| Pelosi: Socialism ‘Not the View of the Democratic Party’ Posted: 15 Apr 2019 10:35 AM PDT  Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Sunday that she rejects the socialist ideology recently embraced by the left wing of her caucus and claimed that it does not represent a consensus position within the Democratic party.During an appearance on 60 Minutes Sunday evening, Pelosi told CBS's Leslie Stahl that the party has not succumbed to socialism despite the fact that all of its top 2020 presidential contenders have endorsed the elimination of the private health-insurance market."It is allowing [President Donald Trump] to say, 'You're all socialists,'" Stahl said of the party's attachment to Medicare-for-all."Do you know that when we did -- when Medicare was done by the Congress at the time, under Lyndon Johnson, Ronald Reagan said, 'Medicare will lead us to a socialist dictatorship.' This is an ongoing theme of the Republicans," Pelosi replied. "However -- I do reject socialism as a economic system. If people have that view, that's their view. That is not the view of the Democratic party."While some of the party's presidential-primary candidates, including former representative Beto O'Rourke and Senator Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.), have rejected the socialist label, they have, like the rest of their rivals, endorsed many of the policies initially championed by avowed socialist Bernie Sanders. Tuition-free higher education, Medicare-for-all, and support for Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's Green New Deal have all emerged as early litmus tests.Pelosi, meanwhile, has attempted to ward off allegations that the party's brand has been defined by the direct, social-media-driven politics of freshman progressives like Representatives Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, and Ilhan Omar of Minnesota."That's like five people," Pelosi told Stahl when asked about the outsize influence wielded by Ocasio-Cortez and her cohort.
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| Many Democrats and liberals are cheering Assange's arrest. That's foolish Posted: 14 Apr 2019 10:47 AM PDT  Some have argued that Assange isn't under attack for 'journalism,' but for 'activism.' That's a troubling logic to fall for 'This prosecution is about silencing dissent rather than enforcing the law.' Photograph: Victoria Jones/PAThe attempted extradition and prosecution of the WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange by the United States should be an obvious outrage. It's a very clear effort by the US government to punish those who expose embarrassing secrets about its actions, and it could set a precedent that would threaten journalists everywhere. And yet many of those who should be championing Assange's cause and condemning the prosecution are doing exactly the opposite. Plenty of liberals and mainstream journalists are inexplicably cheering for Assange to be punished.There has been plenty of over-the-top gloating about Assange's arrest. In the Atlantic, Michael Weiss said Assange "got what he deserved". Some Democratic politicians have been salivating at the possibility of prosecuting him. Hillary Clinton said that Assange needs to "answer for what he has done". Charles Schumer said he hoped Assange "will soon be held to account for his meddling in our elections on behalf of Putin and the Russian government". Dianne Feinstein has been calling for Assange to be brought here and prosecuted since 2010. The West Virginia Democratic senator Joe Manchin went even further, with the truly disturbing comment that "now [Assange is] our property and we can get the facts and truth from him". Nor did Bernie Sanders speak up to defend Assange, opting for the same shameful silence he has taken on the imprisonment of whistleblower Chelsea Manning. The other 2020 candidates, with the exception of Mike Gravel and Tulsi Gabbard, have also stayed quiet.There's a lot to be disturbed by here. First, it's not clear that people like Schumer even care about the question of whether Assange broke any laws. Assange has been charged over allegedly helping Chelsea Manning to crack a Department of Defense password in 2010. The indictment has nothing to do with Putin or the 2016 election. Yet Democrats are thrilled enough to have a longtime villain in the clasps of the United States government that the actual charges, and their implications for free speech, are irrelevant.Those free speech questions are serious, and nobody inclined to celebrate Assange's arrest should wave them away. The documents WikiLeaks published, obtained by Chelsea Manning, revealed evidence of serious criminal wrongdoing by the United States armed forces. They shined a crucial light on some of our government's ugliest actions abroad. Because the US government does not like to have its secrets exposed, and needs to send a message to anyone who undermines its authority, it needs to prove that its security state has global reach and that even people outside the US will be seized.This prosecution is about silencing dissent rather than enforcing the law. The accusation against Assange is that nearly 10 years ago he tried unsuccessfully to assist in breaking a government password. How often does doing this result in a years-long federal investigation and an extradition request? Or US senators declaring a foreign national the "property" of this country? The Obama administration fished for years to find a charge that would stick to Assange, but ultimately couldn't find a way of going after him that wouldn't also criminalize ordinary acts of journalism. Donald Trump's government is less scrupulous.Some have argued that Assange isn't under attack for "journalism", but for "activism". Frida Ghitis of CNN wrote that Assange "is not a journalist and therefore not entitled to the protections that the law – and democracy – demand for legitimate journalists". This is a dangerous position. Generally, the law doesn't actually distinguish between "journalists" and "non-journalists", giving everyone the same protections. This is for good reason: if such a distinction becomes legally relevant, it means the government is empowered to decide who the True Journalists are.Those of us who work for independent media outlets – I edit a small-circulation political magazine – will always operate under the threat of being deemed "illegitimate" and having our rights taken away. Even if you think Assange is "not a journalist", the precedent his case sets has ramifications for journalists everywhere. And I do mean everywhere: remember, Assange is Australian, so don't be surprised when the US tries to seize any journalist around the world who can be alleged to have violated one of its laws.In defending Assange on this issue, some may be tempted to say "Of course I don't like the guy, but …" I'm not going to say that, because it should be obvious that one's opinion of Assange is completely irrelevant to the issue. Michael Weiss said nobody should fall for Assange's "phony pleas for sympathy, his megalomania, and his promiscuity with the facts". The Washington Post's editorial board said he is "he is long overdue for personal accountability". True or not, these are not the issue.You don't need to know what Weiss, the Post, or I think of Assange's morals. What you need to know is that anyone who doesn't stick up for him against this prosecution is both unprincipled and foolish. Unprincipled, because they don't care about protecting the liberties that are essential to exposing government crimes, and foolish because authoritarianism doesn't come all at once. It creeps slowly, normalizing itself bit by bit, until you don't realize that it's too late. First they came for Assange, and if you say nothing, they're coming for you next. * Nathan Robinson is the editor of Current Affairs
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| Historic Moment: U.S. Air Force F-35 Stealth Fighters Just Went Off to War Posted: 16 Apr 2019 12:32 AM PDT  U.S. Air Force F-35 stealth fighters for the first time have deployed for combat.At least six F-35s from the 388th and 419th Fighter Wings on April 12, 2019 traveled from their home station at Hill Air Force Base in Utah to Al Dhafra airbase in the United Arab Emirates to participate in coalition air operations targeting Islamic State militants in the Middle East."We are adding a cutting-edge weapons system to our arsenal that significantly enhances the capability of the coalition," said Lt. Gen. Joseph Guastella, commander of U.S. Air Forces Central Command. "The sensor fusion and survivability this aircraft provides to the joint force will enhance security and stability across the theater and deter aggressors."Air Force F-35As in April 2017 deployed to Royal Air Force base Lakenheath. USAF F-35As that fall also deployed to the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command area of responsibility. The Middle East deployment is the USAF stealth fighter's first to a war zone.
