EXPLAINER: How wildfire camps keep crews ready for battle

By KEITH RIDLER

August 28, 2021


FILE - In this Aug. 25, 2015, file photo, Mac Mega, center, rests with fellow firefighters from Oregon-based Grayback Forestery, at a camp for firefighters battling the Okanogan Complex Fire in Okanogan, Wash. Empty cow pastures on one day can be bustling with hundreds of firefighters the next as fire camps with colorful tent cities spring up. Truckloads of supplies and equipment are needed to keep wildland firefighters effective at fighting flames for weeks on end. The size of each camp is determined by the size and complexity of the wildfire. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File)

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Empty cow pastures on one day can be bustling with hundreds of firefighters the next as fire camps with colorful tent cities spring up.

More than 20,000 wildland firefighters are battling some 100 large wildfires in the U.S. West, and truckloads of supplies and equipment are needed to keep them effective at fighting flames for weeks on end.

“We’ll set up a small village,” said Evans Kuo, a “Type 1” incident commander assigned to the nation’s biggest and most dangerous wildfires. His incident command team has 44 members. “The main idea of the camp is to not only house the incident command team, but also house the base camp that has food, water, sleeping and showers.”

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HOW LARGE ARE FIRE CAMPS?

The size of each camp is determined by the size and complexity of the wildfire, with the largest blazes drawing more than 1,000 firefighters and support staff that are directed by Type 1 incident command teams.

U.S. Interior Department agencies, primarily the Bureau of Land Management, and the U.S. Forest Service supply firefighters, as do state agencies and tribes.

There also are Type 2 command teams on smaller and less complex blazes that draw from about 200 to 500 firefighters. Type 3 incidents may or may not have a fire camp.

More than 95% of all wildfires are put out quickly or within days by local firefighters, and are classified as Type 4 or 5. They typically don’t have fire camps.

Food caterers, semi-trailers with shower stalls and portable bathrooms are brought into large fire camps to make sure firefighters get enough food and a chance to wash off the dirt, ash and sweat.

“That’s a huge morale boost out on the line,” said Bubba Pugh, who has been fighting wildfires with the Idaho Department of Lands for about a decade. “Having the fire camp helps us get the job done.”

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WHO’S IN CHARGE OF A FIRE CAMP?

An incident commander with decades of firefighting experience runs the show, plotting short-term and long-term strategy that’s recalibrated daily. Fire camp responsibilities are separated into divisions that include planning, logistics, communications, medical and even security.

Large fires will also have an air operations branch to coordinate fire retardant drops by jets or other aircraft, as well as water drops by helicopters. Some camps will also have a person in charge of night operations, when firefighters can make good progress.

Public information officers help inform area residents through social media and news outlets. They also work with law enforcement officials on evacuations and road closures.

While fire camps are hierarchical, the system includes an outlet for firefighters to anonymously report safety concerns to an employee relations person at a camp or online.

Camps also include someone tracking the overall cost of fighting the fire, which can run into the millions of dollars. The federal government spent $2.3 billion fighting wildfires last year, a number that’s expected to grow significantly this year.

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WHERE ARE FIRE CAMPS LOCATED?

Kuo said schools make good fire camps because they have electricity and internet access, something that has become increasingly important in fighting fires. Information can be distributed to firefighters on smartphones using code scanners.

Firefighters bring their own tents, and can set up on athletic fields or, if in more remote areas, anywhere from meadows to cow pastures.

“Sometimes we don’t get the most luxurious fields to sleep in,” Pugh said. “But find a nice, flat piece of ground, and just expect to be there for the duration.”

Communication in remote locations is mainly done through handheld radios. Communications teams put repeaters — devices that receive radio signals and retransmit them — on ridgetops so commanders can communicate with firefighters in the field.

The National Interagency Fire Center in Boise has the largest store of handheld radios outside the U.S. Department of Defense. Center spokeswoman Jessica Gardetto said most of the center’s radios, about 23,000, are at large wildfires. All radios are not in use at the same time as they need to be charged.

Remote command posts are often operated from yurts, or office trailers, with different divisions having their own workspace.

Large fires also often have satellite camps to save time because it can take hours to drive from a command post to other areas of the fire.

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HOW AND WHEN IS FOOD SERVED?

Firefighters get three calorie-heavy meals a day and snacks to keep them fueled for the physically intensive work.

Before the coronavirus pandemic, firefighters gathered in chow halls in the morning and evening, enjoying the camaraderie of the job while away from the fire line. Now, firefighters disperse to eat their meals, sometimes going back to their tents or finding a tree to sit under. Lunch is typically a bag lunch eaten in the field.

At satellite camps, pre-cooked food is flown to them.

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WHAT’S THE PLAN?

Type 1 and Type 2 incident command teams each day produce an incident action plan that spells out goals and responsibilities, typically looking four days ahead. Each day the plan is recalibrated based on a variety of factors, chief among them weather. The plan is typically 12 to 20 pages long, and is made available as a PDF so it can be viewed on smartphones or other devices.

Kuo gets up at 5 a.m. to prepare for the 6 a.m. morning briefing, which is followed by other briefings and planning sessions during the day that lasts to 10 p.m.

“Somewhere in there you try to grab some food,” he said.

Most firefighters have been on the job for months, and will likely be needed for more than another month as some fires are expected to burn well into September.

“There is some burnout factor,” Kuo said, summing up the current atmosphere among firefighters. “But this is what we signed up for, so you dig deep and get through it.”

7-time Emmy winner Ed Asner dies age 91

AS HEAD OF ACTORS UNION, ED WALKED MANY A PICKET LINE AND SPOKE OUT AGAINST US IMPERIALISM

Issued on: 29/08/2021
Actor Ed Asner, pictured in May 2015, has died of natural causes at age 91 Jason Kempin GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/File
Washington (AFP)

US television actor Ed Asner, winner of a record seven Emmy awards, has died at age 91, his family said Sunday.

"We are sorry to say that our beloved patriarch passed away this morning, peacefully. Words cannot express the sadness we feel," his family wrote on the actor's Twitter account.

"With a kiss on your head -- Goodnight dad. We love you."

His publicist said Asner died of natural causes.

Asner originally made a name for himself playing newsroom boss Lou Grant on "The Mary Tyler Moore Show," the iconic sitcom that ran from 1970 to 1977, and then later on a spinoff show centered on his character.

He won three of his seven Emmys for playing the character, and is one of only two actors to win a comedy and drama Emmy for the same role on different shows.

Asner won himself a new generation of fans with his portrayal of another tough guy with a heart of gold: widower Carl Fredericksen in the 2009 animated movie "Up," which was nominated for the Oscar for best picture.

In the film, Asner voices a hardened old man who ties thousands of balloons to his house and flies it to South America, seeking to fulfill his late wife's wish for adventure.

Edward Asner was born on November 15, 1929 in Kansas City, Missouri. The youngest of five children, he worked on his high school newspaper -- foreshadowing his stint playing an editor on the small screen -- and played football.

