| Marianne Williamson tweet suggests using 'the power of the mind' to deter hurricane Posted: 04 Sep 2019 08:32 AM PDT  The New Age author and Democratic presidential candidate posted, and then quickly deleted, a tweet suggesting that it was "not a wacky idea" to collectively visualize Hurricane Dorian turning away from land.
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| Texas Rep. Flores says he won't seek reelection Posted: 04 Sep 2019 06:35 AM PDT  His solidly Republican district includes Waco and the northern Austin suburbs and is home to two major universities.
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| U.S. teenager shoots dead 5 family members in Alabama - police Posted: 03 Sep 2019 03:59 AM PDT ![U.S. teenager shoots dead 5 family members in Alabama - police]( "U.S. teenager shoots dead 5 family members in Alabama - police") A 14-year-old American boy shot and killed five family members at their home in Alabama, before throwing away the pistol and calling police, officials said on Tuesday, in the latest high-profile gun crime. The shooting occurred on Monday night in the town of Elkmont, a spokesman for the Limestone County Sheriff's Office told media, including an ABC affiliate.
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| A Michigan couple who won the lottery in 2016 were just charged in a months-long burglary spree Posted: 04 Sep 2019 08:28 AM PDT  In 2016, the couple said said they planned to use their winnings to buy a house and a new car, and start college funds for her daughters.
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| New Zealand gun buyback exposes emotions, possibly hustlers Posted: 03 Sep 2019 05:52 PM PDT  Some New Zealand gun owners are upset they're being compelled to hand over their assault weapons for money. Others believe a government-imposed ban on certain semi-automatics following a March shooting massacre is the best way to combat gun violence. New Zealand is six weeks into an ambitious program to buy tens of thousands of guns from owners across the country.
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| View Photos of 2020 BMW M4 Edition ///M Heritage Posted: 03 Sep 2019 10:15 AM PDT |
| Global heating made Hurricane Dorian bigger, wetter – and more deadly Posted: 03 Sep 2019 11:00 PM PDT  We know that warm waters fuel hurricanes, and Dorian was strengthened by waters well above average temperatures'As climate change has melted glaciers and ice around the world, that water has gone into the oceans.' Photograph: Ramón Espinosa/APThe Bahamas, for those who live there, is simply a place to call home. For many Americans, it's a dream vacation spot. But Hurricane Dorian turned that dream into a nightmare. And the worst part is this is only the beginning. Because unless we confront the climate crisis, warming will turn more and more of our fantastic landscapes, cities we call paradise and other dream destinations into nightmarish hellscapes.While the science has yet to come in on the specifics of just how much worse climate change made Dorian, we already know enough to say that warming worsened the damage. Because it's not a coincidence that Dorian was one of the strongest landfalling storms ever recorded in the Atlantic, with the strongest sustained peak winds east of Florida, and the strongest ever to hit the Bahamas. This comes less than a year after Florida withstood the first landfalling category 5 hurricane in decades, on 5 October – the latest ever in the season for a storm that strong.On a basic physics level, we know that warm waters fuel hurricanes, and Dorian was strengthened by waters well above average temperatures. The fact that climate change has heated up our oceans means Dorian was stronger than it would have been had we not spent the past 150 years dumping carbon pollution into the atmosphere. Sea surface temperatures were more than 1C warmer in the region where Dorian formed and strengthened than they were before we started burning fossil fuels.Empirically, there is a roughly 7% increase in maximum sustained wind speeds of the strongest storms for each 1C of warming. Since destructive potential is proportional to the third power of the wind speed, that corresponds to a 23% increase in potential wind damage. We saw that wind damage in the heartbreaking scenes of total devastation that have come in from the Bahamas.We know that the warmer air gets, the more moisture it can hold – and then turn into flooding rains in a storm like this. And we know that as climate change has melted glaciers and ice around the world, that water has gone into the oceans. The extra water, along with the expansion of water as it's warmed, means that sea levels have been raised. That means when a storm like Dorian makes landfall, there's more water for its storm surge, already bolstered by stronger winds, to push further inland.All that extra water makes hurricanes even more deadly, since it's generally not the wind but the water that kills people. So although Dorian's 220mph gusts were incredibly dangerous (and sped up thanks to climate change), it was the 20-plus feet of storm surge and torrential rains that were the most destructive elements.But there are two other ways that warming has probably worsened Dorian's damage. One is that all that warm water allowed for the storm to ramp up quickly, undergoing what is known as rapid intensification as it exploded from a moderate category 2 to extreme category 5 over just two days. A recent study has shown that this is getting more common because of climate change, and indeed the past few years have seen many similar examples of this effect in action. Dorian was the fourth category 5 storm in just the last four years.So while climate change is making it so hurricanes can spin up quickly, it may also be slowing down how fast hurricanes move. Instead of moving across a coast and dissipating as normal, in recent years these storms are lingering longer in place, which means more flooding as the water piles up. For example, that's exactly what we saw in Houston during Harvey, and in North Carolina during Florence.Had Dorian been moving at a regular pace of a few miles an hour, the devastation in the Bahamas would have been much less severe. But because it sat in place, basically stationary, the damage has been catastrophic. Again, Dorian is far from unique in moving slowly, as a study last year found a 10% decrease in speed for storms like this globally, while a similar study found a 17% decrease along the east coast of the US. While neither of these studies directly tie that slowdown to climate change, the theory that climate change is changing the jet stream in ways that would lead to stalling storms (a phenomenon one of us has researched) is growing increasingly convincing.When all these factors combine in one storm, as it has for Dorian, it is truly a nightmare scenario – and a preview of the climate crisis to come. The only question is whether we have the foresight to address it. * Michael Mann is distinguished professor of atmospheric science at Pennsylvania State University. His most recent book, with Tom Toles, is The Madhouse Effect: How Climate Change Denial Is Threatening Our Planet, Destroying Our Politics, and Driving Us Crazy. Andrew Dessler is a professor of atmospheric sciences and holder of the Reta A Haynes chair of geosciences at Texas A&M University. His most recent book is the Science and Politics of Global Climate Change: A Guide to the Debate
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| Tropical Storm Fernand forms in Gulf as it moves toward Mexico Posted: 03 Sep 2019 11:04 AM PDT  The low spinning in the Gulf near Mexico has intensified into a tropical storm. It is expected to move into Mexico Wednesday evening.
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| 'Contemptuous!': Brexit Britain fumes at reclining MP Posted: 04 Sep 2019 06:06 AM PDT  The sight of hardline Brexit backer Jacob Rees-Mogg stretching out across the front bench of Britain's parliament during a particularly heated debate has become an instant meme, causing anger among government opponents. With his tiny round glasses pointing at the ceiling and wearing a double-breasted suit, Rees-Mogg appeared to be taking a rest in the crucial final minutes before a crunch Brexit vote on Tuesday night lit up Twitter. It came after Prime Minister Boris Johnson's government had lost its working majority in parliament and was about to be dealt its first painful defeat over the terms on which Britain should leave the European Union.
