CNN Bans Commentator Ryan Girdusky From Network After His Verbal Attack On Mehdi Hasan – Update

Ted Johnson
Mon, October 28, 2024 


Update, with CNN statement: CNN says commentator Ryan Girdusky will no longer be welcome on the network after his offensive remark to fellow guest Mehdi Hasan tonight.

“There is zero room for racism or bigotry at CNN or on our air,” the network said in a statement shared by host Abby Phillip tonight.

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Earlier tonight on NewsNight with Abby Phillip, Girdusky was ushered off the show during a commercial break after making a crass comment suggesting Hasan was a member of terrorist organization. In a video accompanying CNN’s statement, Philip apologized again for the incident just as she did earlier on her show.

Phillip also says in her video message that, although Hasan did not reappear after the commercial break, CNN did not ask him to leave as it had with Girdusky, and that the choice was Hasan’s. “In fact we really wanted him to come back and finish the show,” she said, adding that she hopes he’ll return to the show soon.

CNN pulled a panelist off of NewsNight with Abby Phillip this evening after he made a swipe at Mehdi Hasan, suggesting that he was aligned with terrorists.

Ryan James Girdusky, a writer and commentator, was having an argument with Hasan over the rhetoric used at Donald Trump’s rally on Sunday evening at Madison Square Garden.

Hasan said that “if you don’t want to be called Nazis, stop doing, stop saying,” but he was interrupted by Girdusky. He noted that Hasan was called an “anti-Semite more than anyone at this table.”

“By you,” Hasan said.

Then, Girdusky denied that he had called him that.

“I am in support of the Palestinians, so I am used to it,” Hasan said.

“I hope your beeper doesn’t go off,” Girdusky replied. That was a reference to the exploding beepers of Hezbollah members, although Girdusky mentioned Hamas when the discussion devolved into crosstalk.

“Did you guest just say I should be killed on live TV?” Hasan asked Phillip.

Phillip told Girdusky, “That is completely out of pocket. You know that.”

“I apologize,” Girdusky said.

After a commercial break, Phillip apologized to Hasan and noted that Girdusky was no longer at the table.


“There is a line that was crossed there, and it’s not acceptable to me,” Phillip said. “It’s not acceptable to us at this network. We want discussion. We want people who disagree with each other to talk to each other. But when you cross the line of a complete lack of civility, that is not going to happen here on this show. It’s a heated time. We’re in the middle of a political season. We are eight days from a presidential election, but we can have conversations about what is happening in this country without resorting to the lowest of the lowest kind of discourse. I want to address that and I want to apologize to the viewers at home, because we want to be able to hear each other, we want to be able to talk to each other.”

Hasan was an anchor for MSNBC before his departure earlier this year. He then started his own media company, Zeteo.

Right-Wing Guest Booted From CNN Mid-Segment After 'Vile' Attack On Panelist

Ed Mazza
Mon, October 28, 2024 

A conservative commentator was given the boot from CNN in the middle of a show after a “completely unacceptable” attack on a fellow panelist.

“I hope your beeper doesn’t go off,” right-wing personality Ryan Girdusky told Mehdi Hasan after Hasan said he supports Palestinian people.

Last month, hundred of pagers held by suspected Hezbollah operatives across Lebanon exploded in an attack widely believed to have been carried out by Israel. At least 37 people were killed, including two children, and thousands were injured.

“Did you just say I should die?” Hasan asked in disbelief. “Did you just say I should be killed on live TV?”

“No, I did not say that,” Girdusky said.

“You said you hope my beeper doesn’t go off,” Hasan pointed out.

Girdusky asked Hasan if he supports Hamas.

“I said ‘Palestinians,’” Hasan said.

“Then I apologize, I apologize,” Girdusky said. “I thought he said Hamas, I apologize.”

“This is America in 2024,” Hasan said. “Forget the racism. It’s I should die.”

When Girdusky claimed he didn’t say that, Hasan pressed him to explain what he meant with the “beeper” comment:

After a commercial break, Girdusky was gone ― and host Abby Phillip issued an apology to Hasan as well as to CNN viewers.



“We want discussion. We want people who disagree with each other to talk to each other,” she said. “But when you cross the line of a complete lack of civility, that is not going to happen here on this show.”

