Monday, August 31, 2020

Trump’s 2020 religious attack on Biden harks back to 1800

John Adams, left, and Thomas Jefferson. Images courtesy of Creative Commons

August 11, 2020

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(RNS) — In case you hadn’t heard, last week President Donald Trump attacked his presumptive Democratic opponent, Joe Biden, on religious grounds. “No religion,” declared Trump. “No anything. Hurt the Bible. Hurt God. He’s against God.”

It’s been 220 years since the religion card was played so bigly in an American presidential campaign. The precedent is more apt than you might think.

The election of 1800 pitted the incumbent president, John Adams, against his old-friend-turned-bitter-rival Vice President Thomas Jefferson. In the two-party system that had emerged in the 1790s, Adams was the Federalist, Jefferson the Democratic-Republican. The Federalist case against Jefferson centered on charges that he was a “Jacobin,” a radical on the order of the French revolutionaries he had admired since serving as American ambassador to France in the late 1780s.

In a series of newspaper articles published in 1798, Alexander Hamilton attacked those revolutionaries for trying to “undermine the venerable pillars that support the edifice of civilized society,” not least by “the attempt ... to destroy all religious opinion, and to pervert a whole people to Atheism.”

Hamilton claimed that Jefferson was, like them, an atheist who, with the help of fellow American Jacobins, would pursue the same agenda if elected. In the words of another Federalist writer, the choice was clear: “GOD—AND A RELIGIOUS PRESIDENT ... [or] JEFFERSON AND NO GOD.”

President Donald Trump speaks in the James Brady Briefing Room on March 23, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

To be sure, Biden, the cradle Catholic who carries a rosary wherever he goes, is a far religious cry from Jefferson, the dyed-in-the-wool deist who created a cut-and-paste version of the Gospels with the supernatural material stripped out. But last week’s claim by Trump that Biden is “following the radical left agenda” harks back to the accusation that Jefferson was following the Jacobin playbook.

If Trump himself lacks the historical awareness to recognize this, his legal enabler, Attorney General Bill Barr, is on the case. Referring to Jean-Jacques Rousseau, the 18th-century philosopher whose ideas helped inspire the French Revolution, Barr informed Fox News host Mark Levin on Sunday (Aug. 9) that the Democrats have become the “Rousseau-ian Revolutionary Party that believes in tearing down the system.”

Like the Jacobins, the Dems have, in Barr’s view, replaced Christianity with their own infidel faith. “It’s a secular religion,” he said. “It’s a substitute for religion. They view their political opponents as evil, because we stand in the way of their progressive utopia that they’re trying to reach.”

Of course, this characterization ignores the fact that the Democrats’ most loyal constituents, African Americans, happen to be among the most religious segments of American society. Similarly, Jefferson enjoyed the strong support of the country’s fast-growing evangelical population — the Baptists in particular.

Then as now, evangelicals were deeply concerned about religious liberty, but unlike now, for them that meant the greatest possible separation of church and state — a Jeffersonian position if ever there was one. With some justice, they regarded the Federalist campaign against Jefferson as an effort to establish a de facto religious test for federal office.

Former Vice President Joe Biden addresses a virtual gathering of the Progressive National Baptist Convention on Aug. 6, 2020. Video screengrab

Unlike Trump, John Adams did not himself attack Jefferson for irreligion. And unlike Biden, who called Trump’s attack “shameful,” Jefferson did not publicly respond to the attacks. As he wrote to James Monroe, “As to the calumny of Atheism, I am so broken to calumnies of every kind ... that I entirely disregard it.”

As for Alexander Hamilton, with Jefferson becoming president in 1802 he cooked up a plan to “combat our political foes” by creating “The Christian Constitutional Society.” It was to be a membership organization dedicated to supporting Christianity and the Constitution by disseminating federalist propaganda, supporting federalist philanthropic exercises and electing “fit men” to public office.

The following year, Hamilton was killed in his duel with Aaron Burr. But for that, Jerry Falwell Sr., Pat Robertson, Tony Perkins et al. might have had an organizational precedent to look back to.

Mark Silk is Professor of Religion in Public Life at Trinity College and director of the college's Leonard E. Greenberg Center for the Study of Religion in Public Life. He is a Contributing Editor of the Religion News Service

‘Service to Satan!’ Anti-masker has public meltdown at Alaska Walmart after employees enforce COVID rules

August 30, 2020 By David Edwards

Angry man shouts at Walmart employees in Alaska (Twitter/screen grab)

A man at an Alaska Walmart had a public meltdown because he did not want to wear a mask.

Video of the incident was posted on social media by the Twitter account “Fifty Shades of Whey.”

“Get back from your highway to Hell!” the man shouts at a Black employee as the video begins.

