Tuesday, October 11, 2022

Michael Moore Suggests Media May Be ‘Too White or Too Male’ to See Dem ‘Tsunami’ Coming in Midterms
MEDIATE
Oct 11th, 2022, 


Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images

Michael Moore may have predicted a Donald Trump victory leading up to the 2016 presidential election, but the filmmaker is claiming now that he sees a Democrat “tsunami” coming in the midterms, one the media may be “too White or too male” to notice.

“Four weeks from TODAY, MAGA is about to get the whoopin’ of their lives,” Moore wrote on his website on Tuesday, sharing coverage from Salon on his “Midterm Tsunami of Truth.”

The “narrative” that the “party in power always loses the midterms” will soon be “put out to pasture in OK Boomerville,” Moore added.

Salon’s Sophia A. McClennnen highlighted some of Moore’s predictions in the Salon report, including that an “unprecedented tsunami of voters” will take to the polls during in the upcoming midterms and “nonviolently, legally, and without mercy remove every last stinking traitor to our Democracy.” Moore has been posting daily snack size arguments to back up his “tsunami” claim.

Moore is also not satisfied with the media where rigorous debates continue to occur about the prospects of both major political parties in multiple tight races in the midterms, one that could shift the balance of power in Congress to Republicans or more in the favor of Democrats.

The media, the Canadian Bacon and Bowling for Columbine director theorized, is too “overworked” or perhaps “too White” or “too male” to see what he sees coming.

“Much of what many in the media are telling you is patently false and just plain wrong,” Moore wrote. “They are simply regurgitating old narratives and stale scripts. They are either too overworked or too lazy or too white and too male to open their eyes and see the liberal/ left/progressive/working class and female uprising that is right now underway.”

Moore echoed his prediction of a Democratic Party “landslide” during a recent appearance on HBO’s Real Time, where host Bill Maher balked at the prediction, eventually telling him to “shut the fuck up” as Moore droned on and on about Democrats taking out the “traitors.”
WH Downplays Reported ‘Trepidation’ Over Biden’s Upcoming 80th Birthday Making Him First Octogenarian In Office

By Zachary LeemanOct 11th, 2022, 


Alex Wong/Getty Images

There is “trepidation” in the White House about President Joe Biden’s upcoming 80th birthday celebration, Politico reported Tuesday. Biden will become the first person to turn 80 while president on November 20.

Politico reported that those inside the White House are not “keen on having a blow-out celebration” amid criticism and concerns regarding Biden’s advanced age. Accusations that the president may be too old to be Commander in Chief were renewed recently when he appeared to publicly search for the recently-deceased congresswoman Jackie Walorski at an event.

From Politico:
White House aides are keenly aware of the storylines surrounding his age and are bracing for the inevitable news cycle. The topic has been met with some trepidation in the West Wing and senior aides have called around to Biden world allies to seek advice on how to best handle the date that will surely draw significant attention from reporters and Republicans alike.

White House spokesperson Andrew Bates touted Biden’s successes while in office in a statement to Politico about the reported “trepidation.”

“Like President Biden has said, anyone with questions about his age should just watch him: he has delivered record job creation, made NATO the strongest it has ever been, and amassed the most significant legislative record since [Lyndon B. Johnson] in less than half of one term,” he said. “I don’t have a comment about whether POLITICO is invited to his birthday.”

Citing sources close to the president, Politico reported Biden will likely not be having a massive celebration highlighting him turning 80. No plans are concrete yet ahead of the November date though, which will come only weeks after the midterm elections.

Concerns about Biden’s age mainly relate to whether he will run for reelection in 2024. If he does, he would not be leaving office until he’s 86. The president will reportedly have discussions about 2024 over the holiday season and make a final decision sometime early next year.
#KASHMIR IS #INDIA'S #GAZA
India’s prime minister says he has «solved» the «problem» in Kashmir


Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has claimed to have "solved" the "problem" in the disputed Kashmir region with Pakistan, sparking criticism from Islamabad, which said it was a "false and misleading" claim.


Archive - India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi - 
Michael Kappeler/dpa

Modi has given a speech in which he has veiled criticism of Jawaharlal Nehru -- who became the first person to hold the post of prime minister after independence in 1947 -- by claiming that the situation in Kashmir was managed "by a single person", causing the problem to fester.

