is that he's empowered younger voters and made them feel they are part of a movement in a way few politicians have done since Barack Obama in 2008, said John Della Volpe,director of polling at the Harvard Kennedy School Institute of Politics.

Their potential political power is notable. Generation Z — those between 18 and 23 — make up 1 in 10 eligible voters,and is the only generation that has grown by percentage of eligible voting population since 2016, according to the Pew Research Center.

AP VoteCast shows these young voters more likely than those older to be liberal ideologically. Sixty per cent of voters under 30 across eight Super Tuesday states surveyed described themselves as liberal and 39% said they are “very liberal.” But they have historically turned out to vote at much lower rates than older voters, a trend that has continued this primary season.

“If they all voted at close to the proportion of older voters it's a completely different country,” Della Volpe said.

Sanders said at a post-Super Tuesday news conference that his campaign hasn't been as successful as he'd hoped at getting young people out to vote. In a sign he's ramping up those efforts in Michigan, he cancelled events in Mississippi to spend more time in Michigan, including a Sunday night rally in Ann Arbor, hosted by the university's chapter of Students for Bernie. Sanders drew almost 6,000 people to a rally on the campus in 2016, days before his surprise win in the state over Clinton.

“The vision he’s talking about is of the world that we want," said Emily Moos, 22, who works as an environmental organizer registering young people to vote in Ann Arbor.



Moos was among those at the Super Tuesday gathering who believe the influence of money, particularly from fossil fuel companies and other corporations, has corrupted U.S. politics, affecting everything from the climate crisis to health care and the minimum wage.

Sanders has raised over $120 million this election cycle, including more than $25 million in January, from over 1.5 million people while refusing money from corporations and political action committees. That's a big reason Sanders' supporters are choosing him over rivals such as Biden, who they say is influenced by PACs and large-dollar donors.

“How can we trust anybody if they have to kind of kneel to these corporate entities?" said Matthew Rodriguez, 29, who is studying in the University of Michigan's school of social work. "We can trust Bernie. When he says he’ll fight for these things, we know he’ll fight for it no matter what.”

That extends to health care and Sanders' push for “Medicare for All,” which his rivals have described as a pipe dream.

Jonah Hahn, 25, said he saw firsthand how it could work when he was living in Spain for a fellowship. That country's national health care system provides universal coverage and access to free health care for Spanish nationals. In the private insurance market, Hahn paid $60 per month for everything, with no copays. Back in the U.S. he pays a $50 copay to see a specialist, after a $300 monthly premium.

“Nothing convinces you about the importance of universal health care like living in a country that has it,” said Hahn, who considers himself a democratic socialist. “It’s not like I needed to be radicalized, but when you actually see it, you say 'OK, Spain has certain political issues, but no one is debating whether their health care system works or not.’”

What if Sanders isn't the nominee? University of Michigan student Keegan Cupp, 18, said he's “Bernie or bust,” and will stay home. But he was the only one of about a dozen people interviewed who said so.

“I dislike Trump to the highest degree and I will hold my nose and vote for Biden if I have to," Rodriguez said.

Emily Arking, 18, said if Sanders isn't the nominee it “will be a big bummer” because it will be her first election voting. But it won't stop her.

“I was talking to my dad earlier and he told me that there were plenty of times he's walked into the voting booth and just let out a huge sigh because he didn’t like who he was voting for,” she said. “But he did it nonetheless.”

Schess said she was disappointed to hear there was anyone in the room who planned to stay home.

“You’re contributing to Trump winning if you don’t vote," she said. “There’s too much at stake.”

___

Associated Press writer Hannah Fingerhut in Washington contributed to this report.

Sara Burnett, The Associated Press

Women's rights activists attacked then detained in Kyrgyzstan
Reuters March 8, 2020
BISHKEK (Reuters) - Police in Kyrgyzstan detained dozens of women's rights activists on Sunday shortly after journalists witnessed the protesters being attacked by masked men.

The activists gathered in one of the squares of capital Bishkek in the Central Asian country, to stage a march of solidarity against violence on International Women's Day.

But masked men, some of whom wore traditional Kyrgyz white felt hats, attacked the protesters, grabbing and tearing apart their banners, in the presence of multiple journalists including a Reuters reporter.

The attackers left as soon as police arrived on the scene and proceeded to detain about 50 activists, mostly women.

It was unclear what charges they could face. The Bishkek police department could not be immediately reached for comment.

Citing multiple cases of forced marriage and domestic violence, activists say women's rights are deteriorating in the former Soviet republic of 6 million amid a resurgence of right-wing ideology.

Last December, an art exhibition in Kyrgyzstan that featured a woman undressing in front of an audience was censored by the government, and the head of the gallery resigned after receiving death threats.



(Reporting by Olga Dzyubenko and Vladimir Pirogov; writing by Olzhas Auyezov; Editing by Elaine Hardcastle)

Hong Kong pro-democracy protesters hold vigil to mourn student's death
Reuters March 8, 2020

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Hundreds of black-clad Hong Kong protesters, holding candles, returned on Sunday to the parking lot where a student fell to his death in November, vowing to continue their fight for greater democracy in the Chinese-ruled city.

