| 2020 Vision: Democratic candidates raise funds off 'Send her back' chant at Trump rally Posted: 19 Jul 2019 11:48 AM PDT  Amid outrage over the chant, Bernie Sanders, Beto O'Rourke and other Democratic groups are using the episode in their fundraising emails.
|
| Alleged American ISIS Sniper Brought Home by the Defense Department to Face Charges Posted: 20 Jul 2019 05:52 AM PDT  An American citizen who allegedly served as a sniper for ISIS and became a leader for the terrorist group is expected to appear in federal court on Friday after being returned to the United States by the Defense Department, officials said.Ruslan Maratovich Asainov, who was born in Kazakhstan and became a naturalized U.S. citizen, is charged with providing and attempting to provide material support to ISIS, the Justice Department announced on Friday.A U.S. official confirmed to Task & Purpose that the Defense Department had transported Asainov from Syria to the United States. Asainov had been in the custody of Syrian Democratic Forces.No further information about the military's role in transporting Asainov, to the United States was immediately available.Asainov is accused of leaving Brooklyn in December 2013 to fight for ISIS in Syria, a Justice Department news release says. After becoming an ISIS sniper, he was promoted to become an "emir" in charge of training fighters how to use weapons and also tried to recruit someone else to leave the United States and become an ISIS fighter.Prosecutors claim Asainov tried to buy a scope for his rile by paying roughly $2,800 to a confidential informant, the news release says."Asainov subsequently sent the confidential informant two photographs depicting the defendant holding an assault rifle fitted with a scope," the news release says. "He messaged one associate exclaiming, in reference to ISIS, 'We are the worst terrorist organization in the world that has ever existed' and stating that he wished to die on the battlefield."
|
| Vatican college space holds bones of dozens, expert says Posted: 20 Jul 2019 11:38 AM PDT  The expert, Giorgio Portera, said the "enormous" size of the collection under the Teutonic College was revealed when Vatican-appointed experts began cataloguing the remains, which were discovered last week . "We didn't expect such an enormous number" of bones and other remains which "had been thrown into a cavity," Portera said. "We want to know why and how" the bones ended up there.
|
| Booker Says He Could Confront Biden on Race at Detroit Debate Posted: 21 Jul 2019 09:41 AM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- Presidential Democratic candidate Cory Booker on Sunday suggested he could confront former Vice President Joe Biden on racial issues during the second round of debates next week.Booker, a New Jersey senator, said it would be "fair" to bring up the 1994 crime bill, which Biden supported in the Senate and has called the "Biden crime bill." Booker said the measure put "mass incarceration on steroids" for African Americans."Yeah, it is fair," Booker said on CBS News's "Face the Nation," when asked by host Margaret Brennan whether he would be more aggressive on race at the forums in Detroit on July 30-31. "I want people like Joe Biden, which he finally did, thank God, to stand up and say, 'I was wrong, that bill did a lot of harm.'"Booker was among Biden's most vocal critics last month when the former vice president spoke about the "civility" in the Senate that allowed him to work with segregationist lawmakers in the 1970s. Another Democratic presidential candidate, Senator Kamala Harris, seized the spotlight at the first set of debates last month in Miami by confronting Biden on his opposition to busing as a senator.Biden will face off against Harris, Booker and seven other Democratic candidates on July 31, the second night of the debates in Detroit.To contact the reporter on this story: Max Berley in Washington at mberley@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Wendy Benjaminson at wbenjaminson@bloomberg.net, Max Berley, Mark NiquetteFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
|
| Japan undecided on response to U.S. plan for Mideast maritime coalition -PM Abe Posted: 21 Jul 2019 07:17 AM PDT ![Japan undecided on response to U.S. plan for Mideast maritime coalition -PM Abe]( "Japan undecided on response to U.S. plan for Mideast maritime coalition -PM Abe") Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Sunday he had not yet decided on how to respond to an expected U.S. request to send its navy to join a military coalition to safeguard strategic waters off Iran and Yemen. "We've started to hear the United States' thinking on this and we want to keep listening carefully," he said on national television as votes were being counted for the upper house election. "At the same time, Japan also has friendly ties with Iran," Abe added.
|
| 'Horrific for all': Pentagon intelligence chief says Iran does not want war Posted: 19 Jul 2019 04:19 PM PDT  A U.S. Marines helicopter takes off from the flight deck of the USS Boxer during its transit through Strait of Hormuz. ASPEN, Colo. — As tensions in the Persian Gulf continued to ramp up on Friday afternoon amid news that Iran had seized a British oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz, the head of the Defense Intelligence Agency, Army Lt. Gen. Robert Ashley, concluded that Iran does not want to start a war with the U.S. or its allies. Answering a question posed by CNN national security correspondent Jim Sciutto in Aspen, Colo., about the latest incident, Ashley declined to give a specific response to the news, but later said that none of the United States' major adversaries or competitors, including Iran, China and Russia, wants to start a war.
|
| Good News for Trump and GOP: RNC Stomped DNC In June Fundraising Posted: 21 Jul 2019 01:39 AM PDT  The Democratic National Committee raised $8.5 million in June and has $9.3 million in the bank, according to campaign finance records released late Friday.Both figures are far behind what the Republican National Committee said it has raised. The GOP said it raised $20.8 million in June, and has $43.5 million cash on hand, Fox News reported Wednesday. Republicans also said the party has no debt, while the DNC has $5.7 million in debt, according to FEC records. (RELATED: Bad News For DNC: The Democrats' And GOP's Money, By The Numbers)June doesn't appear to be an anomaly. Republicans say they've raked in $51 million in the past three months. The RNC has been posting record fundraising numbers so far in 2019. In February, the party raised $14.6 million, a record high for that month in a non-election year.The RNC, which has yet to file its official campaign finance documents, shared its strong showing in an email blast Saturday.
|
| Universal Orlando reopens after police respond to report of a gunman in parking garage Posted: 21 Jul 2019 07:51 AM PDT  Universal Orlando went under temporary lockdown Saturday night after police received a report of a gunman spotted in a parking garage.
|
| Baby's family mad about hospital bills in cut-from-womb case Posted: 19 Jul 2019 01:17 PM PDT ![Baby's family mad about hospital bills in cut-from-womb case]( "Baby's family mad about hospital bills in cut-from-womb case") A Chicago-area hospital says it regrets sending bills to the family of a baby boy who died about seven weeks after attackers cut him from his mother's womb. Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn sent bills for Yovanny Lopez's care that totaled about $300,000, said the family's lawyer, Frank Avila. Some bills even referred to Yovanny as "Figueroa, boy" — the last name of Clarisa Figueroa, who is accused of orchestrating the attack on the baby's mother so that she could claim him as her own.