She called for conversations “without resorting to the lowest of the lowest kinds of discourse.”

CNN released a statement saying there is “zero room for racism or bigotry” on the network and that Girdusky won’t be back.

“We aim to foster thoughtful conversations and debate including between people who profoundly disagree with each other in order to explore important issues and promote mutual understanding,” the statement said. “But we will not allow guests to be demeaned or for the line of civility to be crossed.”

Girdusky was far less apologetic after the show.

“You can stay on CNN if you falsely call every Republican a Nazi and have taken money from Qatar-funded media,” Girdusky griped on X. “Apparently you can’t go on CNN if you make a joke. I’m glad America gets to see what CNN stands for.”

Critics called out Girdusky for the “vile” and “disgusting” attack on Hasan:

 

What a tangled web we weave in our thoughts about spiders

Robert Morgan
Tue 29 October 2024

Fen raft spider. Picture: Paul Sutcliffe (Image: Paul Sutcliffe)


Although much maligned, and often feared, spiders are an essential part of our natural world and indicators of a healthy environment, says Norfolk Wildlife Trust Reserves Officer Robert Morgan

Spiders have actively fuelled fear and suspicion in popular culture for centuries, becoming an integral part of the Halloween canon.

With their multiple beady eyes, bristly legs, fangs, and a reputation that far exceeds the reality of their character, they are understandably not everyone’s favourite creature.


However, some of us find them a wonder; often colourful, always acrobatic and their ability to spin patterned silk webs is fascinating.

Most of us, even with a limited knowledge of the natural world, know that spiders are not insects, but arachnids.

They have, of course, only a head and abdomen, eight legs rather than six, and no wings (flying spiders! now that’s an arachnophobe’s Halloween nightmare).

Our encounters with spiders are rarely a "Hammer Horror" experience of clawing an exaggerated web from our face in a dark crypt or dunk dungeon; more commonly it’s in the comfort of our own homes.

(Image: Richard Penska)

The gangly-legged cellar spiders that leave those infuriating cobwebs in hard-to-reach corners, the large brown house spider, with its boxing glove like "pedipalps", trying to clamber out of the bath, or a tiny black money spider hanging by a single thread, its safe landing assured in the vain hope of financial reward.

All spiders take live prey and different species have their preferred hunting methods, either by chasing prey down, lying in wait or constructing elaborate adhesive traps.

Unlike most invertebrates, spiders remain common in autumn, and fairly numerous in winter too, forming an important food source for small birds, particularly wrens.

During an early morning autumn stroll, frosty meadows reveal a ghostly sea of gossamer, spun by a multitude of tiny rappelling spiders.

The threads create the appearance of a shimmering silver net draped across the field, a touch of beauty on a cold day.

(Image: Jo Hobart)

My favourites to look out for this time of year are the orb spiders.

Their webs are a familiar form, but the splendour of their engineering skill is barely perceptible in summer.

Yet in winter, on a cool damp day, hundreds are visible. It is then that they exhibit their artistry, particularly when spangled by necklaces of tiny icy droplets.

The commonest is the garden orb, which has a white cross on the back of its body, like most of the orb spiders this is plump and uniquely marked.

You can easily identify the four-spot, marbled and green orb spiders, which are also found in gardens during the autumn months.

Even up to late October, if you are very lucky, you may come across the magnificent wasp spider hanging patiently for its trap to be sprung by its grasshopper prey.

(Image: RSWT)

The female is large and distinctively marked with yellow, black and white stripes, mimicking its namesake to warn off predators.

It spins a low-slung web in rough grass and has a unique zig-zag pattern running down the centre of it.

The male is much smaller, and as a suitor must cautiously approach his potential mate.

If he isn’t careful, during an amorous encounter, he may end up on her menu.

His best tactic is to move in when she moults, and her jaws are soft! Maybe, on reflection, spiders do have a justified place in the terrors of Halloween.

Many animal names are based on what they do, and ‘spider’ is from the Old English word spinnan, a person that spins thread. Other names for spiders, particularly around European cultures, refer to them as being venomous or even poisonous if eaten.

