SOMEONE IS  CONFUSEDTrump Now Claims Biden-Harris Are Both ‘Fascist’ and Antifa

FASCIST: 

PUT THEM ALL IN JAIL 

ANTI FASCIST: 

FREE ALL PRISONERS

Matt Wilstein,
The Daily Beast•August 17, 2020

BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI

For months now, President Donald Trump has been trying to tie Joe Biden to the amorphous protest movement known as antifa—short for “anti-fascist.” Now, he’s calling the former vice president and his running mate “fascist.” 

Speaking to supporters on a tarmac in Mankato, Minnesota on Monday, just a few hours before the virtual Democratic National Convention was set to begin, President Trump appeared to be reading off of a TelePrompter when he said that the Biden-Harris administration would “replace American freedom with left-wing fascism.” 

“Left-wing, we’re going left-wing all the way,” Trump continued, now ad-libbing. “Fascists! They are fascists! Some of them, not all of them, but some of them. But they’re getting closer and closer. We have to win this election.”

MOMENTS AGO: President Trump says Biden-Harris victory will usher in "left-wing fascism." pic.twitter.com/zJwlDLbfOl

— The Hill (@thehill) August 17, 2020

RIGHT WING TROPE USED BY FOLKS WHO SAY HITLER WAS A SOCIALIST
Beyond Trump’s tendency to project the criticism that is thrown his way, using the term “fascist” to describe his political opponents would appear to be a sharp turn for the president, who has been trying to link the Democrats to antifa for quite some time.


Back in June, The Daily Beast reported that the Trump campaign’s 2020 playbook aimed to paint Biden as “sympathetic to left-wing violence” and noted that amidst the George Floyd protests Trump had “done everything short of saying the former VP is a card-carrying member of the antifa.”

This past week, after the domain Antifa.com started redirecting to Joe Biden’s official campaign website as part of an apparent prank, President Trump called on the Democratic ticket to denounce the group during his daily briefing.

“I think they’re afraid to,” Trump said. “In my book, it’s virtually part of their campaign, Antifa.”
So in Trump’s book, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are both “fascist” and “anti-fascist.” Either that or he doesn’t know what antifa means. 

HE HAS NO CLUE SHIT JUST COMES OUT OF HIS MOUTH

SURPRISE!

Portland police declared riot, use smoke to clear crowdON SUNDAY 

Associated Press•August 15, 2020

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A riot was declared in Oregon's biggest city as protesters demonstrated outside a law enforcement building early Sunday, continuing a nightly ritual in Portland.

Officers used crowd control munitions to disperse the gathering outside the Penumbra Kelly building. Eleven people were arrested.

Protesters had thrown “softball size” rocks, glass bottles and other objects at officers, police said on Twitter. The department also said security cameras had been spray painted and other vandalism occurred. Two police officers were treated at the hospital after being hit by rocks, authorities said.

The actions came after what started as a peaceful protest, with demonstrators chanting “take it to the streets!”

Saturday afternoon, a rally by a small group of far-right demonstrators quickly devolved as they traded paint balls and pepper spray with counter-protesters.

About 30 people were participating in the Patriot Prayer rally in front of the Multnomah County Justice Center. KOIN-TV initially reported that several were armed with automatic weapons, but later said it was unclear what type of weapons were involved.

The group clashed with counter-protesters through downtown streets, and some counter-protesters blocked the exit of a garage where several Patriot Prayer members had parked.

A KOIN photojournalist reported hearing at least two gunshots at the garage. Police said in a statement that “a person allegedly fired a gun." Portland police Lt. Greg Pashley told The Oregonian/OregonLive that the department would investigate.

Earlier in the day, police said they made four arrests overnight as they dispersed a protest that was headed toward the offices of the police union.

The bureau declared the demonstration of a couple hundred people an unlawful assembly Friday night, saying people were throwing fireworks, golf balls and chunks of concrete at officers. Some of those in crowd wore the word “press” on the outside of their clothing “as cover,” police said.

Officers said they used crowd control munitions and smoke but no CS tear gas to disperse the crowd. The Oregonian/Oregon Live reports officers also pushed and shoved people, and used pepperballs.

Demonstrations, often violent, have happened nightly in Portland for more than two months following the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police. Participants have repeatedly broken into the offices of the Portland Police Association, vandalized them and set fires

PENGUINS IN SPACE

Scientists Just Discovered 11 New Emperor Penguin Colonies. From Space.

Courtney Linder, Popular Mechanics•August 17, 2020

credit: European Commission’s Copernicus Sentinel-2 satellite

From Popular Mechanics


Using satellite imagery, researchers from the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) discovered 11 new Emperor penguin colonies.


That brings the total number of Emperor penguin colonies in Antarctica to 61.


The team published its results in the journal Remote Sensing in Ecology and Conservation.

What could possibly be better than the Emperor penguin, a black-tie wearing, badass bird? How about emperor penguins seen from space?

Researchers at the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) located 11 new colonies of the magnificent flightless birds through satellite images from the European Commission's Copernicus Sentinel-2. Scientists previously identified three of those colonies—but hadn't yet confirmed their existence—while the other eight groups were a total revelation.

