EveryMintNews: July 2020

The Supreme Court has declined by a 5-4 vote to halt the Trump administration’s construction of portions of the border wall with Mexico following a recent lower court ruling that the administration improperly diverted money to the project

from ABC News: Top Stories https://ift.tt/39I0sMU

Gov. Hogan condemns Trump's 'outrageous' tweet calling for election delay

“I never cease to be amazed by things the president tweets, but even that one took me by surprise,” Hogan said. “He can’t postpone the election, he doesn’t have the power to do it, and that’s why it’s an outrageous statement.

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The astronauts who flew SpaceX's Crew Dragon to the space station are set to come home on Sunday. Watch their fiery return flight live.

On Saturday and Sunday, SpaceX's Crew Dragon spaceship will make its return trip to Earth. Here's how to watch that journey live.

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Here's what we know about Trump suggesting the idea of delaying the November election

After raising the idea of delaying the November election, Trump later asserted the tweet was aimed at starting discussions around mail-in ballots.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/39LFUTQ

Israel says it arrested Hamas militant who fled strip by sea

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/3fesnVZ

Boston marathon bombing: Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s death sentence overturned by appeals court

A federal appeals court has overturned the Boston Marathon bomber’s death sentence.The decision by a three-judge panel says that the judge that oversaw the original case did not adequately screen the jury for potential biases.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2DkHIHh

Are Pap smears 'obsolete'? There's a better option for cervical cancer screening, American Cancer Society says

The American Cancer Society released new guidelines on cervical cancer screenings Thursday, recommending that people with a cervix start testing at age 25.

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Top Trump immigration enforcer announces retirement as election nears

U.S. President Donald Trump's top immigration enforcement official on Friday announced he will retire from the agency, a staffing shakeup in a key policy area for Trump as he faces re-election in November. Matthew Albence, acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), said in a statement that his plan to retire had been prolonged by the coronavirus pandemic. The pandemic has created challenges for ICE operations both in the field and in immigration detention centers, where nearly 4,000 immigrants have tested positive for the disease.

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Barbie shuts down Donald Trump Jr.'s snide tweet about new campaign dolls

Donald Trump Jr. has a theory about the new Barbie doll collection, featuring a Black female presidential candidate and her all-woman campaign team.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2DiRgSX

Coronavirus: Tracking new outbreaks in the sewers

Around 15,000 new cases of the disease have been reported in Spain in the past week.

from BBC News - World https://ift.tt/39J6AV4

US election 2020: The war hero who could be Biden's running mate

Senator Tammy Duckworth is an Iraq war veteran and the first Thai-American woman elected to Congress.

from BBC News - World https://ift.tt/339acyu

Belarus: The mother challenging an authoritarian president

Political novice Svetlana Tikhanovskaya rallies protesters in a battle with Alexander Lukashenko.

from BBC News - World https://ift.tt/339JHZM

The Atlantic Daily: Be your Own Bob Ross This Weekend

Every weekday evening, our editors guide you through the biggest stories of the day, help you discover new ideas, and surprise you with moments of delight. Subscribe to get this delivered to your inbox.

Limbo is too gentle a word. For many parents, the uncertainty around school reopenings amounts to a daily strain, as they contemplate another full season of juggling child care and career.

Clear answers remain out of reach, for now, but here are three factors worth keeping in mind:

1. Not all kids will be able to follow the new pandemic rules.

“K–12 students may generally be capable of doing what public-health experts ask, but not all of them, not everything, and not all the time,” Joe Pinsker explains.

2. Outdoor classes may be the solution.

Olga Khazan reports: “Though it isn’t free of problems, learning outside might be the only way to provide parents with a break, kids with an adequate education, and teachers with protection from the coronavirus.”

3. School reopening isn’t the only option.

“Other potential solutions exist—but implementing them would require substantially more time, money, and imagination,” Ashley Fetters writes.

Parents themselves weigh in:

One pleads for schools to reopen. Nicole Russell, a writer and a mother of four, finds the idea of continuing to work while homeschooling “almost too much to bear.”
Another argues that his kids are learning lessons they couldn’t in a classroom. Frank Bures writes: “They learned that the world is fragile. They learned that in spite of that fragility, life goes on.”

Arsh Raziuddin / The Atlantic / Animation by Erik Carter / Courtesy of Bob Ross Inc.

What to do this weekend

Break out the paint and easel. And don’t let inexperience stop you—the writer Michael J. Mooney hadn’t painted since elementary school, until he set out to understand why the painter and cultural icon Bob Ross is still so popular.

Watch. Overwhelmed with streaming options? Take inspiration from the best things our writers and editors have watched so far this season, or our critic’s list of 25 underrated movies for a summer without blockbusters.

Listen. This strange pandemic summer doesn’t have its own song, either, but our staff made some picks anyway. There’s also Taylor Swift’s Folklore, which “gorgeously and empathetically challenges the public’s voyeurism,” our critic writes.

Memorize a poem. “Robust poems committed to memory can counteract the corrosive effects of self-pity,” our contributor Eliot A. Cohen writes.

Settle in with an extraordinary piece of journalism. Giraffes are tall, but they’re not indestructible; get to know the people trying to save them. Contemplate what Joe Biden can’t bring himself to say. Or dive deep into the conspiracy theory that’s becoming a new American religion.

Read an acclaimed novel. The 2020 Booker Prize longlist is out this week. Beef up your reading list with some of the prize’s nominees, or a winner from the past few years.

Thanks for reading. This email was written by Caroline Mimbs Nyce and Isabel Fattal, and edited by Shan Wang.

Did someone forward you this newsletter? Sign up here.

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Thursday, 30 July 2020

Trump stokes racist fears after revoking Obama-era housing rule

President Donald Trump is attacking low-income housing one week after his administration rescinded the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing rule made under Obama.

from ABC News: Top Stories https://ift.tt/2XeFobJ

Iran says fires missiles from underground in Gulf war games

Iran's Revolutionary Guards said they launched ballistic missiles from "the depths of the Earth" on Wednesday during the last day of military exercises near sensitive Gulf waters. The launches came a day after the Guards struck a mock-up of a US aircraft carrier with volleys of missiles near the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping lane for a fifth of world oil output. The Iranian manoeuvres were staged amid heightened tensions between Iran and its decades-old arch enemy the United States.