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| The Taliban Scoff at Trump’s Afghan Peace Talks Bluff Posted: 03 Sep 2019 01:36 PM PDT  EVGENIA NOVOZHENINA/ReutersDOHA, Qatar—The American negotiator trying to cut a deal with the Taliban that might let Donald Trump get all uniformed troops out of Afghanistan before next year's election says that the two sides have an "agreement in principle."But Taliban officials and diplomats here in the capital of Qatar, where the talks have been held, told The Daily Beast that after Round 9 last week, there was still no deal the Taliban would sign. Trump's man in the talks, Special Representative Zalmay Khalilzad, appears to be bluffing, and has tried to make it sound as if it's all up to his boss: "Of course, it is not final until the U.S. president agrees on it. So, at the moment, we are at that stage."Trump and His Team Send Clashing Messages on U.S. Troops in Afghanistan"I think throughout this process we've seen the U.S. and Zalmay get a little over his skis when it comes to things like negotiation details or a timeline for withdrawal or in this case announcing the deal being agreed upon in principle," said one former U.S. official familiar with the details of the ongoing talks in Doha. "It isn't over and done until Trump says it is and as we know the president's thoughts on big deals like this often change at the last minute."Meanwhile, inside the White House, senior Trump officials are discussing last minute details of the Khalilzad-negotiated deal, according to two officials with knowledge of those conversation. Those discussions have focused in part on how to continue to support the Afghan security forces throughout the withdrawal process, those sources said.But the longer the talks go on, the clearer it is that the Taliban have the final say. They know Trump is desperate to leave, and they are determined not only to remain a power in their country, but to re-establish what they call the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan."The Taliban have been rather rude with the U.S. throughout the peace process because they have the impression that a withdrawal deal is a desperate desire of the USA, not the Taliban," says a senior European diplomat in Kabul. "Imagine how rudely and offensively the Taliban will treat the already upset and isolated President [Ashraf] Ghani."Presumably there will be some agreement in the not too distant future as the Taliban give Trump enough concessions to save face, but they know what they call the "evacuation" of all American forces, whether in uniform or as covert or contract operatives, will demoralize the U.S.-backed regime in Kabul and especially the Afghan military and security forces. These local soldiers and police, after 17 years and tens of thousands of casualties in their ranks, still remain largely dependent on American support, especially from the air. There are many precedents indicating what to expect when such dependent troops see their patrons abandoning them. Typically, large numbers lose the will to fight and they flee, surrender, or change sides. Such was the case after peace talks with Hanoi allowed Richard Nixon political cover to withdraw all American combat troops by the end of 1973 only to see Saigon fall to North Vietnam in the spring of 1975, less than two years later.When the Israelis were ending their occupation of South Lebanon in 2000 they quickly discovered that the militias they created and armed there were selling them out and forging covert alliances with their enemy. Already, Taliban sources tell The Daily Beast they are looking at what Afghan military units—perhaps entire bases—are most likely to come over to their side as the Americans withdraw.At present the U.S. has only 14,000 uniformed troops left in the country. It invaded in 2001 following the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington by al-Qaeda, which operated out of Afghanistan with Taliban protection. By 2010 under President Barack Obama there were 100,000 U.S. troops on the ground as well as contingents from NATO allies. But Obama had brought the American presence down to 8,400 by the time he left office—slightly fewer than the number of troops Trump mentioned in his latest public peroration on the subject."We're going down to 8,600 and then we make a determination from there as to what happens," Trump told Fox News Radio last week. Obviously aware how unsatisfying such arrangements are for supporters who want a definitive end to America's longest war, Trump also repeated his thought that the U.S. could win that war "so fast, if I wanted to kill 10 million people ... which I don't."Such hollow threats only play into the hands of Taliban propagandists who already benefit from what they portray as U.S. disregard for civilian casualties and U.S. Special Envoy Khalilzad's overstated optimism in an interview published Monday by Afghanistan's TOLONews agency could be read as a reaction to Trump's overstated rhetoric of fire and fury.In the meantime, in what is also a familiar pattern during peace negotiations, the Taliban have stepped up the pace of the war in the field to strengthen their hand at the table.Various versions of the supposed "agreement in principle" have appeared in the press, whether as leaks or as informed speculation masquerading as draft documents. Over the Labor Day weekend in the United States, Khalilzad presented the results of Round 9 to the U.S.-backed government of President Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah, who have been left out of the talks but are supposed to have a chance to negotiate directly with the Taliban as the U.S. withdraws.One supposed draft, which appeared originally on an Afghan television news site, has circulated in Washington and does reflect some of the agreed upon points in the negotiations, according to our sources.From the beginning of the U.S.-Taliban talks 10 months ago the focus has been on four issues: the withdrawal of U.S. forces; assurances that no terrorists targeting the United States (al-Qaeda, ISIS, or others not yet named) will be allowed to operate out of Afghanistan; a ceasefire; and negotiations with the government in Kabul. The assurance that Afghanistan will no longer harbor terrorists aiming to attack the United States is a relatively easy one for the Taliban to make. They were dragged into the war that deposed them by a misplaced loyalty to their relationship with Osama bin Laden. As for the so-called Islamic State, it is a direct threat to their own power. The withdrawal of U.S. troops is supposed to begin within 135 days of a signed agreement and last no longer than 14 months. The Taliban also agree they will not attack U.S. troops "during the evacuation" and "neither will the U.S. have any military collaboration with the Afghan government."Trump's Afghan Exit Plans Are Mired in the India-Pakistan MessTaliban representatives in Doha told The Daily Beast that any U.S. effort to replace a uniformed presence with contingents of CIA operatives or contractors will be unacceptable, but they might be willing to accept extensive intelligence monitoring from neighboring countries, presumably including Uzbekistan, which already has a major U.S. presence. They also warned against an outsized military or security presence to protect the U.S. embassy and diplomatic outposts.For its part, the U.S. has made its withdrawal contingent on progress in negotiations between the Taliban and the central government, and several lines have been included in various drafts assuring respect for human rights, women's rights, and free speech, but always with the caveat "based on the principles of Islam" which the Taliban interpret in their own particular way.Sami Yousafzai reported from Doha, Erin Banco from Washington, and Christopher Dickey from New York.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.