“Have a good day,” another man says to the angry customer, who appears to be leaving the building.

At that point, the man turns and accuses store employees of “blind ignorance.”

“You don’t have the ability to even come up with your own fucking ideas!” the man shouts. “Are you exercising your rights as a private company [to refuse service]?”

“Yes,” someone answers.

“Sir, you don’t have to yell,” another staffer advises.

“I am choosing to yell! And you cannot stop me!” the man screams before holding up a middle finger and accusing the employees of being “in service to Satan.”

“Have a good day, sir,” a woman tells the man.

“I have a right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” the man rants. “My happiness is best served by standing in your face and saying you’re a fool and wrong and have no authority over me!”

After the man calls another employee a “bitch,” the video ends.

Watch the video below.
Anti-masker in Alaska gets kicked out of Walmart & has a public meltdown pic.twitter.com/wymrh10XZk
— Fifty Shades of Whey (@davenewworld_2) August 30, 2020

Man Who Famously Died From Covid Says Covid Isn't Very Deadly

Herman Cain (center) attends a rally for President Donald Trump at the BOK Center on June 20, 2020 in Tulsa, Oklahoma.Photo: Nicholas Kamm (Getty Images)

Former presidential hopeful Herman Cain died of covid-19 on July 30, but that hasn’t stopped the man from tweeting. In fact, Cain (or whoever is running his account, if you don’t believe in ghosts) has been tweeting about a subject near and dear to his lifeless heart: How the coronavirus pandemic is overblown and not a real threat to Americans

“It looks like the virus is not as deadly as the mainstream media first made it out to be,” the Herman Cain Twitter account tweeted on Sunday, linking to an article with a lot of misleading information.

Cain, a longtime businessman and figure in Republican politics, died a month after being diagnosed with covid-19, and while Republicans insist that Cain didn’t contract coronavirus when he attended a huge Trump rally in Oklahoma on June 20, it seems like the most plausible explanation. Cain received his covid diagnosis on June 29, roughly a week after attending the rally in Tulsa.

Cain didn’t wear a mask at the indoor event, and didn’t appear to practice social distancing of any kind, based on several photos taken by news photographers in the arena. Cain even tweeted against making masks mandatory at large events before he publicly announced his diagnosis on Twitter.

“Masks will not be mandatory for the event, which will be attended by President Trump. PEOPLE ARE FED UP!” Cain tweeted on July 2 about the Sturgis motorcycle rally that has since been linked to over 100 cases in eight states across the country. Notably, Trump never did show up to South Dakota for the rally, as Cain had promised.

At least 5.9 million Americans have been diagnosed with covid-19 and more than 183,000 have died from the disease, according to the latest figures from the Johns Hopkins University coronavirus tracker. The covid pandemic has hit the U.S. harder than any other wealthy nation in the world, thanks largely to President Trump’s mishandling of the health crisis from day one.

The article that Cain’s account linked to over the weekend uses the headline “CDC Now Says 94% of Covid Deaths Had an Underlying Condition,” and several far-right websites have run with the claim that only 6% of the covid-19 death toll is real. In reality, it’s still accurate to say that people died from covid, even if they had an underlying condition.

As political commentator Jeet Heer put it, “Weirdly enough if you stab a hemophilic and they die, the cause of death is listed as murder and not hemophilia.” And the same could be said of any other ailment that may have afflicted people who were ultimately killed by covid-19. People can live long and relatively healthy lives, even as they struggle with something like diabetes. But if a diabetic becomes infected with covid, they stand a much worse chance of surviving.

The U.S. still has a long road ahead, as most states try to reopen and restore some semblance of normalcy while relying on individual actions, rather than strong public health measures, to combat the disease. Masks are good and important, but they can’t be the only tool that a government uses to fight a pandemic.

The infection rate for covid in places like Florida, Texas, and Arizona has flattened, but there’s been a resurgence in places like Minnesota, North Dakota, and Iowa. Minnesota posted a record for the state on Saturday, racking up over 1,000 new cases, and Sunday wasn’t much better, with 934 new cases. Iowa recorded a whopping 2,579 cases on Friday alone, with a positivity rate of 79%, according to The Gazette. Anything over 10% is widely considered to be a completely uncontrolled pandemic.

And all of this is in line with what public health experts have warned for months. The virus is likely to just migrate from one part of the country to the next until a vaccine is available and actually deployed. Former FDA commissioner Scott Gottlieb told CBS News yesterday that a vaccine rollout was likely something that wouldn’t happen until next year.