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| SpaceIL’s first lander crashed into the Moon, but they’re already planning a second try Posted: 15 Apr 2019 03:04 PM PDT  It's been a very interesting month thus far for SpaceIL, the Israeli organization which sent the Beresheet lunar lander into space and subsequently crashed it into the Moon. Needless to say, things didn't go exactly as planned, and while the mission was a huge success in a number of ways the company would love another crack at landing a spacecraft on the Moon in a much more gentle fashion.It seems they're going to do just that. In an announcement that came very shortly after the crash-landing of the Beresheet lander, SpaceIL founder Morris Kahn announced that the group would be focusing on Beresheet 2.0.Citing all the supportive messages and outreach SpaceIL and he himself personally received after the Beresheet lander met its unfortunate fate, Kahn seemed upbeat about the prospects of landing Beresheet's successor on the lunar surface. "We're going to put it on the Moon and we're going to complete the mission," Kahn said in a video posted to Twitter.https://twitter.com/TeamSpaceIL/status/1117108316554125312?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1117108316554125312&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Ftechcrunch.com%2F2019%2F04%2F14%2Fafter-its-first-attempt-botched-the-landing-spaceil-commits-to-second-beresheet-lunar-mission%2FKahn said the first step will be a planning committee to suss out how Beresheet 2.0 will be developed, built, and flown. He didn't offer any specifics in regards to a timeline, but the first order of business for SpaceIL will be finding someone to help fund this newly-announced adventure.The first Beresheet mission was privately financed, and it would seem likely that SpaceIL will be hunting for funding this time around as well. What made the first mission so interesting -- aside from the fact that it was borne out of a Lunar XPrize competition that never really ended -- was that it was incredibly cheap. All told, the mission only cost a couple hundred million dollars, which is a fraction of the price of many Moon landing efforts. Finding enough donors with deep pockets for a second run would also seem doable.
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| Bernie Sanders Donated 2.26% to Charity, Tax Returns Show Posted: 15 Apr 2019 04:00 PM PDT  Carlos Barria/ReutersSen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) released a decade's worth of tax returns on Monday, detailing millions in income—2.26 percent of which he donated to charity.The documents show that over the years, Sanders' income ranged from $205,617 to $1.1 million, while his charitable giving ranged from less than 1 percent to just over 4 percent depending on the year.Last year, Sanders' total income was $566, 421 and he donated $18,950 or 3.35 percent. In 2017, his income was $1.1 million and he gave away $36,300 or 3.15 percent. The year before that he also made more than $1 million but donated $10,600 or less than 1 percent.His income peaked in 2016 and 2017 due to sales of his book, Our Revolution. Based on IRS data, Sanders' rate of giving was below the average for his income bracket in some years and or at or above in other years.Sanders had resisted releasing his tax returns during his last run for office, sparking speculation as to what would be in the records that could prove political problematic.The top line number shows that the Senator is among the millionaire class that he often bemoans. But the charitable giving also presents its own set of political vulnerabilities, which Sanders' team appeared to acknowledge in a statement on its website explaining that the tax returns do not include proceeds from one of his books, The Speech, "which are donated directly to charity.""The Sanders do not take a tax deduction for those contributions, so they do not show up on their tax returns," the statement read. "The Sanders' donations have gone primarily to senior centers, low-income organizations, educational entities, and environmental and housing advocacy groups," the statement said.Reached for additional comment, Sanders' campaign spokeswoman Arianna Jones noted that the senator's policy platform calls for a greater government footprint in areas that are currently struggling to survive on charitable largesse. "Over the last decade, Bernie and Jane Sanders have donated more than $100,000 to charity. Their overall charitable giving rates have been roughly in line with the average rates in America as a whole," the statement read."In some years, they gave more than 3 or 4 percent of their income to charity. They have given to senior centers, low-income organizations, educational entities, and environmental and housing advocacy groups. They also believe that while voluntary charitable donations are commendable, they can never replace ongoing public investments in major social programs and services that improve people's lives."Read more at The Daily Beast.