Dive deeper. ➡ Read best-in-class science, tech, and space features, and get unlimited access to Pop Mech , starting now.


That brings the total number of Emperor Penguin colonies in Antarctica up to 61, the researchers say in their new paper, published in the journal Remote Sensing in Ecology and Conservation. That's both good and bad news.

"This represents an increase of ~20 percent in the number of breeding sites, but, as most of the colonies appear to be small, they may only increase the total population by around five to 10 percent," they say in the paper's abstract. That humble increase in colonies brings the total number of breeding pairs up to 278,500, or just about 557 million penguins.

Photo credit: European Commission’s Copernicus Sentinel-2 satellite

Still, the breakthrough is significant because it represents a technological step forward in the identification of new Emperor breeding sites. Typically, scientists with the BAS, a U.K.-based research center devoted to the Polar regions, search for new colonies by looking for guano stains (read: poop) on the ice. This has been the case for the last 10 years.

Even then, locating the birds can be arduous for scientists, not only because the temperatures at the breeding sites are as low as -58 degrees Fahrenheit, but also because the locations are along remote patches of sea ice, which are often inaccessible.

Because Emperors favor breeding habitats situated near carpets of sea ice, the new colonies are especially vulnerable to rising temperatures as a result of climate change.

Photo credit: British Antarctic Survey

"Whilst it's good news that we've found these new colonies, the breeding sites are all in locations where recent model projections suggest emperors will decline," Phil Trathan, head of conservation biology at BAS, said in a prepared statement. "Birds in these sites are therefore probably the 'canaries in the coalmine'—we need to watch these sites carefully as climate change will affect th

CHRISTIAN CULTISTS
Thousands of South Korea church members quarantined over virus

August 17, 2020 By Agence France-Presse

South Korea's 'trace, test and treat' approach has been held up as a global model but the country is still battling virus clusters linked to religious groups 

Jung Yeon-je AFP/File

Thousands of Protestant church members in Seoul have been asked to quarantine, South Korean authorities said Monday, as the country battles virus clusters linked to religious groups.The country’s “trace, test and treat” approach has been held up as a global model in how to curb the virus.

But over the weekend the capital and neighboring Gyeonggi province — between them home to nearly half the population — banned all religious gatherings and urged residents to avoid unnecessary travel after a burst of new cases sparked fears of a major second wave

South Korea reported 197 new cases on Monday, taking its total to 15,515, its fourth consecutive day of triple-digit increases after several weeks with numbers generally in the 30s and 40s.

The largest current cluster is centered on the Sarang Jeil Church in Seoul, headed by a controversial conservative pastor who is a leading figure in protests against President Moon Jae-in.

A total of 315 cases linked to the church had been confirmed so far, officials said Monday, making it one of the biggest clusters so far, and around 3,400 members of the congregation had been asked to quarantine.

Around one in six of the church members tested so far had been positive, “requiring rapid testing and isolation,” said vice health minister Kim Gang-lip.

But a list of members provided by the church was “inaccurate”, he said, making the testing and isolation procedure “very difficult”.

The initial outbreak of the virus in the South was centered on the Shincheonji Church of Jesus, which is often condemned as a cult and was also accused of obstructing investigators.

Sarang Jeil’s leader Jun Kwang-hun was among the speakers who addressed thousands of right-wing protestors who rallied against Moon’s centre-left government in the heart of Seoul at the weekend, despite the outbreak and calls to avoid large gatherings.

The health and welfare ministry and the Seoul city authorities have filed two separate police complaints against Jun, accusing him of deliberately hindering efforts to contain the epidemic

The leader of Shincheonji — to which more than 5,000 cases were linked — Lee Man-hee was arrested earlier this month for allegedly giving inaccurate records of church gatherings and false lists of its members to health authorities.

© 2020 AFP


Controversial South Korean pastor accused of staging 'unpardonable' rally amid surge in Covid cases
Harriet Alexander,The Telegraph•August 16, 2020

South Korea

A controversial South Korean pastor has been strongly criticised for leading thousands of followers to a rally in central Seoul on Saturday - a move which President Moon Jae-in called "an unpardonable act" amid the sharpest rise in coronavirus cases in five months.

South Korea initially performed well in the fight against Covid-19, but the number of new cases has soared recently, with 279 new cases on Sunday - following 103 on Friday, and 166 on Saturday.

The surge in Covid-19 cases prompted authorities on Sunday to reimpose tighter social distancing curbs in the Seoul metropolitan area.

Most of the new infections were among worshipers at the Sarang Jeil Church in Seoul, where 240 people have tested positive, and at another church in the surrounding province of Gyeonggi.


Tightly packed, fervent prayer services in some South Korean churches have made them particularly vulnerable to the virus.
Rally

Rev. Jun Kwang-hoon, 64-year-old leader of the Sarang Jeil Church and an outspoken government critic, used Saturday's rally, organized by another anti-government conservative group, to claim that the outbreak in his church had been caused by a “terrorist” attack aimed at crippling its political activism.

“They poured the virus on our church,” he said during the rally, which drew thousands of elderly worshipers, many not wearing face masks.

The Seoul city government had banned the rally and temporarily shut down Mr Jun's church, citing fears that a large gathering would help spread the virus. 