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| Iran oil tanker at centre of diplomatic row with UK 'goes dark' off Syria after being released by Gibraltar Posted: 03 Sep 2019 04:48 AM PDT  The tanker at the centre of a diplomatic row between Iran and Britain "went dark" yesterday night off the coast of Syria, where it is suspected she may be delivering a controversial cargo of Iranian crude oil. The Adrian Darya 1, formally named Grace 1, would be doing so in breach of an agreement made to secure its release and threatens to become a major political embarrassment for the UK. The vessel was detained by British Royal Marine commandos off Gibraltar on July 4 as it was believed to be en route to Syria in violation of European Union sanctions. Two weeks later, Iran in retaliation seized British-flagged Stena Impero in the Strait of Hormuz leading into the Gulf. Gibraltar released the Adrian Darya on August 15 after receiving formal written assurances from Tehran that the ship would not discharge its 2.1 million barrels of oil in Syria. The Stena has not been released. An aerial view shows a speedboat of Iran's Revolutionary Guard moving around the British-flagged oil tanker Stena Impero, which was seized in the Strait of Hormuz Credit: AP Iran changed the Grace 1's name and sold the oil, though it did not disclose the buyer. Since then it has been sailing around the Mediterranean with its load, continually changing its destination port. The US Treasury Department blacklisted the tanker on Friday, citing intelligence it was planning to deliver its crude to Syria. US Coast Guardsmen with Maritime Security Response Team East, Advanced Interdiction Team Detachment 1, during a training exercise in the Gulf Credit: Reuters Washington warned any state against assisting the ship, saying it would consider that support for a terrorist organisation, namely, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, prompting Greece to deny the Adrian permission to dock. According to TankerTrackers.com, which uses satellite tracking to record shipping movements, the vessel sent its last signal giving its position in international waters heading north towards Syria at 5.53pm local time on Monday. "It's now safe to assume she's in Syria's territorial waters," TankerTrackers.com tweeted. It is now thought to be sitting off the coast of Tartus awaiting a ship-to-ship transfer via one of a handful of Iranian-linked tankers in the region, also currently with no Automatic Identification System signals active. It is not against international law for a ship to turn her AIS off, but it is often done to try to get around sanctions. Lloyd's List Intelligence suggested two possible smaller vessels that may be involved in any transfer. Silvia 1, an Iran-flagged tanker, turned off its transponder on August 29 having entered the Mediterranean via the Suez Canal. While Stark I, a 159,681 dwt, Iran-flagged crude tanker, took a similar route, also dropping off communication late on August 30. "The fact that Adrian Darya 1 is currently skirting the Syrian coast with its AIS offline, awaiting what the US intelligence services expect to be an imminent ship-to-ship transfer, which will ultimately see its cargo end up in Syria, is politically embarrassing for almost everyone except Iran," said Richard Meade, managing editor of Lloyd's List Intelligence. View of the Iranian oil tanker, formerly named Grace 1, anchored off Gibraltar Credit: REX The oil delivery could undermine European efforts to broker US-Iran talks. The UK, which has been pulled in opposing directions by European and American allies, has been trying to keep a diplomatic track with Tehran despite rising tensions. President Donald Trump pulled the US out of the nuclear deal with Tehran last year, leaving EU signatories scrambling to keep it alive. An Iranian government spokesman said on Tuesday it will "take a strong step" away from its 2015 nuclear accord if Europe cannot offer the country new terms by a deadline at the end of this week, as top Iranian diplomats travelled to France and Russia for last-minute talks. Should the Adrian offload as expected, it will raise questions as to whether the Islamic republic is acting in good faith.
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| 7 fatally shot, 34 wounded in Chicago during Labor Day weekend gun violence Posted: 03 Sep 2019 01:11 PM PDT  Gun violence over the Labor Day weekend has left seven people dead and another 34 wounded in Chicago.
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| Ramaphosa says South Africa must stop attacks on foreigners, nearly 300 arrested Posted: 04 Sep 2019 04:16 AM PDT  South African President Cyril Ramaphosa told officials and business leaders on Wednesday that he was committed to quelling attacks on foreigners that have threatened to cast a cloud over an economic forum aimed at boosting intra-African trade. Police have arrested almost 300 people and confirmed at least five deaths after riots in Johannesburg and the capital Pretoria in recent days, when roving groups attacked shops mainly owned by migrants from the rest of Africa. The unrest has kindled memories of previous deadly attacks on foreigners and strained diplomatic relations with Africa's other economic powerhouse Nigeria.
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| Japan briefs diplomats on Fukushima nuclear water concerns Posted: 04 Sep 2019 02:31 AM PDT  Japan tried to reassure foreign diplomats Wednesday about safety at the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant amid concerns about massive amounts of treated but radioactive water stored in tanks. Diplomats from 22 countries and regions attended a briefing at the Foreign Ministry, where Japanese officials stressed the importance of combating rumors about safety at the plant, which was decimated by a 2011 earthquake and tsunami, while pledging transparency. The plant's operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co., or TEPCO, said last month that it would run out of storage space for the water in 2022, prompting South Korea to raise safety questions amid tensions with Japan that have intensified over trade and history.
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| San Francisco Labels NRA a ‘Domestic Terrorism Organization’ Posted: 04 Sep 2019 08:24 AM PDT  The San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed a resolution on Tuesday declaring the National Rifle Association a "domestic terrorism organization" due to its opposition to more stringent gun-control legislation.The resolution accuses the NRA of not only resisting legislative reforms that its drafters believe would help curtail the country's "epidemic of gun violence," but also of "incit[ing] gun owners to acts of violence.""All countries have violent and hateful people, but only in America do we give them ready access to assault weapons and large-capacity magazines thanks, in large part, to the National Rifle Association's influence," the resolution says.The resolution also declares the Board's intent to "limit those entities who do business with the City and County of San Francisco from doing business with this domestic terrorist organization." It was drafted following a shooting at the Gilroy Garlic Festival last month that resulted in the deaths of three people, according to local Fox affiliate KTVU.The NRA responded to the provocation by accusing the Board of seeking to distract from the city's shortcomings."This ludicrous stunt by the Board of Supervisors is an effort to distract from the real problems facing San Francisco, such as rampant homelessness, drug abuse and skyrocketing petty crime, to name a few," the statement said, according to KTVU. "The NRA will continue working to protect the constitutional rights of all freedom-loving Americans."The partisan battle over gun control has escalated in recent weeks due to mass shootings in El Paso, Texas, Dayton, Ohio and, most recently, Odessa and Midland, Texas.Congressional Democrats and their colleagues seeking the presidency continue to demand universal-background-check legislation. Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell, meanwhile, remains hesitant to endorse any specific legislation but said Tuesday that he would be eager to support any reforms backed by the White House.
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| Hurricane Dorian: ‘Apocalyptic’ devastation in Bahamas as deadly storm bears down on US Posted: 04 Sep 2019 05:43 AM PDT  Hurricane Dorian left "apocalyptic" devastation in its wake as it swept across the Bahamas.Thousands of homes were destroyed or damaged, hospitals crippled and a number of people remained stranded on rooftops awaiting rescue after it the small island nation was hit by the most powerful recorded storm in its history.
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| Pope makes strategic visit to Mozambique after peace deal Posted: 04 Sep 2019 10:16 AM PDT  Pope Francis is opening a three-nation pilgrimage to southern Africa with a strategic visit to Mozambique, just weeks after the country's ruling party and armed opposition signed a new peace deal and weeks before national elections. Thirty years after St. John Paul II begged Mozambicans to end their civil war, Francis is expected to endorse the new Aug. 1 accord and urge its full implementation when he meets with government authorities on Thursday, his first full day in the region.
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| MPs strike new blow to PM Johnson's Brexit plan Posted: 04 Sep 2019 09:52 AM PDT  British lawmakers inflicted a fresh defeat on Prime Minister Boris Johnson's Brexit strategy on Wednesday, approving in principle a law that could stop him taking Britain out of the European Union without a deal next month. The House of Commons voted by 329 to 300 in favour of a draft bill that could delay Brexit for three months, although it still must pass further stages to become law. Johnson had earlier warned he would call an early election on October 15 if the legislation went ahead, insisting Britain must leave the EU as planned on October 31, with or without a divorce deal with Brussels.