The covid-19 death toll is real, as anyone can see from the number of excess deaths over any average year. The New York Times reported in mid-August that the death toll is likely higher than the official tally by at least 60,000 people. Covid-19 is not a hoax, and Herman Cain should know that better than anyone. Or, at least Herman Cain’s ghost should.
Matt Novak
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Matt Novak is the editor of Gizmodo's Paleofuture blog

Donald Trump Jr. Attacks Biden's Fitness Amid Questions Of His Own Mental State

By Arthur Villasanta
08/31/20

Donald Trump Jr. Calls Joe Biden the 'Loch Ness Monster Of The Swamp'

KEY POINTS

Donald Trump Jr. again assails Joe Biden's fitness amid questions about drug use during his RNC speech

President's son denies charges, blames bad lighting before launching attacks on Democratic nomine

He alleges Biden's wife "almost had to carry him off the stage" after his acceptance speech

Donald Trump Jr. has again taken to trolling Democratic challenger Joe Biden's fitness to hold his father's office while also defending against questions about his own mental state.

Trump Jr. appeared on FOX News' "Life, Liberty & Levin" to claim that the 77-year-old Biden's health record is "pretty dismal" and question his ability to do the job of 74-year-old father.

"The difference is, we're not entrusting the average grandparents with the nuclear football, Mark," Trump Jr. told host Mark Levin. "We're not entrusting them with the greatest economy of the world. We're not entrusting them with 350 million people now."

Trump Jr. also repeated many of the allegations he made against Biden in his controversial speech at the Republican National Convention on Wednesday. His glassy-eyed demeanor and profuse sweating prompted talk-show hosts and internet innuendo to speculate that his blank stare and combative disposition were because he was on drugs.

"I guess there must have been something with the lighting," Trump Jr. told "Fox & Friends" before taking a shot at Biden's son, Hunter, who has a history of battling drug addiction. “... It was pretty ridiculous. When they can’t attack the delivery, when they can’t attack the substance, they gotta attack something.”

Trump Jr. chose to attack Biden's acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention to drive home his point, saying the presidency requires more than just "delivering a teleprompter speech."

"That's sort of his thing. After 50 years in D.C., you should be able to do that. But then you see, his wife almost had to carry him off the stage," he said.

"You know, is this guy going to wake up at 3 in the morning to take a phone call? Is this guy going to be capable of doing that? And if we're not sure, should someone other than me be asking this question?"

Trump Jr.'s remarks follow Biden's widely praised acceptance speech at the DNC. Biden called for an America united in a firm determination to unite in love and hope.

"Let us begin you and I together one nation under God, united in our love for America, united in our love for each other," said Biden.

After Biden's speech, Fox News host Chris Wallace praised Biden's acceptance speech as an "enormously effective" address that "blew a hole" in questions about his mental health

‘How dare we not vote?’ Black voters organize after DC march

By KAT STAFFORD August 29, 2020

Walter Carter, 74, of Woodbridge, Va., who attended the original March on Washington, attends 2020's March on Washington, Friday Aug. 28, 2020, at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, on the 57th anniversary of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have A Dream" speech. "This March is a celebration anniversary of the 1963 March on Washington," says Carter, "and the issues are very similar even though so much time has passed." (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, Pool)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Tears streamed down Brooke Moreland’s face as she watched tens of thousands gather on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial to decry systemic racism and demand racial justice in the wake of several police killings of Black Americans.

But for the Indianapolis mother of three, the fiery speeches delivered Friday at the commemoration of the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom also gave way to one central message: Vote and demand change at the ballot box in November.

“As Black people, a lot of the people who look like us died for us to be able to sit in public, to vote, to go to school and to be able to walk around freely and live our lives,” the 31-year-old Moreland said. “Every election is an opportunity, so how dare we not vote after our ancestors fought for us to be here?”

That determination could prove critical in a presidential election where race is emerging as a flashpoint. President Donald Trump, at this past week’s Republican National Convention, emphasized a “law and order” message aimed at his largely white base of supporters. His Democratic rival, Joe Biden, has expressed empathy with Black victims of police brutality and is counting on strong turnout from African Americans to win critical states such as North Carolina, Florida, Pennsylvania and Michigan.

As the campaign enters its latter stages, there’s an intensifying effort among African Americans to transform frustration over police brutality, systemic racism and the disproportionate toll of the coronavirus into political power. Organizers and participants said Friday’s march delivered a much needed rallying cry to mobilize.

“If we do not vote in numbers that we’ve never ever seen before and allow this administration to continue what it is doing, we are headed on a course for serious destruction,” Martin Luther King III told The Associated Press before his rousing remarks, delivered 57 years after his father’s famous “I Have A Dream” speech. “I’m going to do all that I can to encourage, promote, to mobilize and what’s at stake is the future of our nation, our planet. What’s at stake is the future of our children.”