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| Notre Dame cathedral fire: First pictures show destruction inside Paris landmark Posted: 15 Apr 2019 02:58 PM PDT  The first photos from inside the Notre Dame cathedral showed extensive damage a massive fire caused after engulfing the historic edifice. The altar at the helm of the beloved cathedral appeared all but entirely burned down by the blaze, as smoke still appeared to be rising from the ashes in a photo seemingly taken shortly after firefighters began containing the flames. A golden cross was seemingly left intact, hanging above the destruction that once was the ornate focus for millions of visitors who marvelled at the longstanding structure and its global impact on culture and history.The blaze collapsed the cathedral's spire and spread to one of its landmark rectangular towers, but Paris fire chief Jean-Claude Gallet said the church's structure had been saved after firefighters managed to stop the fire spreading to the northern belfry. The 12th century cathedral is home to incalculable works of art and is one of the world's most famous tourist attractions, immortalised by Victor Hugo's 1831 novel The Hunchback of Notre Dame.The exact cause of the blaze was not known, but French media quoted the Paris fire brigade as saying the fire is "potentially linked" to a major renovation project on the church's spire and its 250 tonnes of lead. The Paris prosecutors' office ruled out arson and possible terror-related motives, and said it was treating it as an accident.> Dans la nef, encombrée par les restes de la flèche en miettes, l'autel est resté intact, avec sa croixNotreDame pic.twitter.com/yify3ERdN0> > — Raphaelle Bacqué (@RaphaelleBacque) > > April 15, 2019Flames shot out of the roof behind the nave of the cathedral, among the most visited landmarks in the world. Hundreds of people lined up bridges around the island that houses the church, watching in shock as acrid smoke rose in plumes. Speaking alongside junior Interior minister Laurent Nunez late Monday, Mr Gallet said "two thirds of the roofing has been ravaged".Late Monday, signs pointed to the fire nearing an end as lights could be seen through the windows moving around the front of the cathedral, apparently investigators inspecting the scene.The fire came less than a week before Easter amid Holy Week commemorations. As the cathedral burned, Parisians gathered to pray and sing hymns outside the church of Saint Julien Les Pauvres across the river from Notre Dame while the flames lit the sky behind them.The Associated Press contributed to this report
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| ‘Abortion Restrictions Don’t Work’: A Dubious Claim Posted: 15 Apr 2019 03:30 AM PDT  Some pro-choice advocates argue that having an abortion is perfectly morally acceptable, either because a fetus has little to no moral significance, or because a woman's right to bodily autonomy always prevails over whatever rights a fetus might have. Some even go so far as to celebrate the act of having an abortion as a manifestation of female empowerment — the ultimate middle finger to the patriarchy. They hold that any and all abortion restrictions would amount to a violation of female bodily autonomy.But many pro-choice advocates, especially among the rank-and-file, have a more moderate view. They concede that abortion is (at least usually) morally wrong or bad, perhaps even seriously so — even if women are often not blameworthy for having them. And yet they still believe that abortion should be legal. I would venture to say that this is the most common pro-choice position.Pro-lifers are often baffled by this combination of beliefs, but some moderate pro-choicers have an explanation at the ready: Abortion restrictions don't work. Instead of lowering the rate of abortion, they simply replace safe abortions with roughly the same number of unsafe "back alley" abortions. If a law does not reduce the incidence of the problematic behavior that it targets, and it also has costs attached to it — such as creating unsafe conditions for women seeking the procedure, or imposing unfair burdens on women in a society that often treats them unjustly — then that law is unjustified, even if abortion is morally wrong or bad.The logic of this argument is above reproach. But the factual assertion at its heart -- that abortion restrictions don't work -- does not stand up to scrutiny.In order to shore up this causal claim, pro-choice advocates typically rely on large-scale studies, such as a widely reported 2016 piece of research published in the Lancet, that report no correlation — and sometimes even an inverse correlation — between abortion restrictions and the rate of abortion across regions with stricter and looser abortion laws. For a concrete example of such an argument, we need go no further than the Guttmacher Institute, whose research scientist was the lead author of the Lancet study. An oft-referenced infographic on their website summarizes the relevant findings of the study as follows: "Highly restrictive laws do not eliminate abortion. Rather, they make the abortions that do occur more likely to be unsafe." The graphic shows that the average rate of abortion in countries with strict abortion laws is comparable to the average rate of abortion in countries in which abortion is broadly legal.The key problem with using these estimates as evidence that abortion restrictions don't affect abortion rates is that they do not account for confounding factors -- i.e., they ignore the fact that countries with stricter abortion laws are also different in other ways that may affect abortion rates, a problem that the published study explicitly notes. While the report indeed finds that "abortion rates are not substantially different across groups of countries classified according to the grounds under which abortion is legally allowed," it goes on to state that "the level of unmet need for contraception is higher in countries with the most restrictive abortion laws than in countries with the most liberal laws, and this contributes to the incidence of abortion in countries with restrictive laws." Moreover, the vast majority of countries with more restrictive abortion laws are in developing regions, and poverty likely also has an impact on the abortion rates in these countries.It is not at all implausible that the abortion restrictions in these countries do, in fact, prevent many abortions from occurring, and that these countervailing factors act to bring their abortion rates in line with those of wealthier countries that have more liberal abortion laws. Indeed, when studies use rigorous methods to limit the problem of confounding factors, the evidence points in the opposite direction.Some studies, for instance, compare the rates of abortion before and after changes to abortion laws within a particular region, and sometimes track birth rates instead of abortion rates directly, thereby avoiding the problem of overlooking clandestine abortions. These studies support the claim that abortion restrictions lower abortion rates: See, for instance, here, here, here, here, and here. This is certainly not a comprehensive look at all of the available research, and different types of abortion restrictions will have different effects, but the main point here is simply that the picture can change radically once one begins to control for these countervailing factors.Of course, to complete the case for abortion restrictions, pro-lifers must also assess the costs of such restrictions and argue that pro-life laws have a great enough impact on the abortion rates to offset those costs. But if moderate pro-choicers really do believe that abortion should be "rare," then showing that abortion restrictions actually do lower abortion rates should move them in a more pro-life direction.
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| 'Yellow vest' Libya protesters say France backs Tripoli assault Posted: 16 Apr 2019 07:47 AM PDT  Dozens of "yellow vest" protesters rallied Tuesday in the Libyan capital to denounce what they said was France's support for military strongman Khalifa Haftar who has launched an offensive on Tripoli. The demonstrators donned yellow vests in a nod to the jackets worn by anti-government protesters who have been rallying across France since November. "France must stop backing the rebel Haftar," read one sign held up by the demonstrators gathered in central Tripoli's Algiers Square.