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| Santa Cruz students, teacher from Fremont among victims of boat fire off SoCal coast Posted: 03 Sep 2019 11:28 PM PDT  We are starting to learn more about some of the victims from Northern California from the dive boat fire in Southern California near Santa Cruz Island.
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| ‘Hundreds of People’ Could Be Named in Epstein-Related Documents: Lawyer Posted: 04 Sep 2019 08:21 AM PDT  REUTERS"Hundreds of people" could be named in sealed documents in a lawsuit by one of Jeffrey Epstein's accusers against the disgraced financier's alleged madam, Ghislaine Maxwell, lawyers said in court Wednesday.Maxwell's lawyer, Jeffrey Paglica, revealed to U.S. District Judge Loretta Preska that "hundreds of other people" might be implicated if the new documents were unsealed without proper vetting. The filings pertaining to the 2015 federal defamation case between Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre and the British socialite. In the suit, Giuffre accused Maxwell of procuring young girls for sexual abuse by Epstein and his powerful friends and says Maxwell recruited her when she was 16 years old and working at Mar-a-Lago. (The two sides settled in 2017 and Maxwell denied all allegations.) "There are hundreds of other people implicated," Paglica said on Wednesday, adding the docket in the case contains "over 900 filings" and includes an address book with "about 1,000 names."Epstein Victim Says He Forced Her to Marry Female RecruiterPreska was set to rule Wednesday on whether to unseal the new documents from the civil case, but both parties admitted they had not come into court with an agreement on how to screen them. The 45-minute hearing concluded after Preska asked both parties to come up with a tentative plan in two weeks to create a system to categorize the thousands of pages of documents. While it is not immediately clear who could be named in the documents, Paglica stated the filings include information about Epstein's alleged victims and his friends. The materials also includes video depositions of 29 people, he said. "In these 29 depositions there are dozens if not hundreds of names of other people," said Jeffrey Pagliuca, an attorney for Maxwell. "There are hundreds of pages of investigative reports that mention hundreds of people."The hearing came one day after an anonymous man urged Preska not to release his name and the identities of others accused or named in the documents—claiming the exposure may tarnish their reputations. Last month, a federal apparels court unsealed more than 2,000 pages of documents related to the defamation case, which included accusations against political leaders and celebrities. (The men named in those documents have not been charged with a crime and all denied the allegations.)"[John] Doe is not, and has never been, a party of any judicial proceeding involving Ghislaine Maxwell or Virginia Giuffre, or in any proceeding relating to Giuffre's allegation that Jeffrey Epstein sexually abused her," the letter states, adding that the anonymous client does not have any knowledge about the allegations against Epstein. The man's lawyers, who were in court Wednesday, warned in their letter that a media frenzy could follow if the names were released. The documents, they claim, could detail a "range of allegations of sexual acts" between Giuffre and friends of Epstein's, "some famous, some not" and reveal "the identities of non-parties who either allegedly engaged in sexual acts with [Giuffre] or who allegedly facilitated such acts."Doe's lawyers attended the hearing along with an attorney for Harvard Law professor Alan Dershowitz and legal counsel for the Miami Herald. The Herald and others had asked a federal judge to release all sealed or redacted documents in Giuffre's case.Giuffre has long claimed that Epstein kept her as his underage "sex slave" and loaned her out to his famous friends, including Dershowitz. Dershowitz has denied the allegations and some of the recently unsealed documents seem to show inconsistencies in Giuffre's claims against him.Andrew Celli, his lawyer, told the court Wednesday Dershowitz believes there "should be maximum disclosure at maximum speed" and wants all documents to be unsealed. "I don't care," Judge Preska replied, earning laughter in the court. Epstein, 66, was found dead by suicide in his jail cell at Manhattan Correction Center last month. The sex offender was awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges for allegedly abusing dozens of underage girls over two decades. Prosecutors have said they are planning to continue to investigate his alleged co-conspirators, including Maxwell. Read more at The Daily Beast.Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast hereGet our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
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| Texas shooter bought gun in private sale, after ban due to mental illness: ABC Posted: 03 Sep 2019 05:08 PM PDT  After the calls, Ator opened fire on civilians and police officers in a roving series of shootings, at one point hijacking a U.S. Postal Service truck before dying in an exchange of gunfire with law enforcement, police said. Ator bought the assault-style rifle through a private sale after being prohibited by federal law from possessing a firearm because he had been diagnosed with a mental illness by a clinician, ABC news reported, citing federal and local law enforcement. Private firearm sellers are not required to run background checks on potential buyers, but they are not allowed to sell a weapon to a person who has been flagged by law enforcement under federal law.
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| South Korean police say 7 Brazilian women were lured into prostitution with the promise of K-pop stardom Posted: 04 Sep 2019 08:38 AM PDT  The women were rescued after one of them managed to call the Brazilian Embassy in South Korea last month.
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| Hurricane Dorian: Millions ordered to evacuate as storm bears down on US Posted: 03 Sep 2019 10:30 AM PDT  Millions of Americans have been ordered to evacuate their homes after Hurricane Dorian – having relentlessly battered the Bahamas for days, leaving at least five fatalities and dozens of injuries in its wake – picked up speed and size and started bearing down on the southeastern coastline.Officials in the Bahamas said at last 13,000 homes had been destroyed by massive flooding and powerful winds that blasted the nation with a force not matched since 1935. Hubert Minnis, the prime minister, urged Bahamians to show love to come through the ordeal suffered by their country, while aerial video recorded over the Bahamas' Great Abaco Island showed mile upon mile of flooded neighbourhoods and smashed buildings.
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| Chicago Mayor Lashes Out at Ted Cruz over Gun-Control Comments: ‘Keep Our Name Out of Your Mouth’ Posted: 03 Sep 2019 08:57 AM PDT  Chicago mayor Lori Lightfoot lashed out at Senator Ted Cruz Tuesday in response to Cruz's suggestion that her city's decades-long struggle with gun violence proves the futility of stringent gun-control legislation.Lightfoot told Cruz to "keep our name out of your mouth" after the Texas Republican pointed out that Chicago's gun-control regime, one of the strictest in the country, failed to prevent a series of deadly shootings over the weekend.> Gun control doesn't work. Look at Chicago. Disarming law-abiding citizens isn't the answer. Stopping violent criminals—prosecuting & getting them off the street—BEFORE they commit more violent crimes is the most effective way to reduce murder rates. Let's protect our citizens. https://t.co/znHO31gDH2> > -- Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) September 2, 2019In response, Lightfoot noted that the majority of illegal guns recovered in the city can be traced to surrounding, Republican-controlled states, which lack stringent gun-control measures.> When @tedcruz and the @gop dismiss common sense gun policies, they disrespect victims and their families, who deserve to live without pain and fear.> > -- Lori Lightfoot (@LightfootForChi) September 3, 2019The confrontation comes amid a flurry of mass shootings that have resulted in heightened partisan debates over the merits of various gun-control proposals.Democratic presidential aspirant Beto O'Rourke reiterated his support for a federal AR-15-purchasing program in which tens of thousands of Americans would voluntarily turn in their weapons, and those who refused would be subject to criminal prosecution."I want to be really clear that that's exactly what we are going to do," the former Texas congressman said when asked to respond to voters concerned about being forcibly disarmed by the government. "Americans who own AR-15s, AK-47s, will have to sell them to the government."Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday that he would bring to the floor any gun-control legislation that was supported by the White House.The administration "is in the process of studying what they're prepared to support, if anything," McConnell told radio host Hugh Hewitt. "I expect to get an answer to that next week. If the president is in favor of a number of things that he has discussed openly and publicly and I know that if we pass it, it will become law, I'll put it on the floor."