From Greek mythology to Saxon lore, and J.R.R. Tolkien to Harry Potter, cultural references have spiders, front and centre, as the baddie, Spiderman being the exception perhaps.

However, they rarely bite as their fangs are neither strong enough nor long enough to pierce human skin (unfairly, the nastiest bites always seem to be allocated to spiders).

Although, one warning, I have been bitten by a woodlouse hunting spider, and that did hurt, resulting in an irritating itching feeling for days after.

This spider needs to penetrate the woodlouse’s armour plating so is one of the few UK spiders that can deliver a meaningful bite.

Despite the encounter, I remain convinced that spiders are our allies.

(Image: Nick Goodrum)

The large house spider, that may greet us in the morning from the bathroom sink, is worth rescuing, for it feeds on fleas, silverfish, clothes moth larvae and all kinds of other household pests.

Spiders are now employed as pest-controllers in commercial greenhouses, and any gardener will tell you the benefits spiders bring to flowerbeds and allotment plots.

Spider venom has even been adapted for use in several modern medicines.

In August I wanted to see the results of an East Anglia conservation success story; a species that has been on my list of ‘must see’ since boyhood.

So, it was with some anticipation that I went in search of the fen raft spider, the UK’s largest species. And I wasn’t disappointed.

This amazing fish-eating spider had been, as recently as 2010, restricted to three small spots of East Anglia fen, and was facing probable extinction in the British Isles.

Conservation work to improve suitable habitats, and then extend its range through re-introductions has paid off. Estimates from counts of the larger females reached nearly 4,000 individuals this year.

The work to create new habitat for the spider also benefits other wetland species, and a site that can support fen raft spider is always high in biodiversity.

Franklin D. Roosevelt in his inaugural presidential speech stated that “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself” - apparently a Republican at the time, with some wit, added “…and spiders”.

I took my granddaughter to see the fen raft spider, and she was delighted we found one.

Irrational fears of the natural world are taught by others, not learnt from one’s own experience.

Bruised Japan PM scrambles for support

Tomohiro OSAKI

AFP
Tue 29 October 2024 

Shigeru Ishiba, Japan's prime minister, has said he will not quit despite his ruling coalition losing its majority in elections (Kim Kyung-Hoon) (Kim Kyung-Hoon/POOL/AFP)


Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's ruling party was reportedly locked in talks to form new alliances Tuesday after losing its parliamentary majority in an election debacle.

The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), which has governed Japan almost non-stop since 1955, and coalition partner Komeito fell short of a majority in Sunday's election, official results confirmed Tuesday.

Ishiba said Monday he would not quit despite his party's worst election result in 15 years, indicating he would head a minority government as he was not considering a broader coalition "at this point".


But media reports on Tuesday said the LDP was talking to opposition parties about arrangements to ensure Ishiba can get legislation through -- and also remain prime minister.

Together with the Komeito party, the LDP won 215 of parliament's 465 lower house seats.

One potential kingmaker is the Democratic Party for the People (DPP), whose 28 seats would push the LDP-Komeito coalition over the 233-mark for a majority.

According to the Yomiuri newspaper, Ishiba has decided to seek a "partial" coalition with the centrist DPP, whose manifesto included subsidies for reducing energy bills.

"If there is a request for talks between party leaders, there is no reason to reject it, though it depends on what we will discuss," DPP leader Yuichiro Tamaki said Tuesday.

"Talks between party secretary generals are currently taking place and there are various communications... but I don't feel like anything concrete is proceeding," he said.

An LDP official declined to comment when contacted by AFP.

"Since (Ishiba's) press conference yesterday (Monday), we have not officially announced anything," the official said, requesting anonymity as they were not authorised to speak to the media.

- Fragmented opposition -

Ishiba is also considering asking the DPP for support when parliament votes on whether he will continue as prime minister, the Yomiuri reported.

Parliament has to convene by November 26 -- 30 days after the election. The vote could take place on November 11.

But also likely courting the DPP in a bid for the premiership will be Yoshihiko Noda, head of the Constitutional Democratic Party (CDP), whose seat tally rose from 96 at the last election to 148.

This appears less likely, given that the opposition comprises eight different parties ranging right across the political spectrum from communists to nationalists.