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Maine shark attack: US woman killed by great white

A retired New York fashion executive with a "zest" for life dies in a rare shark attack near Portland.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2CZq8Zt

Minnesota police make arrest in 34-year cold case using DNA, genetic testing

“My mom loved to help people,” her daughter Gina Haggard wrote in a statement read by police.

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South Florida still fully in forecast path of what is expected to be Tropical Storm Isaias

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - The disturbance now called Potential Tropical Cyclone Nine has not yet become Tropical Storm Isaias, the National Hurricane Center said Wednesday in its latest public advisory. The storm still lacks a well-defined center of circulation, but it is expected to become a tropical storm Wednesday night, Senior Hurricane Specialist Daniel Brown wrote in the latest forecast ...

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Former Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain has died after being hospitalized with the coronavirus

Cain tested positive for the novel coronavirus 11 days after attending President Donald Trump's campaign rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

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Stimulus package: McConnell and Pelosi trade personal attacks as sides remain 'very far apart' from coronavirus deal

Mere days before a key federal programme for the millions of Americans rendered jobless by the coronavirus pandemic expires on Friday, Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell have ratcheted up their combative rhetoric to full volume.The personal attacks were particularly brutal on Wednesday as the two leaders appeared as far apart as ever from a deal to stimulate the economy, buttress the health care system, and help get American children safely back to school this fall.

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New research suggests COVID-19 can spread via aerosol transmission -- and might affect tall people more

A new survey has found more evidence to suggest that people can become infected with COVID-19 through aerosol transmission, which could be prevented by wearing a mask. Carried out by data scientists in the UK, Norway, and the US, the study is one of the first to investigate which personal and work-related factors can lead to COVID-19 transmission. After surveying 2,000 people in the UK and US, the researchers found that the data from both countries suggests that aerosol transmission of the virus -- via microdroplets which are so small that they remain suspended in the air for several hours -- is very likely.

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Former U.S. Marine sentenced to 9 years in Russian prison for assaulting police officer

The U.S. ambassador to Moscow has called the evidence against Reed "flimsy," and the latest example of Russia treating American citizens unfairly.

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Rudy Giuliani interviewed Dr. Stella Immanuel — doctor who previously preached about alien DNA — on his radio show calling her his 'hero'

Giuliani also said he's gotten the medication for four of his friends because "it's hard to get hydroxychloroquine."

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'Umbrella Man' who broke windows in initial George Floyd protests a white supremacist, police say

The man, police said, “wanted to sow discord and racial unrest by breaking out the windows." His identity has not been released.

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British Airways is auctioning millions of dollars worth of lounge art in a hasty attempt to raise cash – see the extravagant collection

The entire collection was valued by auction house Sotheby's at around $1.7 million but one piece auctioned so far fetched more than that by itself.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/3jVNPSW

Herman Cain, former Republican presidential candidate, dies aged 74

Cain, who tested positive for Covid-19 in early July, has died of coronavirus, his team announces on his websiteHerman Cain, a 2012 Republican presidential candidate and ardent supporter of Donald Trump, has died of coronavirus, his team announced on his website on Thursday.Cain, 74, had been ill with the virus for several weeks and was in a high-risk group due to his history with cancer. It is unclear when or where he was infected, but he was hospitalised less than two weeks after attending the US president’s campaign rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on 20 June.Cain, who co-chaired Black Voices for Trump, was photographed at the event without a face mask and not physically distancing from other supporters. Public health officials had warned that the rally could put lives at risk and eight Trump campaign staffers tested positive for Covid-19.> Herman Cain, who is 74, attended Trump's Tulsa rally as a surrogate for the Trump campaign > > Here's a photo he posted inside with no mask https://t.co/ZOrvWU4m0X pic.twitter.com/rjcbd4zqga> > — Will Steakin (@wsteaks) July 2, 2020“You’re never ready for the kind of news we are grappling with this morning,” wrote Dan Calabrese, the editor of Cain’s website. “But we have no choice but to seek and find God’s strength and comfort to deal with it. Herman Cain – our boss, our friend, like a father to so many of us – has passed away.”Calabrese added: “We knew when he was first hospitalized with Covid-19 that this was going to be a rough fight. He had trouble breathing and was taken to the hospital by ambulance. We all prayed that the initial meds they gave him would get his breathing back to normal, but it became clear pretty quickly that he was in for a battle.”At a White House briefing on Thursday, Trump described Cain as “a wonderful man” and “dear friend of mine”. He added: “He was a very special person. I got to know him very well and, unfortunately, he passed away from a thing called the China virus. “We send our prayers to Herman’s great wife, Gloria, wonderful family, and I have to say America grieves for all of the 150,000 Americans who had their lives taken by this horrible, invisible enemy.”Cain was born in Memphis, Tennessee, the son of a janitor and a cleaner, and grew up in Georgia in the segregated south. After college he worked as a Baptist minister and radio talkshow host and enjoyed a successful business career, serving as the chief executive of the Godfather’s pizza chain, the chief executive of the National Restaurant Association and the chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City.He surged to public attention with a long-shot presidential campaign. He hoped to become the first person of colour to win the Republican nomination and challenge Barack Obama, raising the prospect of a 2012 election between two African American men. But Cain rejected that label, once saying: “I don’t use African American, because I’m American, I’m black and I’m conservative. I feel more of an affinity for America than I do for Africa.”In some ways he was a forerunner of Trump: a maverick, gaffe-prone businessman who had never held elected office and who energised grassroots conservatives, many of whom found Mitt Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts, too moderate. Cain’s campaign slogan was “9-9-9”, a pledge to simplify the tax rate to 9% for income, corporate and sales tax.But unlike Trump, he was upended by accusations that he had sexually harassed several women and by a poor grasp of foreign policy. He rambled when asked whether he supported or opposed Obama’s policies in Libya and, complaining to reporters about “gotcha questions”, he said: “And when they ask me who is the president of Ubeki-beki-beki-beki-stan-stan, I’m going to say you know, I don’t know. Do you know?”Last year Trump spoke to Cain about sitting on the Federal Reserve board but he withdrew the nomination after objections from several Republican senators. Cain continued to give the president firm backing and got involved in his re-election campaign, sometimes in incendiary fashion.In May, tweeting a link to an article on his website about the billionaire investor and philanthropist George Soros, Cain posted: “This piece of trash survived the Nazi occupation of Europe, genocide, countless horrific atrocities, and a global conflagration that took millions upon millions of lives. ...But COVID-19 is the ‘greatest crisis of his lifetime?’ That’s telling.”Even as he lay in hospital, Cain tweeted about Trump’s Fourth of July celebration at Mount Rushmore: “Masks will not be mandatory for the event, which will be attended by President Trump. PEOPLE ARE FED UP!”Never lacking in self-confidence, Cain often referred to himself in the third person. His motivational speaking company was named THE New Voice Inc – the acronym stood for The Hermanator Experience. But he also showing willingness to laugh at himself, appearing with comedians such as John Oliver with whom he sat in a mock-up of the Oval Office.Acknowledging Cain’s death in a tweet, Romney, who eventually won the 2012 nomination but lost to Obama, wrote: “Saddened that Herman Cain—a formidable champion of business, politics and policy—has lost his battle with Covid. St. Peter will soon hear ‘999!’ Keep up the fight, my friend.”Cain is survived by his wife, Gloria Etchison, their children and grandchildren.

