Kenosha survivor: Wisconsin cops 'conspired' to help killer Kyle Rittenhouse
Matthew Chapman
October 15, 2021

Kyle Rittenhouse


On Friday, Forbes reported that the sole survivor of the Kenosha shooting perpetrated by Kyle Rittenhouse has filed a lawsuit alleging that police were aware the attack was imminent and effectively "conspired" to let it happen.

"Attorneys representing Gaige Grosskreutz, who was a 22-year-old student in Wisconsin at the time of the shooting, filed a 33-page civil lawsuit late Thursday against the city of Kenosha, Kenosha County Sheriff David Beth, former police chief Daniel Miskinis and others," reported Jemima McEvoy. "The lawsuit alleges the city officials conspired to deprive Grosskreutz' civil rights and obstruct justice, among a litany of other claims, including deprivation of due process, failure to intervene and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

The shooting occurred in 2020, during the protests over the shooting of Jacob Blake by Kenosha Police. Rittenhouse, an Illinois teen, traveled to the protests with a rifle, confronting protesters and ultimately killing two and injuring one.

According to the report, the lawsuit alleges police "knew about the plans and intentions" of armed individuals who came to the protests, and did nothing to stop them, even praising them. This tracks with images that showed police thanking Rittenhouse and offering him water near where the shooting took place.

Attorneys for Rittenhouse argue, among other things, that he acted in self-defense and had a right to be carrying the firearm under hunting laws.

Texas book controversy: School administrator told teachers to include Holocaust books with 'opposing' views when explaining new state law

By Ashley Killough, CNN 

A school district superintendent in North Texas apologized Thursday night after one of the district's administrators told teachers that if they have books about the Holocaust in their classroom libraries, then they should also include books that have "opposing" views of the Holocaust.

Adolf Hitler (Wikimedia Commons)

At a training session last week, a school administrator with Carroll ISD in Southlake, Texas, tried to advise elementary school teachers on how to follow new district guidelines for the vetting of books. The guidelines were issued in an attempt to align with a controversial law in Texas that seeks to restrict discussion of race and history in schools.

The training session was first reported by NBC News. After teachers expressed frustration and confusion over the new guidelines, Gina Peddy -- executive director of curriculum and instruction for the district -- invoked the Holocaust as an example of a historic event that would require a teacher to keep on hand other books with "opposing" views.

Audio of the exchange, first reported by NBC News, was secretly recorded by a staff member and obtained by CNN. CNN has reached out to Peddy for comment but has not gotten a response back.

"Just try to remember the concepts of (Texas House Bill) 3979," Peddy says, referring to the new law, known as HB 3979. "And make sure that if you have a book on the Holocaust, that you have one that has opposing, that has other perspectives."

"How do you oppose the Holocaust?" one teacher could be heard asking.

"Believe me," Peddy said in a longer recording obtained by NBC. "That's come up."

The exchange, according to a source who was there, happened in a hallway amid a smaller group of staff after the training session had ended.

A report by NBC News on the comment sparked an uproar on social media, and the district's superintendent, Lane Ledbetter, issued an apology to the community:

"I express my sincere apology regarding the online article and news story released today. During the conversations with teachers during last week's meeting, the comments made were in no way to convey that the Holocaust was anything less than a terrible event in history. Additionally, we recognize there are not two sides of the Holocaust," the statement read.

"As we continue to work through implementation of HB 3979, we also understand this bill does not require an opposing viewpoint on historical facts. As a district we will work to add clarity to our expectations for teachers and once again apologize for any hurt or confusion this has caused," it said.

Laws introduced in state legislatures such have these have been driven largely over the potential teachings of critical race theory, a hot-button issue for some parents.

Critical race theory recognizes that systemic racism is part of American society and challenges the beliefs that allow it to flourish. While the theory was started decades ago as a way to examine how laws and systems promote inequality, it has taken on new urgency since a series of killings last year of Black Americans by police officers, which led to a national reckoning on race.

Critics have slammed the theory, with conservatives accusing it of poisoning discussions on racism.