The death of Chow Tsz-lok, 22, who fell from the third to the second floor in a parking lot in the eastern Tseung Kwan O district as police cleared crowds in the area, was the catalyst for some of the most intense clashes since the protests escalated in June last year.

Fears over the coronavirus have reduced the scale and frequency of protests this year, but there have been violent demonstrations on some weekends in a sign the pro-democracy movement remains active.

On Sunday evening, protesters, mostly in trademark black clothing and surgical masks, laid down white flowers, origami cranes and messages on colored post-it notes at a makeshift altar where placards read "Keep the heat; Fight until the end".

One protester was waving a "Liberate Hong Kong" black flag, while a banner that read "murderer" was hung up.

There was a heavy riot police presence nearby and at least one arrest was made.

“It’s very touching. When I came here half an hour ago I almost cried, because I didn’t expect so many people would come today," said 22-year-old computer programer Sean Chow, who is not related to the student who died.

"(His death) means something that is unresolved and something that needs to be fully investigated and I believe all the people here want an answer. It's an absolute tragedy."

Earlier on Sunday, Hong Kong police said they arrested 17 people, aged between 21 and 53, during an overnight raid of 22 flats in relation to a series of bomb plots between late January and early February.

Items including three homemade bombs, three electronic circuits and 2,600 kilograms of chemicals were found.

"In recent months Hong Kong has been faced with an ongoing ... violent campaign designed to intimidate, in order to try to achieve political aims," Alick McWhirter, senior bomb disposal officer of the Explosive Ordnance Disposal Bureau told reporters.

"It seems a potential tragedy has been averted."

Police said the bombs were intended to be used in public events and aimed at police officers.

Protesters are angry about what they see as creeping Chinese interference in Hong Kong, which returned to China in 1997 under a "one country, two systems" formula intended to guarantee freedoms that are not enjoyed on the mainland.

China says it is committed to the arrangement and denies meddling. It has accused foreign governments including the United States and Britain of inciting the unrest.

The Raven ( Read by Christopher Walken)
Edgar Allen Poe 
https://ia802808.us.archive.org/31/items/edgarallanpoetheravenchristopherwalken/Edgar%20Allan%20Poe%20-%20The%20Raven%20%28Christopher%20Walken%29.mp3

Peter Lorre Reads The Cask of Amontillado
by Edgar Allan Poe

 https://ia801008.us.archive.org/2/items/thecaskofamontilladopeterlorre/The%20Cask%20of%20Amontillado_Peter%20Lorre.mp3

A FAVORITE REVENGER STORY 
READ BY A FAVORITE CHARACTER ACTOR

Publication date 1952-03-09
Topics Edgar Allan Poe, Old Time Radio, OTR, Peter Lorre, radio drama, radio horror
Language English
A recording of Master of Terror Peter Lorre's performance of Edgar Allan Poe's classic tale of revenge.

Originally performed on NBC Radio's THE BIG SHOW on March 9, 1952.

Read by Christopher Lee The Masque of the Red Death
by Edgar Allan Poe

https://ia801400.us.archive.org/9/items/themasqueofthereddeathchristopherlee/The%20Masque%20of%20the%20Red%20Death%20-%20Christopher%20Lee.mp3"

The Masque of the Red Death", originally published as "The Mask of the Red Death: A Fantasy", is a short story by American writer Edgar Allan Poe, first published in 1842.

The story follows Prince Prospero's attempts to avoid a dangerous plague, known as the Red Death, by hiding in his abbey.  He, along with many other wealthy nobles, hosts a masquerade ball within seven rooms of the abbey, each decorated with a different colour.  

In the midst of their revelry, a mysterious figure disguised as a Red Death victim enters and makes his way through each of the rooms.  Prospero confronts this stranger, whose "costume" proves to contain nothing tangible inside....   

Full worm supermoon will illuminate the sky this weekend


By Ashley Strickland, CNN

A supermoon heralding spring will light up the sky Sunday and Monday. The true full moon occurs Monday, but it will appear full for three days from early Sunday until early Wednesday, according to NASA. 

© Ozkan Bilgin/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images A man rides a snowboard at Abali ski resort of Gevas district as Supermoon is seen over Turkey's Van on February 19, 2019. Supermoon is a full moon that almost coincides with the closest distance that the Moon reaches to Earth in its elliptic orbit, resulting in a larger-than-usual visible size of the lunar disk as seen from Earth

For those in the US, March's full moon also happens during Daylight Saving Time -- so don't forget to "spring forward" and set those clocks an hour ahead.


Supermoons occur when the moon is within 90% of perigree, or its closest approach to Earth in orbit. The moon will appear brighter and bigger in the night sky and hopefully no clouds and inclement weather will obscure the view.

March's full moon is also known as the Full Worm Moon. Traditional and Native American names for each full moon of the year are derived by how they helped to track the seasons. In this case, the ground began to soften in March so that earthworms could appear, drawing more birds to feed, according to the Farmer's Almanac. This moon is associated with spring for that reason.

This year, the spring equinox occurs on March 19, and it's arriving earlier than it has in more than a hundred years.