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Disband panel probing killing of Dubey: PIL in SC

A Mumbai-based advocate-cum-PIL petitioner on Thursday moved the Supreme Court seeking disbanding of the inquiry commission formed to look into the encounter killings of gangster Vikas Dubey . Ghanshyam Upadhyay filed an application alleging bias against both Justice Chauhan and ex-DGP K L Gupta.

from The Times of India https://ift.tt/3geQYel

38 yrs on, SC clears man accused of adulteration

Prem Chand, now 76 years old, was charged after sample of haldi (turmeric) taken from his shop in a village in Sonepat district in 1982 by a food inspector along with a medical officer was found adulterated. The report of the public analyst revealed that it contained four living meal worms and two liveweevils.

from The Times of India https://ift.tt/2XcV8fq

No language will be imposed on anyone: Pokhriyal

Children will be exposed to different languages early on but with a particular emphasis on the mother tongue, starting from the foundational stage onwards. All languages will be taught in an enjoyable and interactive style, said Union minister Ramesh Pokhriyal.

from The Times of India https://ift.tt/2P7Ttn3

NBA Players, Coaches and Referees Kneel in Solidarity as Unprecedented Bubble Season Begins

(LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla.) — Players and coaches from the New Orleans Pelicans and Utah Jazz knelt alongside one another before the first game of the NBA restart on Thursday night, an unprecedented image for the league in unprecedented times.

The coaches — New Orleans’ Alvin Gentry and Utah’s Quin Snyder — were next to one another, their arms locked together. Some players raised a fist as the final notes of “The Star-Spangled Banner” were played, the first of what is expected to be many silent statements calling for racial justice and equality following the deaths of, among others, Breonna Taylor and George Floyd in recent months.

Even the game referees took a knee during the pregame scene, which occurred with the teams lined up along the sideline nearest where “Black Lives Matter” was painted onto the court. The Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers were expected to also take some sort of action before the second game of the re-opening night doubleheader later Thursday.

“It’s so important at this point for us to be unified and be able to peacefully protest many of the critical things that are going on in the country right now,” Snyder said.

The NBA has a rule going back to the early 1980s that players must stand for the national anthem. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, anticipating that players would kneel during these games at Walt Disney World, has made clear that he supports peaceful protests.

Many players warmed up wearing shirts that said “Black Lives Matter.” Thursday also marked the debut of new jerseys bearing messages that many players chose to have added, such as “Equality” and “Peace.”

The NBA season was suspended when Rudy Gobert of the Jazz tested positive for the coronavirus and became the first player in the league with such a diagnosis. Gobert was diagnosed on March 11; two days later, Taylor, a 26-year-old Black woman, was fatally shot when police officers burst into her Louisville, Kentucky apartment using a no-knock warrant during a narcotics investigation. The warrant was in connection with a suspect who did not live there and no drugs were found.

Then on May 25, Floyd died after a white Minneapolis police officer pressed a knee into the Black man’s neck for nearly eight minutes. That happened on a street, with the images — and sounds of the man saying he couldn’t breathe, then crying out for his mother — all captured on a cell phone video.

NBA players have used their platforms — both in the bubble and on social media — to demand equality, to demand justice for Taylor. Coaches have also said it is incumbent on them to demand change and educate themselves and others. And the pregame actions by the Jazz and the Pelicans were just the start of what is expected to be a constant during the remainder of this season.

“It’s taken a very long time to get this momentum going,” San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich said in a video that aired pregame, a project organized by both the NBA and the National Basketball Players Association. “And it cannot be lost.”

Gentry said he appreciated the accidental symmetry that came from the first games of the restarted season coming only hours after the funeral for U.S. Rep. John Lewis, who died July 17 at the age of 80.

Lewis spent most of his life championing civil rights and equality and was the youngest speaker at the 1963 March on Washington — the one where Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech. Gentry said he believes this movement, like the one Lewis helped spark six decades ago, will endure.

“If you talk to some of the younger generation, I think this is here to stay. I really do,” Gentry said. “I have a 20-year-old son and a 22-year-old son, and I know that they feel like this is the most opportune time for us to try to have change in this country.”

from TIME https://ift.tt/2Xehdu6

Covid-19: Why Hong Kong's 'third wave' is a warning

Until recently, the city was seen as a poster child in its handling of the pandemic. What went wrong?

from BBC News - World https://ift.tt/30bOnfN

What exactly is a 'Karen' and where did the meme come from?

To many the Karen meme - and its male equivalent Ken - sums up a specific type of white privilege.

from BBC News - World https://ift.tt/3gioFf9

The 'real' threat to Russia’s former doping mastermind

The ex-mastermind of Russian sports doping, Grigory Rodchenkov, now only appears in disguise. Matt Majendie explains why.

from BBC News - World https://ift.tt/314ezIn

Bollywood's 'warts and all' biopic on 'human computer'

Bollywood actress Vidya Balan plays Shakuntala Devi who dazzled the world with her skill with numbers.

from BBC News - World https://ift.tt/3ggIC6b

The middle-css Pakistani students fighting for a homeland dream

Shahdad Mumtaz died for his beliefs. Could a missing student end up waging war on the Pakistani state?

from BBC News - World https://ift.tt/312Wk6b

The Atlantic Daily: The Real Implication of Trump’s Election Tweet

1. President Trump floated postponing the election, something he lacks the legal authority to do.

The maneuver is not what it looks like on the surface, David A. Graham argues: “It’s more a means of preemptively contesting the outcome of an election he fears he will lose than trying to actually move it.”