More than 4,000 members of Mr Jun’s church were also ordered to self-isolate for two weeks and test for the virus.

The pastor ignored the order, and was accused on Sunday of violating self-isolation rules by participating in the rally.

He was also accused of “obstructing” epidemiological investigation by failing to submit a full list of church members for testing and tracing.

The Seoul city government said it would sue Mr Jun for his actions. Mr Moon on Sunday called their participation in the rally an “unpardonable act.”

“Many of those who needed to be in self-isolation turned out in street protests, raising the serious possibility that they have spread the virus to protesters who came from around the country,” he said on his Facebook page. 

“This is a clear challenge against the disease-prevention system of the state and an unpardonable act against the safety of the people.”

Another Christian sect, Shincheonji Church of Jesus, was at the centre of the country’s largest outbreak of Covid-19infections in February. 

The secretive group was linked to 36 per cent of South Korea’s total cases, and on August 1, South Korean authorities arrested its founder, Lee Man-hee, for allegedly hiding crucial information from contact-tracers.

Kwon Jun-wook, a deputy director of the government’s Central Disease Control Headquarters, warned on Saturday of “early signs of a large-scale resurgence of the virus.”

Over the weekend the government tightened social-distancing rules in Seoul and Gyeonggi Province, which have a combined population of roughly 20 million people. 

Under the new rules, spectators will be barred from professional baseball and football games. 

The authorities have emphasised that they also have the power to ban large gatherings and shut down high-risk facilities such as karaoke rooms, nightclubs and buffet restaurants if they fail to enforce heightened preventive measures, including temperature checks, keeping rosters of all visitors and requiring them to wear masks.

Families in rural Guatemala flee after armed group sets homes on fire
Sofia Menchu, Reuters•August 16, 2020

GUATEMALA CITY (Reuters) - Forty indigenous families occupying farmland have fled their homes in north Guatemala after an armed group set fire to several residences, a land rights group said on Sunday.

The families belong to the Q'eqchi' indigenous group and are former workers of the Cubilgüitz coffee farm laid off 15 years ago without full severance, Guatemala's Committee of Peasant Unity (CUC) said.

Since then, they have demanded land as compensation and occupied part of the farm in protest, CUC representative Maria Josefa Macz said.


"Last night, the 40 families were forced to leave their homes, their belongings and residences were looted, similar to the 1980s," the CUC said in a statement, referring to some of the bloodiest years of Guatemala's Civil War when villages often were burned.

It was not clear who was behind the attack. However, a little over a year ago, another group of people began to occupy the land and intimidate the former workers, the CUC said.

Guatemala's President Alejandro Giammattei said on Twitter he was concerned about the incident and authorities were investigating.

The indigenous families live on land belonging to Dorothee Dieseldorff, whose family founded the coffee brand Dieseldorff Kaffee.

"The phenomenon being experienced at present is a conflict between different groups of invaders of the farms, who are confronting one another," the family said in a statement.

The statement also said the CUC's description of the situation was false and slanderous, and that its farm was not involved in any current labor disputes.

The statement said its farm and three others in the Cubilgüitz area were occupied as early as March 2019 and as recently as April 2020.

The UN High Commission for Human Rights has raised alarm over an increase in killing of mainly indigenous rights defenders in Guatemala. In a report last year it counted 39 such killings in 2017 and 2018 combined.

A police report said the armed group threatened officers who attempted to enter the area on Saturday night, and noted that six homes were "completely burned".

(Reporting by Sofia Menchu, Writing by Daina Beth Solomon; Editing by Nick Zieminski and Edwina Gibbs)

Death Valley hits 130 degrees as temperature records fall across California

Rebecca Falconer AXIOS


Death Valley National Park, California. Photo: David McNew/Getty Images

A Southern Californian thermometer at Death Valley's Furnace Creek reached 130 degrees Fahrenheit on Sunday, AUGUST 16, 2020 per the National Weather Service (NWS).

Why it matters: If verified, it would be Earth's hottest temperature since at least 1931, the most scorching August day on record and the third-highest temperature ever recorded, per the Washington Post. Records were broken across California over the weekend, as the heat wave triggered wildfires and rolling power outages.

Of note: The highest temperature ever recorded on Earth was considered to be at Death Valley in 1913, when a reading of 134°F was observed. But analysis by climate experts in 2016 found this was "essentially not possible from a meteorological perspective."

Yes, but: Randy Cerveny, who heads the World Meteorological Organisation's weather and climate extremes team, told WashPost, the latest observation seemed "legitimate."
"I am recommending that the World Meteorological Organisation preliminarily accept the observation," Cerveny added.

The big picture: The NWS said temperature records were set in several other places in California on Sunday, including in Palmdale and Lancaster airports (both hit 111°F) and LAX International Airport (93°F) — and Paso Robles Airport tied its record for the month at 114°F.
"Blistering, widespread excessive heat" has struck across the western U.S., the NWS' Weather Prediction Center notes.