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| Brexit Rips Conservative Party Apart as Johnson Expels 21 Rebels Posted: 04 Sep 2019 04:49 AM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- Just two months ago Rory Stewart was a cabinet minister and a contender for leader of the Conservative Party.On Tuesday night he was being presented with GQ magazine's politician of the year award when he received a text message saying he'd been expelled from the party. His crime was to defy Prime Minister Boris Johnson and vote in the House of Commons to try to block a no-deal Brexit."It feels a little bit like something one associates with other countries," Stewart told the BBC on Wednesday. "This is a passing phase in the history of the Conservative Party," he added hopefully.But far from being a passing phase, the purge -- in which 21 MPs were stripped of the party whip -- is the latest chapter in a civil war over Europe that has dominated the party for decades. When David Cameron became party leader in 2006, he warned that voters were deterred by Tories "banging on about Europe." Now membership of the party -- in Parliament at least -- is defined by it.Stewart was summarily dismissed, alongside two former chancellors of the exchequer, Kenneth Clarke and Philip Hammond, and Winston Churchill's grandson, Nicholas Soames in the biggest purge over Europe since the 1990s. Most of the rebels back Brexit in principle, but won't allow Johnson to leave without a deal.They voted for Theresa May's Brexit deal with the EU and watched as Brexiteer rebels wrecked that agreement by refusing to back it in Parliament. Now many of those anti-EU rebels sit in the cabinet and the lawmakers opposed to a no-deal divorce have been thrown out."What's different here is that the caliber of MPs who have lost the whip is in stark contrast to the caliber who lost it in rebellions over Europe in the 1990s," said Tim Bale, professor of politics at Queen Mary University of London, referring to John Major's action against rebels over their opposition to the Maastricht Treaty. "There are some very, very big beasts who have lost the whip."Ruth Davidson, who was credited with reviving the party's fortunes in Scotland before her resignation last week, tweeted her support for ensuring that the party remains a broad church. A campaigner for Remain in the EU referendum, her success north of the border was in part because she appealed beyond traditional Tory voters.And Clarke, who served in Margaret Thatcher's cabinet and as chancellor under Major, said he doesn't know if he can bring himself to even vote for the party under its current leader."I have to decide whether to vote Conservative if Boris Johnson is still the leader. That's my next problem," Clarke said in a TV interview on Tuesday night. "I am a Conservative, of course I am. But this leader, I don't recognize this. It's the Brexit Party, re-badged."Arch-Brexiter Jacob Rees-Mogg outraged MPs by lolling on the front bench of the House of Commons during Tuesday's debate and accusing MPs of "arrogance" for trying to block a no-deal Brexit.On Twitter, Labour MP Anna Turley called him, "The physical embodiment of arrogance, entitlement, disrespect and contempt for our Parliament." Earlier in the day Phillip Lee defected from the Tories to the Liberal Democrats, citing Rees-Mogg's attitude as one of his reasons.Bale said the latest explosion of divisions in the party doesn't necessarily mean it faces terminal decline."Ninety-five percent of Tory MPs voted with the government last night, so this is not the Tory party split down the middle," Bale said. "The Tory Party is the world's oldest and most successful political party, it will dust itself off and start again as it has done several times over the centuries."(Updates with Rees-Mogg starting in 11th paragraph.)To contact the reporter on this story: Kitty Donaldson in London at kdonaldson1@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Flavia Krause-Jackson at fjackson@bloomberg.net, Thomas Penny, Andrew AtkinsonFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| 'My Heart Aches.' Simone Biles Addresses Charges Her Brother Killed 3 People Posted: 03 Sep 2019 06:29 AM PDT  Simone Biles addressed her brother's murder charges in a short statement, saying her "heart aches for everyone involved."
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| View Photos of the 2020 Nissan Juke Posted: 03 Sep 2019 10:56 AM PDT |
| CORRECTED-UPDATE 6-Investigation begins into California boat fire as grim search goes on for bodies Posted: 03 Sep 2019 07:55 AM PDT ![CORRECTED-UPDATE 6-Investigation begins into California boat fire as grim search goes on for bodies]( "CORRECTED-UPDATE 6-Investigation begins into California boat fire as grim search goes on for bodies") A team of federal investigators on Tuesday promised an exhaustive probe into a fire that killed all 34 passengers on a dive boat, many of whose charred bodies were believed trapped in the sunken wreckage off the California coast. After recovering 20 bodies from the 75-foot (23-meter) Conception or from the waters where the dive ship quickly sank off Santa Cruz Island, officials said they believed none of the 14 victims initially classified as missing had survived the fast-moving flames. "There were several other victims that were seen by the divers - between four and six - that are still between the wreckage, but due to the position of the boat they were unable to be recovered before nightfall," Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown told a news conference.
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| Customer pulls gun on Popeyes employees over chicken sandwiches, police say Posted: 03 Sep 2019 07:24 AM PDT  Police in Houston say a man pulled a gun on employees at a Popeyes restaurant after they ran out of their popular chicken sandwiches.
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| Almost 3,000 flights have been cancelled and 5 airports are closing as Hurricane Dorian slowly inches towards the US coast Posted: 03 Sep 2019 04:55 AM PDT  Airlines including American and United have issued travel waivers for those whose flights are affected by Hurricane Dorian.