As an adult, he worked on an auto-assembly line, though he said in a 1973 interview he had dreams of seeing South America -- again foretelling a future character -- or Alaska. He then served in the army before finally making his way into acting.

He appeared in a series of off-Broadway plays, television shows and movies before getting his big break with "The Mary Tyler Moore Show."

A liberal activist, he participated in protests in support of labor unions and against the death penalty. He also served two terms as president of the Screen Actors Guild.

In May, Asner's friend and "Mary Tyler Moore" co-star Gavin MacLeod passed away. Asner shared his grief on Twitter.

"My heart is broken. Gavin was my brother, my partner in crime (and food) and my comic conspirator," he wrote.

"I will see you in a bit Gavin. Tell the gang I will see them in a bit. Betty! It’s just you and me now," he added, referring to legendary actress Betty White, who is currently the only living alum of the show.

© 2021 AFP

Actor Ed Asner, TV’s blustery Lou Grant, dies at 91

By MARCELA ISAZA
AP

FILE - In this March 7, 2010, file photo, actor Ed Asner arrives during the 82nd Academy Awards in the Hollywood section of Los Angeles. Asner, the blustery but lovable Lou Grant in two successful television series, has died. He was 91. Asner's representative confirmed the death in an email Sunday, Aug. 29, 2021, to The Associated Press. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles, File)

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Ed Asner, the burly and prolific character actor who became a star in middle age as the gruff but lovable newsman Lou Grant, first in the hit comedy “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” and later in the drama “Lou Grant,” died Sunday. He was 91.

Asner’s representative confirmed the actor’s death in an email to The Associated Press. Asner’s official Twitter account included a note from his children: “We are sorry to say that our beloved patriarch passed away this morning peacefully. Words cannot express the sadness we feel. With a kiss on your head- Goodnight dad. We love you.”

Built like the football lineman he once was, the balding Asner was a journeyman actor in films and TV when he was hired in 1970 to play Lou Grant on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show.” For seven seasons he was the rumpled boss to Moore’s ebullient Mary Richards (He called her “Mary,” she called him “Mr. Grant”) at the fictional Minneapolis TV newsroom where both worked. Later, he would play the role for five years on “Lou Grant.”

Asner’s character had caught on from the first episode of “Mary Tyler Moore,” when he told Mary in their initial meeting, “You’ve got spunk. ... I hate spunk!” The inspired cast included Ted Knight as Ted Baxter, the dimwitted news anchor; Gavin MacLeod as Murray Slaughter, the sarcastic news writer; and Betty White as the manipulative, sex-obsessed home show hostess Sue Ann Nivens. Valerie Harper and Cloris Leachman, playing Mary’s neighbors, both saw their characters spun off into their own shows.

Asner is the third “Mary Tyler Moore” alum to die in recent months. Leachman died in January and MacLeod died in May.

The 99-year-old White is the lone surviving main cast member from “Mary Tyler Moore.”

“Mary Tyler Moore” was still a hit when the star decided to pursue other interests, and so it was brought to an end in the seventh season with a hilarious finale in which all of the principals were fired except for the bumbling Baxter.

Asner went immediately into “Lou Grant,” his character moving from Minneapolis to Los Angeles to become city editor of the Tribune, a crusading newspaper under the firm hand of Publisher Margaret Pynchon, memorably played by Nancy Marchand.

Asner won three best supporting actor Emmys on “Mary Tyler Moore” and two best actor awards on “Lou Grant.” He also won Emmys for his roles in the miniseries “Rich Man, Poor Man” (1975-1976) and “Roots” (1976-1977).

He had more than 300 acting credits and remained active throughout his 70s and 80s in a variety of film and TV roles. In 2003, he played Santa Claus in Will Ferrell’s hit film “Elf.” He was John Goodman’s father in the short-lived 2004 CBS comedy “Center of the Universe” and the voice of the elderly hero in the hit 2009 Pixar release, “Up.” More recently, he was in such TV series as “Forgive Me” and “Dead to Me.”

Nonetheless, Asner told The Associated Press in 2009 that interesting roles were hard to come by.

“I never get enough work,” he said. “It’s the history of my career. There just isn’t anything to turn down, let me put it that way.”

“I’d say most people are probably in that same boat, old people, and it’s a shame,” he said.

As Screen Actors Guild president, the liberal Asner was caught up in a political controversy in 1982 when he spoke out against U.S. involvement with repressive governments in Latin America. “Lou Grant” was canceled during the furor that followed and he did not run for a third SAG term in 1985.

“There have been few actors of Ed Asner’s prominence who risked their status to fight for social causes the way Ed did,” said actor Gabrielle Carteris, who is SAG-AFTRA’s president. She noted that his advocacy “did not stop with performers. He fought for victims of poverty, violence, war, and legal and social injustice, both in the United States and around the globe.”

Asner discussed his politicization in a 2002 interview, noting he had begun his career during the McCarthy era and for years had been afraid to speak out for fear of being blacklisted.

Then he saw a nun’s film depicting the cruelties inflicted by El Salvador’s government on that country’s citizens.

“I stepped out to complain about our country’s constant arming and fortifying of the military in El Salvador, who were oppressing their people,” he said.

Former SAG President Charlton Heston and others accused him of making un-American statements and of misusing his position as head of their actors union.

“We even had bomb threats at the time. I had armed guards,” Asner recalled.

The actor blamed the controversy for ending the five-year run of “Lou Grant,” although CBS insisted declining ratings were the reason the show was canceled.

Although the show had its light moments, its scripts touched on a variety of darker social issues that most series wouldn’t touch at the time, including alcoholism and homelessness. Asner remained politically active for the rest of his life and in 2017 published the book “The Grouchy Historian: An Old-Time Lefty Defends Our Constitution Against Right-Wing Hypocrites and Nutjobs.”

Asner, born in Kansas City, Missouri, in 1929, almost became a newsman in real life. He studied journalism at the University of Chicago until a professor told him there was little money to be made in the profession.

He quickly switched to drama, debuting as the martyred Thomas Becket in a campus production of T.S. Eliot’s “Murder in the Cathedral.”

He eventually dropped out of school, going to work as a taxi driver and other jobs before being drafted in 1951. He served with the Army Signal Corps in France.

Returning to Chicago after military service, he appeared at the Playwrights Theatre Club and Second City, the famed satire troupe that launched the careers of dozens of top comedians.

Later, in New York, he joined the long-running “The Threepenny Opera” and appeared opposite Jack Lemmon in “Face of a Hero.”

Arriving in Hollywood in 1961 for an episode of television’s “Naked City,” Asner decided to stay and appeared in numerous movies and TV shows, including the film “El Dorado,” opposite John Wayne; and the Elvis Presley vehicles “Kid Galahad” and “Change of Habit.” He was a regular in the 1960s political drama series “Slattery’s People.”

He was married twice, to Nancy Lou Sykes and Cindy Gilmore, and had four children, Matthew, Liza, Kate and Charles.