"Storms with abundant lightning from Nevada/eastern California northeastward through southwestern Montana is expected to start new fires or increase fire activity. Isolated severe storms capable of strong wind gusts are expected across parts of eastern Oregon into far southwest Idaho and southern Arizona."— NWS Weather Prediction Center


California plagued by scorching heat (130 degrees!), lightning, blackouts and even fire tornadoesPublished: Aug. 16, 2020 By Mike Murphy

Warning of rolling blackouts through Wednesday, as wildfires rage and much of the state sizzles

Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge early Sunday. 

 ASSOCIATED PRESS

After a weekend of wild and scorching weather, California residents were warned Sunday to brace for the likelihood of rolling blackouts through Wednesday.

More than 200,000 PG&E Corp. PCG, -2.55% customers in Northern California lost power Saturday in the state’s first sequence of rolling blackouts since the Enron-stoked statewide energy crisis of 2000-’01. Another 200,000 customers apparently got a reprieve Sunday night, as PG&E tweeted that forecast evening outages — typically lasting an hour or two — would not be needed as demand was expected to be met.

Last year, broad swaths of California were intentionally blacked out to reduce wildfire risks on days with high winds, but the current blackouts are unrelated to that. This time around, “There is not a sufficient amount of energy to meet the high amounts of demand during the heat wave,” California’s Independent System Operator said Sunday. The nonprofit public benefit corporation urged energy conservation for the next several days.

Conditions were exacerbated, Cal ISO said, by the “unexpected loss” of a 470-megawatt power plant Saturday and a loss of 1,000 megawatts of wind power, as well as a greater reliance on solar energy, which can be disrupted by cloud cover.

The blackouts came amid a surge in energy usage as homes cranked up the air conditioning to counter a widespread and intense heat wave, straining the state’s energy grid even though a large number of businesses remain closed due to the pandemic.

Triple-digit heat gripped much of the state, topped by an eye-popping reading of 130 degrees in Death Valley on Sunday. If confirmed, that would rank as the first time Death Valley — historically the hottest spot in the country — has hit 130 degrees since 1913, the National Weather Service said.

In Northern California, the heat was accompanied by a rare summer thunderstorm that brought spectacular lightning strikes around the San Francisco Bay Area early Sunday, sparking a number of small fires. Wind gusts in some places reached 75 mph.

Nearly 5,000 lightning strikes were recorded around the state by 6 a.m. Sunday.

“This is probably the most widespread and violent summer thunderstorm event in memory for Bay Area, & it’s also one of the hottest nights in years,” tweeted Daniel Swain, a UCLA climate scientist.

Forecasters said conditions were ripe for a repeat early Monday, potentially sparking more fires.

While lightning-caused fires around the Bay Area were mopped up Sunday, larger wildfires continued to rage in other parts of California. The Lake Fire, in the mountains north of Los Angeles, near Lancaster, had burned nearly 28 square miles as of Sunday night, with just 12% containment.

Another blaze, dubbed the Loyalton Fire, near the state line north of Lake Tahoe, has burned more than 45 square miles and spurred evacuation orders for remote communities.

That fire spurred the first-ever warning Saturday for a “firenado” — an event caused when ground winds whip flames higher, into a tornado-like spiral. The National Weather Service issued the warning for “fire-induced tornadoes” and warned fire crews to use extreme caution.

Rare summer thunderstorm sparks new wildfires across California

Associated Press, NBC News•August 16, 2020

LOS ANGELES — A rare summer thunderstorm brought lightning that sparked several small blazes in Northern California on Sunday and stoked a huge wildfire that has forced hundreds of people from their homes north of Los Angeles.

More than 4,500 buildings remained threatened by the fire burning toward thick, dry brush in the Angeles National Forest. Firefighters already battling the blaze in steep, rugged terrain with scorching heat faced more hurdles when hundreds of lightning strikes and winds up to 15 mph pushed the flames uphill.

“We set up a containment line at the top of the hills so the fire doesn’t spill over to the other side and cause it to spread, but it was obviously difficult given the erratic wind and some other conditions,” said fire spokesman Jake Miller.

The Lake Fire was just 12% contained Sunday and has burned nearly 28 square miles of brush and trees. Fire officials said 33 buildings had been destroyed, including at least a dozen homes.

Temperatures reached more than 110 degrees and a pyrocumulus created erratic fire behavior, fire spokesman Tom Ewald said.

Thunderstorm and excessive heat were also a concern for firefighters battling a blaze that blackened almost 4 square miles in the foothills above the Los Angeles suburb of Azusa. The fire, believed to be started Thursday by a homeless man, is only 3% contained.

Many areas of the state saw triple-digit temperatures through the weekend and the combination of prolonged heat and smoke from wildfires sent ozone pollution to levels not seen in a decade in some areas. Air quality may reach unhealthy to very unhealthy levels in several regions of Southern California on Sunday and Monday afternoons, the South Coast Air Quality Management District said.

In Northern California, moisture from an offshore tropical storm fueled a thunderstorm that brought nonstop lightning strikes early Sunday, some of which ignited small fires and knocked out power across the San Francisco Bay Area.

Wind gusts reached 75 mph (121 kph), according to the National Weather Service, which said another round of lightning may develop early Monday.

“This is probably the most widespread and violent summer thunderstorm event in memory for Bay Area, & it’s also one of the hottest nights in years,” tweeted Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Unsettling weather triggered an unusual warning by the weather service of a fire-induced tornado at an out-of-control forest fire that broke out north of Lake Tahoe on Saturday afternoon.