2. Barack Obama spoke at the funeral of John Lewis, calling him “a founding father of that fuller, fairer, better America.”

Read the former president’s eulogy. And revisit Adam Serwer’s essay on the loss of the congressman and his fellow activist C. T. Vivian: “It is up to us to honor them, by continuing what they started, by sustaining the work of democracy as best we can.”

3. Herman Cain died of COVID-19.

“In his ascent, Cain embodied some of the greatest things about U.S. society; in his later years, and in his death, he exemplified some of America’s bleaker aspects,” David A. Graham argues.

One question, answered: How worried should I be about super-spreaders?

Here’s what one expert told Zeynep Tufekci, for her new piece on airborne transmission:

Saskia Popescu, an infectious-disease epidemiologist, emphasized to me that we should not call these “super-spreaders,” referring only to the people, but “super-spreader events,” because they seem to occur in very particular settings—an important clue. … The super-spreader–event triad seems to rely on three V’s: venue, ventilation, and vocalization. Most super-spreader events occur at an indoor venue, especially a poorly ventilated one (meaning air is not being exchanged, diluted, or filtered), where lots of people are talking, chanting, or singing.

Read the rest of Zeynep’s piece here.

What to read if … you’re feeling like your career has hit a lull:

In his latest “How to Build a Life” column, Arthur C. Brooks points out that success can be addictive. “If you measure yourself only by the worldly rewards of money, power, and prestige, you’ll spend your life running on the hedonic treadmill and comparing yourself to others,” he advises.

What to read if … you want practical tips:

Did someone forward you this newsletter? Sign up here.

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Wednesday, 29 July 2020

As Trump Undercuts Aid Talks, White House Says Extra Jobless Benefits Will Lapse

By BY EMILY COCHRANE AND JIM TANKERSLEY from NYT Business https://ift.tt/39PSGkh

Congress grills tech CEOs in wide-ranging hearing

Big tech CEOs had a big day on Capitol Hill.

from ABC News: Top Stories https://ift.tt/2EwtvYf

Democrats announce convention schedule, party officers for 2020 gathering

Democrats, who are set to formally nominate presumptive nominee Joe Biden in a few short weeks, announced on Wednesday evening a preliminary schedule for the four days.

from ABC News: Top Stories https://ift.tt/310w3p1

Congress grills tech CEOs in wide-ranging hearing

Big tech CEOs had a big day on Capitol Hill.

from ABC News: Top Stories https://ift.tt/2EwtvYf

CNN host says Trump loyalist owes broadcaster an apology over video played at Barr hearing

CNN host Jake Tapper has demanded that Republican congressman Jim Jordan apologise for playing an edited video that misleadingly showed reporters describe the George Floyd protests as “peaceful”.On Tuesday, attorney general William Barr took part in his first congressional hearing since he took the role, and faced questions on topics including his response to the protests and the subsequent deployment of federal law enforcement agents to cities such as Portland, Oregon.

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Mask-skeptic Republican Gohmert gets COVID-19; U.S. congressional colleagues to self-quarantine

Republican U.S. congressman Louie Gohmert, who has steadfastly refused to wear a mask during the coronavirus pandemic, said on Wednesday he had tested positive for COVID-19, leading at least three of his colleagues to say they would self-quarantine. Gohmert, a U.S. representative from Texas, where coronavirus cases have surged since the state reopened, said he tested positive in a pre-screening at the White House and would self-quarantine for 10 days. Republican Representatives Mike Johnson and Kay Granger and Democratic lawmaker Raúl Grijalva said they would self-quarantine after being in contact with Gohmert, according to statements from their offices or media reports.

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Trump Jr suspended by Twitter for posting 'misleading and potentially harmful information' about coronavirus

Donald Trump Jr has been suspended by Twitter for posting "misleading and potentially harmful information" about coronavirus.The president also shared the same tweet. On his account, the post no longer appears, and has been replaced with a message indicating that it is "no longer available", but he still appears to be able to tweet.

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‘It's a tough hand’: Brutal year gets even worse for McConnell

With Republicans divided on coronavirus relief, the Senate majority leader has less leverage to negotiate with Democrats.

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2 arrested for attacking senator during Wisconsin protests

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Trump COVID Task Force to Guvs: Make Masks Mandatory Before You Fall Into Red Zone

As states in the South and Southwest grapple with how to control the spread of the coronavirus, officials on President Donald Trump’s coronavirus task force cautioned the nation’s governors Tuesday that a new set of states is beginning to experience an uptick in positive cases and recommended that local leaders implement mask mandates and close bars to contain the outbreaks.Dr. Deborah Birx, the coordinator for the task force, said the positivity rate in states such as Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, and Colorado was increasing and warned they should quickly take action before they fall into what she described as the “red COVID zones” category. Birx defined the red zones as those states with more than 100 coronavirus cases per 100,000 people and more than a 10 percent test positivity rate.“By the time you see hospitalizations, your community spread is so wide that you’ve flipped into a red state incredibly quickly,” Birx said, according to a recording of the call obtained by The Daily Beast. “By the time you see it, up to 80 or 90 percent of your county already has more than 10 percent positivity rate.”The warnings from Birx and other task force officials come as the administration is pushing states across the country to reopen schools, a point Vice President Mike Pence reiterated on the call. Pence said the task force would support whatever decision state leaders make but that the team was beginning to see evidence that “encouraging masks,” closing bars, and limiting indoor gatherings were slowing the spread in some of the hot spot states. Birx was more explicit with her advice, saying that the “100 percent mask mandates” played a significant role in containing the virus in those states.Trump in the past has resisted mask wearing and said in a Fox News interview this month that he would not impose a national mask mandate. On Monday, Trump retweeted a video shared by his son Donald Trump Jr. that featured a doctor saying masks were unnecessary. Twitter restricted Donald Trump Jr.’s account and removed the video from the platform.Trump Pushes Fake COVID Cure From Fringe Doctors, Banned by FacebookDr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top vaccine official, was also on the call with governors and said states should adhere to Birx’s recommendations even if it wasn’t politically expedient to do so. “You may be reluctant to do that because the general population is saying, ‘Wait a minute, we’re not that bad,’” Fauci said, referring to the advice of implementing mask mandates and restricting large gatherings of people. “You are worse than you think you are because where you are now is going to be reflected and what you are going to see… weeks from now. I know it may sound intrusive but it really isn’t.”Read more at The Daily Beast.Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast hereGet our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.