|
| More Than 20 People Detained for Attack on LGBT Parade in Poland Posted: 21 Jul 2019 06:35 AM PDT ![More Than 20 People Detained for Attack on LGBT Parade in Poland]( "More Than 20 People Detained for Attack on LGBT Parade in Poland") (Bloomberg) -- More than 20 people were detained after an attack on participants and police at the first LGBT pride parade in Bialystok in eastern Poland.Four of the people detained are suspected of offences including threatening police officers and assault, a spokesman for the regional police headquarters told Bloomberg on Sunday. Surveillance-camera footage is being used to identify further suspects, he said.Some of the 800 pride participants were spat on and kicked, footage in the local media showed. Police were also attacked with bottles and stones and one officer was wounded. Offenders will be punished, Interior Minister Elzbieta Witek said in a twitter post on Sunday.Gay rights are a polarizing issue in Poland before fall general elections. The ruling Law & Justice Party leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski has warned that the advancement of gay rights is a "grave danger" for family life and the future of the European Union, underscoring a departure from the EU's liberal, multicultural mainstream.Kaczynski's supporters have embraced his message, with about 30 cities, mostly in the former communist country's poorer eastern regions, adopting declarations saying they're "free from LGBT ideology" and opposing "social engineering that's foreign to Polish culture and natural order." The pro-government Gazeta Polska weekly is now planning to distribute "LGBT-free zone" stickers to its readers.To contact the reporter on this story: Marek Strzelecki in Warsaw at mstrzelecki1@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Andrea Dudik at adudik@bloomberg.net, James AmottFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
|
| Compton boy loses arm after neighbor hands him firework on 10th birthday Posted: 20 Jul 2019 07:07 PM PDT  A man is in custody after handing his young neighbor a firework that blew up, causing the boy to lose his arm on his 10th birthday.
|
| Irish, EU governments sound out Johnson to avoid no-deal Brexit: Sunday Times Posted: 20 Jul 2019 03:16 PM PDT  Ahead of Boris Johnson's likely election next week as Britain's prime minister, EU countries are secretly wooing him in a bid to thrash out a new Brexit plan that would avoid a no-deal disaster, the Sunday Times newspaper reported. German and French figures as well as the Dutch and Belgian governments have also established contact with Johnson's team and signaled an intention to do a deal, it added. In a limited extract released on Saturday evening ahead of publication, the paper reported that Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney has indicated Dublin is prepared to compromise.
|
| Ex-jihadist Tania Joya now fights to 'reprogram' extremists Posted: 19 Jul 2019 08:09 PM PDT  Tania Joya has devoted her life to "reprogramming" extremists and reintroducing them into society -- a process she understands well as a "former Islamic jihadist" herself. "My aim is for them to feel a sense of remorse and to train them so that they can be good citizens once they are released from prison, so they can adjust to society," Joya said during a visit to Washington, to present a project on preventing extremist violence. Born in 1984 near London to a Muslim Bangladeshi family, Joya grew up confronted by racism and the struggles of integration.
|
| Ilhan Omar and ‘Send Her Back’ Posted: 21 Jul 2019 03:30 AM PDT  'Send her back!" they chanted, meaning Representative Ilhan Omar, the Somalia-born Jew-hating weirdo elected to Congress by the ghastly fruitcakes who run things in Minneapolis. President Donald J. Trump, elected president by the ghastly nut cutlets who run things in much of the rest of the country, basked in the chant, glowing like a gopher sauntering forth from Chernobyl — he was, in effect, hearing his own daft words shouted back at him ecstatically, and he has a real weakness for that sort of thing.Much has been made about whether the episode and Trump's words inspiring it were racist; my own view is that Donald Trump is incapable of being a racist in the traditional sense of that word, because racism is derived from a perverted and misapplied sense of loyalty, a sentiment from which President Trump is manifestly immune. What is more interesting — and more troubling — is what the exchange says about our eroding sense of citizenship.The American Revolution was the process by which our Founding Fathers elevated themselves from subjects to citizens, and citizenship is the foundation of the American identity. You can become an American because you can become a citizen — you can move to Poland or China, but you cannot become Polish or Chinese, no matter how long you live there, no matter how the state classifies you, no matter how well you learn the language, even if you make a really mean bigos or niu za tang. America is not an idea or a collection of documents, but neither is it a closed ethnolinguistic set. It is a nation in which relations among the people and between the individual and the state are defined by the terms of citizenship.Citizenship is a precious thing. To be a citizen is more dignified and more honorable than to be a subject. When the Romans lost their republic and slid into empire, it was not democracy they were losing — they never suffered from that particular superstition — but their status as citizens. There were things the Roman state could not do to a Roman citizen — crucifixion, for example. The state had to respect the citizen because the citizen was the building block out of which the republic was built. The conversion of the Roman republic into an empire under god-emperors was a catastrophe for the Roman citizen — not only politically but also culturally and spiritually and, eventually, economically. God-emperors are not traditionally real big on property rights and due process.The idea that Ilhan Omar could — even as a matter of mass-dunderhead rhetoric — be treated as a non-citizen because the president and his admirers do not like her politics (which are quite unlikeable) does violence to the idea of citizenship per se. In that much, it is fundamentally and literally un-American.It is not the worst act of violence committed against the concept of citizenship in recent years: That particular distinction belongs to Barack Obama, who unilaterally arrogated to himself (and his successors!) the power to order the extrajudicial killing of American citizens in conditions that, once the legalistic mumbo-jumbo is penetrated, amount to "whenever and wherever the president damned well feels like it." In principle and as a matter of citizenship, there is no meaningful difference between Barack Obama's ordering the assassination of Anwar al-Awlaki — "the Osama bin Laden of Facebook," they called him — and Donald Trump's (hypothetically) ordering the assassination of a political critic in Reno. The pretext of "national security" will cover a multitude of sins.Ilhan Omar became a U.S. citizen when she was a teenager. (As Jake Tapper wryly points out, she has been a citizen longer than the president's wife has.) Maybe it was a mistake to let her into the club — I am open to the argument that we should be far choosier about whom we offer the honor and dignity of American citizenship. I might even ask some pointed political questions: Are you a Communist? Are you a Jew-hating weirdo? But we didn't do that. Ilhan Omar is a citizen and must be dealt with as one."Oh, they're just being puckish!" comes the inevitable response. "It's a high-spirited response to how genuinely awful Ilhan Omar is! They're just trolling the Democrats and the media!" That may be the fact, in which case — grow the hell up. Ideas have consequences, even half-formed and half-understood ones."We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies." So said Abraham Lincoln in much more difficult times than these. We should resist the urge to treat our presidents as god-emperors, but Lincoln testifies to the fact that presidential words matter.Alas, so does Donald Trump.
|
| Secrets: Everything You Wanted to Know About Israel's Nuclear Weapons Posted: 20 Jul 2019 12:00 PM PDT  The Iranian nuclear nonproliferation agreement has been the top foreign policy issue throughout Washington for the past two months. Approving or disapproving the deal was the first order of business for the U.S. Congress until the very last day of congressional action under the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act (September 17). Hours of debate have been conducted on the floors of the House and Senate, both chambers have held roll call votes, and Senate Democrats bonded together to filibuster a motion of disapproval — a resolution that would have prevented President Obama from providing the Iranians sanctions relief.The Obama administration's main selling point for the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action is based on the theory that forcing Tehran to downgrade its nuclear program will make the threat of nuclear proliferation in the Middle East — the world's most frenetic and violent region even without nuclear weapons— far less urgent. Yet we should remember that there is in fact a state in the region that already possesses nuclear weapons. That state happens to be Washington's closest ally in the Middle East: Israel.(This first appeared in September 2015.)There are a lot of mysteries surrounding Israel's nuclear arsenal. That is partly due to the Israeli security establishment's unwritten rule of never speaking about the country's nuclear weapons program in public in order to preserve the principle of deterrence. But there are indeed some basic elements of Israel's nuclear program that are acknowledged by defense analysts in the United States and around the world.1. The Number is in Doubt:
|
| Lawmaker describes 'unacceptable' border detention conditions, meets with US citizen in Border Patrol custody Posted: 20 Jul 2019 12:46 PM PDT  A U.S. lawmaker described 'unacceptable' border detention facilities while meeting with a U.S. citizen in Border Patrol custody.