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| Lawyer alleges Ecuador spread lies about WikiLeaks founder Posted: 14 Apr 2019 11:00 AM PDT  LONDON (AP) — A lawyer representing WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange alleged Sunday that Ecuador's government has spread lies about his behavior inside its embassy in London, where Assange sought asylum in 2012.
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| Ocasio-Cortez: 'Netanyahu is a Trump-like figure' Posted: 15 Apr 2019 07:12 AM PDT  Ocasio-Cortez said U.S. policy toward Israel should be affected by the proposed annexation, and there are "conversations happening in our caucus."
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| Bernie Sanders Brings a Gun to a Democratic Primary Knife Fight Posted: 16 Apr 2019 02:38 AM PDT  Mark Makela/GettyIn seeking the 2020 nomination for the presidency, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) had made overtures that he'd operate more firmly within the Democratic Party as the party adopted procedural reforms to accommodate his concerns. The rapprochement was always delicate. And this week it hit a major snag as the senator's presidential campaign opened fire at one of the Democratic Party's leading think tanks over a video that its editorially independent news site posted on Sanders' personal wealth. That video from ThinkProgress and the senator's response, in which he accused the Center for American Progress of bias against liberal candidates and veneration for corporate interests, exposed the lingering animus between the Sanders and the Democratic Party's actual institutions. It also raised alarm and questions as to whether Sanders was running to lead the party or to fundamentally change it. "If you always want to be an aggrieved factional candidate, then you do what they did here," said a Democratic operative who is a fan of Sanders. "It has nothing to do with the electoral context of Iowa or New Hampshire or Nevada or South Carolina. Let's go fight that battle. Voters don't care about CAP."The root of the latest blow up was a video produced by ThinkProgress noting that Sanders had stopped maligning millionaires—leaving his criticism for billionaires—when he became one himself. The news site is part of the CAP umbrella, which gave the video the veneer of a sanctioned attack. But it also claims editorial independence from the think tank, though the degree of that independence is difficult to define. Sanders' campaign was initially uncertain of how it should respond to the post. But a day after it had been up—and shared gleefully by Republican operatives—they chose to push back in a way that, Democrats said, redefined disproportionality. Over the weekend, Sanders' campaign sent a letter to the board of CAP and CAP Action Fund saying that the "counterproductive negative campaigning needs to stop." The letter referenced content written about Sanders and two close colleagues who are also in the 2020 race: Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Cory Booker (D-NJ). It also explicitly called out CAP president Neera Tanden, an ally of Hillary Clinton, who has been critical of Sanders in the past but has attempted to mend bridges. Among some Democrats, there was a sense of bewilderment that the Sanders campaign had gone—as one operative put it—"nuclear" over a mere web video. One Democratic consultant sympathetic to Sanders described the video as being "like a gnat buzzing around your ear," one which should not have distracted from the candidate's Midwest tour. It also raised questions as to whether the senator was ready for the scrutiny that would come from being a frontrunning candidate, after having run as an insurgent against an ideal foil, Hillary Clinton, in 2016. "When you're leading in the polls of president of your party you should expect investigative stories to hit at least once a week and to be attacked by your opponents every day," said Ben Labolt, who served as press secretary to Barack Obama during the 2012 campaign. "An attack on something like ThinkProgress is the sign of a super-narrow-minded campaign that isn't actually thinking of how the election will be won... They have chosen an establishment force that no one outside of the Starbucks at 16th and K would recognize." But within Sanders' orbit, the pushback was seen as strategically prudent. Sanders has often bristled at personal questions that he deems irrelevant to the set of beliefs he has espoused for decades. And his attack on CAP effectively set a benchmark for the type of coverage that the his team would countenance and reinforced his brand as someone outside of typical party structures. It also undermined any notion that he was a political pushover—a suggestion that lingered for some after he muted some of his attacks on Clinton in 2016. It didn't hurt matters that some prominent, though non-establishment, Democratic figures offered Sanders their support. Tom Steyer, the liberal billionaire donor and party activist, who also serves on the board of directors for CAP issued a statement on his own saying he would use his "voice on the Center for American Progress' Board of Directors to discourage any such attacks on any candidate seeking the Democratic nomination in the future."Those close to Steyer told The Daily Beast that he released the statement without consulting with others at the organization and that it by no means suggested he was endorsing Sanders. Another CAP board member, Stacey Abrams, declined to comment. But a spokesperson for the former Democratic gubernatorial candidate in Georgia directed The Daily Beast to a conciliatory statement Tanden issued on Monday afternoon, saying the video had been "overly harsh" and did "not reflect our approach to a constructive debate of the issues."That, for now, seems to have quieted the skirmish with Sanders' campaign manager Faiz Shakir saying that the campaign looked "forward to working in a more productive manner" with CAP, "if possible." But within a few hours, Sanders was, once more, putting pressure on the press; this time on an outlet of a highly-different ideological bent than ThinkProgress. In a town hall with Fox News, the senator hit back on the suggestion that his income-inequality message was muddied by his personal wealth by directly challenging the newscasters to ask the president for his own tax rates. "I pay the taxes that I owe," he declared, "and by the way, why don't you get Donald Trump up here and ask them how much he pays in taxes?"Read more at The Daily Beast.Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast here
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| Your Air Force Needs Some Firepower and Can't Get an F-35?: Check Out the Eurofighter Typhoon Posted: 15 Apr 2019 05:17 AM PDT  The development of the Typhoon did not clear the field of European fighter contenders. France, with its own aviation industry and its own specialized requirements (including carrier takeoff and landing capability) and Sweden would produce their own fighters, which continue to compete with the Typhoon for export contracts. The F-35 has come to dominate the fighter acquisition plans of many European countries, sucking up money and attention that might have gone to the Typhoon.The Eurofighter Typhoon has joined the Dassault Rafale, the Saab Gripen, and the Sukhoi "Flanker" in pursuit of a growing niche in the international fighter market. These aircraft offer capabilities beyond the Generation 4 platforms developed in the 1970s, but don't carry the costs and complications of stealth. While the Eurofighter has enjoyed outstanding technical success thus far, the market niche may not be large enough to sustain production over time.(This first appeared in 2016.)Origins:
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| Loaded gun in diaper bag goes off, injuring man and daughter, police say Posted: 15 Apr 2019 07:43 AM PDT  Police say the gun went off as the father was changing his daughter's diaper inside a car.