As speakers implored attendees to “vote as if our lives depend on it,” the march came on the heels of yet another shooting by a white police officer of a Black man – 29-year-old Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin, last Sunday — sparking demonstrations and violence that left two dead

“We need a new conversation … you act like it’s no trouble to shoot us in the back,” the Rev. Al Sharpton said. “Our vote is dipped in blood. We’re going to vote for a nation that stops the George Floyds, that stops the Breonna Taylors.”

Navy veteran Alonzo Jones- Goss, who traveled to Washington from Boston, said he plans to vote for Biden because the nation has seen far too many tragic events that have claimed the lives of Black Americans and other people of color.

“I supported and defended the Constitution and I support the members that continue to do it today, but the injustice and the people that are losing their lives, that needs to end,” Jones-Goss, 28, said. “It’s been 57 years since Dr. King stood over there and delivered his speech. But what is unfortunate is what was happening 57 years ago is still happening today.”

Drawing comparisons to the original 1963 march, where participants then were protesting many of the same issues that have endured, National Urban League President and CEO Marc Morial said it’s clear why this year’s election will be pivotal for Black Americans.

“We are about reminding people and educating people on how important it is to translate the power of protest into the power of politics and public policy change,” said Morial, who spoke Friday. “So we want to be deliberate about making the connection between protesting and voting.”

Nadia Brown, a Purdue University political science professor, agreed there are similarities between the situation in 1963 and the issues that resonate among Black Americans today. She said the political pressure that was applied then led to the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and other powerful pieces of legislation that transformed the lives of African Americans. She’s hopeful this could happen again in November and beyond.

“There’s already a host of organizations that are mobilizing in the face of daunting things,” Brown said. “Bur these same groups that are most marginalized are saying it’s not enough to just vote, it’s not enough for the Democratic Party or the Republican Party to ask me for my vote. I’m going to hold these elected officials that are in office now accountable and I’m going to vote in November and hold those same people accountable. And for me, that is the most uplifting and rewarding part — to see those kind of similarities.”

But Brown noted that while Friday’s march resonated with many, it’s unclear whether it will translate into action among younger voters, whose lack of enthusiasm could become a vulnerability for Biden.

“I think there is already a momentum among younger folks who are saying not in my America, that this is not the place where they want to live, but will this turn into electoral gains? That I’m less clear on because a lot of the polling numbers show that pretty overwhelmingly, younger people, millennials and Gen Z’s are more progressive and that they are reluctantly turning to this pragmatic side of politics,” Brown said.

That was clear as the Movement for Black Lives also marked its own historic event Friday — a virtual Black National Convention that featured several speakers discussing pressing issues such as climate change, economic empowerment and the need for electoral justice.

“I don’t necessarily see elections as achieving justice per se because I view the existing system itself as being fundamentally unjust in many ways and it is the existing system that we are trying to fundamentally transform,” said Bree Newsome Bass, an activist and civil rights organizer, during the convention’s panel about electoral justice. “I do think voting and recognizing what an election should be is a way to kind of exercise that muscle.”

California moves to consider reparations for slavery

In this June 25, 2020, file photo, State Sen. Holly Mitchell, D-Los Angeles, chair of the Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Committee, discusses one of the more than one dozen budget trailer bills before the Senate at the Capitol in Sacramento, Calif. California lawmakers are setting up a task force to study and make recommendations for reparations to African-Americans, particularly the descendants of slaves, as the nation struggles again with civil rights and unrest following the latest shooting of a Black man by police. The state Senate supported creating the nine-member commission on a bipartisan 33-3 vote Saturday, Aug. 29, 2020. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, File)

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California lawmakers are setting up a task force to study and make recommendations for reparations to African Americans, particularly the descendants of slaves, as the nation struggles again with civil rights and unrest following the latest shooting of a Black man by police.

The state Senate supported creating the nine-member commission on a bipartisan 33-3 vote Saturday. The measure returns to the Assembly for a final vote before lawmakers adjourn for the year on Monday, though Assembly members overwhelmingly already approved an earlier version of the bill.
- In this June 11, 2020, file photo, Assemblywoman Shirley Weber, D-San Diego, wears a face mask as she calls on lawmakers to create a task force to study and develop reparation proposals for African Americans, during the Assembly session in Sacramento, Calif. California lawmakers are setting up a task force to study and make recommendations for reparations to African-Americans, particularly the descendants of slaves, as the nation struggles again with civil rights and unrest following the latest shooting of a Black man by police. The state Senate supported creating the nine-member commission on a bipartisan 33-3 vote Saturday, Aug. 29, 2020. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, File)

“Let’s be clear: Chattel slavery, both in California and across our nation, birthed a legacy of racial harm and inequity that continues to impact the conditions of Black life in California,” said Democratic Sen. Holly Mitchell of Los Angeles.