|
| Taiwan says it will treat Hong Kong asylum seekers humanely Posted: 19 Jul 2019 07:19 PM PDT  Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen said she would follow "humanitarian principles" in dealing with asylum seekers from Hong Kong, which has been roiled by pro-democracy protests. Tsai made the comments after Radio Free Asia reported that more than a dozen protesters from Hong Kong have fled to Taiwan.
|
| Funeral service held for 86 Muslims killed by Serbs Posted: 20 Jul 2019 10:10 AM PDT  PRIJEDOR, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP) — Several thousand people attended a funeral service in Bosnia on Saturday for 86 Muslims who were slain by Serbs in one of the worst atrocities of the country's 1992-95 war. Relatives of the victims, religious leaders and others gathered at a soccer stadium near the eastern town of Prijedor, standing solemnly behind lines of coffins draped with green cloths. The Serbs later threw bombs onto the bodies, which made identifying the victims difficult.
|
| The Mystical Megachurch Ruling Over Soccer Star Megan Rapinoe’s Hometown Posted: 20 Jul 2019 02:41 AM PDT  Photo Illustration by Elizabeth Brockway/The Daily Beast/GettyIn the hours after Megan Rapinoe and the U.S. women's national soccer team's World Cup victory, the footballer celebrated on Instagram with a photo of her hometown paper, the Record Searchlight. The caption read: "Hometown love is the best kind of love." Rapinoe grew up in the small logging town of Redding, California, and has maintained a close relationship with the community. She runs spring soccer clinics, regularly comes home for the annual Redding Rodeo, and even spearheaded a fundraiser after the Carr Fire destroyed several local homes. In the past, the town has celebrated their homegrown celebrity: in 2015, Redding declared July 21 "Megan Rapinoe Day," named a street in her honor, and changed the address of their soccer field to "15 Rapinoe Way," after her jersey number. But Redding's relationship with Rapinoe has grown uneasy. In a recent Record Searchlight letter to the editor, a resident called the soccer player "a selfish unpatriotic bigot and a total disgrace to our national team." In a follow-up article, an ex-firefighter told the Searchlight he "hope[s] she breaks her legs." As a general rule, Redding skews conservative. Shasta County, represented by Republican Doug LaMalfa in the House, is one of the most solidly red counties in California—roughly 64 percent of local voters are registered Republicans and in 2016, the county turned out overwhelmingly for Trump, including Rapinoe's father. In June, when Rapinoe kneeled during the National Anthem in solidarity with Colin Kaepernick, she irked many of her old neighbors. That sentiment compounded when Rapinoe announced she would not go to the White House if she won the World Cup, and joined the roster of public figures singled out on the president's Twitter. "The team being invited to the White House, Americas house, is an honor," said Karen Margrave, a Redding realtor who first expressed her anger on Facebook. "It doesn't matter whether or not you like the President, you're representing Americas Soccer Team! Everything doesn't have to be political."How 'Walking Protest' Megan Rapinoe Became U.S. Soccer's Middle Finger to TrumpRapinoe's international celebrity has put Redding and its political fault lines in the spotlight. But the politics of Redding are complicated beyond simple party affiliations, in part because the town is also home to another divisive, wildly successful, cultural claim to fame: the Bethel Church. The multimillion-dollar revivalist megachurch has stirred controversy in Rapinoe's hometown and throughout the religious world for its embrace of consumerist Christianity, extensive gay conversion therapy programs (Rapinoe is an out lesbian), and semi-mystical practices. Bethel members believe that miracles can occur on earth, and YouTube is filled with footage of their efforts: from faith healing, to "fire tunneling" (where members form a "tunnel" with two lines and speak in tongues to people passing through), to "grave sucking"—where someone lies on a grave to "suck up" the dead person's blessings. Bethel wields immense local influence: of Redding's 90,000 residents, 11,233 are Bethel members, according to a report from northern California magazine A News Cafe. They maintain an extensive media presence—including a TV subscription service with 19,000 subscribers, two weekly podcasts with downloads in the millions, several well-attended annual conferences, and a music production arm with multiple chart-topping hits. (Justin Bieber is a fan; last year, he covered one of their singles, "Reckless Love"). Media and product sales alone earned Bethel some $23 million last year, according to A News Cafe, but the registered "nonprofit" organization also generates income from a K-8 academy called Bethel Christian School, an online and summer program called WorshipU, the Bethel School of Technology, the Bethel Conservatory of the Arts, and recently announced plans for the Bethel Business School. Most famously: they operate the Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry, where each year some 2,000 students pay $12,050 to study at the unaccredited three-year seminary, also known as "Christian Hogwarts."Bethel plays a unique role in the political landscape of Redding. The town's mayor, Julie Winter, serves on Bethel's Board of Elders and the church—which reported earnings of $60.8 million last fiscal year, in an area with a $46,389 median income—has funded several city initiatives. In 2011, when Redding considered closing its civic auditorium for financial reasons, Bethel offered to lease and manage it for the town, putting in some $1 million for repairs and paying an annual rent of $750,000, according to a press release from last year. In 2017, when the police force faced budget cuts, Bethel donated $500,000 to the unit, and then an additional $740,000 to pay the salaries of four officers. Just months later, the council unanimously voted to approve construction for a new, $96-million church campus, despite widespread local concern. As an enthusiastic article in Zôcalo Public Square put it: "Bethel's engagement with Redding is big and broad, touching almost every aspect of civic life."The church's strengthening grip on the town has bred suspicion and resentment among non-Bethel residents which far exceeds any angst over Megan Rapinoe. Spokespeople for the Bethel Church, the Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry, Bethel President Bill Johnson and Bethel Senior Associate Leader Kris Valloton declined to speak with The Daily Beast for this story. In a statement provided by email, a Bethel representative wrote: "We celebrate the US Women's Soccer Team's historic fourth win of the World Cup and join in applauding our hometown's talented athlete, Megan Rapinoe, and the success she has achieved on the world stage!"The roots of Bethel date back to 1954, when the church opened in Redding as an affiliate of a Pentecostal congregation called the Assemblies of God. For years, Bethel existed as a modest offshoot. That changed in 1996, when a pastor named Bill Johnson signed on to lead the ministry. According to Johnson's personal biography, he accepted the job on a single condition: "I was born for revival and would pursue revival—this was not negotiable." Once he took over, the church began to grow and, as Johnson put it, "to see many healings including multiple cases of cancer healed." In 1998, Johnson and an auto repairman-turned-prophet named Kris Vallotton opened the Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry. The goal, according to an alumni report, was to "equip and deploy revivalists who passionately pursue worldwide transformation in their God-given spheres of influence." The first class had 36 students; by 2010, there were 1,500. Now, the school boasts more than 10,000 alumni. Creative CommonsMuch of the local resentment toward Bethel involves their practice of "faith healing," or the belief that physical ailments can be cured by prayer. According to Redding residents, it's common for Bethel members to approach pedestrians and offer to help with minor ailments. "They stop you and ask to pray for something that they think is wrong with you," said Nathan Blaze, a 15-year Redding resident and the administrator of two Redding-themed meme pages: "Redding Be Like" and "Bethel Memes." But Bethel members direct faith healing at more serious and permanent conditions. Will Smith, a former Bethel member who lives in the Bay Area, said congregants often approach his friend's son, who lives with cerebral palsy, offering to cure his illness—a gesture the child and his parents find distressing. Faith healers believe all health concerns are curable with enough effort, from cancer to HIV to actually being dead—Bethel maintains something called a "Dead Raising Team." In a survey of Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry alumni from 2018, graduates claimed to have healed 50,000 people since last year, "including several dead raisings!" It's a practice that secular citizens have found traumatic: In 2008, a Shasta County man sued a Bethel student over an accident which left him