"The possibility of a handover of power to the opposition isn't zero, but there are far too many opposition parties for any of them to reach a majority," said Yu Uchiyama, political science professor at the University of Tokyo.

If no one wins in the first round of voting for premier, the top two go to a runoff.

The winner of that vote then becomes prime minister, whether or not they have a majority.

- 'Punishing' politician -

Ishiba, 67, vowed Monday to implement reforms to overcome "people's suspicion, mistrust and anger" after a party slush fund scandal in the LDP, a major reason for its poor election result.

In the Tokyo district of Itabashi, LDP heavyweight Hakubun Shimomura won nine straight elections before being suspended over the scandal, running as an independent and losing on Sunday.

"It was kind of my way of punishing him," local voter Yayoi Magara, 70, who used to back Shimomura but who cast a blank ballot, told AFP.

Japanese businesses are concerned about the potential for parliamentary paralysis holding up reforms aimed at jumpstarting the world's fourth-largest economy.

Syetarn Hansakul from Economist Intelligence said the LDP's poor election showing and "reduced political clout" could dent "investors' confidence in Japan's political and economic outlook".

On Monday, the yen hit a three-month low, partly on fears that the political uncertainty might stop or delay the Bank of Japan increasing interest rates.

"(Although) Ishiba appears to appreciate fiscal discipline, he will likely continue to compromise and refrain from discussing additional revenue measures even though they are important in the long run," said Shigeto Nagai at Oxford Economics.

The chairman of the Japan Business Federation on Sunday urged political parties to focus on policies to grow the economy and overcome current challenges.

burs-stu/rsc

WOMAN LIFE FREEDOM VS GENDER APARTHEID

Afghan women cannot ‘hear each other’ while praying in Taliban’s new curb on women’s voices

Arpan Rai
Tue 29 October 2024 

Afghan women cannot ‘hear each other’ while praying in Taliban’s new curb on women’s voices


The Taliban in Afghanistan have implemented a bizarre new edict that will further curb voices of women who are already prohibited from speaking in public.

Mohammad Khalid Hanafi, the Taliban minister for the propagation of virtue and the prevention of vice, declared that women must refrain from reciting the Quran aloud in the presence of other women, reported Amu TV, an Afghan news channel based in Virginia, US.

“When women are not permitted to call Takbir or Azan (Islamic call to prayer), they certainly cannot sing songs or music,” he said in remarks reported on Saturday.


“Even when an adult female prays and another female passes by, she must not pray loudly enough for them to hear ... How could they be allowed to sing if they aren’t even permitted to hear [each other’s] voices while praying, let alone for anything else,” Mr Hanafi was also quoted as saying by The Telegraph.

A woman’s voice is considered awrah, meaning that which must be covered, and shouldn’t be heard in public, even by other women, the minister said.

Women, including human rights experts, fear this diktat would go beyond prayer and restrict them from holding conversations with each other, further minimizing their social presence.

This comes just two months after the Taliban implemented a new set of laws in August that also ordered women to cover their entire bodies, including faces, when stepping out.

A midwife in Herat told Amu TV that Taliban officials forbid female healthcare workers, the last of the Afghan women allowed to work outside their homes, from speaking, especially with male relatives. “They don’t even allow us to speak at checkpoints when we go to work. And in the clinics, we are told not to discuss medical matters with male relatives,” the midwife, who has worked in remote healthcare clinics for eight years, told the channel.

It is not known whether the latest rule has been implemented or how widely.

The Taliban have increasingly curtailed women’s rights, even banning formal education for them, since they returned to power in 2021 after overthrowing the Nato-backed regime.

Mr Hanifi’s latest remarks have sparked a furore on social media.

“After banning women’s voices from public, the Taliban’s ministry of vice and virtue banned women from speaking to each other. I am in loss for words to express my utter rage and disgust about the Taliban’s mistreatment of women,” said journalist Lina Rozbih said. “The world must do something! Help millions of voiceless & helpless women of Afghanistan.”

“This surpasses misogyny,” said Nazifa Haqpal, a former Afghan diplomat. “It exemplifies an extreme level of control and absurdity,” she said.