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| Nancy Pelosi calls for security review to protect Ilhan Omar from ‘real danger’ after Trump attack Posted: 15 Apr 2019 12:05 AM PDT  House Speaker Nancy Pelosi asked House officials on Sunday to review security measures intended to protect Ilhan Omar after President Donald Trump tweeted a video attacking the Minnesota Democrat using images of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.Ms Pelosi was not responding to new information about the safety of Ms Omar, according to a senior Democratic aide.She called for the review based on dozens of threats made on Ms Omar's life before Trump posted the video on Friday, the aide said."Following the president's tweet, I spoke with the sergeant-at-arms to ensure that Capitol Police are conducting a security assessment to safeguard Congresswoman Omar, her family and her staff," Ms Pelosi said in a statement."They will continue to monitor and address the threats she faces."After Ms Pelosi released her statement, a spokesman for Ms Omar, Jeremy Slevin, said, "Our office has seen an increase in direct threats on Rep. Omar's life – many directly referencing the president's video."He said Ms Omar's office has collected a series of menacing tweets over the past few days, some accusing her of treason.The footage promoted by Trump intercut images of the World Trade Centre aflame with comments from Omar, one of the first Muslim women elected to Congress, about the treatment of Muslims after 9/11.Conservatives have seized on those remarks as dismissive of the attacks."The president's words weigh a ton, and his hateful and inflammatory rhetoric creates real danger," Ms Pelosi said. "President Trump must take down his disrespectful and dangerous video."Sarah Huckabee Sanders, White House press secretary, said Trump was not inciting violence against Ms Omar, or Muslims in general, and would not be ashamed for "speaking out against" violence.She added that Democrats should be "taking the same hard line that the president is" against Ms Omar.Ms Sanders said on "Fox News Sunday" that referring to the 9/11 attacks "in such a dismissive way is frankly disgusting and abhorrent".Ms Omar, appearing at an event in Los Angeles in March sponsored by the Council on American-Islamic Relations, an advocacy organisation, suggested that government officials infringed upon the free-speech rights of some Muslim Americans after the 9/11 attacks."CAIR was founded after 9/11 because they recognised that some people did something and that all of us were starting to lose access to our civil liberties," she said, making an incorrect reference to the organisation's founding, which actually took place in 1994.Ms Omar's critics have seized on the "some people did something" remark. But others have said the words were taken out of context. The speech focused on attacks Muslims in America faced after 9/11.A spokesman for Ms Omar has said the entire speech was addressing civil rights and the "danger of Islamophobia in the United States and around the world – in particular the danger of associating all members of a religion with the acts of a few despicable terrorists".Ms Pelosi, who is travelling in Europe during the congressional recess, has tried to contact Ms Omar, but her travel schedule has made it difficult for the two to connect, a Democratic aide said.The speaker criticised Trump in a series of early-morning tweets Sunday from Germany, where she was visiting with US service members."It is wrong for the President, as Commander-in-Chief, to fan the flames to make anyone less safe," she wrote.But the remarks have caught fire in conservative circles. The New York Post, owned by Trump ally Rupert Murdoch, juxtaposed Ms Omar's comments with a picture of the twin towers on its cover last week.On Friday, Trump followed suit. "WE WILL NEVER FORGET," the president tweeted to his nearly 60 million followers, while posting the video that repeatedly played Ms Omar's reference to "some people", then cut to the planes slamming into the Manhattan skyline.Ms Omar has been the subject of numerous threats.Earlier this month, federal prosecutors charged a New York state man with phoning in a death threat to her.The attacks on the congresswoman have provided Democrats with a rare opportunity to unify around Ms Omar, whose previous comments about Israel have been interpreted as antisemitic by some Jewish Democrats in Congress.After a fierce internal debate, Democrats passed a catchall anti-bigotry resolution in March that was intended, in part, to put the controversy over Ms Omar's remarks to rest.Ms Pelosi joins a growing list of Democrats, including many of the declared 2020 candidates, who have denounced Trump's tweet.On Saturday, Senator Elizabeth Warren accused the president of "inciting violence against a sitting Congresswoman – and an entire group of Americans based on their religion" in a tweet.Senator Kamala Harris said Trump's actions were another reminder of how important it was to unseat him in 2020."For two years, this President has used the most powerful platform in the world to sow hate & division," she tweeted. "I'll be blunt – we must defeat him."The New York Times
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| These cars are dinosaurs: Pickups, minivans, hot rods that haven't been updated in ages Posted: 16 Apr 2019 05:54 AM PDT  Why are so many vehicles looking like dinosaurs? While the auto industry touts brand new vehicles, many haven't gotten major redesigns in ages.
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| Libya offensive stalls, but Haftar digs in given foreign sympathies Posted: 15 Apr 2019 09:20 AM PDT  Haftar's eastern-based Libyan National Army (LNA) advanced to the outskirts of Tripoli almost two weeks ago, predicting defections, victory within two days and joyful women ululating in the streets. Haftar, a 75-year-old former general in former dictator Muammar Gaddafi's army, has been building up troop numbers and intensifying air strikes in a campaign he is selling as necessary to restore order and eradicate jihadists. Renewed conflict has scuppered for now a U.N. peace plan for Libya, with a national reconciliation conference planned for this week postponed.
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| Billions at stake as Apple vs Qualcomm trial begins Posted: 16 Apr 2019 07:41 AM PDT  Since Apple originally filed suit in January 2017, the two US firms have been suing each other in multiple countries in a multi-front battle. At the heart of the battle are the royalties Qualcomm charges for its patented chips, which enable smartphones to connect to mobile networks. Apple accuses Qualcomm, which holds the most patents for chips, of taking advantage of its dominant position to charge exorbitant amounts for its chips or access to its patents.