paraplegic. The man claimed she had pushed him off a cliff and, upon thinking he had died, attempted to faith heal him rather than call 9-1-1 (a judge later ruled in favor or the student).Still, the practice continued. On January 2, 2014, a 15-year-old boy named Orian LeBlanc suffered from an asthma attack and collapsed in the street. A Bethel student named Andrea Martin found his body. According to the boy's grandmother, Donna Zibull, doctors said LeBlanc was still alive when she found him—he had passed out from lack of oxygen and cardiac arrest. But in a post on Facebook, Martin claimed the boy had already died and that after she'd prayed, paramedics had revived him. LeBlanc spent six days in the hospital in a vegetative state before passing away on January 8, 2014. According to Zibull, the Dead Raising Team visited him there and spent four days chanting, speaking in tongues, claiming they saw God in the room, and promising his mother Orian would come back. "I know it's a hard call for anyone to come upon that situation, but afterwards, the Bethel lady brought several people up to [Orian's] room," Zibull said. "They were up there for like four days, trying to revive him... It got too out of control. We had to just ban them from the room." After her grandson's death, Zibull got involved with a small group of Redding residents and started a Facebook page called "Concerned Citizens About Bethel." They started with about 40 people, but the group quickly grew to several thousand members. In 2017, Zibull took over the group and renamed it "Investigating Bethel." Zibull held meetings, passed out stickers, and scheduled protests around Bethel's faith healing conferences. The group began keeping count of local businesses owned by Bethel members. And they started getting concerned about an idea at the crux of the church's ideology: the "Seven Mountain Mandate."Megan Rapinoe of the USA celebrates after scoring during the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup France Quarter Final match between France and USA at Parc des Princes on June 28, 2019, in Paris, France.Richard Heathcote/GettyThe "Seven Mountain Mandate" is the belief, held across several Pentacostal and Charismatic movements, that in order for Jesus to return to earth, churches must influence and infiltrate the seven major pillars of society: government, media, arts and entertainment, education, family, religion, and business. In the book The Rise of Network Christianity, which includes deep investigations into Bethel's practices and ideology, Brad Christerson and Richard Flory claim that the goal of the mandate is to radically transform cities, ethnic groups, and nations as opposed to just individuals. "If Christians permeate each mountain and rise to the top of all seven mountains," they write, "society would have biblical morality, people would live in harmony, there would be peace and not war, there would be no poverty."It's a stance that helps explain Bethel's investment in producing their own media, opening schools, sponsoring local arts, and expanding local businesses. It also is why Zibull, Blaze, Smith and others grew concerned over the church's role in local and national politics. Colton Redwine, a former Bethel student who was dismissed from the school after coming out as gay, pointed to the church's political track record on legislation related to homosexuality, which it opposes and believes can be altered with conversion therapy. In 2018, Bethel came down hard against three bills in the California state legislature: AB 1779, AB 2119 and AB 2943, which aimed to restrict gay conversion in California, including prohibiting licensed mental health officials from offering conversion therapies. The church released statements and sent letters to legislators opposing the bills. In a live-streamed lecture called "What Would Jesus Do In A PC World?," Bethel's second-in-command, Kris Vallotton, urged the congregation to reach out to officials and get the bills withdrawn. When Redding residents led a protest rally, Vallotton walked back his comments, but maintained opposition to the bills. Smith, a former Bethel member, said he left the church after its president, Bill Johnson, and his wife, Beni Johnson, made public statements of support for Trump following the 2016 election, citing their opposition to abortion, "open border policies," welfare, same-sex marriage, socialism, and higher taxes, among other things. "I had always picked up on little subtle conservative points in their sermons, but it didn't bother me," Smith said. "It was really around 2016, when Trump started becoming a big figure in the election, that my thoughts on Bethel started to change. People call Megan Rapinoe political, but it became clear to me that they were very politically motivated."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.
|
| Trump perpetuates falsehoods on hurricane relief as scandal rocks Puerto Rico's government Posted: 19 Jul 2019 10:58 AM PDT  President Trump on Thursday continued to spread misinformation about government aid to Puerto Rico after it was devastated by a 2017 hurricane.
|
| Brazil alerted companies about U.S. embargo on Iran: Bolsonaro Posted: 19 Jul 2019 01:13 PM PDT  The Brazilian government has been alerting local companies about the extent of sanctions imposed by the United States on Iran and the possible consequences in case of noncompliance, President Jair Bolsonaro said on Friday. "There is this problem, the U.S. unilaterally imposed these sanctions on Iran. Brazilian companies have been informed by us about this situation and are running a risk there," Bolsonaro told reporters.
|
| 'Stronger than ever': India set for fresh Moon launch attempt Posted: 20 Jul 2019 05:10 PM PDT  India will make a second attempt Monday to send a landmark spacecraft to the Moon after an apparent fuel leak forced last week's launch to be aborted. The South Asian nation is bidding to become just the fourth nation -- after Russia, the United States and China -- to land a spacecraft on the Moon. The fresh launch attempt for Chandrayaan-2 -- Moon Chariot 2 in some Indian languages including Sanskrit and Hindi -- has been scheduled for 2:43 pm (0913 GMT) on Monday, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said.
|
| Trump racist tweets: Democrat Elijah Cummings says constituents are ‘scared’ of president Posted: 21 Jul 2019 08:07 AM PDT  Elijah Cummings rebuked Donald Trump's continued attacks against four Democratic congresswomen of colour during an interview on Sunday, calling the president a racist and saying his constituents tell him they're "scared of their leader".The Maryland congressman spoke to ABC News' George Stephanopoulos about the House voting last week to condemn Mr Trump's "racist comments" after the president told the congresswomen to "go back" to their countries – despite all four being US citizens and only one having been born outside the US. "What I'm hearing over and over again from my constituents, is 'please save our democracy, please save our country,'" Mr Cummings said. "And you know something else they say George? They say 'I'm scared.'"He added, "I have never in my total of 37 years in public service – ever, heard a constituent say that they were scared of their leader."When asked if he believed the president was racist, Mr Cummings said, "Yes. No doubt about it." He added, "I tried to give him the benefit of the doubt, but I got to tell you George … when I think about what [Mr Trump] said to these young ladies who are merely trying to bring excellence to government and trying to make sure that generations yet unborn have an opportunity to experience a true democracy, when I hear those things it takes me back."Mr Cummings, the chairman of the House Oversight Committee, condemned Mr Trump's attacks throughout last week as the president spent several days hurling insults towards Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib, Ilhan Omar and Ayanna Pressley, claiming the congresswomen don't love the United States. He said in a statement during the House vote last week he was "disappointed" the president "would share these racist sentiments," adding, "We are still working to fight against redlining, voter intimidation, hate crimes, and mass incarceration. Our country deserves better than this. The world deserves better than this."The congressman later recalled facing similar racist taunts as a child in an interview with NBC News. "I could not help but think about when I was 11 years old, trying to integrate ... We were taunted. Stones were thrown at us. Bottles. They said the same words. They said, 'Go back to your neighbourhood. Go back to where you came from.'"Mr Cummings' statements echoed that of thousands Americans of colour who also recalled memories of being told to "go back" to where they came from.At least 16,000 people shared their experiences of dealing with the old racist trope to the New York Times after the president made the incendiary comments last week.
|
| Bernie Sanders defends staff pay after complaints his campaign isn't paying $15 an hour Posted: 19 Jul 2019 01:44 PM PDT  Bernie Sanders defended his campaign's compensation package after an article highlighted concerns that staffers weren't receiving the $15-an-hour wage he champions.