Thus, the prime minister extolled the figure of Sardar Patel, India's deputy prime minister during part of Nehru's term, and has assured that he is "following in his footsteps." "Sardar persuaded the states to join India, but someone else managed the Kashmir issue," he stressed.

"I am following in the footsteps of Sardar, I have the values of Sardar's land and that is the reason I have solved the Kashmir issue. Therefore, I pay tribute to Sardar Patel," he said, as reported by Indian state news agency PTI.

In response, the Pakistani Foreign Ministry has "categorically" rejected Modi's remarks and said that these statements "reflect how far removed the Indian leadership is from the ground realities in occupied Kashmir".

Thus, he stressed in a statement published on its website that the situation in the region "is an internationally recognized dispute" and added that "the solution to it has been on the agenda of the United Nations since 1948".

"Despite clear UN resolutions on a free and impartial plebiscite for the final settlement of the dispute, India has not only illegally occupied the territory, but is guilty of gross violations of human rights and employs more than 900,000 troops of its brutal occupying force," he denounced.

In this regard, he stressed that "the fact remains that the people in occupied Kashmir continue to face the condemnable Indian occupation, which it seeks to perpetuate through malicious demographic shifts and heavy-handed tactics", before branding the "prepared visits" of Indian leaders and "so-called development projects" as a "façade of normalcy".

The Pakistani Foreign Ministry stressed that these actions "will not affect the spirit of Kashmiris fighting for freedom from the illegal Indian occupation and will not mislead the world", before calling on New Delhi to "fulfill its commitments to Kashmiris and the world and ensure that the Kashmiri people enjoy their inalienable right to self-determination".

"Pakistan has consistently asked the international community to assume its role and responsibility over occupied Kashmir and Indian atrocities in the occupied territory," he recalled, before calling on human rights organizations to "condemn India's state terrorism" in the region.

"The only solution to the Kashmir dispute is to ensure that Kashmiris can exercise their right to self-determination through the democratic method of holding a free and fair plebiscite, mediated by the UN, as provided for in the relevant UN Security Council resolutions and in line with the wishes of the Kashmiri people," he concluded.

Pakistan and India have clashed over it in two of the three wars they have fought since independence from the UK. In 1999 there was a brief but intense military confrontation between the two nuclear powers and since 2003 there has been a fragile truce.
GANG RAPE COVER UP
CEO Scott Smith leaves Hockey Canada, entire board steps down, called a ‘great step’ by MP

Sportsnet Staff - 

CEO Scott Smith, who came under fire for how Hockey Canada has handled allegations of sexual assaults by two Canadian world junior teams, has left the organization, it was announced Tuesday. All Hockey Canada board members have also agreed to step down “to make room for a new slate of directors.”

The announcement comes three days after interim Hockey Canada chair of the board Andrea Skinner tendered her resignation.

“I think this is an excellent indication that Hockey Canada is better understanding that change is required and the only question would be who is on the interim management committee and what new board will be elected,” Liberal MP and Heritage committee member Anthony Housefather wrote in an email to Sportsnet. “But this seems to be a great step.”

With the CEO and board members now departed, day-to-day operations will be handled by an interim management committee, although who was on that committee was uncertain. Hockey Canada said in a release it will have new board members elected “no later than the forthcoming virtual election scheduled for December 17, 2022. The Board will not seek re-election and will fulfil its fiduciary duties until such time as a new Board is elected.” This new board will be responsible for choosing a new CEO.

Two names mentioned by a source familiar with the operation of Hockey Canada as potential CEO replacements were former Team Canada members Danièle Sauvageau and Thérèse Brisson, both of whom have been mentioned in the past as good candidates to be the first female GM in the NHL. Sauvageau, 60, a long-time coach, was a member of the RCMP and the Montréal police force for 33 years. Brisson, 56, a former national team player who won six world championships and one Olympic gold medal, and is now the president and CEO of Alpine Canada.

While appearing at two Parliamentary hearings called to investigate Hockey Canada’s response to allegations of group sexual assaults by the 2003 and 2018 teams, Smith resisted calls by MPs from all four parties for his resignation.


Related video: Trudeau, sport minister call for Hockey Canada leadership change
Duration 8:50  View on Watch

“I’m prepared to take on this responsibility for change within our game,” Smith said during hearings in Ottawa on July 27, responding to a call to resign by committee member and Conservative MP John Nater. “I believe I’ve got the experience to do it.”