A massive fire cloud known as a pyrocumulonimbus formed over the fire, which started east of the town of Loyalton, about 40 miles west of Reno, Nevada. When high winds collided with the fire and whipped it into the air, a spectacular tornado-shaped spiral of flames was formed.

The fire has burned at least 45 square miles and triggered evacuation orders for sparsely populated communities along State Route 395 by the California-Nevada border, said Tahoe National Forest spokesman Joe Flannery.

Firefighters aided by water-dropping helicopters and air tankers faced “extreme fire behavior,” he said, and worked through the night to extinguish spot fires and protect threatened structures.

At one point, the fast-moving fire jumped a highway and came dangerously close to a fire truck. A fire crew from Truckee tweeted a video of firefighters dragging hoses as they ran alongside a moving truck that was dodging the flames.

Ryan Peel said firefighters created some defensive space around his slot machine distribution warehouse in Chilcoot, but he was worried the erratic winds could still put his business in the line of fire.

“Yesterday was extremely emotional, as we were at the mercy of the wind and the unpredictability of the fire,” Peel said. “I was stressed and terrified at the idea of losing everything I’ve spent my life working for.”

With zero containment and strong winds in the forecast, he said, “we are not out of the woods yet.”

Union representing NYC public school principals urges mayor to push back start of in-person teaching

Published: Aug. 12, 2020 at 6:28 p.m. ET

By 

Beckie 

Strum

The group argues that more time is needed to train teachers on new protocols, hire nurses and secure health safety equipment

The city is preparing for about 700,000 public school students to refill empty schools in 

September GETTY IMAGES

The letter, sent from Mark F. Cannizzaro, president of the Council of School Supervisors and Administrators, urged the mayor and schools Chancellor Richard Carranza to begin the school year fully remote and delay in-person instruction until the end of September to allow for more time to train teachers on new safety measures, hire more school nurses and procure enough personal protection equipment (PPE). 

“The slow rollout of guidance has forced us to once again address an unfortunate truth: Schools will not be ready to open for in-person instruction,” Cannizzaro said in his letter. 

He said that despite messaging from the mayor that reopening school was a collaborative effort, City Hall and the city’s Department of Education have failed to address many of their concerns and “ignored repeated appeals from school leaders to allow enough time to implement highly complicated protocols.”

Coronavirus update: Global cases top 20.3 million, U.S. tally tops 5.15 million as Florida and Georgia see record one-day deaths

While the city and state have mandated certain safety measures, it will be up to principals to implement them on a practical level in their individual schools. And yet, many still do not know when they’ll receive necessary equipment, including thermometers, signage, hand sanitizer and other cleaning materials. They don’t know the status of ventilation system updates, when nurses will be hired and if there will even be enough teachers to accommodate the proposed hybrid model, in which students learn a few days a week in class and the other days remotely, Cannizzaro said. 

He emphasized that the union fully supports bringing children back to the classroom this fall. 

“School leaders speak with these families every day and will continue to stand with those parents asking for schools to return to in-person learning as soon as possible,” he said, but the plan allows “frighteningly little time for the preparation and training necessary for these unprecedented times.”

The letter stopped short of saying principals or their staff would refuse to return unless certain concerns were met. 

Also see: Inside the struggle to close the education equality gap exacerbated by COVID-19

The mayor did not publicly comment on the letter at his Wednesday briefing, though he dismissed concerns that schools wouldn’t have enough teachers willing to return in September when asked by a reporter. The city expects about 85% of its 66,000 educators to return to the classroom this year.

“I can say in New York City, we have teachers coming back and we’re going to have the resources to serve our kids,” de Blasio said. 

He also expressed confidence on Monday that four weeks was enough time to prepare the city’s roughly 1,700 schools, and that nothing would open that wasn’t safe. “There may be some classrooms or some specific parts within a building that still needs some work, but overall, I think we’re going to be ready,” he said. 

The city is preparing for about 700,000 public school students, or about three-fourths of the student body, to attend in-person classes in September. Parents of more than a quarter of a million students have enrolled in remote-only instruction. 

Growing concern that New York City is rushing into reopening schools comes amid similar criticism in New Jersey, which on Wednesday backed off plans for all districts to offer some form of in-person learning in the fall. In a reversal, Gov. Phil Murphy said that districts would be allowed to go all-remote in September if they chose, so long as they provide a plan and target date for returning to classrooms. 

Be sure to read: Vaping makes teens up to 7 times more likely to catch COVID-19: study

Michael Mulgrew, president of a separate union representing New York City educators, the United Federation of Teachers, threw support behind Cannizzaro’s letter. 

“We need both safety and sanity in this crisis,” Mulgrew said in comments on Wednesday. “Will any parents be willing to put their children in a school whose principal believes the building is not ready to open because it is not safe?”

Blue collar workers turn on Trump as 'Scranton Joe' prepares for biggest week yet

Nick Allen,The Telegraph•August 16, 2020

Customers walk past a cardboard effigy of Joe Biden at 'Hank's Hoagies' in Scranton - ERIC BARADAT /AFP

Most Americans know Scranton, a beleaguered industrial centre in the heartland of Pennsylvania, as the setting for the US version of “The Office”.