|
| Facebook’s Former Security Chief Says It’s ‘Reasonable’ To Assume China Is Infiltrating Google Posted: 20 Jul 2019 02:32 AM PDT  Facebook's former security chief Alex Stamos suggested Tuesday that it is very possible that China and Russia have subverted Google's employees."It is completely reasonable to assume that MSS and SVR have subverted employees at all the major tech companies," Stamos said in a Twitter threadTuesday, noting tech billionaire Peter Thiel's accusations that China's Ministry of Security "likely" infiltrated Google."This is part of the threat model for all competent tech security teams when building internal controls, monitoring and response," he added. Thiel, a high-profile supporter of President Donald Trump, criticized Google's work with the Chinese during a speech Sunday to the inaugural National Conservatism Conference."How many foreign intelligence agencies have infiltrated your Manhattan Project for AI? Does Google's senior management consider itself to have been thoroughly infiltrated by Chinese intelligence?" Thiel asked at the conference.He added: "Is it because they consider themselves to be so thoroughly infiltrated that they have engaged in the seemingly treasonous decision to work with the Chinese military and not with the U.S. military." Thiel, who sits on the board of Facebook, suggested his questions warrant the attention of federal investigators.
|
| Animal shelter uses Area 51 meme in textbook display of chaotic good Posted: 20 Jul 2019 12:12 PM PDT  The internet's collective plan to storm Area 51 in September may or may not pan out -- but the viral moment has already done some good, helping 22 dogs find their forever homes at an animal shelter in Oklahoma.On Friday, Oklahoma City Animal Welfare events coordinator Natalie Winfree dressed up three of the shelter's most photogenic (and cooperative) pups in tinfoil hats in hopes of raising awareness for the organization's cause. "Come storm our shelter," read Winfree's now-viral post on the shelter's Facebook page. "We have great animals ready to protect you from the Area 51 aliens. Adoption isn't that far out of this world! Stormtheshelter"The adorable photos were soon shared over 8,400 times on Facebook, before crossing over to Reddit and Twitter where they gained even more positive support. Now, news outlets across the country, including CNN and CBS News, are sharing the local story. Winfree, who spoke with Mashable on the phone from a weekend adoption event on Saturday, says she always tries to latch onto viral moments to help out her furry friends, but has never had a post do this well. "I feel really humble, and I feel like I've actually done some good," says Winfree. "We had 22 adoptions yesterday, which is fairly high for a week day. Adoptions start everyday at noon, so I haven't seen today's results yet, but it does seem to have helped a little bit." Of the animals featured in the Stormtheshelter photos, Winfree says only two have been adopted thus far: Sam, the tin foil-hatted puppy, and an unnamed kitten, who sported a tinfoil collar for the shoot. The other two extraterrestrial enthusiasts, Piper (a three-year-old Pointer and Boxer mix) and Lady (a three-year-old Lab and Shepherd mix), are still up for adoption at Oklahoma City Animal Welfare. Image: courtesy of oklahoma city animal welfareWinfree says folks in the area can help out her cause by stopping by the shelter, but hopes internet dwellers all over will be newly inspired by her post to support their local shelters. "I had no idea it was going to be this popular," notes Winfree. "This has got to be my best one. Now, I'm just hoping I can keep up with what's trending." WATCH: Tony Stark's 'Avengers Endgame' cabin is available for $800 a night on Airbnb
|
| Florida sheriff to investigate Epstein's work release Posted: 19 Jul 2019 06:28 PM PDT  A Florida sheriff launched an investigation Friday into whether his department properly monitored the wealthy financer Jeffrey Epstein while he was serving a sentence for soliciting prostitution from underage girls. The inquiry will focus on whether deputies assigned to monitor Epstein in a work-release program violated any rules or regulations, Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said in a statement. Under a 2008 plea deal, Epstein was allowed to spend most of his days at the office of his now-defunct Florida Science Foundation, which doled out research grants, rather than in the county jail.
|
| Will Taiwan Get the New F-16V Fighters It Desperately Wants? Posted: 20 Jul 2019 02:00 AM PDT  On July 8, the U.S. State Department announced it would approve a $2.2 billion arms deal with Taiwan including 108 Abrams main battle tanks and 250 Stinger man-portable surface-to-air missiles—a deal which elicited new sanctions from Beijing on the companies involved. But the announcement was more notable for what the approval didn't include—a nearly done-deal for sixty-six F-16V jet fighters built fresh off the F-16 production line in Greenville, South Carolina.This would have been the first sale of new Western combat jets to Taiwan since 1992—a fact not unrelated to Beijing's claims that sales of jet fighters to the "renegade province" constitute a redline.This stance caused three prior U.S. presidents to shy away from additional jet sales, but from the beginning, the Trump administration has proven consistently willing to disregard Beijing's sensitivities regarding Taiwan. The absence of the F-16V deal from the July 8 approval was likely linked to U.S.-China negotiations to end a simmering trade war. Perhaps the Trump administration delayed or canceled the F-16V approval to avoid sabotaging the talks, or is withholding the jets as a possible bargaining chip to extract concessions from Beijing.For now, the deal's fate remains uncertain as Taipei and its allies in Congress lobby strongly for it to proceed.Taiwan's Precarious Status
|
| Ahead of U.S. deadline, Mexico minister has fulfilled migration enforcement pledge Posted: 19 Jul 2019 01:18 PM PDT  Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said on Friday that Mexico has followed through on its commitment to the United States to reduce migration from Central America, as a deadline in a bilateral pact approaches. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is scheduled to travel to Mexico City to discuss migration and trade with Ebrard on Sunday, a day before the end of a 45-day period in which the Mexican government pledged to significantly lower the number of people trying to cross the U.S. border illegally.
|
| O'Rourke and de Blasio spar over 'Medicare for All' Posted: 20 Jul 2019 04:22 PM PDT ![O'Rourke and de Blasio spar over 'Medicare for All']( "O'Rourke and de Blasio spar over 'Medicare for All'") Health-care policy has become a primary focus among the Democratic candidates ahead of the second set of debates July 30-31.
|
| 'It's our America,' reminds Michelle Obama Posted: 19 Jul 2019 04:03 PM PDT  "What truly makes our country great is its diversity... Whether we are born here or seek refuge here, there's a place for all of us," Obama tweeted, without mentioning Trump. "We must remember it's not my America or your America. In a rare move, the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives on Tuesday rebuked Trump for "racist comments" after he said the four should "go back" to their countries of origin if they are not happy in the United States.
|
| Britain warns Iran of 'serious consequences' if British-flagged oil tanker not released Posted: 20 Jul 2019 06:29 PM PDT  Iran's seizure of a British oil tanker potentially marks a major escalation in tensions between Iran and the West since they began rising in May.