However, after a third hearing in Ottawa became contentious between Skinner and members of Parliament on the Heritage committee responsible for a portion of the organization’s funding, the calls for wholesale change grew louder.

Since last week’s hearing, almost all sponsors have permanently suspended further support of Hockey Canada, and eight provincial associations have suspended fee transfers and/or called for wholesale changes to the organization.

Smith, 55, had been with Hockey Canada since 1995, serving as vice president and chief operating officer. He took over on July 1 as president and CEO from Tom Renney, who left the organization in a previously decided retirement.

Previously, Smith, a native of Bathurst, N.B., served from 1991-95 as the executive director of the New Brunswick Amateur Hockey Association. He has a degree in education from the University of New Brunswick.

1 WOMAN 7 MEN

Stepping down as board members: Terry Engen of Eckville, Alta.; Kirk Lamb of Calgary; John Neville of Markham, Ont.; Barry Reynard of Kenora, Ont.; Bobby Sahni of Toronto; Mary Anne Veroba of Lampman, Sask.; and Goops Wooldridge of Milton Station, P.E.I. Previous board chair Michael Brind’Amour of Montreal stepped down in August.

–with files from Sportsnet’s Paul D. Grant

What to know ahead of this week’s Hockey Canada hearings© Provided by Sportsnet
Bauer pauses role as official equipment provider to Hockey Canada’s men’s teams


Sport minister says Hockey Canada leadership still must change after chair resigns
Second world war ‘Ghost Boat’ emerges in California lake, puzzling officials

Gabrielle Canon - Yesterday 


Waning water levels across the west – symptoms of the region’s record drought – have revealed yet another artifact.

Related: LA restricts water flow to wasteful celebrity mansions: ‘No matter how rich, we’ll treat you the same’

Dubbed the “Ghost Boat” by officials, the rusted carcass of a second world war Higgins boat, used to transport troops into battle and on to beaches overseas, began to emerge from the shallows in Lake Shasta last fall. Levels have sunk low enough this year to excavate the craft fully.

But how it ended up in California’s largest reservoir, buried in the depths for decades, is uncertain.

“The circumstance of its sinking remains a mystery,” US Forest Service officials with Shasta-Trinity national forest wrote in a Sunday morning Facebook post, including photos of the historic find perched atop dried cracked earth of the desiccated lakebed. Numbers painted along the boat’s ramp show that it was once assigned to the Attack Transport USS Monrovia, used as General George Patton’s headquarters in the Sicilian occupation in 1943.



“Eisenhower also was on this ship at that time, and it went on to a further six D-Day invasions in the Pacific,” officials said in the post, noting that it was reportedly used in the invasion of Tarawa and that it “sank in shallow water during that invasion”, but was later salvaged. Classified as an attack transport in 1943, the ship earned seven battle stars during the war, according to NavSource, a volunteer-run history site, but was sold for scrap in 1969.

Still, the fate of the USS Monrovia and its illustrious history does little to shed light on how the little Higgins boat went from the battles of Europe to the bottom of Lake Shasta. For now, it is on its way to a museum in Nebraska where experts will work to preserve it and restore a “weathered ‘combat fatigue look” before it is put on display.

The boat is just the latest in a series of peculiar finds pulled from the muck in receding waterways across the west. Another boat linked to the second world war was discovered in Lake Mead, the largest reservoir in the US, along with three sets of human remains that may be linked to mob murders.

Meanwhile, the drought is expected to worsen in the coming years, spurred by the climate crisis, that has put more pressure on declining water resources. Roughly half of the American west is categorized as in severe drought by the US Drought Monitor and researchers are concerned that there is little chance for a rainy season strong enough to offset the long periods of dryness.

There may be more mysteries that will emerge from the mud. For now, officials are trying to piece together the story of the Lake Shasta Ghost Boat.

“There is more to discover of its history and obviously its time on Shasta Lake,” they said. “It really is quite remarkable how it emerged from the lake with so many stories to tell.”
Sask. city councillor implicated in physical, emotional abuse allegations at private Christian school, church

Jason Warick - CBC-SASKATOON

LONG READ

The growing list of officials accused of physically and emotionally abusing children at a private Christian school and church in Saskatoon now includes a sitting city councillor.

The lawyer representing former Christian Centre Academy students says allegations against longtime councillor Randy Donauer are being added to the dozens of criminal assault complaints made to Saskatoon police.