She cited disproportionate homelessness, unemployment, involvement in the criminal justice system, lower academic performance and higher health risks during the coronavirus pandemic.

Although California before the Civil War was officially a free state, Mitchell listed legal and judicial steps state officials took at the time to support slavery in Southern states while repressing Blacks.

The legislation would require the task force to conduct a detailed study of the impact of slavery in California and recommend to the Legislature by July 2023 the form of compensation that should be awarded, how it should be awarded, and who should be should be eligible for compensation.

In this Friday, Aug. 28, 2020, file photo, Yolanda Renee King, granddaughter of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., raises her fist as she speaks during the March on Washington, on the 57th anniversary of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have A Dream" speech. California lawmakers are setting up a task force to study and make recommendations for reparations to African-Americans, particularly the descendants of slaves, as the nation struggles again with civil rights and unrest following the latest shooting of a Black man by police. The state Senate supported creating the nine-member commission on a bipartisan 33-3 vote Saturday, Aug. 29, 2020. (Jonathan Ernst/Pool via AP, File)

The panel, which would start meeting no later than June 2021, could also recommend other forms of rehabilitation or redress.

In the last two years, Texas, New York, and Vermont have considered similar legislation, according to a legislative analysis. It said reparations could take the form of cash, housing assistance, lower tuition, forgiving student loans, job training or community investments, for instance.

Sen. Steven Bradford, a Democrat from Gardena who supported the bill, said he only wished it was more than a study.

He noted that Friday marked the 57th anniversary of the March on Washington and The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech.

“If the 40 acres and a mule that was promised to free slaves were delivered to the descendants of those slaves today, we would all be billionaires,” Bradford said. “I hear far too many people say, ‘Well, I didn’t own slaves, that was so long ago.’ Well, you inherit wealth — you can inherit the debt that you owe to African-Americans.”

____

The bill is AB3121.

In this Friday, Aug. 28, 2020, file photo, people join hands as they pose for a photo in the Reflecting Pool in the shadow of the Washington Monument as they attend the March on Washington, at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, on the 57th anniversary of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have A Dream" speech. California lawmakers are setting up a task force to study and make recommendations for reparations to African-Americans, particularly the descendants of slaves, as the nation struggles again with civil rights and unrest following the latest shooting of a Black man by police. The state Senate supported creating the nine-member commission on a bipartisan 33-3 vote Saturday, Aug. 29, 2020. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez, File)

UPDATED

In Belarus, currency plunges, IT giants eye exit

Issued on: 31/08/2020

A man holds a historical Belarus flag atan opposition rally in Minsk -- growing protests against President Lukashenko and resulting uncertainty have sent the local currency tumbling Sergei GAPON AFP/File

Minsk (AFP)

The Belarusian currency is tumbling in value and companies in its crucial IT sector are threatening to pull out after weeks of unprecedented protests against authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko.

Belarusians are desperately trawling banks and bureaux de change for foreign currency to salvage at least some of the value of their savings.

"The banks don't have any foreign currency. Staff tell you to wait, that a customer might bring some," said one customer at the country's largest lender, Belarusbank, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The national currency is falling at a record rate, losing more than 10 percent of its value against the euro and the dollar in the last month due to uncertainty over the deepening political standoff and fears of an economic crisis.

Over the last year, it has fallen 27 percent against the dollar and 33 percent against the euro.

- 'Scoundrels' -

In recent days, numerous Telegram accounts widely followed by the opposition have urged people to buy foreign currency to destabilise the ruble and therefore Lukashenko's regime.

They have also encouraged people to boycott the giant state enterprises that are the bulwarks of Lukashenko's Soviet-style economy and buy from private companies.

The president, re-elected in disputed polls on August 9, on Thursday condemned "scoundrels" who are "calling for destabilising the financial market."

"We will not allow the national currency to collapse," he vowed at a meeting on state enterprises, in comments reported by his press service.

Independent analyst Alexander Vasilyev acknowledged that some people were selling rubles "as a sign of protest" but said the amount involved was not enough "to significantly affect the exchange rate."

The mood of dissatisfaction has also extended to the country's strong IT sector, one of Belarus's few success stories.

It is angry that the government has attempted to quell protests by repeatedly cutting off online access and raiding offices of internet giants, seen by Lukashenko as playing a role in the protest movement.

More than 2,000 people working in the IT sector have signed an open letter calling for new elections and an end to political violence and internet shutdowns, even threatening to move out of the country.

- Closed offices -

Russian internet giant Yandex had its Minsk offices searched by armed law enforcement officers in mid-August.

It responded by closing its work space in the capital and transferring all of its approximately 300 staff to remote working.

Yandex has said that some employees have left Minsk but has not confirmed reports that it is beginning to move staff out of the country.