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Great white shark kills woman in rare attack in Maine, authorities say

Maine has recorded only one shark attack since 1837, researchers say.

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Meghan Markle compromised privacy of five friends in legal document, court hears

The Duchess of Sussex was accused of compromising the privacy of her own friends by supplying their names in a legal document that she wants to remain secret, the High Court heard on Wednesday. The duchess "freely" and "without being compelled" disclosed the identities of five friends whose privacy she now fears will be breached. Meghan gave the names in a confidential document to Associated Newspapers, the publisher of The Mail on Sunday, who she is suing for breach of privacy and copyright over its publication of a handwritten letter to her father, Thomas Markle. In legal submissions, the duchess has warned that being forced to identify the friends "is an unacceptable price to pay" in pursuit of her legal claim. She is arguing that naming them would breach their privacy under the European Convention on Human Rights, while the newspaper argues that they must be disclosed as a key principle of "open justice". At one stage in Wednesday's court proceedings, Meghan's barrister accidentally let slip the surname of one of the friends his client is seeking to keep anonymous. Mr Justice Warby, the judge, suggested such an error was "bound to happen" before immediately ordering that the name should not be reported. It also emerged that only one of the friends – Friend B, an American citizen who says she approached People magazine of her own accord – has given a witness statement. A barrister for the newspaper group said the statement "has been shown to be unsatisfactory", but did not go into any further detail. It was disclosed that the duchess agreed to pay in full £67,888 in costs to Associated Newspapers after the publisher successfully argued that elements of her case be struck out. The costs are just a fraction of a multi-million legal bill expected should the case go to a full trial next year.

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Portland fining feds $500 an hour for fence erected around federal courthouse

The city says the protective fence installed around the federal courthouse was done without a permit; William La Jeunesse reports from Portland with the latest.

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The fashion influencer who fled NYC for the Hamptons while infected with COVID-19 received up to $350,000 in government PPP loans, report says

Arielle Charnas' brand, Something Navy, secured a loan of between $150,000 and $350,000 from the government in April, Page Six reported.

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Australia's fires 'killed or harmed three billion animals'

The recent bushfires were "one of the worst wildlife disasters in modern history", conservationists say.

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Alabama Republican celebrates KKK member's birthday as state remembers civil rights hero John Lewis

A Republican senator in Alabama celebrated a Ku Klux Klan (KKK) member’s birthday at the same time hundreds were honouring the life of civil rights hero John Lewis.State Representative Will Dismukes took part in an event marking the KKK grand wizard and former Confederate Army General, Nathan Bedford Forrest, as Alabama honoured the late Georgia Democrat this weekend.

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When Black Lives Matter protests turn violent, Donald Trump gets just what he wants

Civil rights and Democratic leaders must do what they can to end the chaos in the streets. This is not the time to give ammunition to Trump and the GOP.

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Rahul repeats old charges against deal on fighters

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Coronavirus in Pakistan: Doctor's video diary of fight against pandemic

A doctor in one of Pakistan’s busiest hospitals has kept a video diary of the country’s struggle with coronavirus.

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'Bay of Piglets': A 'bizarre' plot to capture a president

How did exiled Venezuelans and former US Special Forces end up joining what looked from the outset like a suicide mission?

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India and China race to build along a disputed frontier

The rival nuclear powers are trying to out-build each other along their disputed Himalayan border.

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Nile dam row: Egypt fumes as Ethiopia celebrates

Concerns grow as Nile River nations fail to reach a deal on how to share the vital waters.

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The sweet smell of success: How Bulgaria took the lead in lavender

Lavender is used for cosmetics, fragrances and even, with the help of bees, to make honey.

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Tuesday, 28 July 2020

Virgin Galactic shows off passenger spaceship cabin interior

Rocket ship will carry passengers on suborbital flights in space's lower reaches

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Brazil virus payout cuts extreme poverty to least in decades

Report says Brazil’s extreme poverty plunged due to a monthly federal handout.

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Trump aides frustrated president won’t pay respects to civil rights leader John Lewis

Donald Trump's aides have “frustration” with the president’s decision not to pay his respects to late congressman John Lewis.The civil rights leader passed away last week. His body was lying in state at the US Capitol on Monday and politicians – from presumptive Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and his wife to the Vice President Mike Pence – visited to pay their respects.

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Escape to North Korea: Defector at heart of COVID-19 case fled sex abuse investigation

Last week, a 24-year-old defector returned to North Korea the way he left in 2017, authorities say, but with a coronavirus pandemic raging in the background this time, his illicit trip drew far more attention. Facing a sexual assault investigation, Kim evaded high-tech South Korean border control systems by crawling through a drain pipe and swimming across the Han River to the North on July 19, the South Korean military has said. Kim's story as a defector begins and, so far, ends in the city of Kaesong, a North Korean border town that hosted a now-shuttered inter-Korean factory park and liaison office.

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Goldberg: Is an army of secret Trump voters skewing the polls toward Biden?

Trump and his staunch supporters are pinning their hopes on a silent majority that polls aren't capturing.

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Rare blue lobster spotted at Red Lobster before being cooked finds home at Ohio zoo

"Clawde" was saved by Red Lobster workers — who noticed it in the lobster delivery. The likelihood of catching a blue lobster is 1 in 200 million.

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Boris Johnson says Europe is being hit by a 2nd coronavirus wave as countries bring back restrictions

The number of daily coronavirus cases has ticked up again in countries including Spain, Belgium, and France.