"We're pushing forward on it," Saskatoon lawyer Grant Scharfstein said.

"If in fact he's done what [the students] are alleging, and I have no reason to disbelieve it, then yes, I think he has to be treated like everybody else."

Former student and church member Coy Nolin made a statement to police regarding Donauer and has shared it with CBC News. Nolin described an alleged "paddling" incident by Donauer at a church camp, as well as Donauer's actions afterward.

"I cried. [Donauer] waited till I stopped, then hugged me and we prayed," reads the statement.

Donauer declined interview requests, but emailed a statement to CBC News.

"My understanding is that a representative of the school will be making statements at some point about the school's current and previous practices, once the Statement of Claim has been received and reviewed with legal counsel," Donauer wrote, referencing the $25-million lawsuit recently filed by students against other officials.

"Personally, I do not expect to have any role in the court process given my conduct and I see no value in providing any further comments."

When CBC News received further details from students and shared them with Donauer, he again replied briefly by email.

"If there are rumours being shared about me, I vehemently deny any wrongdoing. If any legal claims involving me are made I will vigorously defend [against] them," Donauer wrote.



Two former students of the Christian Centre Academy, now called Legacy Christian Academy, say current Saskatoon city councillor Randy Donauer was one of roughly two dozen officials who emotionally and physically abused them. A lawsuit has been filed, and police are investigating criminal complaints from more than 40 students against various officials.
© Jason Warick/CBC

Earlier in the summer, Donauer admitted in an email to CBC News that Christian Centre Academy students were recruited during class time to campaign for the school's preferred political candidates. He admitted he received inappropriate endorsements during church services at the adjacent Saskatoon Christian Centre before his first election victory in 2010. Donauer also organized distribution of campaign materials for other politicians during church services.

But now students interviewed by CBC News say Donauer was also involved in the physical violence, and the culture of fear and intimidation. Two of them say Donauer was one of the officials who beat them with large wooden instruments, a practice known as "paddling." Other students told stories of a normally mild-mannered Donauer suddenly becoming enraged and threatening children during Sunday school or other events.

The school and church, still operating out of a building in Saskatoon's Lawson Heights neighbourhood, are now known as Legacy Christian Academy and Mile Two Church.

Donauer was not a teacher, but served various roles within the adjacent church. The students said that for many years, Donauer was the "enforcer" for former pastor Keith Johnson. Johnson wrote the child discipline manuals used by the school and church. Students and a staff member say Johnson demanded unquestioning obedience.

"Randy was in Keith's inner circle, his right hand," former student Christina Hutchinson said.

Donauer would "be all calm, but then just change. He could be so cruel," her sister, Stefanie Hutchinson, said.

Each summer, Christian Centre officials rented Living Waters Bible Camp, 100 kilometres north of Saskatoon, said former students Coy Nolin and Caitlin Erickson. In 2003, when they turned 14 years old, Nolin, Erickson and others were "volun-told" by church officials that they'd be working as camp counsellors, Erickson and Nolin said.

Donauer was one of the main officials overseeing the camp, Erickson said. She said that, like the other youth counsellors, she was not paid, even though she was a certified lifeguard and gave private swim lessons in addition to her counsellor duties.

In an interview, Nolin said he was accused one day of spreading a rumour about some of the campers. He said Donauer took him to the adult cabin and berated him.

"Then he made me bend over a chair," Nolin said.

Nolin said he knew what was coming next. He realized he was about to be hit with a large wooden paddle, just as he and other students say they had been paddled by other officials many times at school.

But Nolin said this incident with Donauer was particularly memorable because paddlings at school were done over a desk, a hard chair or the lap of a witness. This was a "cushy chair" that left him awaiting the punishment "at a weird angle."

Nolin said Donauer struck him hard three times with the hand-made implement similar to a cricket bat.

"Then we prayed after that. It's like it's out of love, but it's weird and creepy," Nolin said.

"It was even more awkward, too, because I was a teenager when that happened and because I was a counsellor, no one was involved or called until afterwards."

Nolin was not allowed to talk to Erickson for the remainder of the camp, but she said Nolin confided in her after returning to Saskatoon.

Nolin said this paddling, like those he received from other officials at school, left him crying, limping and sore.

He said it's not the worst violence he faced — that was the exorcism and paddling he said he endured as a 15-year-old at the hands of four other church and school officials trying to rid him of his "gay demon." But Nolin said it's important to hold everyone to account, especially those still in positions of power.