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| Sen. Booker, Democrats say Trump's sanctuary proposal wouldn't be safe Posted: 15 Apr 2019 06:32 PM PDT  White House considers plan to place illegal immigrants in sanctuary cities; reaction from former Clinton adviser Richard Goodstein.
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| Leak suggests the OnePlus 7 launch is less than a month away Posted: 15 Apr 2019 06:05 AM PDT  OnePlus is expected to launch three new phones by the end of the quarter, including the OnePlus 7, OnePlus 7 Pro, and OnePlus 7 Pro 5G, according to recent leaks. For the first time in its brief history, the Chinese smartphone maker will debut a series of devices in the spring, if these rumors are accurate.That's hardly surprising considering what the competition is up to, but also because we're finally getting 5G phones this year, and OnePlus wants to be one of the first companies on the market with a 5G device. While previous rumors claimed the new OnePlus 7 would arrive in May, we didn't have a precise release date. But now, an insider with a solid track record is back with an actual date.It turns out we're (supposedly) about a month away from the OnePlus 7 launch. Teenage leaker Ishan Agarwal, who has been posting scoops on Twitter about various phones in recent months, including the Pixel 3 and OnePlus's most recent phones, says the OnePlus 7 will launch on May 14th.https://twitter.com/ishanagarwal24/status/1117378077309329408Moreover, fans looking to attend the press conference will soon be able to buy their tickets, just like last year:https://twitter.com/ishanagarwal24/status/1116989679503577089The same leaker previously said the OnePlus 7 series would launch next month, providing details about the upcoming phones, including the fact that OnePlus will launch a "Pro" version -- also a first for the company.A different leak a few days ago seemed to confirm the new all-screen design for the OnePlus 7 series. The phone will feature a slide-out selfie camera, like many other Android handsets from China, as well as a triple-lens rear camera. When it comes to specs, the phone will run on the next-gen Snapdragon flagship chip, the 855, which also powers the Galaxy S10 as well as several recent 5G phones.OnePlus's 7 Pro 5G will be its first 5G handset, with UK carrier EE expected to be OnePlus's first 5G partner.
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| 6 appear in court on charges they sent mosque attack images Posted: 14 Apr 2019 11:29 PM PDT ![6 appear in court on charges they sent mosque attack images]( "6 appear in court on charges they sent mosque attack images") WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Six people appeared in a New Zealand court Monday on charges they illegally redistributed the video a gunman livestreamed as he shot worshippers at two mosques last month.
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| White House says Congress 'not smart enough' to understand Trump's taxes Posted: 14 Apr 2019 12:38 PM PDT  "I don't think Congress, particularly not this group of congressmen and women, are smart enough to look through the thousands of pages that I would assume that president Trump's taxes will be," press secretary Sarah Sanders said.
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| Volkswagen Shows Tarok Concept to See If America Wants a Small Pickup Again Posted: 15 Apr 2019 06:00 AM PDT  This is the second small pickup concept VW has used to tease U.S. buyers. Is it leading to production?
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| This Bath Tray Will Make You The Favorite Child This Mother's Day Posted: 15 Apr 2019 12:45 PM PDT |
| Hints, but no proof of crime, in Mueller's hunt for a Trump-Russia conspiracy Posted: 14 Apr 2019 01:12 PM PDT  Barr told U.S. lawmakers on March 24 that the special counsel investigation "did not establish that members of the Trump campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities." To be sure, the investigation documented numerous contacts between Trump campaign figures and Russia, a willingness on the part of the campaign to accept help from Moscow, and no indication that the campaign told the Kremlin to keep out of an American presidential race. No criminal conspiracy was documented, according to Barr.
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| Indian politicians banned for firebrand election comments Posted: 15 Apr 2019 12:45 PM PDT  India's election watchdog on Monday banned four outspoken politicians, including two top members of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's party, from campaigning in the country's national vote for making provocative speeches. The measures came after the Supreme Court called on the election commission to get tough on hate speech during the world's biggest election, which started last Thursday and runs to May 19. Indian politicians are often accused of using hate or intimidation to win support of the electorate, but soliciting votes on religious lines or threatening voters is prohibited.
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| Hurry: Philips Hue white LED bulbs are somehow down to $10 each, an all-time low Posted: 15 Apr 2019 04:33 AM PDT  Okay... when we say "hurry" in the title of this post, we do mean HURRY because there's no way this deal is going to be around for very long. Amazon has somehow slashed an extra $10 off the already-discounted price of Philips Hue White A19 4-Pack 60W Equivalent Dimmable LED Smart Bulb 4-packs, dropping the total to just $39.99. That's only $10 per bulb for these insanely popular smart LED bulbs, which matches an all-time low!(Of note, Philips Hue color bulbs also have a nice discount today, so be sure to check that out, too.)Here are the highlights from the product page: * VOICE ACTIVATED: The Philips Hue White Starter Kit works with Alexa for voice control (smart hub required, Alexa device and hub sold separately). For the full Hue experience and to take advantage of voice activation purchase the Philips Hue Hub (Model: 458471). Search "Philips Hue Hub" or "B016H0QZ7I" to find this product on Amazon. * LIMITLESS POSSIBILITIES: Add additional Smart light points to your smart home and expand your Philips Hue ecosystem with this 4-bulb White Smart Bulb pack. Requires the Philips Hue Hub for full experience, sold separately. * TAKE CONTROL: Turn smart lights on/off, dim to the desired level and set up schedules from wherever you have WiFi connection using the Philips Hue App (iOS and Android). Control your Philips Hue lights with your voice using Alexa, Apple HomeKit, or Google Assistant. * EASY INSTALLATION: To install the Philips Hue white 4 pack starter kit, simply screw the smart bulbs into your desired light location, download the Hue mobile app and pair your Hue Bridge (sold separately). Control smart-bulb-equipped lamps and overhead lights via the Philips Hue App. * EXPAND YOUR SMART HOME: Connect the smart bulbs directly to your other Smart Home Devices like Amazon Echo Plus, Nest, or SmartThings systems. Easily expand your smart lighting system with accessories (sold separately), such as a Hue Dimmer Switch, Hue Tap, or Hue Motion Sensor
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| This rice dish gets delish a with peas, feta and mint Posted: 15 Apr 2019 08:56 AM PDT  Brown rice can be difficult to cook well: All too often, it is underseasoned and turns starchy and mushy. Plus, it takes a long time to cook, so stovetop recipes run the risk of scorching on the bottom.