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Alabama Democrats call on GOP lawmaker who attended event honoring KKK leader to resign

Democratic and Republican leaders in Alabama are denouncing state Rep. Will Dismukes (R) for attending a birthday celebration in Selma for Nathan Bedford Forrest, a Confederate general and the first Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan.Dismukes, who is also chaplain for the Prattville Dragoons chapter of the Sons of the Confederacy, gave the invocation at the birthday event, posted on social media that he had a "great time" honoring Forrest, and shared a photo showing him standing in front of a Confederate flag.On Sunday, people in Selma paid tribute to the late civil rights icon Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), whose body was carried across the Edmund Pettus Bridge; in 1965, Lewis was beaten on the bridge by state troopers as he led a civil rights march. Dismukes took his post down on Monday, telling AL.com it was "in no way glorifying the Klan or disrespecting the late Rep. John Lewis."The Alabama Democratic Party called on Dismukes to step down, again; in June, they asked for his resignation because he supports the state continuing to fund the Confederate Memorial Park in Marbury. "Americans don't celebrate racists or traitors," Wade Perry, the state party's executive director, said in a statement criticizing Dismukes as "unfit to hold public office." "Nathan Bedford Forrest was both."Alabama Republican Party Chairwoman Terry Lathan told AL.com it is up to the voters to decide whether Dismukes should be in office, and said it was improper for him to participate in the commemoration. Alabama House Majority Whip Danny Garrett (R) agreed, tweeting that he "cannot fathom why anyone in 2020 celebrates the birthday of the 1st KKK Grand Wizard. And while the body of a civil rights icon beaten by the Klan lies at state Capitol being honored by GOP/Dem leaders from all over the state. This mentality does not rep my party or my faith."More stories from theweek.com Even mild coronavirus cases can cause lasting cardiovascular damage, study shows AMC is ending its ban on Universal movies as part of a landmark agreement Why Trump's invasion of Portland is textbook fascism

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'The whole church has got it, just about': Alabama church revival results in dozens of coronavirus cases

More than 40 members of a church in rural Alabama have tested positive for coronavirus after attending a mutli-day revival festival.The revival included a number of religious services which were held over multiple days last week. The pastor of Warrior Creek Missionary Baptist Church, Daryl Ross, said the virus had impacted nearly the totality of his congregation.

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2nd presidential debate host withdraws amid virus outbreak

The University of Notre Dame has become the second university to withdraw as the host of one of this fall's three scheduled presidential debates amid the coronavirus pandemic. The university was set to host the inaugural face-off between President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden on Sept. 29. The first debate will now be hosted by Case Western Reserve University and Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, the nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates announced Monday.

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The Chicago Gun Myth

The tragically incompetent mayor of Chicago, Lori Lightfoot, appeared on CNN’s State of the Union this weekend to deflect attention from the horror show unfolding in her city by blaming interlopers for its spiking murder rate: “We are being inundated with guns from states that have virtually no gun control, no background checks, no ban on assault weapons -- that is hurting cities like Chicago.”Although these accusations have leveled by Chicago politicians for decades now, they are a myth.For one thing, there is no state in the nation with “virtually no gun control” or “no background checks.” Every time anyone in the United States purchases a gun from a federal firearms licensee (FFL) -- a gun store, a gun show, it doesn’t matter -- the seller runs a background check on the buyer through the NICS (National Instant Criminal Background Check System) database. In some cases, the FFL checks to see if the buyer has passed a background check via a state-issued concealed-carry permit. In states that allow individual private sales, it is illegal to knowingly sell to anyone who you believe is obtaining a firearm for criminal purposes.Those who cross state lines to buy guns undergo the same background check, and the sale is processed by an FFL in the buyer’s home state. The exact same laws apply to all online sales.The vast majority of Americans obtain their guns in this manner, and they rarely commit crimes. Around 7 percent of criminals in prison bought weapons using their real names. Fewer than 1 percent obtained them at gun shows. As the Heritage Foundation’s Amy Swearer points out, there have been around 18 million concealed-carry permit holders over the past 15 years, and they have committed 801 firearm-related homicides over that span, or somewhere around 0.7 percent of all firearm-related murders. Concealed-carry holders not only are more law-abiding than the general population as a group; they are more law-abiding than law enforcement.Studies of those imprisoned on firearms charges show that most often they obtain their weapons by stealing them or buying them in black markets. A smaller percentage get them from family members or friends.On top of all this, federal law requires every FFL license holder to report the purchase of two or more handguns by the same person with a week to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. This is one of the reasons straw purchasers -- people with a clean record who buy for criminals -- spread their operations to other states. This is not unique to Illinois or Chicago. It has nothing to do with strict or lenient laws. It has mostly to do with cities and states failing to prosecute straw purchases.Lightfoot claims that 60 percent of the guns used in Chicago murders are bought from out of state. I assume she is relying on 2017’s suspect “gun trace report,” which looked at guns confiscated in criminal acts from 2013 and 2016. Even if we trusted the city’s data, most guns used in Illinois crimes are bought in-state. If gun laws in Illinois — which earns a grade of “A-“ from the pro-gun-control Gifford Law Center, tied for second highest in the country after New Jersey — are more effective than gun laws in Missouri, Wisconsin, or Indiana, why is it that FFL dealers in suburban Cook County are the origin point for a third of the crime guns recovered in Chicago, and home to “seven of the top ten source dealers”? According to the trace study, 11.2 percent of all crime guns recovered in Chicago could be tracked to just two gun shops.The only reason, it seems, criminals take the drive to Indiana is because local gun shops are tapped out. There is a tremendous demand for weapons in Chicago. That’s not Mississippi’s fault. And Lightfoot’s contention only proves that criminals in her city can get their hands on guns rather easily, while most law-abiding citizens have no way to defend themselves.Lightfoot may also be surprised to learn that California borders on states with liberal gun laws, such as Arizona, Nevada, and Oregon. Yet no big city in California has quite the murder and criminality of Chicago. New York borders on states with liberal gun laws, such as Vermont, Pennsylvania, and New Hampshire. Yet NYC’s murder rate is only fraction of Chicago’s. Texas gets an “F” from Gifford Law Center, yet Houston and Dallas have murder rates that are half of that in Chicago. The rates in Austin and El Paso are tiny when compared to Chicago.Then, of course, the “assault-weapons bans” that Lightfoot brings up have absolutely no bearing on Chicago’s murder rate, even if such prohibitions actually worked. There were 864 murders in the state of Illinois in 2018 (the last year for which the FBI has full stats). Of homicides where the type of weapon is reported by law enforcement, 592 were perpetrated using handguns, 14 with rifles, and four with shotguns. Over 100 murders were committed using knives, other cutting instruments, hands, feet, and other types of weapons. And of the 14 “rifles” used, it’s almost surely the case that not all of them were “assault weapons.” Among the illegal guns recovered by Chicago law enforcement in 2018, 12,220 were handguns of some kind and 1,769 were rifles and shotguns.In the states in Illinois’s neighborhood with no bans on “assault weapons,” the number of murders committed with a “rifle” is correspondingly small — ten in Indiana, eight in Tennessee, six in Kentucky, four in Wisconsin, and three in Mississippi.It’s also worth pointing out that gun homicides dropped sharply in most cities after the national “assault weapons” expired in 2004, even though the AR-15 would correspondingly become one of the most popular weapons in the country. The AR-15 is an excellent home-defense weapon, but long guns aren’t conducive to criminality, despite what we see in movies. Tragically, AR-15s are often favored by psychotic mass shooters, but rarely by the murderers who plague Lightfoot’s city.It keeps getting worse. Nearly 400 people have already been murdered in Chicago this year, around 100 more than in the entire year of 2019. On the night of May 29, 25 people were murdered and another 85 wounded by gunfire, more than any day in 60 years. And yet the mayor is appearing on TV to blame Mississippi and Texas. It is far more likely that black-market guns find their way to Chicago because the place has been a poorly run criminal mecca for decades.