HB 3979 in Texas, which was signed by Gov. Greg Abbott and took effect on September 1, states that a teacher may not be compelled to discuss "a particular current event or widely debated and currently controversial issue of public policy or social affairs."

If a teacher does engage in that kind of discussion, the teacher is required to "explore such issues from diverse and contending perspectives without giving deference to any one perspective."

Carroll ISD had previously issued the rubric for teachers on how to vet the books in their classroom libraries, but many teachers found it confusing, the source told CNN. Several teachers were also upset about a fourth-grade teacher being reprimanded by the district's school board just days earlier for having "This Book Is Anti-Racist" by Tiffany Jewell in the classroom, the source said.

The reprimand, which came after a parent complaint, made national news and contributed to a sense of deep frustration among some teachers, especially since the new Texas law addresses curriculum, not classroom libraries.

At the meeting last week, teachers were vocal about their concerns, according to the source in the room.

"The teachers were so angry," the source said. "They stood up and yelled and fought back in a way that was frightening but also empowering."

The source said teachers raised multiple questions at the meeting about the new vetting guidelines and after receiving mixed messages from the district over whether to keep their classroom libraries open during the vetting process. Peddy, according to the source, went to seek clarification from other administrators. Peddy returned and, after the training session was over, made the Holocaust example in the hallway as teachers were leaving.

According to audio played for CNN, Peddy pledged to stand by the teachers as they began the vetting process.

"I know you feel like you're being put at risk, I do know that. Just leave them open," she said, referring to the classroom libraries. "Look through the whole book, but leave your libraries open while you do it. I know that you have the best interests of your kids in mind and we're going to stand behind you."

Clay Robison, spokespeson for the Texas State Teachers Association said he was angered by the comments made in the audio recording about including opposing views of the Holocaust.

"I was angry," he said in a phone interview with CNN. "But, also, I wasn't terribly surprised."

Robison noted that while the law does not specifically deal with books in teachers' classrooms or specifically require a teacher to give equal weight to perspectives that deny the Holocaust, he said the law has enough ambiguity to "encourage that kind of reaction."

Robison said the Texas State Teachers Association has long opposed the bill because it is open to misinterpretation and can cause confusion for educators. Robison said teachers across the state are "angry" and fear consequences over the books they include in their classrooms.

"It doesn't require these teachers to pull these books off their shelves, but it certainly encourages parents who don't like those books -- who feel uncomfortable with those books -- to put pressure on their school boards and their school administrations to...pull the books off."

Since the law took effect six weeks ago, Robison said the incident in Southlake is just one example of the confusion and frustration that he expects to see as the school year continues, not to mention the expected political battles.

"School board presidents run for election. And this is an issue that could figure very prominently in school board elections, particularly conservative communities," he said.

This story has been updated to reflect that the audio recording was first obtained by NBC News.

Satellite photos show how Trump wrecked a sensitive sand dune system in Scotland to build a luxury golf course

tcolson@businessinsider.com (Thomas Colson) 

Before-and-after satellite images showing the destruction of sand dunes after Donald Trump's Aberdeenshire golf course was built on them.

 Satellite image © 2021 Maxar Technologies

Before-and-after photos show the environmental damage caused by Donald Trump's Scottish golf course.

Trump opened the course on a sand dune system in 2012 despite fierce local opposition.

Newly obtained satellite photos show the stark change in the landscape since the course opened.

In 2006, the New York real-estate magnate Donald Trump purchased a stretch of coastal land in Aberdeenshire, northeast Scotland, for the purpose of building "the world's best golf course."

There was noisy local opposition to the plan, but Trump had a relationship Scotland's then-first minister, Alex Salmond. In 2008, the Scottish government stepped in to approve his plan, touting the economic benefits the resort would bring to the country.

Despite warnings that the construction of an 18-hole course would destroy the sand dunes around it, Trump had pressed ahead, saying: "We will stabilize the dunes. They will be there forever. This will be environmentally better after it [the course] is built than it is before."