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| Trump Lawyer Invokes Civil Rights Struggle to Keep Tax Returns Secret Posted: 15 Apr 2019 10:11 AM PDT  Nicholas Kamm/GettyIn a letter to the Treasury Department on Monday, Donald Trump's attorney compared the pursuit of Democratic lawmakers gunning for the president's long-hidden tax returns to the government targeting civil-rights leaders during the height of segregation. "Congress's motives do matter under the Constitution. Take the Constitution's ban on intentional racial discrimination, for example. What if, during the height of the civil-rights movement, the Democrat-controlled House tried to intimidate African-American leaders by requesting their tax returns?" William Consovoy, who also reps the president in a separate emoluments case, said in the signed, three-page letter, which cc's Trump's Treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin.The letter, which is the latest in a robust attempt to keep Trump's financial records concealed, paints Democratic lawmakers as being driven by impure, legally sketchy motivations, even as numerous legal scholars say Congress is within its rights to request and obtain such information."Surely," Consovoy writes, "no one would agree with [Rep. Richard Neal (D-MA), chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee] that the other branches could not 'question or second guess the motivations' of Congress….The same is true for the First Amendment's ban on political retaliation."Jay Sekulow, another personal attorney of Trump's who is overseeing the ongoing legal fight over the tax returns, told The Daily Beast on Monday afternoon, "We have once again reiterated our objections to the unconstitutional demand for the President's tax returns."Consovoy's letter, addressed to Treasury's general counsel Brent McIntosh, was written in response to Chairman Neal reiterating his demand for years of Trump's tax returns over the weekend. Neal issued a deadline to the IRS to produce those records by April 23. In his original request early this month, Neal had also asked for returns for the president's trust and seven entities in the Trump business empire. He and other Democrats on the committee contend that Congress has the legal authority to review the documents under existing law.Trump had promised multiple times on the campaign trail to make his tax returns public. But he never did, insisting that he was under audit and was advised, as such, to keep that information private—though no law exists that prevents someone under audit from releasing their tax returns. After winning election, he and his team have said the issue has been effectively adjudicated since voters did not punish him at the ballot box over not releasing the returns. Democrats didn't see it that way. And as they began to compile the case of the IRS to turn over the tax returns, the president assembled an outside legal team to fight them. The likely outcome appears, at this juncture, to be a vicious court battle. Read more at The Daily Beast.
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| China Considers U.S. Request to Shift Tariffs on Farm Goods Posted: 15 Apr 2019 03:30 AM PDT  The step would involve China moving retaliatory duties it imposed starting last July on $50 billion worth of U.S. goods to non-agricultural imports, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the discussions were private. The shift is because the U.S. doesn't intend to lift its own duties on $50 billion of Chinese imports even if an agreement to resolve the trade war between the two nations is reached, one the people said. Another person said China would consider shifting the tariffs to make it easier to meet a proposal to buy an additional $30 billion a year more of U.S. agricultural goods on top of pre-trade war levels as part of a final deal.
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| Report: Raiders WR Brown settles furniture-tossing suit Posted: 15 Apr 2019 09:38 AM PDT ![Report: Raiders WR Brown settles furniture-tossing suit]( "Report: Raiders WR Brown settles furniture-tossing suit") Oakland Raiders receiver Antonio Brown has settled a lawsuit filed by a man who claimed his toddler was nearly hit by furniture Brown threw off a balcony last year, TMZ.com reported Monday. Sternberg's lawsuit claimed that items tossed by Brown, including vases and an ottoman, landed just feet from the child, who was allegedly traumatized by the event. According to TMZ.com, Brown and Sternberg agreed to a confidential settlement and the matter has been closed.
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| View Photos of the Electric 2020 Aston Martin Rapide E Posted: 15 Apr 2019 07:00 PM PDT |
| Rockets kill 11 in Syria's Aleppo: state media Posted: 14 Apr 2019 11:33 AM PDT  Rockets fired by jihadists on Sunday killed at least 11 people in the Syrian city of Aleppo held by President Bashar al-Assad's regime, state news agency SANA reported. Aleppo sits in the north of the country next to Idlib, a province dominated by Syria's former Al-Qaeda affiliate, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS). Since the regime regained control of Aleppo at the end of 2016, the city has been targeted intermittently by jihadists and rebel fighters.
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| Royal baby name: Britons bet on Diana, Albert for Prince Harry & Meghan Markle's firstborn Posted: 14 Apr 2019 12:19 PM PDT  If Britain's bookmakers are to be believed, it's definitely a girl - and Diana may well be one of her many names.
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| Lori Loughlin, husband Mossimo Giannulli plead not guilty in college admissions scam Posted: 15 Apr 2019 01:43 PM PDT  Loughlin and Giannulli said in court documents they waived their right to appear in court for an arraignment and plead not guilty.
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| A Major Moment Took Place in the Crypts Beneath Winterfell. Here's the Real History Behind the Key Game of Thrones Location Posted: 15 Apr 2019 06:31 AM PDT  What the real medieval past can tell us about the resting place of the Kings in the North
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| We made a deeply flavorful chicken tagine-in about an hour Posted: 15 Apr 2019 08:55 AM PDT  We love the way the liberal warm spices, sweetness, and tart brininess of a tagine enliven workaday chicken, so we set to develop a chicken tagine with depth of flavor_in about an hour.