|
| Crew capsule designed to take US astronauts back to moon completed Posted: 20 Jul 2019 03:28 PM PDT  A space capsule designed to carry US astronauts back to the moon in five years' time is ready, vice-president Mike Pence has revealed on the 50th anniversary of the historic Apollo 11 landing.NASA's new Artemis lunar operation is aimed at returning humans to Earth's satellite, following in the footsteps of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin in 1969 – but this time to set up camp, rather than just pay a flying visit.The new mission, scheduled for 2024, is itself designed as a springboard for a subsequent crewed spaceship to be sent to Mars for the first time.NASA said in a statement that Artemis 1 would launch its Orion spacecraft and Space Launch System (SLS) rocket around the moon in an initial test phase, after which a crew containing at least one female astronaut would touch down on the surface to establish a lunar base."Thanks to the hard work of the men and women of NASA, and of American industry, the Orion crew vehicle for the Artemis 1 mission is complete and ready to begin preparations for its historic first flight," Vice-President Pence told the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine, standing alongside Mr Pence with Aldrin and Armstrong's son Rick, said: "Similar to the 1960s, we too have an opportunity to take a giant leap forward for all of humanity."NASA is calling this the Artemis program in honour of Apollo's twin sister in Greek mythology, the goddess of the moon. And we are well on our way to getting this done."A module manufactured by Airbus in Bremen, Germany, that will power Orion during the mission, is in the process of being attached ready for a September flight to test its spaceworthiness.Mr Pence announced in March that NASA should return astronauts to the moon by 2024, halving the agency's previous deadline to get there by 2028, and requested an extra $1.6bn funding from Congress.However, President Donald Trump on Friday indicated he was not interested in a mission going back to the moon.Mr Trump instead repeated his interest in a NASA mission that would take astronauts directly to Mars, a vastly more challenging and costly endeavour."To get to Mars, you have to land on the moon, they say. Any way of going directly without landing on the moon? Is that a possibility?" the president asked Mr Bridenstine during an event in the Oval Office.Mr Bridenstine responded: "Well, we need to use the moon as a proving ground, because when we go to Mars, we're going to have to be there for a long period of time, so we need to learn how to live and work on another world."The Artemis program's objective is to conduct a series of manned and unmanned missions to the moon, using its surface as a proving ground for technologies that could lay the groundwork for the longer and more complex missions to Mars as soon as 2033, Mr Bridenstine has said.Agencies contributed to this report
|
| Vigilante Armies Are Fighting Mexican Drug Cartels, but Whose Side Are They Really on? Posted: 21 Jul 2019 02:27 AM PDT  Jorge Lopez/ReutersFILO DE CABALLOS, Mexico—The assault force rolls through this small mountain town not long after dark. Traveling in a fleet of pick-ups with about 15 men in each truck, they are dressed in pixelated camouflage uniforms and ballistic vests and at first glance they look like official army units, but their weapons give them away. Many of these commandos carry AK-47 model assault rifles, which aren't used by the Mexican armed forces.The logo stamped on the doors of the trucks shows a figure from the Mexican Revolution wearing a sombrero and brandishing a rifle astride a charging horse. Below that are the words Policia Comunitaria, or community police, and a phrase which, roughly translated from Spanish, reads: "Death before surrender or humiliation."The men in the trucks are members of the United Front of Community Police of Guerrero State, better known by its Spanish acronym of FUPCEG. Tonight FUPCEG's shock troops are on their way to assault the nearby town of El Naranjo, which is currently held by the forces of an organized crime group called the Cartel del Sur."We fight to free communities that have been isolated by the criminals," says a squad leader who asks to be identified only as "El Burro" in an interview with The Daily Beast. "Everyone has a right to security. And to economic freedom. Campesinos [small farmers] and their children shouldn't suffer under the rule of bandits," Burro says. "The people of this town have asked us for help, and so that's what we're going to do."El Burro says he got his nickname, which means "the donkey," because he can bear heavy loads a great distance despite his slight stature. In his backpack he carries several cans of tuna and crackers and canteens of water. His battle harness holds some 300 rounds of ammunition for his AK-47. Later tonight he'll lead his squad on foot through the dense pine forests that surround El Naranjo, until they reach the pre-assigned rendezvous point. From there the coordinated strike force will crawl on their bellies until they're in sight of the cartel stronghold, then wait for dawn to attack.Burro is a veteran of a dozen such engagements with the comunitarios and says he's personally registered 20 confirmed kills of sicarios, the cartels' contract killers. A former farmer, he joined the movement "because I was tired of hearing the people's cries for help go unanswered."The Cartel del Sur is known for its brutal tactics, including torturing prisoners, and for that reason Burro says he prefers death on the battlefield to being captured by los contras, as he calls members of the Cartel del Sur."Will I come back from where I go tonight?" he asks rhetorically. "And if I don't," he says, "will my family understand what I died for?" * * *'We Have To Protect Ourselves'* * *FUPCEG is an alliance of civilian autodefensas, or self-defense groups, that boasts about 11,700 fighters across 39 municipalities in Guerrero, meaning they're now present in about half the state. Similar communitario movements have sprung up across Mexico over the last decade, but FUPCEG is by far the largest of its kind.The spike in vigilante militias has polarized public opinion. Some observers see them as noble freedom fighters who succeed where traditional law enforcement has failed. Critics claim the autodefensas and comunitarios (the words are often used interchangeably in Mexico) are at best undisciplined mobs and at worst cartel patsies who do the criminals' grunt work for them. Either way, their power is growing. A new study by Mexico's National Human Rights Commission suggests vigilante activity is up by more than 300 percent since the start of 2018, and blames the increase on "insecurity, violence, and impunity."Mexico's Game of BonesIn fact, violence in Mexico has reached historic levels this year, with the country averaging an all-time high of 94 killings a day through the first half of 2019. Both 2017 and 2018 also broke previous murder records. As one autodefensa fighter put it, repeating what has become a kind of mantra, "If the government can't protect us, then we have no choice left but to protect ourselves."FUPCEG's founder and leader is 40-year-old Salvador Alanis. A Guerrero native, Alanis is something of a polymath. An economist by training, he's also worked as an electrical engineer in North Carolina, and at one time owned several successful fruit and cattle ranches in his home state. Those ranches are gone now. Some were sold off to help fund Alanis's crime-fighting endeavors, while others have been seized by the mafia groups he opposes."I spent 12 years working in the U.S.," Alanis says during an interview in the FUPCEG base in the strategically vital town of Filo de Caballos, high in the sierra of central Guerrero. "In the States I came to know a better life, a better world. I came to take safety for granted," he says, "but there's no security like that in Mexico."The lack of security is even more pronounced in Guerrero, which is Mexico's leading exporter of opium and heroin, and perennially listed as one of the country's most dangerous and politically corrupt regions. It doesn't help that government law enforcement here is undermanned."We have an insufficient number of police officers to go around," says Roberto Álvarez Heredia, the state's security spokesperson. "We need about three times as many cops and public prosecutors as we have," he says, "and the ones we do have need better salaries."Recently elected President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, known as AMLO, has touted his newly created Guardia Nacional as a solution to peacekeeping efforts in places like Guerrero, but Alanis remains unimpressed:"So they just sent 3,500 Guardias to Guerrero," he says, when asked about the new policing initiative. "The last president sent 5,000 soldiers and they couldn't do anything against the cartels, because the criminals just paid them off. Everyone has a price," he adds.Still, Alanis is willing to give the Guardia a chance."We're going to let them in [to our territory] and see if they behave themselves. See if they're corrupt, or if they abuse their power. In the past the soldiers used to enter and search any house they pleased, and that's why we had to run them out. We're glad to be friends [with the Guardia], but we won't be their slaves."