But as conservationists predicted, the part of the highly sensitive ecosystem on which Trump International Golf Links was built was largely ruined. Officials announced in December 2020 that the coastal sand dunes Trump's the resort would lose their status as a protected environmental site because they had been partially destroyed.

Insider has obtained before-and-after photos from the satellite technology firm Maxar, which show the dramatic destruction of the prized Foveran Links sand dunes between March 2010 and April 2021.
March 2010

Satellite images taken in March 2010 of Foveran Links show the dunes in their full unspoiled form:

Overview of the area where Donald Trump's Aberdeenshire golf course would be built, 

taken in March 2010. Satellite image © 2021 Maxar Technologies.

The site contained areas of mobile sand and dunes that were semi-fixed in position, as well as marshes, dune grassland, and low-lying areas called dune slacks, according to a government document designating Foveran Links as a site of special scientific interest.

A closer image of the dunes shows some of these features in more detail:

 A closer view of the area containing the sand dunes at Foveran Links where Donald Trump's Aberdeenshire golf course would be built. 

Satellite image © 2021 Maxar Technologies.

NatureScot, Scotland's conservation agency, said that Foveran Links was "a very high-quality example of a sand dune system characteristic of north east Scotland, and was of exceptional importance for the wide variety of coastal landforms and processes."

April 2021

Images taken of the course in April 2021 show how many of the sand dune features at the southern third of Foveran Links, where Trump's golf course was built, had been partially destroyed.

Here is a general overview of the area:

 An overview of the area containing Donald Trump's Aberdeenshire golf course and the destroyed sand dune ecosystem, taken in April 2021. Satellite image © 2021 Maxar Technologies

These side-by-side photos show a zoomed-in view of the 18-hole links course (right), along with what it looked like before the course was constructed (left):

Before-and-after photos of the coastal stretch of land where Donald Trump built his Aberdeenshire golf course. 

Satellite image © 2021 Maxar Technologies.

'They've just killed it as a natural environment'

Bob Ward, policy and communications director at LSE's Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, explained to Insider earlier this year how building on top of the dunes had resulted in their destruction.

"Sand dunes are a dynamic system, they're wind-driven, so they go backward and forwards," he said.

"Building a golf course on top means you can't have the dunes moving around, so they have to stabilize them. So they've essentially planted vegetation on top of them and put physical constraints on them so the dunes can't move and it's not a dynamic system anymore."

"The argument the Trump International Golf Links used was that they'd protected them by stabilizing them. But essentially what they've done is they've just killed it as a natural environment."

The Trump Organization did not respond to Insider's request for comment.

Uber Freight boss says 'we're living in shipping Armageddon,' and it's going to take the entire industry to fix it
insider@insider.com (Mary Hanbury) 

© Provided by Business Insider Containers stacked up at the Port of Los Angeles. 

AP Photo/Jae C. Hong

Uber Freight chief Lior Ron told CNBC that we've reached "shipping Armageddon."
Ron said it would require the entire industry to fix the crisis - there's no one single cure, he said.
Better wages may help to attract truckers turned off by the long-haul driving lifestyle, he said.

Uber's logistics boss says the "entire industry" must pull together if it wants to fix the shipping crisis.

In an interview with CNBC's Jim Cramer, Uber Freight chief Lior Ron said that we've reached "shipping Armageddon." The company was using its own technology to help tackle the problem, but only a sector-wide solution would work, he said.

"It really requires the entire industry because we are facing just unprecedented times," he said. "We're ordering more and more packages that we love to consume to our doorstep, but the supply chain is completely imbalanced ... the entire network is different."

Uber Freight, Uber's logistics arm, launched in 2017. In the same way as its core ride-hailing product works, Uber Freight acts as a middleman, providing an app to connect independent truck drivers with shippers that have cargo. Ron said that there were more than 1 million truck drivers using the app.

The global supply chain network is on its knees. After a fall in shipping demand during the early days of the pandemic in 2020, a surge at the end of that year led to delays, port traffic jams, and blockages across the supply chain. Now, containers are getting jammed up in ports because of both rising demand and a continuing shortage of dockworkers and truckers to unload them and take them to their destination.