"I'm disgusted that [Donauer] has gotten to the point where they are political-wise," Nolin said. "It makes me sick, knowing what he's done."

Nolin's brother, Cody, wasn't paddled by Donauer, but said he and Coy would often talk about the paddlings and "brainwashing" they suffered from other officials before their family left the school following the exorcism in 2004. Like other students, it took them years to open up publicly.



Coy Nolin and another former Christian Centre Academy student say current Saskatoon city councillor Randy Donauer physically and emotionally abused them. Dozens of students have come forward with allegations against more than 20 other officials following a CBC News investigation.© Travis Reddaway/CBC

Cody said that when Coy's story was featured in the first CBC News story on the school earlier this month, it gave Cody and others the courage to do the same.

"I'm so proud of him," Cody said.

Another former student told CBC News that Donauer also paddled them.

The student spoke on condition their name would not be used. They said they fear damaging their relationship with close relatives who are still Mile Two Church members. They also said the relatives would face repercussions from the church.

The student said Donauer paddled them nearly a dozen times.

"I just happened to be what they considered a disobedient child and got in trouble a lot. Randy Donauer was almost always involved in the disciplining," they said. "He alone was responsible for the majority of the abuse I received."

Donauer and another woman would take the child into a basement room during Sunday school or other events, the person said.

The female official would pray in unintelligible sounds known as "speaking in tongues" and hold them down while Donauer administered the paddling, the former student said.

"I remember it clearly. Sometimes they would take my pants…off in order to make the discipline even more painful," they said.

Other students say they weren't hit by Donauer but were afraid of him, in part because he was willing to do anything for Pastor Keith Johnson.

"If Keith was angry, so was Randy. If Keith wanted someone kicked out, Randy would do it. If Keith said the building was too cold, Randy would find someone to turn up the heat. If Keith didn't like what someone was saying, Randy would go tell them to be quiet," Stefanie Hutchinson said.

Hutchinson and Cody Nolin both said they clearly remember one particular Sunday school service overseen by Donauer and others. Halfway through one song, Donauer stopped the children, they said. Hutchinson said Donauer became "all red-faced" and started yelling at them to sing louder. They said Donauer told them they weren't putting their hearts into it.

"He became unhinged. He was screaming at us. It was terrifying," Nolin said.

He said Donauer ended his rant by threatening, "If you don't do it, I will paddle every one of you."

They said no one doubted Donauer's sincerity. The children sang as loudly as they could and no punishment was administered.

When a CBC News investigation first published multiple allegations of child physical and emotional abuse, solitary confinement and exorcisms at the school and church earlier this month, Donauer posted a response on Twitter.

"I denounce abuse of any kind and encourage anyone who has been abused to contact the police immediately," Donauer tweeted on Aug. 2.

Since then, the number of students filing criminal complaints against various officials has more than doubled, to 40, according to the Saskatoon Police Service email this week.

The students' lawyer, Grant Scharfstein, said 50 students have signed on to the proposed $25-million class action lawsuit. Donauer was not initially named as one of the nearly two dozen civil defendants, but court documents state the list is not exhaustive and that more names could be added as more students tell their stories.

Scharfstein said they intend to add Donauer as a defendant in the coming weeks. Scharfstein said other officials are being implicated as more students come forward. When all new information has been compiled, they plan to add these new names to the lawsuit through a single amendment, he said.

Students interviewed say it has been incredibly stressful to speak publicly about the abuse they suffered, but it's even harder to name Donauer and others still in positions of power.

"Going against Randy has somehow been even more difficult," Coy Nolin said.

In the emailed interview request sent earlier this month, CBC News asked Donauer, "Have you ever paddled a child connected to your roles (in the church or school)? If so, please provide dates and all details. If not, were you aware that this practice continued to occur there after the January 2004 Supreme Court ruling (banning all corporal punishment by officials), according to multiple students and the former youth pastor?"

Donauer declined to respond directly, instead saying, "I do not expect to have any role in the court process given my conduct."

Erickson, the Hutchinsons and other students describe bringing home waivers for their parents to sign that would allow school officials to continue paddling them after it was outlawed by the Supreme Court. They also say they were told to call paddlings "time outs" if any police or outsiders asked about them after January 2004.

None of the allegations against officials have been tested in criminal or civil court. But the church's former youth pastor, Garrett Davis, told CBC News last month he witnessed many traumatic incidents, and the "cult-like" environment described by students is "100 per cent true."