* * *A Question of War* * *As protection against a cartel counter thrust, FUPCEG troops man fortified checkpoints at regular intervals all along State Road 196. Here in Filo, Alanis and his command crew are headquartered in what used to be the largest hotel in town. The long, two-story building was abandoned when FUPCEG occupied Filo after a prolonged firefight back in November of 2018. Pocked by bullet holes inside and out, the building no longer has running water, and electricity is intermittent, but the community kitchen in the lobby is always full of gossip and the smell of spicy cooking. During this interview, Alanis sits in what was once the hotel's main office. He's stockily built, dressed in a sky-blue Oxford shirt left open at the throat and wearing square-rimmed photochromic glasses. Clear mountain sunshine drifts in through the shot-up windows. In one corner of the room stands a derelict arcade game titled, coincidentally enough, Streetfighter II.When he came back in 2010, Alanis says he found his home town of Ocotito overrun by organized crime."Murder, kidnapping, extortion, theft. The cartels ruled the state and they'd packed the government and police forces with corrupt officials, so there was no one to challenge them," he says. After surviving two kidnapping attempts, Alanis decided to take matters into his own hands to "restore justice" to Guerrero.At first it was just himself and a handful of other ranchers, but slowly the movement gathered support. By 2015 their forces numbered several hundred comunitarios operating out of a string of liberated communities around the state capital of Chilpancingo. But he'd made a number of powerful enemies in the process, including capos from the Rojos, Tequileros, and Guerreros Unidos cartels. When those crime groups launched a series of counter-attacks aimed at taking back the newly freed townships, Alanis' civilian militias were quickly overwhelmed. "We had an army of shop owners and farm workers," he says in the office of the ramshackle hotel. He unholsters a chrome-plated 10 mm pistol to make himself more comfortable and sets it on the desk before him. "Many of our men didn't really know how to use their weapons. Meanwhile, we were facing off against experienced and well-armed sicarios, and we couldn't beat them in battle. It was a question of war, and we weren't up to the task. We were weak and lacking strategy."Those factors—along with the defection of some of his most trusted officers, one of whom ran off with his wife—combined to spell defeat for Alanis. His forces scattered and, still hunted by the cartels, he fled to the mountains and went into hiding."They took everything from him," says Jackie Pérez, an independent journalist based in Chilpancingo, and an expert on the state's autodefensa groups. "Salvador lost his livestock, his farmland, even his wife," she says. "But he's very intelligent and very patient. He was able to persevere, and come back stronger than ever."Pérez goes on to compare Alanis to Mexican freedom fighters of the past like Emiliano Zapata and Pancho Villa, at least in terms of tactics. "He doesn't want to overthrow the government," she says. "But he is willing to go outside the system to fight for the people's right to freedom from certain forms of oppression."In order to continue that fight after being drubbed by the contras, Alanis knew he'd have to change his game plan."We'd been outnumbered and defeated," he says. "Now it was time to change strategies." Part of that strategic shift involved developing a broad network of spies and informants, many of them women, to keep him informed of his enemies' movements and activities."Know your enemy as you know yourself," he quotes Sun Tzu from memory, "and in a hundred battles you will never be defeated."* * *Controlling The Sierra* * *Alanis isn't the first comunitario leader forced to revamp his approach after an initial setback. Many other grassroots vigilante groups have cropped up in Mexico to oppose organized crime, only to find they lack the manpower and budget to keep up the fight over time. Unfortunately, that often leads to alliances with well-heeled drug lords, who then use the militias as proxy groups to wage war on their rivals.Guerrero expert Chris Kyle, a professor of anthropology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, says that pattern has been in play for years."Since 2013 there's been an explosion of community policing groups in Guerrero," says Kyle in a phone interview with The Daily Beast. While villages with native indigenous populations that pre-date the Spanish conquest are legally allowed to form such units under Mexico's constitution, the proliferation of non-indigenous figures "claiming to be community police has baffled authorities."The swift spread of the comunitarios is related directly to a lack of effective security measures, according to Kyle."If the state would provide security, many of these groups would likely stand down," he says. In the absence of state power, however, and due to a lack of sufficient resources to operate long-term on their own, many vigilante squads become co-opted."The drug trafficking organizations take advantage of them," Kyle says, because the community police provide the cartels with "a semi-legitimate wing that extends their reach."Alanis's FUPCEG umbrella group includes both indigenous and mestizo, or mixed race, cells from all over the state, including the Regional Coordinator for Community Authorities (CRAC), the oldest and most respected such organization in Mexico. Even so, Alanis admits that part of his revised strategy involved aligning with certain deep-pocketed backers. He claims that instead of working on behalf of a crime syndicate, he's merely defending free enterprise.This may strike drug enforcement authorities in the United States as a distinction without a difference, but here in Guerrero such distinctions matter.Alanis says that in fact he is not opposed to campesinos growing poppies, since that's the only crop that pays enough to support many families in the sierra. What he's opposed to, as he puts it, is how the Cartel del Sur seeks to drive out competitors, keep prices low, and control poppy farmers through violence and intimidation."The people should be able to grow [poppies] if they want to. Or not, as they see fit. That's up to them. But nobody should be forced to sell [opium gum] at an unfair price to a single buyer. Nobody should be threatened or forced to worry about their family's safety. All we want is for the people to live in peace," he says, back in his bullet-riddled HQ."The Cartel del Sur wants to control the whole sierra," he adds. "They want to own a monopoly on poppy gum and heroin production, and also extort from shop owners, taxi drivers, you name it. Other businessmen I know want an open market for poppies up here, and they understand that requires healthy local economies. So that's why they help us fight the contras."To launch a full-scale assault like the one that liberated Filo would be impossible without outside financial support, according to Alanis. The Filo battle involved some 3,000 comunitarios and hundreds of trucks to ferry them, he explains. When the cost of ammunition, gas, and fighters' salaries are factored in, a single campaign can cost about 300,000 pesos [about $15,700] per hour. And the Filo firefight alone last for more than seven hours."We need their help," he says, referring to those independent opium gum buyers who help fund FUPCEG's efforts, "but they need us too. If part of the money to liberate the people must come from opium, I'm willing to accept that equation," the economist by training says.* * *Terrorizing The Resistance* * *During a series of independent interviews conducted in Filo de Caballos and surrounding communities it becomes clear that, prior to liberation by Alanis and his cohorts, local citizens had suffered greatly under rule by the Cartel del Sur.Run by Isaac Navarette Celis, one of Mexico's most wanted men, the Cartel del Sur specializes in the production and northbound transport of China White, a particularly potent form of heroin. Navarette is a relative newcomer to Guerrero's populous criminal underworld, first announcing his arrival back in 2016. Younger drug lords like Navarette often are especially bloodthirsty as they attempt to carve out a competitive niche against established rivals. Residents in the swath of towns and villages formerly under Navarette's control describe a reign of terror that included kidnappings for ransom, forcing young people to work as sicarios under threat of death, mass killings, crippling extortion rates, and random violence that caused schools, clinics, and small businesses to be shuttered indefinitely."We denounced the criminals to the police many times but they never did anything to help us," says Reina Maldonado, 53. Maldonado was married to the comisario, or sheriff, of a village called Corralitos. Last June several sicarios from the Cartel del Sur kidnapped Reina's husband from their home and brought him to a local safehouse. "He wouldn't back down from them. He defied their orders and bribes, so they took him," she said. When Maldonado's husband's body was found, she explains, he showed signs of having been tortured and had been shot multiple times."They killed him to terrorize the village against resistance," the sheriff's widow says, "but that didn't work." Hours after the comisario was reported missing, Alanis arrived with hundreds of comandos to battle it out with those responsible for his murder. Four cartel members were killed in the ensuing firefight, and the rest fled in armored vehicles. According to Maldonado, they haven't been back to Corralitos since."Life here is much better now," she says, as she walks around the ruins of the house where her husband's body was found. Many of the families that had fled Corralitos under cartel rule have since returned, and the shops and fruit stands that line the small main street are again open for business."We're still poor," Maldonado says, "but at least now we're safe."