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| Storming Back to the Impeachment Charade Posted: 04 Sep 2019 02:30 AM PDT  Elections have consequences. This was a point we tried to make many times in the run-up to the 2018 midterm elections. The Democrats won control of the House fair and square. That means they get to drive the agenda.Their agenda, kinda sorta, is the impeachment of President Trump -- which is to say, the quixotic quest to build political support for it. According to the Washington Post, that effort is about to sink deeper into farce: Hearings on Stormy Daniels and the hush-money payments to conceal trysts that Donald Trump had -- allegedly, of course -- a decade before he ran for president.Such a quest is a two-edged sword, though. If this is how the Democrats choose to spend the public's time and money, they must be accountable for it. They must be pressured to demonstrate the courage of their anti-Trump convictions. So far, for all the bluster, they've gotten away with cowardice.Most of the impeachment quasi-action is in the Judiciary Committee, chaired by Representative Jerrold Nadler (D., N.Y.). We have to qualify the word "action" because, while Nadler claims to be conducting an impeachment inquiry, his committee has never actually voted to have one.This reflects the political needle Democrats cannot thread.Their control of the House hinges on 41 seats that, after the 2018 victory, they hold in Trump-friendly districts. Constituents in those districts do not want Trump impeached. Even most of those opposed to Trump take the sensible position that he should be opposed at the ballot box, and the country spared a rabidly partisan, substantively scant, and inevitably futile removal effort. And because, unlike in 2018, the president will be on the ballot in 2020, the pro-Trump voters will be out in force. An unpopular impeachment push could spell electoral doom.Yet, also because Trump will be on the ballot, the hard-left progressives are making their influence felt. They are the Democratic party's energetic base, and they punch way above their weight in presidential-primary season. And they want Trump impeached, yesterday, irrespective of whether he can be removed (a prospect made impossible by the constitutional requirement of a two-thirds majority favoring removal in the Senate, now controlled by the GOP). The base knows Democrats have the numbers to get impeachment done in the House, and its members are ballistic that it hasn't been done yet.So ballistic that the 72-year-old Nadler, an Upper West Side fixture who got to be a powerful committee chairman because he has been in Congress for 27 years, is facing a real primary challenge. So are a number of the old-line lefties. They are finding that years of governing, which requires compromise, have left them out of step with the AOC avant-garde -- such that Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the very model of a 20th-century left-wing Democrat, is now a "moderate."Nadler needs to push for impeachment, but Pelosi can't let him put the Trump-district Democrats on the spot. Hard votes could cost control of the House. Nadler is trying to thread the needle by pretending his committee has already established a formal impeachment inquiry, and is now simply following through with consideration of potential high crimes and misdemeanors. He hopes you won't notice that he left out a step: He has not actually called for an impeachment inquiry. Sure, he probably has the votes. But Pelosi does not want vulnerable Democrats put in the position of casting votes that Republicans and the president will hammer them over next year.Amid all this gamesmanship, an important point is easy to miss: This is only a problem because there is no objectively viable impeachment case against Trump.If Trump had committed some offense that a goodly portion of the country believed was impeachable, then the mere commencement of an impeachment inquiry would not pose a difficult vote for anyone. Virtually all Democrats (and probably more than a smattering of Republicans) would be for it. No person of good will would hold it against any lawmaker who voted in favor of calling for an examination of the relevant facts.But because there is no impeachment case, Democrats have to make one up.The hush-money payments are a perfect example. Omitted from the Post's coverage is a fundamental flaw: Even if it were clear-cut that Trump had committed a campaign-finance violation -- and it's not -- it would almost certainly not be an impeachable offense. Election-law violations are sufficiently trivial, relatively speaking, that the Justice Department often declines prosecution and allows them to be disposed of by administrative fine. As we have pointed out, this is what the Obama Justice Department did with 2008 Obama-campaign violations, which, in dollar terms, dwarf the money involved in the Trump situation.Then there is the fictional framing of the Michael Cohen case. It is claimed that Cohen, Trump's former lawyer and self-described "fixer," has gone to jail based on crimes in which he has implicated Trump. That's ridiculous.As his plea agreement with federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York (SDNY) shows, Cohen's prison sentence was driven by his guilty pleas to tax- and bank-fraud charges. Trump had nothing to do with those felonies. They involved over $1 million in fraud, and bank fraud carries a possible incarceration sentence of 30 years. If it were not for these serious crimes, Cohen would not have been prosecuted, much less imprisoned.The plea to two campaign-finance violations was an add-on. The charges were inconsequential as far as Cohen's criminal liability and prison exposure were concerned; they were valuable only to prosecutors, who appear to have been trying to make a case, regardless of how weak, on Trump. Usually, defendants want to avoid additional criminal convictions; here, Cohen readily agreed to plead guilty because being a potential accomplice witness against Trump increased the likelihood that prosecutors would argue for a lenient sentence.It was for naught, however. The SDNY closed the case without additional charges because treating the hush-money payments as campaign-finance crimes was, at best, overkill, and probably wrong as a matter of law.In a nutshell, there is nothing per se illegal about non-disclosure agreements, which are a staple of civil litigation. And as I've explained, there is profound legal debate over what constitutes an "in-kind" campaign contribution -- to the point that even the Federal Election Commission and the Justice Department have been at loggerheads. Even if we assume arguendo that the payments to Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal were unlawful as to Cohen and American Media Inc. (which paid McDougal), they were not necessarily illegal as to Trump. As the candidate, different campaign-finance rules applied to him; and he had reasons unrelated to the campaign (e.g., avoiding both damage to his marriage and family relationships and encouragement of similar lawsuits) to keep the matter quiet.Critics are quite right to observe, as our Jim Geraghty does, that everything relevant about the Stormy episode has already been, er, laid bare. Trump is Trump, and people have already made up their minds about this aspect of his character. That said, though, Democrats have the power, and the privilege that goes with it, to make an issue of the president's fitness for office. They have the right to call for an impeachment inquiry, and to spend their legislative time pursuing it.But they should have to do it in the light of day.Republicans should be using every means available to them, from procedural motions, floor and hearing speeches, and media outlets, to force Democrats to vote on convening an impeachment inquiry. Nadler, Pelosi, and House Democrats want to avoid the vote because they know impeachment is not what the country wants. They want to put an impeachment show on for their base without being accountable for an actual impeachment effort.Time to call out this sham for what it is.
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| Joshua Wong urges Taiwanese to show support for Hong Kong Posted: 03 Sep 2019 08:19 AM PDT  Hong Kong democracy activist Joshua Wong, a central figure in the territory's ongoing mass anti-Beijing protests, urged Taiwanese people on Tuesday to hold their own demonstrations as they face growing pressure from China. "We hope that before Communist China's National Day on Oct. 1, our friends in Taiwan can express their support for Hong Kong through street protests," Wong, 22, said at a news conference in Taipei.
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| Amazon crisis: Warring tribes unite against Bolsonaro plans to devastate Brazil’s rainforests for cash Posted: 03 Sep 2019 04:04 AM PDT  Indigenous communities living in Amazon's Xingu river basin are reportedly putting aside long-running ethnic conflicts to unite against Jair Bolsonaro's administration.Representatives of 14 indigenous groups and four riverside reserves in the basin met in the Kubenkokre village last week.
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| The Harvard student who was denied entry into the US after immigration officers reportedly questioned his religion arrived on campus just before classes started Posted: 03 Sep 2019 09:34 AM PDT  Customs and Border Protection finally granted the student admission to the US, but would not say why they denied entry in the first place.