In Donauer's earlier emailed response, where he admitted to inappropriate political activity, Donauer distanced himself from former pastor Keith Johnson.

"I have NO relationship with Keith Johnson," Donauer said in an email. "We are estranged and have been for many years. Our relationship was toxic for several years prior to his departure because my views are in direct opposition to his on many things."

Keith Johnson, who left Saskatoon a decade ago and is believed to now be preaching in the southern U.S., could not be reached for comment.

Keith Johnson's son, Brien, is now the head pastor at Mile Two Church.

"I have a healthy relationship with Brien," Donauer wrote. "He is my Pastor and a friend. He has worked hard to take the church in a drastically different direction than Keith, and to create a healthy environment and to welcome reconciliation with those that Keith hurt, both inside and outside the congregation. He has been a catalyst for change."

Brien Johnson and other current church and leaders have promised at various points to do interviews with CBC News, but then declined. In emails, they said they will comply fully with any investigation and encouraged anyone who "feels" they were abused to contact police.

They also made three central points: that no paddling has occurred there in more than two decades, that exorcisms have never been performed at the school and that they have apologized multiple times to victims.

More than a dozen students interviewed said that based on their experiences, all three of those claims are false. They said no one has apologized to them, that paddling was common practice well after the 2004 Supreme Court of Canada ban on corporal punishment by any officials, and that exorcisms did happen at school and elsewhere.

They also pointed to a recent sermon by Brien Johnson, posted on the church's own social media, in which Johnson says some of the abuse allegations are "exaggerated."

The former students say this all shows the continuing efforts to "gaslight" traumatized students and deny responsibility.

Former students, provincial Opposition NDP Leader Carla Beck and others are calling on the Saskatchewan Party provincial government to shut down the school or at least suspend its $700,000 in annual public funding. Instead, Education Minister Dustin Duncan appointed administrators to oversee Legacy and two other private Christian schools where people named in the students' lawsuits were now working.

Saskatoon police are encouraging any other students who believe they were abused to contact them. Some of the files have already been investigated and passed to Crown prosecutors to decide if charges are warranted. Students are still eligible to sign on to the lawsuit, and there's no time limit on filing criminal complaints for assaults on children.

Scharfstein said Donauer and those in positions of power should be treated no differently than any other citizens.

"I mean, all sorts of people involved in this have gone on to other careers," Scharfstein said. "But if they did what's being alleged that they did, they'll have to deal with the justice system."




BRAUN: Humans to blame for this summer's spate of coyote attacks

Liz Braun - Yesterday - Toronto Sun


Unfortunately, people continue to feed animals, sometimes without even knowing it — by not securing their food garbage, for example.


There are coyotes hanging out in several Mississauga school yards.

There have been a half-dozen coyote attacks in Burlington this year, and police are warning Scarborough residents about a pair of potentially aggressive coyotes.

How did we get here?

And how do we get back to coexisting peacefully with these wild animals?

The first part is easy: humans feeding wildlife is how we got here.

Unfortunately, people continue to feed animals, sometimes without even knowing it — by not securing their food garbage, for example.

Human feeding is the source of almost every unpleasant interaction between humans and coyotes.

According to wildlife organization Coyote Watch Canada , situations like the coyote attacks in Burlington are entirely preventable.

Coyote Watch Canada was not the only animal advocacy group urging that city to take action over wildlife feeding in its parks and green spaces.

But the feeding continued. Now Burlington has shot and killed four coyotes.

And killing those animals does absolutely no good unless the feeding of wildlife stops.

Anyone who has trained a dog with treats knows how food rewards can alter animal behaviour. As Coyote Watch Canada states:

“The chronic feeding of wildlife, and particularly coyotes, has taught wildlife to approach people with an expectation of a food reward.”

Lesley Sampson, executive founding director of Coyote Watch Canada, has delivered the message about not feeding wildlife for many years.

Sampson is known for her educational sessions on coyotes and for her investigations, when municipalities with coyote issues call on her.

In a recent interview, Sampson said the situation with coyotes is straightforward.

“ It’s the feeding of wildlife. The heart of the matter is what we do as humans. People must understand how their behaviour manipulates wildlife,” said Sampson.

Feeding squirrels in the park, keeping a bird feeder in your yard — these seemingly innocuous gestures are all part of the problem.