Zubaida Akbar, a human rights and civil society activist from Afghanistan, called for the Taliban leaders to be held accountable for their “gender apartheid” diktats. “Today’s ban on women’s voices in each other’s presence comes from Mohammad Khalid Hanafi, Taliban’s minister of vice and virtue, who published a 100+ page book of edicts against women last month,” she said on X.

“Every ban on women has a face behind it & must be held accountable for gender apartheid,” she said.

Taliban bans women from ‘hearing other women’s voices’

Akhtar Makoii
Mon 28 October 2024

The Afghan regime has banned women from working outside the home or attending school and university - MOHSEN KARIMI/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES


The Taliban has banned women from hearing other women’s voices in its latest attempt to impose a hardline version of Islamic law on Afghanistan.

In a rambling voice message on Monday, the country’s minister for the promotion of virtue and prevention of vice announced the bizarre new restriction on women’s behaviour.

Although precise details of the Taliban’s ruling are unclear, Afghan human rights activists have warned it could mean women are effectively banned from holding conversations with one another.

In his message, minister Khalid Hanafi said: “Even when an adult female prays and another female passes by, she must not pray loudly enough for them to hear.”

An Afghan woman searches for recyclable materials at a garbage dump on the outskirts of Mazar-i-Sharif - ATIF ARYAN/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

“How could they be allowed to sing if they aren’t even permitted to hear [each other’s] voices while praying, let alone for anything else.”

He said these are “new rules and will be gradually implemented, and God will be helping us in each step we take”.

As the Taliban has banned living beings from being shown on television, his message was delivered via voice recording instead of a television broadcast.

“How are women who are the sole providers for their families supposed to buy bread, seek medical care or simply exist if even their voices are forbidden?” one activist said in response.

“Whatever he says is a form of mental torture for us,” an Afghan woman in Kabul told The Telegraph.

“Living in Afghanistan is incredibly painful for us as women. Afghanistan is forgotten, and that’s why they are suppressing us – they are torturing us on a daily basis.”

“They say we cannot hear other women’s voices, and I do not understand where these views come from,” she added.

Taliban minister Khalid Hanafi said: “God will be helping us in each step we take” - AHMAD SAHEL ARMAN/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

Since taking power in Aug 2021, the Taliban has systematically restricted women’s rights in Afghanistan.

Women have already been ordered to cover their faces “to avoid temptation and tempting others” and refrain from speaking in the presence of unfamiliar men who are not husbands or close relatives.

“If it is necessary for women to leave their homes, they must cover their faces and voices from men” and be accompanied by a “male guardian”, according to the rules approved by the Taliban’s supreme leader.

Afghan women have also been ordered not to speak loudly inside their homes, to prevent their voices from being heard outside.

Women who defy the new rules will be arrested and sent to prison, the Taliban said.

In July 2024, a UN report said the ministry for promoting virtue and preventing vice was contributing to a climate of fear and intimidation among Afghans through its edicts and the methods used to enforce them.

Armed Taliban security personnel ride motorcycles during a street patrol - AFP/GETTY IMAGES

The Taliban’s supreme leader has also vowed to start stoning women to death in public.

“They [the Taliban] are waging an all-out war against us, and we have no one in the world to hear our voices,” a former civil servant told The Telegraph from Kabul.

“The world has abandoned us,” she added. “They left us to the Taliban, and whatever happens to us now is a result of Western government policies.”
‘Many women are taking their lives’

“I feel depressed. The world is advancing in technology and having fun with their lives, but here we cannot even hear each other’s voices,” she said.

“They want us not to exist at all, and there’s nothing we can do about it,” another woman in western Herat province said.

“They may succeed at some point, as many are taking their lives due to the pressure,” she added

“They think ruling Afghanistan is only about suppressing women – we didn’t commit a crime by being born as women,” she said.

The increased restrictions imposed by the Taliban’s supreme leader have caused discord within the Taliban’s own ranks.

A senior Taliban official told The Telegraph of frustration from moderates with the more hardline elements of the regime.

“Someone should stop the supreme leader. Many within the Taliban are angry and worried that, with everything the leadership is doing, we could lose Afghanistan as quickly as we took it,” he added.

“They are worried that as soon as an alternative to the Taliban appears, the people will revolt, and the West will bomb us again,” the official explained.