This full moon also goes by other names, including the crow moon, the crust moon, the sap moon, the Lenten moon and the sugar moon, largely to herald the arrival of spring, and in the case of the Lenten moon, the Catholic season of Lent.

Normally, there are 12 full moons in a year because one occurs each month. But in 2020, October will have two full moons, once on October 1 and then again on October 31.

Two full moons in the same month is known as a "blue moon." And the fact that the second one falls on Halloween truly makes this event "once in a blue moon."

This year will have up to four supermoons total, when the moon appears even larger and brighter in our sky. The next supermoon will occur on April 7.

© Lavandeira JR/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock Mandatory Credit: Photo by LAVANDEIRA JR/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock (10161467b) A view of the supermoon that announces the start of the spring over the Santiago de Compostela cathedral, Galicia, Spain, 20 March 2019. Super moon in Santiago de Compostela, Santiago De Compostela (Es-Es), Spain - 20 Mar 20

The Lair Of The White Worm (40-chapter version)
by Stoker, Bram, 1847-1912
Publication date 1911
Topics monsters, fiction
Language English

The originally published 40-chapter version of The Lair of the White Worm, published by W. Rider and Son in 1911.  (This is different from the abridged, partly rewritten 28-chapter version that was published after Stoker's death, and that can be found online at various sites.)  Scanned by Google from the University of Chicago library, but with the title page and illustrations stripped out of the PDF file Google provides.  Uploaded to the Internet Archive by John Mark Ockerbloom


audio
LAIR OF THE WHITE WORM
Topics Radio Drama, Supernatural, Bram Stoker, The Lair of The White Worm
THE LAIR OF THE WHITE WORM
By Bram Stoker 
Adapted by 
Sony Gold Award-winner Brian Wright

A Gothic horror from the author of Dracula,set in 1870 
in the High Peak district of Derbyshire.  

While on a visit to his elderly uncle in the tiny village of 
Penda's Dale, Adam Salton, already shocked by the 
oppressive melancholic atmosphere in the village, quickly 
realises that the disappearance of several local men is not 
accidental.

His investigations lead him to the discovery of a terrifying 
and ancient secret: a malevolent force is at work in Penda's 
Dale.

Sit back and listen. . .if you dare!

Starring Jimi Mistry 

A specially commissioned soundtrack from the San Fransisico-based sound sculptors Matmos.  

BBC World Service 
Supernatural Season
(04-12-2004) 

audio

The Conqueror Worm
by Edgar Allan Poe
Publication date 2017-05-14
Usage Public Domain Mark 1.0
Topics librivox, audiobooks, literature, poetry, horror, fantasy, theater
LibriVox volunteers bring you 11 recordings of The Conqueror Worm by Edgar Allan Poe. 
This was the Weekly Poetry project for April 30, 2107.

Read in English by Antonio Soto Patiño; Burt Culver; Bruce Kachuk; dg73; David Lawrence; Joy Baker; Nemo; Phil Schempf; Sonia; Tony Addison and Tomas Peter.

Edgar Allan Poe was an American writer, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is widely regarded as a central figure of Romanticism in the United States and American literature as a whole, and he was one of the country's earliest practitioners of the short story. Poe is generally considered the inventor of the detective fiction genre and is further credited with contributing to the emerging genre of science fiction. - Summary by Wikipedia

For further information, including links to online text, reader information, RSS feeds, CD cover or other formats (if available), please go to the LibriVox catalog page for this recording. 

For more free audio books or to become a volunteer reader, visit LibriVox.org.

M4B Audiobook (12MB)




Poems by Edgar Allan Poe : complete, with an original memoir
by Poe, Edgar Allan, 1809-1849
https://archive.org/details/poemsbyedgaralla00poee/page/n5/mode/2up
Publication date 1863
Topics Poe, Edgar Allan, 1809-1849 -- Poetry, Fantasy poetry
Publisher New York : W.J. Widdleton
Collection Boston_College_Library; blc; americana
Digitizing sponsor Boston Library Consortium Member Libraries
Contributor Boston College
Language English
278, 10 pages, [1] leaf of plates : 15 cm

Publisher's advertisements: 10 pages at end

Engraved frontispiece portrait of Poe protected by enclosed guardsheet


Preface to the poems -- Contents -- Memoir of Edgar Allan Poe -- The raven -- Lenore -- Hymn -- A valentine -- The Coluseum -- To Helen -- To ---- ---- -- Ulalume -- The bells -- An enigma -- Annabel Lee -- To my mother -- The haunted palace -- The conqueror worm -- To F----s S. O----d -- To one in Paradise -- The valley of unrest -- The city in the sea -- The sleeper -- Silence -- A dream within a dream -- Dreamland -- To Zante -- Eulalie -- Eldorado -- Israfel -- For Annie -- To ---- -- Bridal ballad -- To F---- -- Scenes from "Politian" -- Sonnet--To science -- Al Aaraaf -- To the river ---- -- Tamerlane -- To ---- -- A dream -- Romance -- Fairy-land -- The lake----To ---- -- Song -- To M.L. S---- -- Notes to Al Aaraaf -- The poetic principle