Bunnies and squirrels (and rats) come to your garden to eat the seed that falls to the ground from a bird feeder.

Those little mammals attract larger predators, like foxes and coyotes. The bird feeder also attracts the notice of larger birds of prey.

“Nobody should have a bird feeder right now. There’s a serious issue with HPAI — Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza — and the federal government has said they don’t want congregations of birds,” insisted Sampson.

There are other food sources. Homeless people living rough in urban ravines and parks bring human food into the animals’ habitat.

“How do we return to reverence and respect for wild life? There’s been an uptick in complaints about foxes, too,” said Sampson. “People want them killed as well.”

Coexisting with coyotes and other wild animals is entirely possible, she added.

“We’re working toward creating informed citizens and enforcing the bylaws that are in place for a reason. There’s a fine for people feeding animals.

“What’s involved is common sense, and for the coyote, aversion conditioning — a way of shaping their behaviour and presenting opportunities for them to learn that there are boundaries.”

And it works.

“I’ve never met a coyote who did not respond,” said Sampson.

Even in a case last year with coyotes in a Scarborough cemetery — chronic feeding was the culprit — it worked.

“Animal services was involved and everyone came together and worked collaboratively to restore calm to the landscape.”

People who feed wild animals should not be surprised when the animal shows demand behaviour — a bite or similar action. Then all hell breaks loose, thanks to what Sampson calls a cruel “environment of betrayal” for the animal.

“Coyotes are excellent hunters and foragers. They don’t need our help. They live in the wild. They are their own nation and culture.

“They don’t need the confusing message of people feeding them.”

‘Global financial meltdown’: GOP plans ‘catastrophic default’ if Dems don’t cut Social Security and Medicare, critics warn

David Badash,
 The New Civil Rights Movement
October 11, 2022

Social Security Cards and Money (Shutterstock)

Top House Republicans are planning to threaten to shut down the U.S. Government by refusing to raise the debt ceiling next year in a scheme to force Democrats to cut Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, should they win the House in November critics warn, pointing to a Bloomberg report.

"Social Security and Medicare eligibility changes, spending caps, and safety-net work requirements are among the top priorities for key House Republicans who want to use next year's debt-limit deadline to extract concessions from Democrats," Bloomberg Law reports. "The four Republicans interested in serving as House Budget Committee chairman in the next Congress said in interviews that next year's deadline to raise or suspend the debt ceiling is a point of leverage if their party can win control of the House in the November midterm elections."

U.S. Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA), chair of the Joint Economic Committee Democrats, an advisory committee created by law, blasted House Republicans, warning they "plan to hold the U.S. economy hostage with the threat of a catastrophic default to try to force cuts to Social Security and Medicare."

Aaron Fritschner, former Deputy Chief of Staff to Rep. Beyer tweeted: "House Republicans saying out loud that holding the debt limit hostage to demands for cuts to Social Security and Medicare is a 'top priority.'"

"If Republicans regain control of Congress, they are planning to threaten a global financial meltdown if they don't get their way on cutting Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid," writes Media Matters for America's senior fellow Matthew Gertz.

"If Republicans regain power, they are coming for your Social Security and Medicare," he adds.

"The Republican plan to fight inflation is to cut Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid," writes journalist and former Vox editor and co-founder Matthew Yglesias.

"Extreme MAGA Republican leaders openly threatening to cause economic catastrophe in order to achieve their dreams of slashing Medicare, Medicaid & Social Security," is how Speaker Nancy Pelosi's communications director, Henry Connelly, responds.
IT'S NOT
U.S. Supreme Court declines to hear case of whether a fetus is a 'person'

Sarah K. Burris
October 11, 2022

US Supreme Court (supreme.justia.com)

One of the conversations that has started since the Supreme Court decided to eliminate Roe v. Wade is the argument of "personhood" and whether or not a fetus is considered a person and at what stage of development it becomes a "person." Tuesday, the Supreme Court said that they weren't going to take it up just yet.

In Texas, one woman has been using the carpool lane arguing that because she is pregnant, there are two people in her car. She's actually won protests of tickets as a result.

The idea of "personhood" brings up a lot of legal questions. Would it change the age of everyone, meaning people could qualify for Social Security and Medicare sooner? Could 15-year-olds demand driver's licenses sooner? Can families on assistance declare the fetus in requests for aid? Would parents-to-be declare the dependents on their taxes before they're even born?