Earlier this week, the White House stepped in, announcing plans to shift the clogged-up Port of Los Angeles to a 24-hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week schedule to help ease traffic. Retailers Walmart, Target, and Home Depot also announced extra working hours to shift their own stock from containers and help de-jam cluttered ports.

When asked whether better wages was the solution to the trucking problem, Ron said that it was an important element, but wouldn't resolve the problem on its own. Long-haul trucking has become less appealing to drivers, especially in the wake of the pandemic, he said.

"It's harder for them to be on the road and there is a better alternative in driving closer to home and doing last-mile delivery. We ask them to do more and more and maybe they don't want to even have to go on the road because they have to be stuck in facilities or have health concerns," he said.

International call for Myanmar to let envoy meet Suu Kyi

Issued on: 15/10/2021 

The military authorities have said they will not allow ASEAN special envoy Erywan Yusof to meet anyone currently on trial, which includes Suu Kyi 

Sydney (AFP)

Eight countries and the EU diplomatic chief on Friday urged the Myanmar junta to let a regional special envoy meet ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

The call comes as concerns grow over the military government's commitment to a "five-point consensus" agreed with regional bloc ASEAN to defuse the bloody crisis that erupted after Myanmar's February 1 coup.

ASEAN foreign ministers met virtually on Friday evening to debate whether to exclude Myanmar junta chief Min Aung Hlaing from an upcoming summit over his government's intransigence.

Brunei, which currently holds ASEAN's rotating chair, will issue a statement Saturday on the meeting's outcome, diplomatic sources said.

The military authorities have said they will not allow ASEAN special envoy Erywan Yusof to meet anyone currently on trial, which includes Suu Kyi.

In a joint statement, the United States, Britain, Australia, Canada, South Korea, New Zealand, Norway and East Timor say they are "deeply concerned about the dire situation in Myanmar" and urged Naypyidaw to "engage constructively" with the special envoy.

"We further call on the military to facilitate regular visits to Myanmar by the ASEAN Special Envoy, and for him to be able to engage freely with all stakeholders," said the statement, also endorsed by EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell.

This last phrase is an apparent reference to the junta refusing Yusof, who is also Brunei's second foreign minister, access to Suu Kyi.

In Washington, State Department spokesman Ned Price reiterated that Yusof should be allowed "a meaningful visit where he would be able to meet with all parties".

"We urge the regime to facilitate a visit by the special envoy," Price told reporters.

The State Department also announced that senior official Derek Chollet will head from Sunday to Indonesia, Singapore and Thailand, in part to address the crisis in Myanmar.

Rebuffing pressure, the Myanmar foreign ministry on Thursday insisted Yusof could not "go beyond the permission of existing laws" and urged him to focus on meeting government officials instead.

International pressure has so far had little impact on the junta, which launched a brutal crackdown on protests against its power grab that has so far killed nearly 1,200 civilians.

February's coup ended the country's brief dalliance with democracy after decades of army rule, though the army has pledged to hold elections by August 2023.

The military government, which calls itself the State Administration Council, has defended its actions pointing to alleged vote rigging in last year's election, won easily by Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy.

© 2021 AFP

 Climate activists resume weeklong protest at Capitol

By MATTHEW DALY and PADMANANDA RAMA


1 of 11

Climate and indigenous activists walk into the intersection of Pennsylvania and 3rd St NW during a climate change protest, Friday, Oct. 15, 2021, by the U.S. Capitol in Washington.

 (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)


WASHINGTON (AP) — Indigenous groups and other environmental activists marched to the Capitol Friday as they continued a weeklong protest demanding that Congress and the Biden administration stop new fossil fuel projects and act with greater urgency on climate change.

Nearly 80 people were arrested on the fifth day of the “People vs. Fossil Fuels” protest. That brings the total arrested during the week to more than 600, organizers said.

Under a banner declaring “We did not vote for fossil fuels,” activists pressed President Joe Biden to stop approving new pipelines and other fossil fuel projects and declare a climate emergency. Demonstrators urged members of Congress to “listen to the people” who sent them to Washington and take urgent action to phase out fossil fuels that contribute to global warming.