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| Captain chaos: Trump advises Boeing, despite swift failure of own airline Posted: 15 Apr 2019 09:40 AM PDT  Despite offering some unasked-for guidance about rebranding its 737 Max Trump's form on airlines is not goodDonald Trump is silhouetted against his plane as he speaks during a campaign stop in Bentonville, Arkansas, in 2016. He also put his name on the ill-fated Trump Shuttle's aircraft. Photograph: John Bazemore/AP"What do I know about branding[?]" Donald Trump mused on Twitter, early on Monday morning. "Maybe nothing […] but if I were Boeing, I would FIX the Boeing 737 MAX, add some additional great features, & REBRAND the plane with a new name."Quite aside from the scant regard shown by the president for the 346 people who have died in two recent crashes involving the 737 Max, Boeing executives might also want to consider Trump's business history before rushing to follow his advice.In 1989, Trump bought an airline and branded it with his name. He then lost more than $100m in 18 months and was forced to shut the operation down after three years.The president has a long track record of running Trump-branded businesses into the ground, whether through bankruptcy, lawsuits or sweeping incompetence.The airline, Trump Shuttle, launched in June 1989. It was billed – by Trump – as a "diamond in the sky". Two months later, one of his planes was forced to make an emergency landing in Boston when its nose gear – the front wheels – would not come down. Things didn't get much better after that.A Trump Shuttle plane makes an emergency landing.Trump paid $365m for Eastern Airlines, which had gone bankrupt. But its 21 planes were ageing and as the Washington Post reported: "Trump's team estimated that they overpaid $65m for the operation."According to Business Insider, after a year and a half Trump Shuttle had lost $128m, due to a combination of oil prices rising thanks to the Gulf war and the folly of Trump spending $1m on cladding each aircraft with gold fixtures and impractically plush carpets.Less than three years after he bought the airline, Trump handed it to USAir. It stripped his name from the planes. Another Trump-branded business had failed.Trump: the Game.Among other such ventures, Trump magazine folded after 18 months, Trump Mortgage about the same. Trump Vodka – Vice said, "It tastes awful" – lasted about four years. It turned out no one wanted to play – or buy – Trump: The Game.Trump University, an endeavor described as a "straight-up fraud" by the New York attorney general, went out of business after former students sued. Trump ended up having to pay a $25m settlement."You can't con people, at least not for long," Trump noted in his ghostwritten bestselling book, The Art of the Deal."You can create excitement, you can do wonderful promotion and get all kinds of press, and you can throw in a little hyperbole."But if you don't deliver the goods, people will eventually catch on."Trump has rarely followed his own advice. For Boeing, unlike his counsel on branding, it might make sense.
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| May Under Fire From Tories in Hunt for Brexit Compromise Posted: 15 Apr 2019 01:12 AM PDT  Both Theresa May's government and the opposition Labour Party said Sunday that their talks represented the best chance of finding a Brexit solution and ending months of deadlock. Lidington told the BBC on Sunday that the talks involved "testing" possible solutions, and both sides will have to make concessions. Lidington said the government believed it would be possible to get "the benefits of a customs union" -- which Labour wants -- "but still have a flexibility for the U.K. to pursue an independent trade policy on top of that." He avoided a question about whether the U.K. could sign up to a common external tariff.
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| Democrats request documents on White House 'sanctuary city' idea Posted: 15 Apr 2019 11:24 AM PDT  Top Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives on Monday demanded documents from the Trump administration over a White House proposal to release migrants from detention and transport them to "sanctuary cities." U.S. media reported on Thursday the administration had considered the idea, which would send migrants and asylum seekers who had crossed the U.S. border with Mexico to districts represented by Democratic lawmakers. Sanctuary cities are local jurisdictions that generally refuse to use their resources to help enforce federal immigration laws against undocumented immigrants that could lead to deportations. Since many of these jurisdictions are represented by Democrats, critics saw the plan as a way to taunt Democrats by dangling the possibility of an influx of illegal immigrants into their communities.
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| This $19 AirPods wireless charging case works just as well as Apple’s $79 case Posted: 16 Apr 2019 08:48 AM PDT ![This $19 AirPods wireless charging case works just as well as Apple's $79 case]( "This $19 AirPods wireless charging case works just as well as Apple's $79 case") Having the ability to wirelessly charge your AirPods is pretty awesome. Paying a whopping $79 for the case that lets you wirelessly charge your AirPods is decidedly less awesome. Instead of spending a fortune on Apple's new case, check out the NeotrixQI Wireless Charging Case Cover for Apple AirPods on Amazon. It slips over the case you already have and it's compatible with every Qi charger on the planet. Best of all, it only costs $19!Here are the bullet points from the product page: * 【WIRELESS CHARGING】: Enjoy Wireless Charging for your AirPods! Place your AirPods into wireless charging case and put it on Qi wireless charger for wireless charging experience. It prepares your AirPods for Apple AirPower wireless charger. * 【FULL PROTECTION】: The AirPods original case perfectly fits into the wireless charging case. It can be used as protective case and protects your AirPods from scratch and dirt. Hard plastic made not like silicon material and it doesn't collect dust and lint. * 【COMPATIBILITY】: The case and AirPods will continue to work just like normal. You'll still have access to the sync button. Works with all Qi standard wireless chargers. It can share with the same wireless charger for your iPhone8/X. * 【SAFE CHARGING】: Eliminate safety concerns with overvoltage protection, temperature control, and more, by using highly efficient components and an advanced chipset. * 【WARRANTY】: 12 months defective warranty, 30-days replacement guarantee and friendly customer service.
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| Yemen parties agree details of pullback plan: UN envoy Posted: 15 Apr 2019 09:35 AM PDT  Yemen's government and Huthi rebels have accepted a detailed plan for a much-delayed pullback from the flashpoint city of Hodeida, the UN envoy said Monday, but no timetable was announced for the withdrawals. The redeployment of forces was agreed in December under a ceasefire deal reached in Sweden that offered the best hope in years of moving toward an end to the war that has pushed Yemen to the brink of famine. UN envoy Martin Griffiths told the Security Council that "both parties have now accepted a detailed redeployment plan" for the first stage of the pullback from Hodeida.
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