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This story has been corrected to reflect that Gavin MacLeod died in May, not March.

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Late Associated Press writer Bob Thomas contributed biographical information to this report.

Lee 'Scratch' Perry, reggae and dub wizard, dies at 85

Issued on: 29/08/2021 -

Lee "Scratch" Perry's layering techniques were the stuff of legend; he used stones, water, kitchen utensils to create surreal, often haunting, sonic density

 Attila KISBENEDEK AFP/File

New York (AFP)

Lee "Scratch" Perry, the wildly influential Jamaican singer and producer who pushed the boundaries of reggae and shepherded dub, has died. He was 85 years old.

"My deep condolences to the family, friends, and fans of legendary record producer and singer, Rainford Hugh Perry OD, affectionately known as 'Lee Scratch' Perry," tweeted Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness.

The Jamaica Observer reported the visionary died Sunday morning at a hospital in Lucea. No cause of death has been given.

A producer for a wide array of artists including Bob Marley, Perry's mastery traversed time and genre, his impact evident from hip hop to post-punk, from The Beastie Boys to The Clash.

Born March 20, 1936 in the rural Jamaican town of Kendal, Rainford Hugh "Lee" Perry left school at age 15, moving to Kingston in the 1960s.

"My father worked on the road, my mother in the fields. We were very poor. I went to school… I learned nothing at all. Everything I have learned has come from nature," Perry told the British music outlet NME in 1984.

"When I left school there was nothing to do except field work. Hard, hard labor. I didn't fancy that. So I started playing dominoes. Through dominoes I practiced my mind and learned to read the minds of others."

"This has proved eternally useful to me."

He began selling records for Clement Coxsone Dodd's sound system in the late 1950s, while also cultivating his own recording career.

Perry broke ranks with Dodds over personal and financial conflicts, moving to Joe Gibbs's Amalgamated Records before also falling out with Gibbs.

In 1968, he formed his own label, "Upsetter Records." His first major single, "People Funny Boy" -- a jibe at Gibbs -- was praised for its innovative use of a crying baby recording, an early use of a sample.

He gained fame both in Jamaica and abroad, especially in Britain, drawing acclaim for his inventive production, studio wizardry and eccentric persona.

In 1973, Perry built a backyard studio in Kingston, naming it the "Black Ark," which would birth countless reggae and dub classics.

Adept at layering rhythm and repetition, Perry became a sampling grandmaster whose work created new courses for music's future.

The producer for a number of landmark dub records -- along with Marley, he worked with Max Romeo, Junior Murvin and The Congos -- Perry was key in taking Jamaican music to the international stage, crafting sounds that would endure for decades.

- 'Salvador Dali of music' -

Perry's layering techniques were the stuff of legend; he used stones, water and kitchen utensils to create surreal, often haunting, sonic density.

A producer for a wide array of artists including Bob Marley, Lee Perry's mastery traversed time and genre, his impact evident from hip hop to post-punk, from The Beastie Boys to The Clash

 Attila KISBENEDEK AFP/File

Legend has it he created drum effects by burying a mic at the base of a palm tree, and wove the sound of marijuana smoke blown into a mic into his works.

"You could never put your finger on Lee Perry -- he's the Salvador Dali of music," Keith Richards told Rolling Stone in 2010.

"He's a mystery. The world is his instrument. You just have to listen. More than a producer, he knows how to inspire the artist's soul," Richards told the magazine.

"He has a gift of not only hearing sounds that come from nowhere else, but also translating those sounds to the musicians. Scratch is a shaman."

The highly sought-after producer -- the likes of Paul McCartney recorded with him -- continued to mix and release his own music with his band the Upsetters, but began suffering mentally in the 1970s. The Black Ark fell into disrepair.

The studio ultimately burned down; Perry holds he set it ablaze himself in the early 1980s.

Perry began traveling and living abroad, ultimately settling in Switzerland for a time with his family, and remained prolific until his death.

"Pure Innovation. Pure Imagination. This Man Was Plug Ins long before you studio cats today can simply press one button and instantly created sound chaos," wrote Roots drummer Questlove.

"What a character! Totally ageless! Extremely creative, with a memory as sharp as a tape machine! A brain as accurate as a computer!" wrote the British artist Mad Professor, Perry's longtime collaborator, on social media Sunday.

Praising Perry's "pioneering spirit and work," the Beastie Boys also tweeted an homage: "We are truly grateful to have been inspired by and collaborated with this true legend."

SEE

Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry: a life in pictures | Music | The Guardian

THEY ALL LOOK ALIKE; BASKETBALL PLAYERS
Video shows police use stun gun on NBA’s Jaxson Hayes

By STEFANIE DAZIO

August 27, 2021

This Thursday, July 29, 2021, booking photo released by the Los Angeles Police Department shows New Orleans Pelicans center Jaxson Hayes. Hayes was arrested Thursday, July 29, in Los Angeles after a struggle with officers who were responding to a report of a domestic dispute and had to use a Taser and other force before they could handcuff him, authorities said. (Los Angeles Police Department via AP)


LOS ANGELES (AP) — A Los Angeles police officer briefly pressed a knee to the neck of NBA player Jaxson Hayes as the New Orleans Pelicans center gasped “I can’t breathe” seconds before another officer used a Taser on him during a struggle, according to body camera video released Friday.

The officers went to Hayes’ home in the Woodland Hills neighborhood on July 28 around 3 a.m. after his girlfriend’s cousin called 911. The cousin said Hayes’ girlfriend was sending her text messages saying he had become loud and violent and she was scared.

Hayes, who was not armed, became argumentative after officers said he couldn’t go back into his home. He ignored requests from his girlfriend and his cousin to stop talking and struggling with the police as they tried to subdue him. The 21-year-old ultimately was booked into jail on accusations of resisting arrest after he was evaluated at a hospital for minor injuries.

“Jaxson Hayes is a nice young man, and he is back home in Ohio working out and getting ready for the upcoming season,” his attorney, Mark Baute, said in a statement Friday.

The LAPD’s Force Investigation Division is looking into the case “due to the possibility of force being applied to Hayes’ neck during the use of force,” police previously said in a statement. Los Angeles police have presented the case to prosecutors, who haven’t decided whether to file charges.

A police officer’s elbow was injured when Hayes shoved him into a wall. Authorities previously said Hayes’ girlfriend has declined to cooperate in the investigation.

Hayes, 6-foot-11 and 220 pounds (over 2 meters and nearly 100 kilograms), was drafted eighth overall out of Texas in 2019. He is the son of former NFL tight end Jonathan Hayes, who played for Kansas City and Pittsburgh. The younger Hayes played one season for the Longhorns before turning pro. In his first two NBA seasons, he averaged 7.4 points, 4.2 rebounds and 16.5 minutes.

Since George Floyd’s death in 2020 there is heightened sensitivity not just when it comes to police violence against Black people, but to police using any kind of force that restricts a person’s breathing. While Hayes’ encounter with police bears some similarities to Floyd’s murder by former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, the differences are notable.