The Viber messaging app said on Twitter that it temporarily closed its office in Minsk earlier in the month due to "the safety concerns of our staff" and "internet issues."

The office reopened last week, it said.

The political crisis caused by Lukashenko's re-election amid accusations of vote-rigging has also hit sectors of the economy with a high level of state intervention.

This comes as Russia has cut down on its largesse towards its smaller neighbour reliant on subsidised energy.

"Strikes in key sectors could further erode growth prospects, which were already weakened by oil supply disruptions and the pandemic," Fitch analysts said in a note.

They estimated that GDP would contract by five percent in 2020.

Workers at tractor, heavy machinery and potash plants -- seen as Lukashenko's political heartland -- have downed tools and joined protests, shaking the authorities.

The walk-outs have died down in recent days as workers have been threatened with dismissal and strike leaders have been detained.

But Fitch said last week that strikes at the potash mines of Belaruskali, the world's largest producer, could lead to a reduction in the country's exports.

© 2020 AFP

Huge protest on Belarus leader’s birthday demands he resign
By YURAS KARMANAU

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A woman kneels in front of a riot police line as they block Belarusian opposition supporters rally in the center of Minsk, Belarus, Sunday, Aug. 30, 2020. Opposition supporters whose protests have convulsed the country for two weeks aim to hold a march in the capital of Belarus. (AP Photo)

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Tens of thousands of demonstrators rallied Sunday in the Belarusian capital of Minsk to begin the fourth week of daily protests demanding that the country’s authoritarian president resign.

The protests began after an Aug. 9 presidential election that protesters say was rigged but that election officials say gave President Alexander Lukashenko a sixth term in office.

Protesters initially tried to gather at Independence Square in Minsk, but barriers and riot police blocked it off. They then streamed down one of the capital’s main avenues, past hulking olive-green prisoner transport vehicles. Police detained some marchers and forced them into the transports.

Police said 125 people were arrested, but Ales Bilyatsky of the Viasna human rights organization said more than 200 were detained.

The marchers, chanting “Freedom!” and “Resign!” eventually reached the outskirts of the presidential palace, which was blocked off by shield-bearing riot police. There were no official figures on the crowd size, but some opposition sources claimed it exceeded 100,000.

The widespread protests arose after the election that officials say gave President Alexander Lukashenko a landslide 80% win over his main challenger, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, a former teacher and the wife of a popular jailed blogger.

Lukashenko, in office since 1994, has been defiant but beleaguered, unable to put down largest, most sustained wave of protests yet in this Eastern European nation of 9.5 million people. He has refused to rerun the election, which both the European Union and the United States have said was not free or fair, and also refused offers to help mediate the situation from Baltic nations.

Lukashenko says he has reached an agreement with Russian President Vladimir Putin that Russia will send in security help if asked. But Russia has appeared hesitant to get involved deeply in the Belarus unrest.

Putin and Lukashenko talked by phone on Sunday, but a Kremlin statement gave few details of the conversation, other than noting that Putin congratulated the Belarusian leader on his 66th birthday.

Tsikhanouskaya, who fled to Lithuania after the election because of concerns about her security, gave a withering acknowledgement of the birthday.

“I wish him to overcome his fears, look truth in the eye, listen to the voice of the people and go away,” she told The Associated Press by telephone from the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius.

Lukashenko has consistently blamed Western countries for encouraging the protests and contends that NATO is repositioning forces along Belarus’ western border with the aim of intervening in the unrest, a claim the alliance strongly denies.

On Sunday, the Belarusian Defense Ministry said it was conducting military exercises in the Grodno region, near the borders of Poland and Lithuania, simulating defending against an invasion.

Belarus on Saturday cracked down hard on foreign news media that have been covering the protests, deporting at least four Russian journalists, including two from The Associated Press. The government also revoked the accreditation of many Belarusian journalists working for foreign new agencies, including journalists working for AP.

Tens of thousands march in Belarus capital despite massive police presence

Issued on: 30/08/2020 -

Opposition supporters take part in a rally against presidential election results near the Independence Palace in Minsk, Belarus August 30, 2020. Tut.

T.BYext by:FRANCE 24 Follow|

Video by:FRANCE 24 Follow

Tens f thousands of opposition supporters marched through the Belarusian capital of Minsk on Sunday calling for an end to strongman Alexander Lukashenko's rule, despite heavily armed police and troops blocking streets and detaining dozens of demonstrators.

Protests have now entered a third week since the disputed presidential election on August 9 in which Lukashenko claimed victory, while opposition rival Svetlana Tikhanovskaya said she was the true winner.

An AFP journalist and local media estimated that more than 100,000 people came to Sunday's protest, equalling the scale of the rallies on previous weekends, the largest demonstrations the country has seen since independence from the USSR.