The Supreme Court said that they wouldn't hear the case. In their Dobbs decision ruling, they said that the issue of abortion should be left up to the states. Taking on the personhood issue would be the federal government making that decision across the board. But it's going to cause issues, particularly when it comes to declaring dependents on taxes.“

This Court should grant the writ to finally determine whether prenatal life, at any gestational age, enjoys constitutional protection – considering the full and comprehensive history and tradition of our Constitution and law supporting personhood for unborn human beings,” the anti-choice petitioners wrote in their request for the High Court.

But the court declined to weigh in and didn't comment on why.

In court on Tuesday, the Justices were dealing with an interstate commerce issue over whether California can have standards for pork that other states do not and if those other states have to abide by the California requirements to sell to California. While the issue is about pork and the treatment of pigs and abuse of animals, the issue is also about abortion. It begs the question of whether a state can ban one of its citizens from going to another state for an abortion.
WHITE SUPREMACIST NOT AN APOLOGIST
Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville won’t back down from comments that reparations for slavery reward criminals

Dave Goldiner - Yesterday 

Republican U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville from Alabama has refused to apologize for saying that Democrats want reparations for slavery because “they think the people that do the crime are owed that.”

The right-wing GOP lawmaker has not responded to howls of outrage over the racist remark falsely equating Black people with criminals that he made Saturday at a raucous rally for former President Donald Trump in Nevada.

“Tuberville’s comments are flat out ignorant, racist and utterly sickening,” said NAACP President Derrick Johnson said in a statement. “His words promote a centuries old lie about Black people.”
“This racist rant at a MAGA rant just cannot go uncalled out,” said former Sen. Doug Jones (D-Ala.), who lost his reelection fight to Tuberville. “(I am) embarrassed for the state of Alabama.”

“It’s a white nationalist appeal that harkens back to a really dark time in the United States, a really dark time in Alabama,’ Jones added.

Rep. Mondaire Jones (D-N.Y.) denounced Tuberville for making “deeply white supremacist comments.”

The Rev. Al Sharpton called Tuberville’s comments “patently racist,” as well as “offensive and insulting to all Americans, Black and white.”

Tuberville, the former Auburn University football coach, made the outrageous claim at a Saturday evening campaign rally in Nevada featuring his political mentor Trump.



Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., speaks with reporters about the midterm primary elections at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, May 24, 2022.
© J. Scott Applewhite

Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., speaks with reporters about the midterm primary elections at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, May 24, 2022. (J. Scott Applewhite/)

Without offering any evidence, Tuberville accused Democrats of promoting crime to “control what you have” and punctuated his claim by branding calls for reparations “bulls--t.”

“They want crime. They want crime because they want to take over what you got,” Tuberville bellowed at the crowd. “They want reparation because they think the people that do the crime are owed that.”

Tuberville did not mention the controversy or dial back the attack in a tweet lauding the rally as a “fantastic night.”

Alabama state Rep. Chris England, a former state Democratic chairman, said the remarks showed Tuberville’s true colors.

“The bulls--t is that this guy is a United States senator in the first place,” England tweeted.


U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., is introduced at a rally for former President Donald Trump at the Minden Tahoe Airport in Minden, Nev., Saturday, Oct. 8, 2022. Tuberville says that Democrats support reparations for the descendants of enslaved people because “they think the people that do the crime are owed that.”© Provided by New York Daily News

U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., is introduced at a rally for former President Donald Trump at the Minden Tahoe Airport in Minden, Nev., Saturday, Oct. 8, 2022. Tuberville says that Democrats support reparations for the descendants of enslaved people because “they think the people that do the crime are owed that.” (José Luis Villegas/)


Besides being offensive, Tuberville’s claims are demonstrably false. FBI data shows crime has slowed in the last year and most crimes are committed by whites.

Moreover, Democrats have not backed reparations for Black Americans to compensate for years of unpaid slave labor by their ancestors, although progressives have pressured the party to do so.

Reaction to Tuberville’s remarks was shockingly muted among Republicans, with no fellow GOP senators stepping up to denounce him.

Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.), a relative moderate who is locked in a tight reelection race in his Omaha-based seat, Sunday said the remarks were poorly worded. But he refused to condemn Tuberville’s rant.

“That’s not the way I present things,” Bacon said on “Meet the Press” on NBC. “But got to be honest that we have a crime problem in our country.”