* * *Government Silence* * *Ruperto Pacheco Vega, 44, the mayor of Filo de Caballo, agrees with Maldonado's assessment:"Many businesses were completely shut down under [Navarette's] cartel," he says. "There was no commerce, nobody could move. The store owners couldn't make a profit due to extortion, and many people were out of work."Even worse, Vega says, was the cartel's habit of impressing young men into its service. "They wanted our boys to join them, put on their colors, and fight against Salvador and the comunitarios." To decline the cartel's "invitation," he says, was punishable by death. In contrast, the mayor explains that Alanis has helped local communities diversify their economies. The financial backbone of the region has long been poppy cultivation to produce opium gum to sell to the cartels to make heroin. But a recent drop in the price of heroin (apparently due to U.S. users preferring synthetic opioids like Fentanyl) has caused a backlash among growers. According to Vega, Alanis has been instrumental in helping the farmers develop detailed crop substitution plans in order to replace illicit poppy plots with legal alternatives like avocado, peaches, pears, and lemons."The government says we mustn't grow poppies, and that's fine with us. So we sent them precise and detailed petitions asking for basic subsidies until the [fruit] trees reach maturity," says Vega, riffing through signed and stamped copies of the official documents addressed to various politicians in Mexico City, including President López Obrador. As with local authorities who ignore cartel malfeasance, it seems the bid for federal assistance to produce legal crops has also fallen on deaf ears."Their offices acknowledged receipt of our requests," Vega says, "but we never heard anything back from them."* * *A Question Of Ethics* * *For all the careful planning put into it, El Burro's assault on the cartel-held town of El Naranjo didn't go as expected."Somebody must've talked because they were waiting for us," says El Burro, in the aftermath of the failed offensive. "They had a damned mortar and belt-fed machine guns. We killed a few of them but we then we had to pull back."Now rumors are swirling around town that Navarette's men are planning a counter-attack to retake Filo. Comunitarios run in and out of the lobby of the bombed-out hotel, fetching weapons and ammunition from stockpiles in the armory. Meanwhile Alanis sits surrounded by cell phones and a half-dozen radios, diligently coordinating with units in the field and his mysterious financial backers.In answer to a question about the ethics of his current line of work, Alanis waxes philosophical."I used to have a different idea about ethics," he says, putting down his phone. "I never accepted any drug money back when I first began to oppose [the cartels]." But, he adds, that's also why he lost the first time around. "You see suffering like this," and he waves his hand as if to take in the whole sierra: "You see people without work. People without health care. Children starving. Kids with no future. And you ask me about ethics?"In Alanis's estimation, "Our worst enemy is the state, due to their alliance with organized crime. There is no democracy in Guerrero" because the cartels "rig elections" and "control the politicians," he says."We came up with a plan to eliminate 65 percent of the poppy plants in our territories and replace them with legal orchards, but the politicians never even answered our letters." Alanis picks up his phone again. "Why don't you ask them about ethics?" he says.Read more at The Daily Beast.Get 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.
|
| Slim chance of ever finding Chinese scholar's body Posted: 19 Jul 2019 02:54 PM PDT  Brendt Christensen, a former doctoral student in physics at the University of Illinois, abducted Yingying Zhang in 2017 from a bus stop. In filings before the trial began in June, prosecutors acknowledged they considered a plea deal with Christensen after his arrest in late 2017 in which they would abandon plans to seek the death penalty if he divulged what he did with the remains and where they could be found. State and federal officials conducted widespread searches for Zhang's remains for months to no avail, according to an FBI agent who testified at the trial.
|
| 10 Surprising Moon Facts! (That Were Totally Wrong) Posted: 21 Jul 2019 06:00 AM PDT |
| UPDATE 1-Suspected Japan arsonist a reclusive, quarrelsome gamer, neighbour says Posted: 20 Jul 2019 07:34 PM PDT ![UPDATE 1-Suspected Japan arsonist a reclusive, quarrelsome gamer, neighbour says]( "UPDATE 1-Suspected Japan arsonist a reclusive, quarrelsome gamer, neighbour says") The man suspected of killing 34 people in an arson attack in Japan lived alone, hundreds of kilometres from the torched Kyoto Animation studio, where he played video games non-stop and had "terrified" his neighbour just days earlier. Police late on Saturday issued an arrest warrant for 41-year-old Shinji Aoba, suspected of causing Japan's worst mass killing in two decades on Thursday when he went to the studio in western Japan, poured fuel around the entrance and shouted "Die" as he set the building ablaze, according to public broadcaster NHK. Aoba lived alone on the ground floor of a two-floor apartment building on the outskirts of Omiya, a commuter suburb of Tokyo and some 500 km (310 miles) east of Kyoto.
|
| Woman Calls 911 on Black Family Falsely Claiming They`re a Gang Posted: 19 Jul 2019 04:45 PM PDT  A confrontation between a woman and a neighbor in Michigan led to a false police report of alleged gang activity.
|
| Trump says he is seeking the release of rapper A$AP Rocky at Melania’s request Posted: 19 Jul 2019 11:12 AM PDT  The president said he had never heard of rapper A$AP Rocky until his wife asked him to help free him from prison in Sweden.
|
| Thousands protest in Moscow after opposition figures barred from city council ballot Posted: 20 Jul 2019 12:10 PM PDT  As many as 25,000 protesters turned out in central Moscow Saturday to protest the refusal by city election officials to allow several opposition figures to run for the Moscow city council.
|
| The U.S. Government Has Found a Devious Way to Hire More Bureaucrats Posted: 20 Jul 2019 02:22 AM PDT  These salaries are underwritten by the $235 billion the federal government lays out to nonprofits each year. To constrain the growth of central government, conservatives have fought to keep down the number of federal bureaucrats.This strategy has failed.Since the 1960s, the number of federal employees has remained constant at about 2 million, yet federal power has greatly expanded.This phenomenon arises because Washington has outsourced many civil service functions to contractors, nonprofit groups, and lower levels of government.According to New York University professor Paul Light, the true size of the federal government's "blended workforce" is now somewhere between 7 million and 9 million people.The biggest portion of the blended federal workforce consists of federal contractors. Today, there are about 3.7 million federal contractors—almost twice as many as there were in the 1960s.These contractors fill a wide range of functions: security in war zones, statistical analyses, janitorial services, management consulting, and almost everything in between. Many of these functions were once performed by the largely blue-collar federal workforce of the mid-20th century.
|
| 'Canary in the coal mine': Singapore woes ring trade alarm bells Posted: 20 Jul 2019 07:51 PM PDT  A plunge in exports and the worst growth rates for a decade have fuelled concerns about the outlook for Singapore's economy, with analysts saying the figures offer a warning that Asia is heading for a slowdown as China-US tensions bite. While it may be one of the smallest countries in the world, the export hub is highly sensitive to external shocks and has long been viewed as a barometer of the global demand for goods and services. The affluent city-state is highly dependent on trade and has traditionally been one of the first places in Asia to be hit during global downturns -- with ripples typically spreading out across the region.
|
| 3 sentenced for violence at Virginia white nationalist rally Posted: 19 Jul 2019 03:19 PM PDT  Three members of a white supremacist group were sentenced Friday to between two and three years in prison for punching, kicking and choking anti-racism protesters at a white nationalist rally in Virginia and political rallies in California. Members of the now-defunct Rise Above Movement were caught on camera assaulting counterprotesters before a planned "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville in August 2017. Benjamin Daley, Michael Miselis and Thomas Gillen each pleaded guilty to conspiracy to riot.
|
No comments:
Post a Comment