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| Meghan McCain Clashes With ‘View’ Co-Hosts: ‘I’m Not Living Without Guns’ Posted: 03 Sep 2019 09:52 AM PDT  Returning for its 23rd season on Tuesday morning, The View started off right where it left off this summer: With conservative co-host Meghan McCain clashing with her colleagues on a hot-button social issue while grousing about being outnumbered by her liberal cohorts.Discussing this past weekend's mass shooting in Odessa that left at least seven people dead, the panel noted that the shooter had actually failed a federal background check but was able to purchase a firearm due to the gun-show loophole. This prompted the majority of the table—including former Fox News host Abby Huntsman—to lament the lack of action on behalf of the Republican-led Senate to address gun violence."If nothing is going to happen after Sandy Hook, I don't know what it's going to take," Huntsman sighed.Moments later, McCain weighed in as the "chick on the panel that spent most of her break shooting."Stating that there need to be more reporters in mainstream media on the "gun beat" because there are a lot of people on TV "talking about guns that clearly have never shot a gun," McCain complained about Democratic presidential hopeful Beto O'Rourke's proposal for a mandatory gun buyback."I will say this is a ground-level issue for me," she added. "If you're going to be a gun-grabber, you don't get my vote, period. We got to have a different conversation."Liberal co-host Joy Behar—a regular sparring partner of McCain's—pointed out that there have been gun restrictions passed by previous Democratic administrations, specifically noting that the Clinton White House passed an assault-weapons ban."The AR-15 is by far the most popular gun in America, by far," McCain declared. "I was just in the middle of Wyoming, if you're talking about taking people's guns from them, there's going to be a lot of violence.""But they lived without them for many years during the ban," Behar retorted."I'm not living without guns," McCain exclaimed. "It's just that simple!"Hostin, meanwhile, asked if she could live without assault weapons, causing McCain to reiterate that the AR-15 was very popular before complaining that she was being "virtue signaled."Huntsman, however, responded to her close friend, wondering if they could live in an America where you could "walk in a mall and not be nervous that someone is going to pull out a shotgun."McCain asserted that she felt safe because she could protect herself because "I have guns at my house" before stopping herself short as she felt the audience wasn't with her."All right, welcome back," she sarcastically muttered, sipping from her coffee mug.As the segment came to a close, McCain would pipe up once again about O'Rourke's gun buyback proposal, insisting that her guns are "not for sale."Read more at The Daily Beast.Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast hereGet our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
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| Texas to execute man convicted of murdering elderly woman and her daughter in 2003 Posted: 04 Sep 2019 04:06 AM PDT ![Texas to execute man convicted of murdering elderly woman and her daughter in 2003]( "Texas to execute man convicted of murdering elderly woman and her daughter in 2003") Billy Crutsinger, 64, was sentenced to death by a jury in 2003 after being convicted of the murders of 89-year-old Pearl Magouirk and her 71-year-old daughter, Patricia Syren, earlier that year. Crutsinger was accused of entering the women's Fort Worth home on April 6, 2003, and stabbing them multiple times and slitting their throats. Detectives later arrested Crutsinger in Galveston, where he had used Syren's credit card in several bars, court documents showed.
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| Yemen quagmire showcases hazards of Saudi power play Posted: 03 Sep 2019 07:13 PM PDT  Saudi Arabia is confronting the perils of its combative foreign policy as it slides further into a military quagmire in Yemen, one of a series of strategic missteps under the ambitious crown prince, analysts say. The Sunni kingdom, locked in a battle for regional supremacy with Shiite power Iran, has adopted an interventionist –- and at times belligerent -- policy under 34-year-old Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the young heir to the Saudi throne. "The Saudi foreign policy pattern is to 'shoot first and ask questions later'," Bessma Momani, a professor at Canada's University of Waterloo, told AFP.
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| Hurricane Dorian: 'Catastrophic' damage in Bahamas leaves 60,000 needing drinking water Posted: 03 Sep 2019 11:17 AM PDT  Hurricane Dorian began lashing parts of Florida on Tuesday after carving a slow path across the Atlantic Ocean that claimed seven lives and caused "catastrophic" damage to the Bahamas. The storm whipped up gusts of 110 miles per hour as it tracked the US coastline and moved north at 6 miles per hour about 110 miles east of Cape Canaveral, the National Hurricane Center said. While Dorian was downgraded to a Category 2 storm on Tuesday, forecasters warned the system had grown in size and that its devastating hurricane-force winds extended 60 miles from the centre. "Even though the storm's category has changed, Dorian is still expected to bring life-threatening storm-surge, heavy wind and rain," said Carlos Castillo, a FEMA deputy administrator. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said he was grateful Florida was poised to dodge the worst of the storm, when a week ago it looked like a potential catastrophe for the southeastern state. The storm instead proved devastating for the Bahamas, where it was confirmed that seven people had died and more than 60,000 are expected to need drinking water in the coming days and weeks. A palm tree bends in the wind next to a flooded street after the effects of Hurricane Dorian arrived in Nassau,Bahamas Credit: REUTERS/John Marc Nutt On Grand Bahama island and the Abaco islands, among the worst affected, more than 13,000 homes were severely damaged or destroyed – some 45 per cent of the total. Gusts of up to 220mph earlier had ripped the roofs off houses while the torrential rain saw water sweeping through the streets, forcing some to seek shelter in the attic. Satellite images suggested that vast swathes of the islands were still under water. As much as 35 inches of water was estimated to have been dumped on the Bahamas. Reports of locals trapped in their homes with small children and radio stations being bombarded with distress calls about missing loved ones have begun to surface. Julia Aylen wades through waist deep water carrying her pet dog as she is rescued from her flooded home during Hurricane Dorian in Freeport, Bahamas Credit: AP Photo/Tim Aylen "We are in the midst of a historic tragedy", said Bahamas Prime Minister Hubert Minnis. "The devastation is unprecedented and extensive." Forecasts of Dorian's trajectory suggest that its centre will now not move onto the US mainland but instead track the coastline north before turning east. However experts warned that the hurricane's course could change at any moment and said it will still cause life-changing storm surges and flooding to America's eastern coastal regions. A screen grab from a handout video made available by NASA taken from the International Space Station (ISS) showing Hurricane Dorian Credit: NASA HANDOUT/EPA-EFE/REX More than two million people in Florida, Georgia and South Carolina have been urged to evacuate. The hurricane was approaching the Florida coast on Tuesday afternoon. Dorian had become practically stationary after hitting the Bahamas on Sunday – a rarity for major hurricanes – but on Monday was moving slowly northwest at around 2mph, the equivalent of walking pace. It has meant that the Bahamas, and in particular Grand Bahama and the Abaco islands, have endured the brunt of the storm's ferocity. Grand Bahama island seen from above before the hurricane hit Matthew Cochrane, a Red Cross spokesman, estimated that more than 60,000 people on the islands will need access to clean drinking water. "What we are hearing lends credence to the fact that this has been a catastrophic storm and a catastrophic impact," Mr Cochrane said. A text message seen by AFP from a woman named Kendra Williams, who lives on Grand Bahama, offered a glimpse of the panic the hurricane had caused among locals. Grand Bahama island, taken midday Monday from the ICEYE-X2 satellite after Dorian hit Credit: ICEYE Satellite photo It read: "We are under water; we are up in the ceiling. Can someone please assist us or send some help. Please. Me and my six grandchildren and my son, we are in the ceiling." Yasmin Rigby, a resident of Grand Bahama's main city Freeport, said locals had been gripped by fear as winds tore off shutters and water begun to pout into people's homes. "People who thought they were safe are now calling for help," Ms Rigby told AFP. "My best friend's husband is stuck in the roof of their house with seven feet [of] water below." A handout photo made available by NASA shows an image of Hurricane Dorian's eye taken by NASA astronaut Nick Hague Credit: NASA HANDOUT/EPA-EFE/REX One radio station said it got more than 2,000 distress messages, including reports of a 5-month-old baby stranded on a roof and a woman with six grandchildren who cut a hole in a roof to escape rising floodwaters. Rescue efforts were hampered by the fact that the Grand Bahama airport was under 6 feet (2 meters) of water. The island's main hospital was also rendered unusable due to flooding. The US Coast Guard airlifted at least 21 people injured on Abaco Island. Bahamas officials said they expected the death toll to rise. A woman takes a picture as the effects of Hurricane Dorian begin to be felt on Monday in Cocoa Beach, Florida Credit: Scott Olson/Getty Images North America Britain has joined the rescue effort, with the Department of International Development sending three humanitarian experts to the Bahamas. UK government officials also said the RFA Mounts Bay was ready to offer her assistance if requested by the Bahamas Government. The vessel carries water carriers, hygiene kits that include soap and sanitary items shelter kits for families that have been left homeless. It also has a helicopter able to help with reconnaissance. The Queen said in a statement that she and Prince Philip were "shocked and saddened" by the damage caused by the hurricane and expressed "sincere condolences" to those affected.