But as the Democrat National Convention dominates television broadcasts next week they will be hearing a lot more about it.

Scranton is where Joe Biden was born, in a modest grey-blue clapboard house, and it is central to his political story. He credits it with forming his character. It is also exactly the kind of battleground he has to win.

For decades the gritty town bled Democrat blue. But In 2016 working class voters in Scranton, which is overwhelmingly white, swung by a massive 22 points to Donald Trump.


Such swings were repeated across the "rust belt" states, delivering shock, razor-thin victories for Mr Trump in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, and sending him to the White House.

However, polls show Mr Biden leading by up to 11 points in Pennsylvania, and Mr Trump knows his white working class revolution is in doubt.

That is why, on Thursday night as Mr Biden accepts the Democrat nomination in Delaware, the president will reportedly be in Scranton, campaigning in his opponent’s home town. Advance Secret Service agents were spotted in Scranton last week week. But Mr Trump will have his work cut out.

“Joe would win here if he was running against John F Kennedy," Tom Bell, 77, a lifelong friend of Mr Biden's, who sat next to him at school, told The Telegraph. “He’s that popular around here.”

Like many local Democrats, Mr Bell voted for Mr Trump in 2016, but will be returning to the fold.

“I honestly didn’t think Joe would run but I'm glad he is,” said Mr Bell. “He called me on the phone to tell me. I said ‘I don’t think you should’ and he got mad at me for that. He’ll win because he’s always been an incessant worker. And I think he’s aged well - 77 is OK to be the president, and to be selling insurance like I do.

“Joe will win Scranton and Pennsylvania. It’s not just because he's from here. Hillary was from Scranton too, but I didn’t like her.”

Both Mrs Clinton's father and grandfather worked at Scranton Lace Company, once the world’s largest lace curtain mill, which has been standing derelict on five city blocks since 2002.

Larry Orr (L) and Tom Bell (R) are old school friends of Mr Biden - ERIC BARADAT /AFP

Mr Trump has already accused Mr Biden of “abandoning” Scranton, and Pennsylvania.

When he was 10, Mr Biden’s father found a job cleaning boilers in Delaware, and moved the family there. But Joe Biden came back regularly to stay with his extended family, Mr Bell said.

Once, a new kid, a “mean wise guy,” picked a fight with Mr Bell. “The kid didn’t fight fair. He kicked me in the groin,” he said. “Joe was coming home that weekend. He asked the kid for an apology but the kid was abrasive. They got in a scuffle and Joe put manners on him. Joe's best quality is his loyalty and his friendship."

However, not everyone in Scranton is a fan. A hundred yards from Mr Biden’s childhood home, Tom Moran's house was festooned with Trump flags.

"Biden left here 70 years ago or something, the Scranton stuff's a political scam,” said Mr Moran, 60. Hillary Clinton had more connections to Scranton. I don’t like Biden or his policies. I don’t think he’s mentally competent. Biden’s against fracking, he’s against the coal industry. He shipped jobs overseas and he doesn’t understand the working man."

Scrantonians joke ruefully that their biggest exports after coal have been people and jobs. The town's population currently stands at 76,000, half its 1940s heyday.

Tom Moran is an avid Trump supporter who lives a few houses away from Joe Biden's childhood home - ERIC BARADAT /AFP

Many regard the North Atlantic Free Trade Agreement (Nafta), signed by Bill Clinton in 1993, as a form of harakiri that sent their employment to Mexico and Canada.

Mr Moran said the president had delivered, including by ending Nafta, and that his backers in Scranton have "never wavered".

He added: "I’ve had my signs damaged. People came along and kicked them down. My friend had his taken out of his yard. You don't see Trump supporters doing that. It's a general lack of respect [from Democrats].

"It means if you don’t see a sign outside a house they're probably Trump supporters. There’s a hidden vote just like last time."

Perhaps the strongest criticism of Mrs Clinton in 2016 was that she did not visit the rust belt enough. By contrast, it is not hard to establish sightings of Mr Biden.

At Scanlan’s, a popular Scranton eaterie known for its fries and gravy, Jerry McCabe, 76, a retired paper mill worker, said: “I saw him a couple of years ago right here when he came in for lunch. He sat down and chatted. I think I’d played Little League against him when we were kids. Joe's going to nail it believe me.

“There’s still a lot of Trump signs outside of town, in the rural parts, but I just don’t get it. Most of them don’t have, excuse me, a pot to piss in but they’re going for a guy who doesn’t have their interests at heart. Trump’s a mean spirited guy.”

But at a nearby table Mark McHale, 22, a student, said he would vote for Mr Trump, as he did four years ago.

“I think it’s awesome Joe Biden’s s from here and comes back but that’s not enough for me. I like his roots and hard work but I don’t think he can do four years. People just get old and run out of steam. I'll be joining the workforce in the next few years and Trump’s the best option, he’s pro-business.”

Mr Biden's selection of Kamala Harris had made little impression on customers at Scanlan's.

"The only thing I heard was she attacked Biden in the debate, and now their teaming up?" said Mr McHale.