Hayes was on his back when a Los Angeles police officer’s knee was pressed to his neck for a few seconds. Floyd was pinned face-down under Chauvin’s knee for up to 9 1/2 minutes.

As Hayes gasped “I can’t breathe” several times, another officer tells his partner “get your knee up.” That officer immediately complies and Hayes is able to lift his head.

In Floyd’s case, three other officers were charged with aiding and abetting Chauvin with murder and manslaughter because they did not intervene.

The nearly 15-minute, edited video of Hayes’ arrest includes the 911 call and footage from multiple officers’ body cameras. The incident at Hayes’ home began calmly with him answering questions in his driveway with his cousin standing nearby.

“What’s going on between you and your girl?” one officer asks.

“We were just having a little argument,” Hayes responds. “She was throwing some stuff at me.”

The officers say they need to speak to his girlfriend. They tell him and his cousin to wait outside. Hayes questions why he can’t go into his home and asks if they have a warrant to go inside.

The officers respond that they don’t need one, which may or may not be true under California law. Among the mitigating factors are whether the officers believe a victim is seriously hurt.

Two officers blocked Hayes as he approaches the front door, while his cousin tells him to calm down. One officer pushes Hayes and his cousin holds him back.

The police separate the men and grab Hayes’ arms. The situation then rapidly escalates.

Hayes’ cousin begins yelling “Jaxson, stop!” as he scuffles with the officers, shoving one into a wall near the front door. One officer pulls out a Taser as others tackle Hayes.

“Stop resisting or I’m gonna tase you!” he yells several times as Hayes struggles on the ground. The officer alternates pressing a hand and knee to Hayes’ neck. Hayes’ girlfriend comes out of the home and screams “Stop! Stop! What are you doing?”

“Stop resisting or I’m gonna tase you!” the officer yells as Hayes gasps “I can’t breathe.”

As two officers hold Hayes’ arms, the officer fires the Taser, pressing it close to his chest for several seconds amid cries for them to stop from his girlfriend and cousin.

Hayes screams and flips over. The officer fires the Taser a second time, pressing it close to Hayes’ buttocks and the back of his legs, yelling “stop resisting!”

“I’m stopping, bro!” Hayes shouts.

The officer threatens to use the Taser on him again as Hayes insists that he’s not resisting.

The officers are ultimately able to handcuff him and force him to sit in a chair. Blood is visible on his arm and shirt.

LAPD officers are trained to aim a stun gun at a person’s back and navel if the Taser’s probes are being used from a distance of 7 to 15 feet (over 2 meters to nearly 5 meters), according to the agency’s policy. The Taser should be deployed on the person’s forearm or the outside of their thigh or calf if the officer is using the device’s direct stun feature.

Targeting a person’s chest with a Taser is controversial and the device’s maker has previously said to avoid that area.

Sports stars press Australia on climate change

Issued on: 30/08/2021 - 

Australian sports stars, including Michael Hooper, have demanded the country's leaders adopt more ambitious carbon targets MICHAEL BRADLEY AFP


Sydney (AFP)

Hundreds of Aussie sporting heroes -- from rugby captain Michael Hooper, to pace bowler Pat Cummins and world champion surfer Mick Fanning -- teamed up Monday to demand the government do more to tackle climate change.

In an online petition dubbed "The Cool Down" a raft of Australian sports stars demanded the country's conservative leaders step up their game and adopt more ambitious carbon targets.

"Like so many Australians, we've experienced the impacts of climate change first hand," the group of around three hundred athletes said.

"But at the moment, if climate action was the Olympics, Australia isn't winning gold, we're not making the finals, in fact, we don't even qualify."

Sports-mad Australia has been at the sharp end of climate change in recent years, with intense droughts, bushfires, floods and Great Barrier Reef coral bleaching all made worse by atmospheric warming.

But the country's conservative ruling coalition has slow-peddled efforts to address the problem, instead vowing to build new coal mines and refusing allies' demands to set a deadline for net-zero carbon emissions.

After a landmark UN climate report last month warned catastrophic global warming is occurring far more quickly than previously forecast, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said he would not follow other advanced economies in adopting a net-zero target.

Australia is one of the world's largest fossil fuel exporters, sending vast quantities of gas and coal overseas which piles cash into the coffers of a mining sector with close ties to the government and Labor opposition.

Morrison -- who once proudly brought a lump of coal onto the floor of parliament -- has sought to deflect focus onto developing countries and the need for new technology, which he said was key to solving the crisis.

Signatory and recently retired rugby superstar David Pocock rejected criticism that the stars should "stick to sport" and stay out of politics.

"Yep, we've heard that one before," he tweeted. "As athletes we care about our families, communities and the next generation of Aussie kids coming through. We can't stand by. It's time to step up our climate ambition and action."

Other signatories included Davis Cup-winning tennis star Mark Philippoussis, swim veteran Cate Campbell, golfer Karrie Webb and Wallabies stalwarts Nick 'Honey Badger' Cummins, Matt Giteau, James O'Connor, Samu Kerevi, Christian Leali'ifano, and Drew Mitchell.

© 2021 AFP

 EVACUEE;  World has ‘abandoned’ Afghanistan’s new generation
By ARITZ PARRA

August 28, 2021

A Friday Aug, 27, 2021 selfie photo shows Afghan journalist Shabeer Ahmadi in an undisclosed city in Spain. Until last week, Shabeer Ahmadi was busy covering the news in Afghanistan. But after a hasty and excruciating decision to leave his Taliban-controlled country for an uncertain future in Spain, he’s helplessly glued to news feeds on his cellphone, following every twist in the dramatic end of the evacuation of Afghans from Kabul. The 29-year-old journalist and nine close relatives managed to board one of the evacuation planes and are now going through the lengthy asylum process while starting a new life in a northern Spanish city. (Shabeer Ahmadi via AP)


MADRID (AP) — Until last week, Shabeer Ahmadi was busy covering the news in Afghanistan. But after a hasty and excruciating decision to leave his Taliban-controlled country for an uncertain future in Spain, he’s helplessly glued to news feeds on his cellphone, following every twist in the dramatic end of the evacuation of Afghans from Kabul.

The 29-year-old journalist and nine close relatives managed to board one of the evacuation planes and are now going through the lengthy asylum process while starting a new life in a northern Spanish city. But the future of thousands of Afghans who have not been able to escape, including members of his own family, is now the focus of his fears, Ahmadi said.

“There is a feeling of desperation in Afghanistan,” he said. “Imagine if you had made a building for 20 years now, that building is getting destroyed and you cannot go out from that building. It feels very bad. Our education, our hopes for ourselves, for our children, for our future, for our country is all destroyed.”

Tolo News, the private Afghan outlet where Ahmadi worked as deputy head of news, has been a target of the Taliban. But it was not only him who felt under threat in his immediate circle: Ahmadi’s mother is an attorney. His father, a former journalist. And his brother, an engineer, worked on hydropower generation, a crucial infrastructure for the operation of the conflict-worn country.