Capitol Police said 78 people were arrested on obstruction or crowding charges. Three of those arrested also were charged with assault on a police officer.

Speakers said Biden was not following through on his promises to act on climate change.

“It’s ridiculous. He promised, just like they’ve done in the past, ‘We’ll talk about it, we’ll bring it to the table.’ Where’s our seat?″ asked Isabelle Knife, 22, a member of the Yankton Sioux tribe of South Dakota.

“We haven’t had a seat. We haven’t been heard,″ Knife said. “It takes youth to be on the frontlines. It takes us to put our bodies on the line.”

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the administration was “listening to advocates and people who have been elevating the issue of climate for decades.″

Environmental activists “have important voices, and they’ve put climate on the front of the agenda when it wasn’t 10 years and 20 years ago,″ Psaki said Thursday.

She encouraged activists and anyone who supports action on climate change to look at Biden’s proposals in a bipartisan infrastructure bill and a larger Democratic-only plan to address social and environmental issues.

“He’s trying to push across the finish line ... an enormous investment and commitment to addressing the climate crisis,″ Psaki said. “That’s in his legislative agenda that’s currently working its way through Congress now. It doesn’t mean his climate commitment ends once he signs this into law; it just means that’s what our focus is on now, and it will have a dramatic, important impact.″

The Capitol protest followed a sit-in Thursday at the Interior Department in downtown Washington. Demonstrators clashed with police as they challenged pipelines and other fossil fuel projects and called for declaration of a climate emergency. More than 50 people were arrested.

An Interior Department spokeswoman said a group of protesters rushed the lobby, injuring at least one security officer who was taken to a nearby hospital. Police and protesters clashed outside the building, and officers used Tasers against several unarmed protesters, a spokeswoman for the protest group said.

Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, the first Native American Cabinet member, was traveling Thursday and was not in the building during the protest.

The protest was part of “a historic surge of Indigenous resistance” in the nation’s capital that started on Monday, Indigenous Peoples’ Day, outside the White House, said Jennifer Falcon, a spokeswoman for the Indigenous Environmental Network, a part of the coalition that organized the protest. More than 100 people were arrested as protesters linked arms and sat along the White House fence line to urge faster action to combat climate change.

The Andrew Jackson statue at the center of Lafayette Park across the street from the White House was defaced with the words “Expect Us” — part of a rallying cry used by Indigenous people who have been fighting against fossil fuel pipelines.

Protesters also climbed a flagpole outside the Army Corps of Engineers office, demanding a stop to Line 3, an oil pipeline upgrade that was recently completed in Minnesota. The pipeline will bring tar sands oil from Canada to Wisconsin.

“In November we made a choice to vote for a president who said he would be the climate president, who said he would stop pipelines, and right now we are seeing a betrayal from the White House and Congress,″ said Zanagee Artis, co-executive director of Zero Hour, a youth-led climate justice organization.

“We need climate action now. We are out of time to address this issue,“ Artis said, adding that he campaigned for Biden and called voters on his behalf.

“Black and brown people voted in droves″ for Biden, and young people voted in record numbers for a president who promised action on climate change, Artis said. Now Biden has the power to revoke permits for Line 3 and other pipelines “and he has not. He has the power to revoke fossil fuel leases and he has not.”

                                     

                 DEMONSTRATORS AT THE US CHAMBER OF COMMERCE BUILDING

Climate change demonstrators gather in Washington, D.C.(11 images)

Climate change demonstrators have gathered in Washington, D.C., this week to raise awareness about the issue. Here's a look at their demonstrations.

 Slide show  Thumbnails  View all

UN extends Haiti mission by nine months

Issued on: 16/10/2021 - 

Soldiers in Haiti in October 2021 Richard PIERRIN AFP

WHOSE SOLDIERS ARE THEY

United Nations (United States) (AFP)

The United Nations Security Council extended the UN mission in Haiti by nine months on Friday after an 11th-hour compromise was struck between western powers and China.

The council passed a resolution extending the mandate by less than the one-year that the United States had sought but more than the six months Beijing wanted.