Two sisters at another table both said they had never even heard of Ms Harris.

"I didn't vote last time but I probably should this time," said one of the women. "I guess the country needs a change, not just Scranton."

Chilling Anti-Protest Bills Are Popping Up Across America

Kelly Weill,The Daily Beast•August 17, 2020

Photo by Paula Bronstein/Getty Images

After two months of protests across from the State Capitol building in Nashville, Tennessee lawmakers voted for a tidy way to disperse their new neighbors: making it illegal to camp there.

The law, which also targets protests on public property, makes convictions punishable by up to six years in prison—and even loss of voting rights.

The Tennessee bill, passed by the state legislature last week, was the latest legislation targeting dissent in a year marked by nationwide protests against racism and police brutality. It follows a Michigan bill that would classify rioting as terrorism, and a slew of recent legislation—begun before George Floyd’s killing at the hands of police in late May—imposing harsh punishments on anti-pipeline protesters.

The measures have real potential to chill protest movements, their critics say.

‘I’m Not Scared’: She Faces Life in Prison After Allegedly Buying Red Protest Paint

Tennessee’s SB 8005/HB 8005, which passed the state legislature on Wednesday, would rewrite state criminal code to make it a Class E felony to camp on state property between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m. That’s bad news for the People’s Plaza, a movement of racial justice protesters who have led a nonstop demonstration near the State Capitol since June 12.

The group says it will gladly vacate the state-owned plaza—as soon as Gov. Bill Lee meets with them, or the state legislature removes a bust of Ku Klux Klan leader Nathan Bedford Forrest from the Capitol building. So far, neither has happened.

“There are aspects of the law that I might have done differently, that were different from my original proposal,” Lee said last week, indicating he nonetheless intended to sign it so as to ensure "lawlessness doesn’t occur in the midst of protest."

Protesters and civil liberties experts cried foul.

“They can say this bill is about protecting law enforcement,” ACLU of Tennessee Policy Director Brandon Tucker told The Daily Beast. “It’s not. Law enforcement is already protected. This bill came about when people took to the street demanding racial justice, an end to police violence, and to say that Black lives matter.”

Anjanette Edwards, an activist who demonstrates at the People’s Plaza, said she thought it was quite clear that the bill targeted protesters like her.

“I believe a lot of the revisions that were made to this bill were trying to capitalize on actions that occurred when the People’s Plaza was occupying that space,” she told The Daily Beast.

The bill also comes with other anti-protest provisions, like making it easier to charge protesters with theft for markings on state buildings—including those made with chalk (punishable with a mandatory $5,000 fine on the second offense). Even before their cases go to court, people arrested for allegedly camping on state property, damaging state property, or conducting other protests like interrupting meetings would face a mandatory 12-hours detention in jail. It’s an unusual measure, The Tennessean noted, and an unpleasant prospect, especially while COVID-19 rages in jails and prisons across the country.

The bill passed overwhelmingly in the Republican-led legislature, with most Democrats voting against it.

“We are using a bazooka to go after a house fly here,” Senate Minority Leader Jeff Yarbro argued on the statehouse floor, according to The Tennessean. “Are we really saying that a citizen of this state can be punished with a year in prison and have a felony record because they camped on public property? That should be a bridge too far.”

Elsewhere in the country, lawmakers are trying to go even further.

In response to recent protests in Michigan, a state lawmaker proposed new legislation that would amend the state’s terrorism laws to make “acts of social and domestic anarchy” punishable by up to 20 years in prison or a fine of $250,000. (The bill defines acts of anarchy as riot-related offenses, although anarchy is, broadly, a perfectly legal political philosophy opposed to organized government.)

The bill’s author, Rep. Lynn Afendoulis, claimed the current riot sentencing laws were too light, and in an interview with a local ABC affiliate, appeared to suggest protesters came from out of town—part of a mostly unfounded narrative about “outside agitators” traveling to stir up trouble. “A 10-year felony, for many, is going to be a slap on the wrist,’’ Afendoulis said. “Especially when they come here with the intent of hurting people and hurting property and again, terrorizing a community.’’

A series of anti-protest bills introduced before George Floyd’s death have also sped toward law this year, in the form of legislation that would affect anti-pipeline protesters.

In March, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem signed into law legislation that will boost the state’s penalties for rioting and inciting a riot, two charges sometimes controversially levied on protesters. The law faced stiff opposition from environmentalists and Native Americans in the state for its potential to crack down on protests against the Keystone XL pipeline, which threatens water and environmental conditions on indigenous land. A previous version of the law had been found unconstitutional because it directly targeted those protesters.

Meanwhile, anti-pipeline protesters in Louisiana are currently contending with a bill that would mean up to 15 years in prison for protests on “critical infrastructure” near pipelines. As West Virginia went into COVID-19 lockdown this spring, its governor quietly approved the state’s own law against such protest, the Intercept reported. Mississippi passed its own law in June increasing penalties for trespassing on or damaging pipeline property, and a similar bill is in the works in Alabama.

In Tennessee, activists and civil rights groups were still hoping to talk their governor into a veto of the anti-protest bill.