Earlier this month, as the Taliban’s siege closed on Kabul, the family started applying for emergency visas to several countries. Spain was the first to react, thanks to the mediation of a Spanish journalist whom Ahmadi had befriended in Kabul.

Ahmad and his relatives spent a challenging day amid the crowds piling up outside Kabul’s airport — and another one inside, sleeping among hundreds on the ground — before the 10 were cleared to go, despite some of them lacking passports.

“When I boarded the plane, I was thinking that finally, thank God I’m safe. But what happens to other people who remain in Afghanistan?” he wondered, speaking via video conference from Huesca, where the group was relocated on Thursday, one day after landing in Madrid.

“There are people calling me saying that there’s no salary by the government or by the Taliban now. And banks are closed and they cannot afford their families’ evacuation,” the journalist said.

He explained that as foreign troops are pulling out of the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, many of his acquaintances are looking for alternatives to leave Afghanistan via Iran and Pakistan.

The former correspondent thinks that the future of Afghanistan is bleak. He blames, largely, the U.S. administration of Joe Biden for pressing ahead with the decision to pull out.

“Because it couldn’t negotiate a good deal with the Taliban, the U.S. handed over us to the Taliban, to a group that has ties to so many terrorist groups around the world,” he said. “They abandoned the new generation of Afghanistan.”

He fears that “a very bloody war” will break out between the Taliban and ISIS in the coming months and years, drawing foreign extremist fighters and leaving millions of innocent lives caught in the conflict.

That’s why leaving Afghanistan, he said, “hurts every moment.” But he couldn’t work for the future of his country while his life was at stake, he added. And yet, if things calm down to a degree, if a government is formed that guarantees certain conditions even while the Taliban remain in control, he’s pondering returning home.

“I always tell my friends that any strong country is strong because of the people who work for it, so we cannot leave our country forever,” Ahmadi said.

“We are a generation that has not seen any single day without war in Afghanistan, but if you want our future generations to see such a day, we have to work for our country.”

THE USUAL SUSPECTS

GOP rift widens amid growing hostility to Afghan refugees

By JILL COLVIN

August 28, 2021

In this image provided by the U.S. Marine Corps, Finnish coalition forces assist evacuees for onward processing during an evacuation at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Tuesday, Aug. 24, 2021. As the U.S. rushes to evacuate Americans and allies from Afghanistan, a growing number of Republicans are questioning why the U.S. should take in Afghan citizens who worked side by side with Americans. (Staff Sgt. Victor Mancilla/U.S. Marine Corps via AP)

WASHINGTON (AP) — As the U.S. rushes to evacuate Americans and allies from the chaos of Afghanistan, a growing number of Republicans are questioning why the U.S. should take in Afghan citizens who worked side by side with Americans, further exacerbating divides within the party heading into next year’s midterm elections.

Little more than a week ago, as the Taliban’s stunning takeover of Afghanistan still was snapping into focus, former President Donald Trump issued a statement saying “civilians and others who have been good to our Country ... should be allowed to seek refuge.” But in more recent days, he has turned to warning of the alleged dangers posed by those desperately trying to flee their country before an end-of-month deadline.

“How many terrorists will Joe Biden bring to America?” he asked.

As Republicans level blistering criticism at Biden during his first major foreign policy crisis, some are turning to the nativist, anti-immigrant rhetoric perfected by Trump during his four years in office. It’s causing dismay among others in the party who think the U.S. should look out for those who helped the Americans over the last two decades.

“I think these false narratives that these are a bunch of terrorists are just — they’re completely baseless in reality,” said Olivia Troye, a former White House homeland security adviser who currently serves as director of the Republican Accountability Project. “There’s no basis for this at all in terms of the intelligence and national security world.”

Neil Newhouse, a veteran Republican pollster, said the rhetoric reflects “a general, overall increase” in concern in the country over the risk of terrorist threats after Afghanistan’s fall to the Taliban — not just in the short term from those who may not have been properly vetted, but a year or two down the road.

“There’s just a sense that we are less safe as a country as a result of this,” he said.

The Biden administration has stressed that every person cleared to come to the U.S. is being thoroughly vetted by officials working around the clock. But the refugees have become an emerging flash point, with Trump and his followers loudly demanding that Americans be prioritized for evacuation and warning of the potential dangers posed by Afghans being rescued in one of the world’s largest-ever civilian airlift operations.

That talk intensified Thursday after a suicide bombing ripped through the crowd at the Kabul airport, killing 13 U.S. service members and well over 150 Afghans.

“How many American military personnel have to die to evacuate unvetted refugees?” tweeted Rep. Matt Rosendale, R-Mont. “Get American citizens out and bring our troops home.”

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, on Friday toured the Doña Ana Range complex at Fort Bliss, where many refugees will be housed, and later tweeted the U.S. “should rescue Afghans who’ve assisted the US military, but they should go to a neutral & safe third country.

“They should NOT come to US w/o a FULL security vetting,” he said.

That followed a call Wednesday by Kentucky Rep. James Comer, the top Republican on the House Oversight and Reform committee, for the administration to brief lawmakers on their efforts to vet Afghan refugees and prevent terrorists from entering the country.

“In the chaotic situation left in the wake of the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan, we are particularly concerned that terrorists and others who wish to harm the United States may seek to infiltrate the country disguised as those who provided assistance to coalition forces in Afghanistan,” he wrote in letters to the secretaries of state and homeland security.

Still others, including Republican governors and members of Congress, have taken a different stance, welcoming refugees to their states and working furiously to help those trying to flee. On Capitol Hill, the effort to help Afghan friends and family of constituents is the rare undertaking that is consuming legislative offices of members of both parties.

The United States and its coalition partners have evacuated more than 100,000 people from Afghanistan since the airlift began Aug. 14, including more than 5,100 American citizens. While the administration’s explicitly stated priority is to evacuate Americans, the numbers reflect the demographics of those trying to flee.

U.S. officials believe about 500 American citizens who want to leave Afghanistan remain in the country; others are believed to want to stay. And many of the Afghans, including those who served as American interpreters and fixers and in other support capacities, are desperate to escape, fearing they will be prime targets for retribution by the Taliban once the U.S. leaves.

But that hasn’t stopped Republicans from accusing the Biden administration of failing to put Americans first.

“We’re actually prioritizing Afghan refugees more than we’re prioritizing our own citizens,” said Republican J.D. Vance, who is running for Senate in Ohio and has made repeat television appearances blasting the administration’s approach.

On Fox Business Network, he claimed, without evidence, that the U.S. has “no knowledge” of 90% of the people being evacuated and said some have shown up on wide-ranging terror databases.

“They put Americans last in every single way, but Americans pay for it all,” echoed Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., who has shot to prominence with incendiary statements.