Some protesters gathered around Lukashenko's official residence in the centre of Minsk, the Palace of Independence, which was guarded by a cordon of riot police and special forces with helmets and anti-riot shields, equipped with water cannons.

Sunday's rally fell on Lukashenko's 66th birthday and online opposition messages urged people to bring flowers and "creative" handmade gifts reflecting their attitude to the authoritarian leader.

Some chanted "Get out! We're coming for you on your birthday!"

Others held quirky items aloft including a cardboard model toilet with a sign urging Lukashenko to "flush" himself away. Others carried a model coffin with "Dictatorship" written on the side and a picture of a giant cockroach, the nickname used by the opposition for Lukashenko.

There were chants of "The rat is you and we're the people," reported local news site Nasha Niva, after Lukashenko referred to protesters as "rats."

Thousands also held similar rallies in other Belarusian cities, including Brest and Grodno, local media reported.

Protesters face off against riot police

The Minsk Peace March started at 2pm local time (1100 GMT) with police beginning to detain protesters minutes afterwards, as people headed for the central Independence Square.

Columns of protesters walked through the centre, carrying placards and the country's historic red-and-white flag, many with children in tow, as cars honked horns in support.

Some linked arms to march along the middle of a main street and attempted to remonstrate with black-clad riot police.

The Belarusian interior ministry said police detained 125 in the first two hours, Interfax-Zapad news agency reported. They faced a charge of taking part in illegal mass protests.

Protesters faced off against interior troops and riot police, kitted out in helmets and bullet-proof vests and armed with guns and batons, who used anti-riot shields to block people's passage.

Local media posted video of military vehicles driving towards the Independence Square

Protesters in groups moved in various directions around the city, attempting to bypass police blocks.

Machine-gun-toting troops wearing balaclavas and without identifying badges took up positions around a war memorial that has been a rallying point for the protests.

Marchers began moving there and some stood on the grass nearby. The atmosphere remained relaxed and festive, with a violinist playing a protest song and people dancing to rave music.

'Morally bankrupt'

The latest rally came amid a harsh crackdown on media freedoms.

On Saturday the Belarusian foreign ministry withdrew accreditation for numerous journalists working for international media, including AFP, the BBC and Radio Liberty / Radio Free Europe, with a government official citing "counter-terrorism" grounds.

Tikhanovskaya, who has fled to the safety of Lithuania, on Saturday said that this step was "another sign that this regime is morally bankrupt" and resorting to "fear and intimidation."

France, Germany and the United States also condemned the crackdown on journalists. "The arbitrary measures taken by the Belarusian authorities against journalists violate press freedom," French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said in a statement on Sunday.

"I call on the Belarusian authorities to reverse these measures without delay," he added, saying that the crisis in Belarus requires "the establishment of an inclusive national dialogue" and that "repressive measures against journalists cannot help".

Germany will summon the Belarus ambassador after Minsk revoked accreditations of foreign media reporters covering the country's anti-government protests, a government source told AFP on Sunday.

"The Belarus ambassador will be summoned to the foreign affairs ministry," the source said. German Foreign Minister Heiko Mass has already condemned the moves against the foreign media as "unacceptable".

European leaders have urged Lukashenko to launch dialogue with the opposition and Tikhanovskaya's supporters have set up a Coordination Council to organise a peaceful transfer of power.

The Belarusian authorities have detained several members and hauled in others for questioning, including Nobel Literature Prize-winner Svetlana Alexievich.

Lukashenko spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin shortly before the protest began with the Kremlin leader wishing him a happy birthday.

The Kremlin said they agreed to meet in Moscow "in the next weeks" and on their intentions to further strengthen Belarus-Russia's alliance," after Putin this week vowed military support for Lukashenko if needed.

Putin said Russia had prepared a reserve of law enforcement officers to deploy if the situation got "out of control."

Reporters covering the protests have been detained and police have confiscated memory cards from photographers' cameras.

The authorities have also shut off Internet access repeatedly, making it harder for independent media to report from the scene.

On Sunday, more than 360 Belarusian sports figures including several Olympic athletes signed an open letter calling for new elections to be held according to international standards and condemning police violence.

Lukashenko ordered brutal police tactics following the elections that led to the death of three men while hundreds were wounded. More than 7,000 people were detained.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)

UH OH
Key air monitors offline after Laura hits Louisiana gas hub

By ELLEN KNICKMEYER

1 of 6
A chemical fire burns at a facility during the aftermath of Hurricane Laura Thursday, Aug. 27, 2020, near Lake Charles, La. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

Hazardous emissions from a chlorine plant fire, abruptly shuttered oil and gas refineries and still-to-be assessed plant damage are seeping into the air after Hurricane Laura, regulators say, but some key state and federal monitors to alert the public of air dangers remain offline in Louisiana.