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| Death of the ‘Gay Gene’ Posted: 03 Sep 2019 02:30 AM PDT  A new study involving hundreds of thousands of participants finds that homosexual behavior is about one-third genetic — and that many genes are involved, each having only a tiny effect. It even manages to single out a few: "rs34730029," for example, increases the chance of having a same-sex experience by 0.4 percentage points. These genes might affect sex hormones and the sense of smell.This is a breakthrough, but it won't surprise anyone who's been paying attention to developments in genetics. The one-third estimate is consistent with earlier, simpler studies on twins. And while making some sense out of humanity's zillions of DNA bits is an impressive feat, countless previous studies have used these same methods to analyze other traits from schizophrenia to educational attainment -- always with the upshot that lots of genes, each with a small effect, were at work. If you're still captivated by the idea of a single, all-powerful "gay gene," or for that matter an all-powerful gene for any behavioral trait, please drop it.The more interesting questions are whether the causes of homosexuality have any political implications in this day and age, and whether it would make sense to try to stop research like this from happening.In covering the study, the New York Times summarized its critics' fears. To them, this is a Catch-22 where a result in either direction gives the bad guys — social conservatives — ammo:> One concern is that evidence that genes influence same-sex behavior could cause anti-gay activists to call for gene editing or embryo selection, even if that would be technically impossible. Another fear is that evidence that genes play only a partial role could embolden people who insist being gay is a choice and who advocate tactics like conversion therapy.One of these is a worry from the future, the other one increasingly consigned to the past, but both are worth discussing.The gene-selection dystopia is the bigger and scarier possibility, though I am not sure how many critics of homosexuality are also big fans of tinkering with human DNA. We can already create embryos in a tube, test their genes, and then implant the ones we like best. We already do it to prevent genetic diseases, in fact. But this just lets parents choose among a set of embryos they made; it doesn't let them create a "designer baby" in detail. For that you'd need gene-editing technology.Which also already exists, even if, practically speaking, it's too error-prone to be worth the risk. Yet there's no stopping its improvement: Even in the unlikely event that the U.S. banned gene-editing research, other countries (and rogue scientists) would proceed regardless.The same, of course, is true of research on which genes cause homosexuality. If these authors hadn't done this study, someone else would have soon enough, and the studies coming out 20 years from now will be even more extensive and precise, identifying far more of the specific genes at work. How would you possibly put an end to surveys and blood tests in an age when you can buy a DNA sequencer online?Gene-editing technology plus detailed knowledge about which genes affect which traits: You do the math. Eventually it will almost certainly be possible, and perhaps legal in some countries eager to attract a new kind of birth tourism, to edit an embryo for whatever reason you want, including reducing the chance your kid will be attracted to members of the same sex. How often gene-editing actually happens will be a function of the cost of such services, the risks, and humanity's desire for them at that point in time.I don't have any insightful observation to make or wonky policy to suggest here. I just don't think we're going to stop this over the long run, at least not completely, and I don't think this single study will carry much responsibility for it when it happens.So what about the more immediate concern, that the new study gives credibility to the idea that being gay is a "choice"?For starters, its findings aren't too relevant to that debate. The fact that homosexuality is only one-third genetic does not imply it's mostly a choice. There are numerous theories positing biological mechanisms besides genes — prenatal hormones, germs, etc. Other parts of the environment that we don't choose could also affect our sexuality. The study did find that occasional experimentation with same-sex partners, as opposed to a consistent preference for them, overlaps genetically with the personality trait of openness, but I don't think anyone doubted that was a choice to begin with.More to the point: Yes, it's true that whether homosexuality is a choice could have political relevance in a country trying to decide whether to ban it or discourage it. In theory, such policies will be more effective and less cruel when they regulate behaviors and tendencies that people can easily change.But at least among the Western audience most attuned to this research — which is based on British and American samples — that debate is more or less over. Here in the U.S., the Supreme Court requires state governments to actively recognize gay marriages, and a growing majority of the public supports such recognition. (For whatever it's worth, I am part of that majority.) Right now the legal action is on the question of when private businesses can be forced to participate in gay couples' wedding ceremonies.I don't see decades' worth of increasing acceptance of homosexuality disappearing just because this trait, like pretty much all human traits, is only partly genetic. And as for conversion therapy, frankly, while I've seen no evidence it works, if an adult wants to try to change his sexuality or learn not to act on it — hey, knock yourself out.Interestingly, one of the study's authors pitches his research as the opposite of a Catch-22 for the Left, a situation where both the environmental and the genetic component should somehow help to normalize homosexuality. "I hope that the science can be used to educate people a little bit more about how natural and normal same-sex behavior is," he told the NYT. "It's written into our genes and it's part of our environment. This is part of our species and it's part of who we are."Whatever you make of that as an argument, it's no coincidence that the study's authors are ready with spin like this for the press. One reason they did this research is that if they didn't, another, less careful team might have done it first, without all the consultations with LGBT activist groups that the paper touts to shield itself from the mob.Anyway. We are rapidly learning more about human nature and human variation, and the discoveries will only keep coming. Some of that knowledge will help us live longer and fight disease; some of it will make us more tolerant of people we don't understand; some of it could be used for evil purposes. And all of it, heaven help us, is too fascinating to ignore.
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| Attorney says video of woman slamming car into another woman doesn't show whole story Posted: 03 Sep 2019 06:54 PM PDT  A Fresno woman faces attempted murder charges stemming from a hit and run caught on camera in southwest Fresno.
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| The Latest: U of Illinois student charged after noose found Posted: 03 Sep 2019 01:21 PM PDT ![The Latest: U of Illinois student charged after noose found]( "The Latest: U of Illinois student charged after noose found") A University of Illinois student accused of leaving a noose in a residence hall elevator has been charged with a felony hate crime. Andrew Smith was also arraigned on misdemeanor disorderly conduct charges Tuesday. Champaign County Assistant State's Attorney Kristin Alferink said during the arraignment that the 19-year-old student from Normal found some rope in an elevator over the weekend and tied it into a noose.
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