Trump and his former policy adviser Stephen Miller, along with conservative commentators like Tucker Carlson, have taken things even further, using the same anti-immigrant language that was the hallmark of Trump’s 2015 speech announcing his candidacy for the Republican nomination.

“You can be sure the Taliban, who are now in complete control, didn’t allow the best and brightest to board these evacuation flights,” Trump said. “Instead, we can only imagine how many thousands of terrorists have been airlifted out of Afghanistan and into neighborhoods around the world.”

Carlson has warned about Afghans invading America.

The rhetoric underscores the transformation of a party once led by neoconservatives who championed interventionist nation-building policies and invaded Afghanistan — followed by Iraq — nearly 20 years ago.

But not Republicans all are on board.

Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., whose office has been working around the clock to rescue the “countless” Afghans he says deserve evacuation, chastised those in his party invoking “terrorist” rhetoric.

“I would say that they need to do their homework,” he said. “When you talk to the people that we’ve spoken with, when you look at their service record ... when you recognize that they sleep in the same tents, they carry arms together, they’ve been in live firefights, how dare anyone question whether or not they deserve to come to this country or to a safe third country?”

“We’re not talking about just walking down the street and picking and choosing people,” Tillis added. “We know these people. We know who their children are. We know what their service record was. And quite honestly, somebody taking that position, each and every time they do, is insulting a service member who considers these people like brothers and sisters.”

Many of the Afghans seeking to come to the U.S. are doing so under the Special Immigrant Visa program designed specifically for individuals who worked with U.S. forces. Adam Bates, policy counsel at the International Refugee Assistance Project, said that, due to their work, those individuals were extensively vetted by U.S. authorities before applying to the program — and are again extensively vetted “by a wide array of federal agencies” before the visas are granted.

Troye, who has spent significant time on the ground in Afghanistan over the years, said Americans became extremely close to the Afghans with whom they served.

“These people became like family to many of us,” she said. “It’s really shameful to see some of these Republicans speaking in this way about people who really risked their lives to help us, who were really our allies on the ground.”

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Associated Press writer Lisa Mascaro contributed to this report.

THIRD WORLD USA

Anxious tenants await assistance as evictions resume

By MICHAEL CASEY and MICHELLE LIU

FILE - In this Jan. 13, 2021 file photo, tenants' rights advocates demonstrate outside the Edward W. Brooke Courthouse in Boston. States have begun to ramp up the amount of rental assistance reaching tenants but there are still millions of families facing eviction who haven't gotten help. The Treasury Department says just $5.1 billion of the estimated $46.5 billion in federal rental assistance, or only 11%, has been distributed by states and localities through July. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer, file)

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Six months after Congress approved spending tens of billions of dollars to bail out renters facing eviction, South Carolina was just reaching its first tenants. All nine of them.

Like most states, it had plenty of money to distribute — $272 million. But it had handed out just over $36,000 by June. The pace has since intensified, but South Carolina still has only distributed $15.5 million in rent and utility payments as of Aug. 20, or about 6% of its funds.

“People are strangling on the red tape,” said Sandy Gillis, executive director of the Hilton Head Deep Well Project, which stopped referring tenants to the program and started paying overdue rent through its own private funds instead.

The struggles in South Carolina are emblematic of a program launched at the beginning of the year with the promise of solving the pandemic eviction crisis, only to fall victim in many states to bureaucratic hurdles, political inertia and unclear guidance at the federal level.

The concerns about the slow pace intensified Thursday, after the Supreme Court blocked the Biden administration from enforcing a temporary ban that was put in place because of the coronavirus pandemic. Some 3.5 million people in the U.S. as of Aug. 16 said they face eviction in the next two months, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey.

“The Supreme Court decision undermines historic efforts by Congress and the White House to ensure housing stability during the pandemic,” Diane Yentel, CEO of the National Low Income Housing Coalition, said in a statement.

“State and local governments are working to improve programs to distribute emergency rental assistance to those in need, but they need more time; the Supreme Court’s decision will lead to many renters, predominantly people of color, losing their homes before the assistance can reach them.”

The Treasury Department said this week that just over $5.1 billion of the estimated $46.5 billion in federal rental assistance — only 11% — has been distributed by states and localities through July. This includes some $3 billion handed out by the end of June and another $1.5 billion by May 31.

Nearly a million households have been served and 70 places have gotten at least half their money out, including several states, among them Virginia and Texas, according to Treasury. New York, which hadn’t distributed anything through May, has now distributed more than $156 million.

But there are 16 states, according to the latest data, that had distributed less than 5% and nine that spent less than 3%. Most, according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition, are red states, often with tough-to-reach rural populations. Besides South Carolina, they include Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Iowa, Indiana, Florida, Nebraska, North and South Dakota, Mississippi and New Mexico.

There are myriad reasons for the slow distribution, according to the group. Among them is the historic amount of money — more than the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s annual budget — which required some 450 localities to create programs from scratch. Getting the money out is also complicated by the fact that checks aren’t sent directly to beneficiaries like, for example, the child tax credit.

States and localities have also struggled with technology and staffing, as well as reaching tenants without access to the internet, or small landlords unaware of the help. Some have applications so complicated they scare off prospective applicants or have income documentation and pandemic impact requirements that can be time-consuming.

Efforts to use coronavirus relief money for rental assistance last year faced similar challenges.

“A lot of states are lagging behind,” said Emma Foley, a research analyst with the National Low Income Housing Coalition. “The fact that this many states still have distributed so little is worrisome.”

In South Carolina, lawmakers were slow to roll out the state’s program, waiting until April to charge the state housing authority with distributing the money. It took weeks to set up its program, with the first help not going out until June.

Housing advocates have also criticized the reams of documentation required and the months of waiting for tenants to find out whether they qualify.

Shaquarryah Fraiser applied in May and is still waiting to hear whether she will get help paying months of back rent for the mobile home she rented with her mother for $550 a month in Sumter, South Carolina. Fraiser’s mother died of COVID-19 last year, and the 29-year-old fell behind after getting sick herself with pneumonia and losing her phone survey job.


“It’ll take a lot of stress off of me. I won’t be so anxious about this situation,” said Fraiser of the prospect of getting the help.

In Arizona, delays have led to plenty of finger-pointing.

Arizona’s House Democrats this month blamed the state for the delays in getting the money out — less than $7 million of its $900 million through July.

Arizona’s Department of Economic Security points out the federal money has been allocated to 13 different jurisdictions, not just the state, and blames cities and counties for the slow rollout.

“We have offered to assist overwhelmed jurisdictions with their workloads,” the department’s director Michael Wisehart wrote in a response to lawmakers. “Regrettably, no jurisdiction has chosen to partner in this way.”

Meanwhile, Arizona landlords and housing nonprofits blamed much of the problem on regulatory requirements tied to the money.

Mississippi, which has given out $18.6 million of its $200 million through Aug. 23, has struggled to reach smaller landlords and renters, many of whom live in rural areas without internet access. In addition, the state has no data base of renters — prompting it to hold events statewide to connect with potential applicants.