While the chlorine fire was being monitored as a potential health threat, Louisiana environmental spokesman Greg Langley says he knows of no other major industrial health risks from the storm in the state. He said restoring power and water was a bigger priority.

But some Louisiana residents and environmental advocates say a shortage of solid government information on the state of the air is typical. With dozens of petroleum, petrochemical and other industrial sites, Louisiana is home to communities with some of the nation’s highest cancer risks, according to Environmental Protection Agency rankings.

In the Lake Charles area, with refineries, a major natural gas project and other industrial sites, residents “generally don’t get any information except what the industry puts out,” said Carla Chrisco, a Lake Charles lawyer who evacuated the city before Laura.

The area was among the hardest hit Thursday. Laura struck parts of the Texas-Louisiana coast with up to 150-mph (240 kph) winds and a storm surge that Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards said rose as high as 15 feet (4.5 meters).

An electrical outage that deprived hundreds of thousands of people of power and is expected to last weeks has knocked offline the state’s stationary air monitors in the storm-battered communities.

Oil and gas facilities that the U.S. Department of Energy says account for 13% of U.S. refinery capacity shut down as a precaution along an industrialized roughly 60-mile stretch from Port Arthur, Texas, to Lake Charles before the hurricane.

The abrupt shutdowns, and eventual restarts, for hurricanes typically mean the emission of up to millions of pounds of additional cancer-causing soot, heavy metals and other hazards from refinery smokestacks.

A fire at a plant making swimming pool chemicals in Westlake, part of the larger Lake Charles area, since Thursday has on occasion sent enough chlorine into the air to be detected by emergency workers’ hand-held monitors, Langley said. Chlorine levels were not high enough to warrant evacuation, officials said, although residents of the industrial area around the plant were under orders to shelter inside their homes for days after Laura’s landfall.

With debris clogging roads, industry still is assessing damage along the Texas-Louisiana coast. No word of any major industrial threat other than the chlorine plant fire had emerged by three days after Laura. After Hurricane Harvey hit Houston in 2017, confirmation of more than a hundred toxic spills into the air, land and water took days, weeks and months to become public, and many were never investigated.

“In a storm of this magnitude, there’s going to be some leaks, there’s going to be some spills,” Langley said Saturday. “We’re still in the process of assessing that. I don’t know of anything personally that’s major.”

Texas has requested the EPA’s help overall looking for any so-far undiscovered hazardous air releases after the hurricane, but Louisiana, with the exception of the chlorine plant fire, has not, EPA spokesman James Hewitt said.

“EPA stands ready to assist states and local governments who need help, and have already done so following Hurricane Laura,” Hewitt said in an email.

Texas made a formal request for air-monitoring help through the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Hewitt said. As a result, EPA has sent a bus-mounted mobile lab to the Houston area to start monitoring and assessing air for any hazardous emission levels, he said.

Texas also has asked the EPA to deploy a monitoring plane over Port Arthur, where the aircraft will collect infrared images and air readings to help track any damage and releases from the storm damage.

“Information will be provided to the public as it becomes available which follows our standard procedures,” the EPA spokesman said.

By Saturday, EPA contractors had left the area of the chlorine plant fire, said Langley, the Louisiana environmental spokesman. An environmental consulting firm would continue to do all air monitoring, he said.

State officials also would be flying over the damaged area to look for obvious leaks, sheens, wayward drums and any other signs of industrial threats, Langley said. “We have a lot of experience in hurricane response, looking for that,” he said.

Christina Stephens, a spokeswoman for the Louisiana governor, said Sunday that in addition to hand-held monitors, Louisiana’s Department of Environmental Quality also has mobile air labs, although it so far has not deployed them since the storm.

The agency “has the experienced team and the resources ... to assess and respond to environmental issues in the aftermath,” Stephens said. If the state also needs EPA resources, “we will not hesitate to call on them.”

But some environmental and public health advocates single out Louisiana for what they say is too lax vigilance over industrial threats to the public, even in the best of times.

Louisiana’s response since Laura “sounds like it’s about what it usually is. Not robust is putting it kindly,” said Anne Rolfes in New Orleans, founder of the Louisiana Bucket Brigade, an environmental group.

People are worried about the possibility of toxic releases from the storm, Rolfes said. But over the years, she said, Louisiana residents have come to have “tremendously low expectations, for these institutions that are supposed to be protecting us.”

——

Knickmeyer reported from Oklahoma City. Associated Press writer Sudhin Thanawala in Atlanta contributed to this report.

___

This story has been corrected to reflect that the name of the Louisiana environmental group is the Louisiana Bucket Brigade, not The Bucket Brigades.

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