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Mold from Chernobyl seems to feed on radiation, and new research suggests it could help protect astronauts in space

Researchers took mold that grows in the Chernobyl exclusion zone and blasted it into space. It may help protect astronauts from radiation.

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The birth of a militia: how an armed group polices Black Lives Matter protests

In Utah, members of a militia claim their presence deters protesters from becoming violent and destroying the stateThe Utah Citizens’ Alarm is only a month old, and yet it already boasts 15,000-plus members.The citizen militia’s recruits wear military fatigues and carry assault rifles. Their short-term goal, they say, is to act as a physical presence of intimidation to deter protesters from becoming violent and destroying the state of Utah. Their long-term goal: to arm and prepare the state of Utah against underground movements they believe will incite civil war.The group was conceived in reaction to a Black Lives Matter protest against police brutality organized by different groups in Provo, Utah, on 29 June. That day, a white protester pulled out a gun and shot another white man, who was not protesting but driving his vehicle into the protest route. Two shots were fired, and one hit the driver in the arm. Protesters claim the shooting was in self-defence because the driver was hitting marchers; the police found this claim to be unsubstantiated.When Casey Robertson, 47, watched a video of the incident, he felt outraged that this could happen in his “little town of Provo”. He posted on his Facebook page and a local yard sale page that “protesters descended on downtown Provo and terrorized citizens and SHOTS WERE FIRED.” He explained that Insurgence, one of the organizing group, was planning another protest for the next night and he rallied “concerned citizens” to come together, armed and ready to do their part in protecting downtown businesses.This was a call to arms. Utah Citizens’ Alarm was born.“I was like, ‘We need to stand together as citizens and go down there and show these people that we’re not going to allow violence, and that we are not going to allow these anarchist violent groups to tear down Provo,” Robertson told the Guardian. “It’s not going to happen without a fight.’”Utah Citizens’ Alarm has since organized regular military-style trainings for its members. Robertson says he has been tipped off “by secret sources within the government and law enforcement” that underground organizations like antifa are being funded by Isis, and are using groups like BLM to wreak havoc in the community to destroy American cities and ideals. Even if none of these theories stand up to scrutiny, he is dead set on not letting it happen.Robertson was born and raised in Provo. His dad was a Provo police officer and his mother a police dispatcher. He has voted both sides of the political aisle – he voted for Clinton and Obama, although he now considers himself a conservative. To him, this is not about politics, but good and evil, and he is ready to die for this cause.“My biggest fear, probably, is my children being brought up and having to grow up in a country that has completely lost its freedom, and that is under attack, and that is turning into this cesspool of violence and chaos,” he said. “Our enemy is now within, and that’s really scary to me.”This already has a chilling effect on protests: organizers have begun cancelling protests out of fear of Utah Citizens’ Alarm coming and escalating the already heated emotions. So far, militia members remain unchallenged, using their second amendment rights to openly bear arms in public throughout the state. ‘We are here to protect the community’That same Black Lives Matter protest that inspired Robertson’s fear was originally planned as a pro-police event in downtown Provo. John Sullivan, 26, the founder of Insurgence USA, a group for racial justice and police reform, organized a counter-protest alongside several other organizers. Protesters were to meet at the Provo police station at 6.30pm that night.Sullivan, one of the few black men organizing for racial justice in Utah, is not from Provo but Sandy, a suburb of Salt Lake City. Provo is a hyper-religious Latter-day Saint college town located 45 miles south of Salt Lake City. The city is made up of about 110,000 people, 88% white, 16.6% Hispanic, and less than 1% black. Local quirks include a strong second amendment culture, strong self-reliant groups, end of world preppers, a booming music scene and a charming Center Street that has at least three ice cream parlors and only recently got its first coffee shop, as the predominant demography does not drink coffee for religious purposes.The Black Lives Matter protesters started to march. They yelled “Whose streets? Our streets!” at drivers and lingered in front of cars, some of which started plowing through the crowd, claiming protesters had surrounded them and would not let them leave. (Videos show this was not the case.)Brian DeLong, a philosophy student at Utah Valley University, was grabbing a coffee when he saw protesters pass by. He joined in the march. At the intersection of University Avenue and Center Street, he was hit by a silver Excursion going southbound and immediately heard two gunshots, one after the other. DeLong bounced off the car and realized about five other people had also been hit. The driver frantically drove off.Nine minutes later, an ambulance appeared on the scene. The police did not come, and only appeared in full riot gear at 9.40pm when protesters made it back to the front of the police station.Drivers driving into protesters resulting in people shooting guns is becoming more frequent. On July 25, an Austin motorist drove into a crowd and fatally shot a protester. On the same night, another driver drove into protesters in Aurora, Colorado – except it was a protester who took out his gun and ended up shooting two fellow protesters.After the Provo protest, a policeman told Josianne Petit, 34, a criminal defense paralegal and founder of Mama & Papa Panthers, an organization dedicated to helping parents of all races in raising black children, that the police were inside watching the whole protest on Facebook Live. She said: “I felt fundamentally betrayed. I had worked with Provo PD extensively prior to that protest and I thought I had a good working relationship with them, but to hear the complete disregard they had for the lives of protesters was alarming to me, but also devastating.”Sullivan, the organizer, was not prepared for what transpired, nor did he know that anyone had a gun on his side of the protest. He created another Facebook event to hold a protest two days later in response.On that day, the two sides stood facing each other. The protesters carried posters; the Utah Citizens’ Alarm carried assault rifles. The protesters wore black; the paramilitia wore