The Mississippi Home Corporation, which runs the program, also sent a letter to judges asking them not to allow an eviction if someone has applied for help and to inform landlords they won’t get help if they evict after the moratorium ends. The agency also relaxed documentation requirements in 50 of its counties. But the program will still require proof of income and other documents in 32 other counties.

“You’re trying to walk this line of speed and diligence,” said Scott Spivey, executive director of the Mississippi Home Corporation. “We are trying to make sure there is no fraud, waste and abuse and that we’re only giving assistance to the people who are entitled to it.”

The Treasury Department has repeatedly tweaked its guidance to encourage states and local governments to streamline the distribution of funds. The Biden administration has also asked states to create eviction diversion program s that aim to resolve disputes before they reach the courts.

On Wednesday, Treasury released additional guidance to try to speed up the process. This includes allowing tenants to self-assess their income and risk of becoming homeless among other criteria. Many states and localities, fearing fraud, have measures in place that can take weeks to verify an applicant qualifies for help.

Treasury also said money can be distributed in advance of funds being approved as well as to tenants who have outstanding rental debt in collection, making it easier for them to find new housing.

“There is no question we are seeing a level of excessive caution in getting the money out that does not seem to reflect either the flexibilities Treasury has provided or the fact we are facing a true public health and eviction emergency,” said Gene Sperling, who is charged with overseeing implementation of President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion coronavirus rescue package.

He said the new guidance is “going the extra mile to provide even more clarity and strong encouragement to put getting immediate relief out ahead of unnecessary and time-consuming paperwork.”

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Casey reported from Boston. Associated Press writers Anita Snow in Phoenix and Leah Willingham in Jackson, Mississippi, contributed to this report.

ISRAEL SHOOT TO KILL ORDERS

Gaza protesters clash with Israeli troops near the border
By WAFAA SHURAFA

August 28, 2021

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Protesters take cover next to tires on fire near the fence of Gaza Strip border with Israel during a protest east of Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Wednesday, Aug. 25, 2021. Hundreds of Palestinians on Wednesday demonstrated near the Israeli border in the southern Gaza Strip, calling on Israel to ease a crippling blockade days after a similar gathering ended in deadly clashes with the Israeli army. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — Hundreds of Hamas-backed activists on Saturday launched what they said was the first in a series of nighttime protests along the Israeli border, throwing explosives toward Israeli forces who responded with live fire.

Organizers said the gatherings, which are to continue throughout the week, were meant to step up pressure on Israel to ease a crippling economic blockade on the Gaza Strip.

“The occupation will not enjoy calm unless the siege on our beloved land is lifted,” said Abu Omar, a spokesman for the protesters.

Israel and Egypt have maintained the blockade since Hamas, a group sworn to Israel’s destruction, seized control of Gaza in 2007, a year after it won Palestinian elections.

The blockade, which restricts the movement of goods and people in and out of Gaza, has ravaged the territory’s economy. Israel has tightened the closure since an 11-day war in May, demanding the return of the remains of two dead soldiers and freedom for two Israeli civilians believed to be in Hamas captivity.

Amateur footage and photos from inside Gaza showed hundreds of Palestinians protesters engaged in Saturday’s gathering. Some appeared to be throwing explosives and chanting in celebrations as blasts sounded.

The Israeli military said troops responded to the explosives by firing live rounds toward the protesters. It said there were no injuries on the Israeli side.

Gaza health officials said three protesters were wounded by Israeli fire.

Earlier Saturday, Gaza health officials said a 12-year-old Palestinian boy died from head wounds after being shot during a similar demonstration a week earlier.

Another Palestinian man, identified as a member of Hamas’ military wing, was also killed in that protest, while an Israeli soldier was shot in the head from point-blank range by a protester. The soldier remains in critical condition.

Hamas-linked operatives also launched a number of incendiary balloons from Gaza Saturday afternoon, sparking two fires in southern Israel, according to the Israeli fire service.

Israel and Hamas are bitter enemies that have fought four wars and numerous skirmishes since 2007. Israel says the closure is necessary to prevent Hamas from gathering arms while critics say the blockade amounts to collective punishment.

Egypt has been trying to mediate a longer-term cease-fire that would ease the blockade and appeared to be making progress last week when it pressured Hamas to restrain a border protest on Wednesday.

The following day, Israel said it was easing some of the commercial restrictions on Gaza, allowing vehicles, goods and equipment for rebuilding projects to enter the Palestinian enclave. Israel said the easing could expand further if things remain quiet.

The Israeli government reached an agreement with Qatar on Aug. 19 allowing the Gulf country to resume aid payments to families in Gaza, a move aimed at reducing tensions with Hamas. Israel suspended aid payments in May, saying the move was necessary to ensure Hamas did not benefit from cash injections.

But Saturday night’s protest indicated violence could soon escalate again.

At least 260 Palestinians were killed during May’s Gaza-Israel war, including 67 children and 39 women, according to the Gaza health ministry. Hamas has acknowledged the deaths of 80 militants. Twelve civilians, including two children, were killed in Israel, along with one soldier.

Relatives of Palestinian Omar al-Nile, 12, who was shot on Saturday during a violent demonstration on the eastern border between Gaza and Israel, react during his funeral in the family home in Gaza City, Saturday, Aug. 28, 2021. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

'March on for voting rights' on anniversary of March on Washington


Demonstrators rally Satuday before marching to the National Mall on the 58th anniversary of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech, in Washington, D.C. Photo by Ken Cedeno/UPI | License Photo

Aug. 28 (UPI) -- A "March on for Voting Rights" demonstration was held Saturday in cities across the country to mark the 58th anniversary of the historic "March on Washington" when Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech.

Organizers of Saturday's march, including Martin Luther King III, his wife, Arndrea Waters King, and the Rev. Al Sharpton, said in a statement they are demanding that the "I Have a Dream" speech "be deferred no longer."

Specifically, the march is calling on the U.S. Senate to pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and the For the People Act and bypass the filibuster if necessary. Millions are expected to join the march in Washington, D.C., Phoenix, Atlanta, Houston and Miami, another statement shows.

A U.S. Supreme Court decision in 2013, dealt a blow to a key provision of the Voting Rights Act, which President Lyndon B. Johnson signed into law to prohibit racial discrimination in voting in August 1965. The provision required states with a history of discrimination to obtain federal permission before changing voting procedures.

The John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and the For the People Act seek to restore the strength of the VRA of 1965. The "March on For Voting Rights" event also calls for the passage of the D.C. Admission Act for D.C. statehood, which would allow voting representation for residents in the capital.

McPherson Square filled up Saturday morning as people prepared to march to the National Mall in Washington, D.C., NBC Philadelphia reported. An estimated 75,000 people were expected to join the march in the capital.

A plan to mitigate COVID-19 spread is in place, including "everything from requiring masks to social distancing," National Park Service spokesman Mike Litterist told NBC Philadelphia.