The proposal was passed unanimously by 15 votes to zero.

The vote came shortly after 6:00 pm (2200 GMT), just hours before the political mission was due to expire, extending it to 15 July, 2022.

Haiti is currently in the grip of a deep political, economic, social and security crisis.

It has not had a sitting parliament for more than a year and a half amid disputes, with the country put under one-man rule by president Jovenel Moise, who was assassinated in July.

Beijing had signaled it would veto a US draft extending the mandate by a year.

China had drafted its own text proposing a six-month extension before Friday's latest iteration was agreed.

In the end, they agreed on nine months with a provision that the Secretary General would conduct an assessment after six months.

"BINUH" was established in October 2019 following the end of 15 years of UN peacekeeping operations and has been a frequent source of contention between Washington and Beijing.

Its mandate includes strengthening political stability and good governance.

China has frequently said that there should be no external solutions to Haiti's problems but UN diplomats say it wants to punish Haiti for its recognition of Taiwan.

Earlier this month, the UN Security Council accepted that Haiti's elections will be delayed until the second half of 2022.

The United States, the most influential foreign player in Haiti, had earlier pushed for elections to go ahead this year to restore democratic legitimacy amid a power vacuum.

Haiti's troubles, including a devastating earthquake, have led tens of thousands to flee, with images of horseback US border guards roughly rounding up Haitians generating outrage in the United States.

© 2021 AFP

Trump demands to be 'declared the winner' of 2020 race — or get a do-over election
Bob Brigham
October 15, 2021



Former President Donald Trump is pushing a new conspiracy theory while demanding to be either reinstated as president or get a do-over election.

The United States Constitution does not allow for either option, but facts have never seemed to matter when it comes to Trump pushing his "Big Lie" of election fraud.

Trump remains fixated on Arizona, which he lost to Joe Biden, but has changed his focus within the state. The controversial Cyber Ninjas "audit" of Maricopa County, the state's most populous county that includes Phoenix, failed to prove Trump's conspiracy theories of election fraud.

Now Trump has shifted his focus to Pima County, Arizona's second most populous which includes the county seat of Tuscon.

"A new analysis of mail-in ballots in Pima County, Arizona means the election was Rigged and Stolen from the Republican Party in 2020, and in particular, its Presidential Candidate. This analysis, derived from publicly available election data, shows staggering anomalies and fictitious votes in Pima County's mail-in returns, making it clear they stuffed the ballot box (in some precincts with more ballots than were ever sent!)," Trump claimed, even though there is no evidence that ballot boxes were stuffed.

Trump included charts from disgraced conspiracy theorist Shiva Ayyadurai, who was hired for the Maricopa audit even though he didn't understand the process.

"The Department of Justice has had this information since the November 2020 Election, and has done nothing about it. The Pima County GOP should start a canvass of Republican voters, in order to identify and remove the obvious fictitious voters from the system," Trump wrote.

"Either a new Election should immediately take place or the past Election should be decertified and the Republican candidate declared the winner," Trump said.

QUEBEC IS GOING TO BE PISSED

New electoral boundaries strip Quebec of a seat, gives Alberta 3 more

OTTAWA — Elections Canada says Quebec will lose one seat in the next redistribution of federal ridings in Canada

.

© Provided by The Canadian Press

Overall, the number of seats in the House of Commons will increase by four to 342 seats to reflect Canada’s growing population.

Alberta will gain three seats, Ontario one and British Columbia one, while the number of MPs in other province and territories, except Quebec, will remain unchanged.

Quebec's 78 MPs will be reduced to 77 — the first time since 1966 that a province has lost a seat during redistribution.

The number of ridings is adjusted every 10 years following the decennial census to reflect changes in population.

Elections Canada says the new electoral map will not be ready until 2024 at the earliest.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 15, 2021

Marie Woolf, The Canadian Press

BECAUSE IT HAD TO BE SAID; SHATNER TELETUBBIE

George Takei disses William Shatner's trip to space: 'He's boldly going where other people have gone before'

Taryn Ryder

·Writer, Yahoo Entertainment

Thu., October 14, 2021,

George Takei and William Shatner's decade-long feud continues. 