American flags. Both groups wore masks. On the west side, it was to protect themselves from the coronavirus. On the east side, masks were a protection from unwanted media attention.One young man carrying an assault rifle and two magazines of ammunition, with his face completely covered, pointed at the protesters and said: “What they have done is straight out of the communist manifesto … they say that your political beliefs are now your identity and, if somebody’s against your identity, they can justify whatever they do against you because they’re now repressing you for not agreeing with you.”He added: “Not everybody over there but the more extremists will agree with that. Black Lives Matter, as an organization, receives money from people who want to see violence happen.”Another young man walked over and said: “They hate America. They say they want to change America, that’s un-American.”The BLM protesters were authorized to march in the street. Utah Citizens’ Alarm was permitted to march on the sidewalks, guarding the storefronts from the protesters. About 250 policemen were brought in, as well as at least four snipers who stood on the roof of the Nu Skin building, a ten-storey building next to the Mormon temple.One police officer from Springville, a town just south of Provo, said he trusted 99.9% of the men and women with the guns, and said: “Those men and women would be the first people to take a bullet for any of the protesters there.”At the end of the march, Utah Citizens’ Alarm members came to the megaphone and repeated the Springville police officer’s line: “We are here to protect the community. We would be the first to take a bullet for each and every one of you.”Josey Gardner, 25, a protester and EMT studying English at BYU, asked: “Whose bullets are they protecting us from? They are the only ones with guns.” A chilling effect on free speechUtah Citizens’ Alarm is now organized into a pseudo-militia under the guidance of ex-military and ex-law enforcement on their newly formed board of advisers. They want Utah to be fully prepared for the “civil war” instigated by underground, militant forces.The group trains tirelessly. When on site, members are advised to move in groups of three and no less, because they have been told by informants on the inside that antifa attacks single out the strongest members in vulnerable situations. They have escape plans at every site, and promote a firm obedience to the local police, including when asked by them not to come to a protest.(Provo police chief Rich Ferguson made a statement that the Provo police have no relationship with the Utah Citizens’ Alarm, which Sergeant Nisha King, head of the Provo police department’s public information team, verified. )Meanwhile, militia members have now been to almost every protest on the Wasatch Front. They come to protests throughout the state with anywhere between 30 to 1,000 members in full uniform (sometimes homemade, sometimes military-grade), some in bulletproof vests, and openly carrying ARs. They silently stand in the background and observe, always on guard believing they may be called upon to act quickly if something goes wrong.A protest in Taylorsville was cancelled because too many protesters felt the risk was not worth being there. Robertson took this as a win.Jason Stevens, of Utah’s American Civil Liberties Union, stressed the importance of the historical context in what happened in the civil rights movement of the 1960s when armed groups, militias, local chapters of the Ku Klux Klan, white citizens councils, organizations both official and unofficial took it upon themselves to defend what they saw as their rights and property with violent and systemic intimidation and threats to African Americans and others in those areas.“I am not saying that is what is happening here. But with context, if you are a protester and you see groups like this showing up at your protest, that’s got to be in the back of your mind, this history of intimidation and threats.”Outside of Utah, these threats are present and real for protesters. In Omak, Washington, small civilian militias are forming to threaten protesters. In New Mexico, there is another civilian militia group that call themselves the New Mexico Civil Guard reacting to rioting and looting.In Portland, the threats to free speech and the right to protest are coming from the federal government, which has deployed unidentified agents to quell protests by forcibly grabbing protesters and taking them away in unidentified vehicles.BLM-adjacent groups held a “Stop Kidnapping Protesters” event in Salt Lake City on 22 July, in reference to what took place in Portland. Robertson and his team came in full garb and made a live video. Robertson said: “That’s the name of the protest – ‘Stop kidnapping protesters’. My boy over here translated it as ‘stop arresting criminals’. The awesome thing is these people that are out creating chaos and committing crimes, they are being watched. Law enforcement finally started to go around and pick them up and arrest them. I am all for it.”Additionally, lines between the second and first amendment are complicated, especially as open-carry laws in Utah make it legal for groups of heavily armed individuals to gather in places where the first amendment is being honored, such as protests.“If the right to bear arms is overriding the right to free speech, that may be cause for concern,” said Dr RonNell Andersen Jones, a law professor at the University of Utah. “Our constitutional doctrine hasn’t yet had the chance to really tussle with the question of what the presence of guns does to a free speech event. Short of more overt threats of violence, we usually protect protesters with guns in the same ways we protect protesters without them. But if the express goal of the armed individuals is to intimidate people who might otherwise share their views, that’s especially troubling.”In response to Utah Citizens’ Alarm, Utah protesters are now arming themselves. John Sullivan of Insurgence USA held his first armed protest on 22 July at the Utah state capitol, carrying an AR-15 and a magazine of ammo. He is encouraging Insurgence USA protesters to purchase guns so they can protect themselves if there is violence.“Basically, nobody in our group owns a gun except for me; nobody was planning on ever shooting anyone. So the fact that I bought a bulletproof vest and more magazines and our people are buying guns should say a lot. It shouldn’t be that way.”Petit, who also organizes alongside BLM and Insurgence USA, has recruited ex-military to train and arm her protesters, because she feels the threat is real as long as Utah Citizens’ Alarm is showing up.“The only way forward is to make sure we are prepared, because at this point the options the only options available to us are when things go crazy we lie down and die, or we fight back.“And I’m sorry, I’m not lying down for anybody.”

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