RELATED House Democrats pass John Lewis Voting Rights Act

King III, Waters King, Sharpton, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, youth organizers and community organizers were among the people scheduled to speak on the stage.

Bowser led the crowd in a chant "Free D.C.!" in call for D.C. statehood.

"Some 58 years later, we're still fighting for voting rights and equal rights," said Henry Lewis, brother of the late civil rights activist John Lewis, who received a fractured skull after Alabama state troopers beat him during the so-called "Bloody Sunday" march for voting rights in 1965.

"That kind of tells me that it's not a weeklong fight, or a month, or a year, it's a lifelong fight."

Other speakers included King Jr.'s granddaughter and activist Yolanda King; Philonise Floyd, activist and brother of George Floyd; and NAACP President Derrick Johnson.

"Coretta Scott King told us, 'Freedom is never really won, you earn it and win it in every generation," Waters King, who is also president of the Drum Major Institute, which carries on Dr. King's non-violent work, said in a statement to CNN. "Now is the time to earn and win our sacred right to vote. It is up to us to remind Congress they represent the people, and the people demand the passage of the John Lewis Voting Rights Restoration Act."

The "March on for Voting Rights" will protest 389 bills introduced in 48 states "that amount to shameful, outright voter suppression," another statement on the march's website said.

"These laws suppress voting methods that enrich our democracy and lead to high turnout: banning ballot drop boxes and mail-in voting, reducing early voting days and hours, restricting who can get a mail-in ballot, prohibiting officials from promoting the use of mail-in ballots even when voters qualify, even criminalizing the distribution of water to voters waiting in the long lines these laws create," the statement said.

Leaders of the "March on for Voting Rights" said they are carrying the same resilient spirit as leaders in the civil rights movement who kept marching for voting rights after leaders in the movement, such as Medgar Evers and Jimmie Lee Jackson, were killed, CNN reported.

Prior to the historic "I Have a Dream" speech, white supremacist Byron De La Beckwith killed Evers, an NAACP field secretary and civil rights leader who organized voter registration drives in his driveway in June 1963.

In February 1965, months before the passage of the VRA, James Bonard Fowler fatally shot Jackson, a church deacon, as he tried to protect his mother during a voting rights march in Marion, Ala.

Marchers across US call on Congress to bolster voting rights
By BRIAN SLODYSKO and BOBBY CAINA CALVAN

August 28, 2021

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The Rev. Al Sharpton, third from right in front, holds a banner with Martin Luther King, III, Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, second from right, and Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, right, among others, during the march to call for sweeping protections against a further erosion of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, Saturday, Aug. 28, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)


WASHINGTON (AP) — Thousands of voting rights advocates rallied across the country Saturday to call for sweeping federal laws that would wipe out voting restrictions advancing in some Republican-controlled states that could make it harder to cast a ballot.

Many activists view the fight over voting rules as the civil rights issue of the era. But frustrations have mounted for months because two expansive election bills have stalled in the U.S. Senate, which is split evenly between Democrats and Republicans and the measures lack the votes to overcome a GOP blockade.

The rallies, which were held in dozens of cities, were intended to increase pressure on Democrats to rewrite procedural rules that would allow Democrats to muscle the legislation through without Republican votes. But they were also aimed at coaxing President Joe Biden to become a more forceful advocate on the issue.

“You said the night you won that Black America had your back, and that you were going to have Black Americans’ backs,” the Rev. Al Sharpton, who helped organize the national demonstrations, said at a rally in Washington. “Well, Mr. President, they’re stabbing us in the back.”

More than a thousand people turned out in sweltering heat on the National Mall on Saturday, the 58th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech.

His son Martin Luther King III used the occasion to call on the Senate to scrap the filibuster rule, which requires 60 votes for most legislation, including the voting bills, to advance.

“Our country is backsliding to the unconscionable days of Jim Crow. And some of our senators are saying, ‘Well, we can’t overcome the filibuster,’” King told the crowd. “I say to you today: Get rid of the filibuster. That is a monument to white supremacy we must tear down.”

At one point, nearly a dozen state lawmakers from Texas who had sought to block changes to their state’s elections laws, strolled onto the stage at the National Mall and were hailed as patriots.

“Texas is the worst state to vote in, in the entire nation,” said U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, a Democrat from Houston.

Even as rally participants pushed for stronger protections, Republican lawmakers in Texas were on the brink of passing an overhaul of its voting laws, including restrictions on voting by mail, limits on when voters can cast ballots and other measures that Republicans say would improve the integrity of its elections.

Texas would be the latest state to pass new laws, following moves in other Republican-controlled states like Arizona, Florida and Georgia to put in place similar restrictions — efforts driven by former President Donald Trump’s false claims that the 2020 election was stolen.

Congressional Democrats have responded to the Republican efforts to make it harder to vote by approving legislation earlier this week that would restore sections of the landmark Voting Rights Act of 1965. The bill would require the Justice Department to once again police changes to voting laws in states with a history of restricting the vote, a practice that was put on hold by the Supreme Court in 2013.

But unless Democrats make changes to the Senate procedural rules, passage of the bill, as well as a separate measure that would establish national election standards, remains unlikely.

In a video posted on Twitter earlier in the day, Vice President Kamala Harris urged Congress to pass legislation that she said was needed to push back against Republicans in Texas, Florida and other states.

“The country is changing. The demographics are changing. And (Republicans) think that if they don’t get ahead of it and suppress the vote, they ain’t gonna have a say in it,” said Ken Jones, 72, of Atlanta, who traveled to Washington with his wife, Paula, to attend the rally.

Angela Hill, 61, who lives in the Washington area, attended the rally with her daughter because she is “alarmed” by Republican efforts to make it harder to vote. In spite of Trump’s false claims of a stolen victory, Republican and Democratic election officials across the country certified the outcome and Trump’s own attorney general said he saw no evidence of widespread voter fraud.

“Why was it necessary for Republican states to try and make it more difficult to vote? Things went well in this election,” Hill said.

Marches were also scheduled for Atlanta, Miami, Phoenix and other cities under the banner of “March On for Voting Rights,” organized by Sharpton and King. Because of concerns over the fast-spreading delta variant of COVID-19, a march in Houston did not go on as planned.

A daughter of the late civil rights leader, Bernice King, led the march in Atlanta. In an interview with The Associated Press, she called for “new levels of civil disobedience” to push against voting restrictions.

“We’re going to have to disrupt some things. We’ve got to disturb this country to the point that people who are still uninvolved and on the periphery to get involved in some fashion,” she said.

In Phoenix, the Rev. Terry Mackey, the pastor of Pilgrim Rest Baptist Church, urged those attending an indoor rally to honor those who fought and shed blood for voting rights.

“I want you to stand up and fight,” he said, “until every person in this state has the same voting rights as anybody else.”

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Calvan reported from New York. Associated Press writers Alex Sanz in Atlanta and Paul Davenport in Phoenix contributed to this report.