Takei threw shade at his former Star Trek co-star following Shatner's historic trip to space. When asked by Page Six what he thought about Shatner's ride on Blue Origin, Takei quipped, "He's boldly going where other people have gone before."

Star Trek's George Takei takes a jab at William Shatner's trip to space. (Photo: Getty Images)

"He's a guinea pig, 90 years old and it's important to find out what happens,” Takei, 84, added. The actors starred together on the original 1966 series.

"So 90 years old is going to show a great deal more on the wear and tear on the human body, so he'll be a good specimen to study," Takei continued. "Although he's not the fittest specimen of 90 years old, so he'll be a specimen that's unfit!"

Shatner is well aware his age made him the oldest person ever to go into space on Wednesday.

"I had to walk up that platform, I was exhausted. My muscles hurt from all this training, I'm aching, I'm in pain," the actor quipped on Thursday's CBS Mornings. "And I'm up there, and I'm saying, 'Holy s***, I am 90!'"

Shatner admitted to getting nervous before blastoff.

"You're lying back there and you know there's all this explosive material. And we know it's safe. They've made this, Blue Origin has made it safe. I want to emphasize that. So it's safe. But it's one thing to say it's safe, and it's another thinking 'Oh, I remember O-rings, and I remember explosions," he shared, admitting the feeling of being in G-force was an emotional experience.

"You're floating. Your gut is floating, your head is floating. The outside is, you're immersed in things that are indescribable," Shatner continued. "I was so moved. And what I wanted when I said I want to hold on to it, it's like a truth that suddenly comes to you. And you don't want to dissipate it. You don't want to lose it. You want to hold it for the rest of your life."

William Shatner says Prince William is 'missing the point' of space tourism

Charles Riley
CNN Digital
 Friday, October 15, 2021


William Shatner is firing a rhetorical rocket back at Prince William after the future king criticized space tourism.

Shatner, who blasted into space earlier this week on one of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos' rockets, said the prince has "got the wrong idea" by saying that solving problems on Earth should be prioritized over tourist trips to space.

"He's a lovely, gentle, educated man, but he's got the wrong idea," Shatner said during an interview with Entertainment Tonight. "The idea here is not to go, 'Yeah, look at me. I'm in space,'" Shatner added, claiming that trips such as his represent a "baby step" toward relocating polluting industries to space.

Related Stories
Prince William says great minds should focus on saving Earth not space travel

The 90-year-old "Star Trek" actor said that a power generating base could be constructed 400 kilometres above the Earth and used to supply homes and businesses below. "The prince is missing the point," he added.

"All it needs is... somebody as rich as Jeff Bezos [to say], 'Let's go up there.'"

Without mentioning names, William criticized billionaires focused on space tourism in an interview Thursday with the BBC, saying they should invest more time and money in saving Earth. Bezos, SpaceX boss Elon Musk and Virgin Galactic's Richard Branson are all taking tourists to space.

"We need some of the world's greatest brains and minds fixed on trying to repair this planet, not trying to find the next place to go and live," said the prince.

The second-in-line to the British throne stated that he had "absolutely no interest" in going to space. He also expressed concerns over the environmental impact of space tourism, saying there was a "fundamental question" over the carbon cost of space flights.

Shatner became the oldest person ever to travel to space when his vessel — a suborbital space tourism rocket built by Blue Origin — brushed the boundary of Earth's atmosphere and vaulted him into weightlessness. Shatner described the payoff of floating above the Earth as "profound."

The actor said that space travel is not something a person can understand until "you're up there and you see the black darkness, the ugliness."

"From our point of view, space is filled with mystery ... but in that moment, it is blackness and death. In this moment down here, as we look down, [Earth] is life and nurturing. That's what everybody needs to know," Shatner told CNN after his flight.



In this photo provided by Blue Origin, William Shatner, experiences weightlessness with three other passengers inside the Blue Origin capsule on Wednesday, Oct. 13, 2021. (Blue Origin via AP)