“This will only serve to exacerbate our overly high incarceration rates with unnecessarily enhanced penalties and mandatory minimums,” Tucker said, adding that his organization was urging Gov. Lee to veto the bill in part by citing the criminal justice platform on which Lee campaigned.

“This bill absolutely chills free speech,” Tucker said. “It undermines any claim that our elected leaders want to reform the criminal legal system, and it shows that our leaders here have heard the calls for racial justice and completely chosen to ignore them.”

The USPS Is Actively Being Destroyed By Trump—Here's How to Help
Rachel Epstein,Marie Claire•August 17, 2020

Photo credit: Justin Sullivan - Getty Images

From Marie Claire

For months now, President Trump has attempted to delegitimize the practice of mail-in voting, which is the exact same thing as absentee voting and has been performed by the president himself. There is no evidence that confirms mail-in voting is synonymous with ballot fraud, but the president is not convinced. So, rather than allowing citizens to utilize a safer alternative to in-person voting during a pandemic, the administration is refusing to properly fund the United States Postal Service (USPS), which could result in voters' ballots not being received on time in 46 states.

To be clear, the USPS was suffering financially long before the pandemic, but the president is actively choosing not to fund the USPS by denying the Postal Service’s request for $25 billion as part of the second pending COVID-19 relief bill. (The request is not solely to accommodate mail-in ballots, but rather the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.)

Internal issues with the USPS began when Louis DeJoy, a major Trump campaign donor, was named postmaster general in May. Once promoted, top USPS leadership was suddenly displaced, employee overtime was eliminated, and significant cost-cutting measures were enacted that will affect the efficiency of the postal service, including receiving mail-in ballots, and ultimately, the legitimacy of the 2020 election.


DeJoy has previously denied that election mail will be affected due to the measures mentioned above. "We will do everything we can to deliver election mail in a timely manner consistent with our operational standards," he stated. "Despite any assertions to the contrary, we are not slowing down election mail or any other mail. Instead we continue to employ a robust and proven process to ensure proper handling of all election mail." Despite his statement, there continues to be conflicting reports about whether the postal service is actively decommissioning 10 percent of its letter-sorting machines, ultimately affecting the USPS's ability to handle the overwhelming amount of mail-in ballots in the coming months.

On August 16, Rep. Carolyn Maloney, Chairwoman of the Committee on Oversight and Reform, called upon Postmaster General DeJoy to testify at an Oversight Committee hearing, set to take place on August 24, regarding the operational changes occurring at the USPS. The request follows a 10-page letter sent on August 14 by Chairwoman Maloney, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and several others requesting documents and information from DeJoy.


🚨 BREAKING 🚨

Chair @RepMaloney just called on @USPS PMG DeJoy to testify at an urgent Oversight Cmte hearing on Aug. 24 to examine his sweeping changes and their impact on mail-in voting. #SavetheUSPS

Read more here: https://t.co/WETO762Dsq pic.twitter.com/PJn6XPoFHj


— Oversight Committee (@OversightDems) August 16, 2020

If you're frustrated about what's going on with the USPS and are worried about your mail-in ballot being received on time, we've outlined key ways, below, for you to help save the USPS.

Sign a petition.

The lack of USPS funding not only threatens the accessibility of receiving mail in rural areas and tribal lands throughout the U.S., where UPS and Fedex do not have access to (more on that here), but also the ability for people to receive the medicine they need in order to survive. More than 1.4 million people have signed this Change.org petition to save the USPS. Here are other USPS-related petitions you can sign as well.

SIGN THE PETITION

Call and email your representatives.

Congress is on recess from August 10 until September 7, but you can still email your representatives and demand action to help save the USPS. For an easy way to send a letter to your representatives, text "USPS" to 50409. A letter will be sent to your representatives asking them to support Rep. Maloney's Delivering for America Act, which would "prohibit the Postal Service from implementing any changes to the operations or level of service it had in place on January 1, 2020."

Buy stamps and/or gifts.

If you have the means, consider buying some stamps—any amount helps. The U.S. Postal Service is currently selling stamps featuring illustrations of historic suffragettes to commemorate the centennial of women's right to vote. However, it's important to remember that Black women did not receive the same right to vote until the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The USPS also has an entire gift store you can shop from here. Did someone say USPS merch?

BUY STAMPS

BUY GIFTS
Submit your mail-in ballot early and request a tracking number.

Voters should submit their mail-in ballots early to ensure their vote gets counted, and request a tracking number for a few extra dollars if they're able to. Rather than searching for an official USPS mailbox, which were being removed across the country, if you have an accessible mailbox at your residence a postal worker will be able to pick up your ballot from there.

I just got this from a USPS worker. pic.twitter.com/5RQlTCGyZs

— Molly Jong-Fast🏡 (@MollyJongFast) August 15, 2020
Support organizations fighting to end voter suppression.

Organizations like Fair Fight Action, When We All Vote, and the ACLU are actively fighting voter suppression across the country. Support them by donating, or getting involved.

FAIR FIGHT ACTION

WHEN WE ALL VOTE

ACLU
Register to vote.

If it wasn't clear before, your vote matters now more than ever. Take two minutes to register here. If you're worried about timelines for registering and submitting your ballot, you can see a full list of voter registration deadlines here.

REGISTER TO VOTE