| Wildfire smoke reaches the East Coast — while still smothering the Northwest Posted: 15 Sep 2020 01:06 PM PDT  For weeks, residents up and down the West Coast have been checking forecasts to find out when the suffocating, hazardous wildfire smoke will shift and allow them to once again open their doors and windows.
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| Police called to home of boy with toy gun in virtual class: 'I could have been burying my son today,' mom says Posted: 15 Sep 2020 12:47 PM PDT  A Black seventh grader from Colorado had the police called to his house because he was playing with a toy gun during virtual art class. His mom, Dani Elliott, believes that if anyone did anything wrong, it was the school.
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| ‘Democrat Voters Against Joe Biden’ Group Has Trump Fanatics, a Psychic, but No Actual Dems Posted: 16 Sep 2020 01:41 AM PDT  A new advocacy group ostensibly comprised of Democrats opposed to the election of Joe Biden appears to have the backing of few, if any, actual Democrats. Those involved, however, do include a Republican operative whose group illicitly funneled millions into political contests, a longtime Trump fan whose son works for the president's campaign, and a self-described celebrity psychic who's taught best practices for exorcisms. Democrat Voters Against Joe Biden is a project of an existing nonprofit advocacy group called Americans for Responsible Government, meaning it can engage in limited politicking and is not required to disclose its donors. Curiously, though it is not explicitly political, the group's online donation page includes disclaimer language required only of registered political committees advising donors that they can only donate $2,800 per election. No such donation limits exist for nonprofits.DVAJB set up a website in July and began running Facebook ads this month attacking Biden. The former vice president's "mental state is slipping and we can't let him become the most powerful man on Earth," one of the ads declares.As part of its anti-Biden efforts, DVAJB is soliciting video testimonials from Democrats who say they won't support Biden in November. So far, the group has posted just one video, from a man named Tracy in Phoenix, Arizona. Public records and social media postings reveal that his full name is Tracy Chavez, that his son is a field organizer for the Trump campaign, and that—per his son—he has been a Trump supporter since the 1980s.In Trump's Republican Convention Reality Show, 179,000 Dead Americans Barely Rate a CameoCrossover partisan appeal, or the appearance of it, is an asset that presidential campaigns and their supporters frequently seek. And DVAJB's formation comes as a pro-Biden counterpart, Republican Voters Against Trump, gathers and publishes its own video testimonials of GOP voters who say they won't back the president's re-election bid. DVAJB appears to have been created as an explicit answer to that group. Language on its website is copied nearly verbatim from the RVAT website, with some minor stylistic changes and Biden's name switched out for Trump's.But unlike RVAT, which is led by former aides to prominent Republicans such as Jeb Bush and John McCain, DVAJB doesn't appear to have much in the way of Democratic bona fides. One clue that few Democrats are involved is in the name. "Democrat" Voters Against Joe Biden eschews the adjective, "Democratic," that actual members of the party generally use. Another is the parent organization that runs it. Americans for Responsible Government is headed by Steve Nickolas, an Arizona bottled water businessman who's been involved in a handful of conservative political advocacy groups in recent years.In an interview on Tuesday, Nickolas acknowledged that his new initiative doesn't yet have much in the way of Biden-skeptical Democrats to promote. "We've only been live for a week and a half," he said. "We haven't really been overwhelmed with interest but we haven't really pushed it as much as we plan on doing."But Nickolas said the group hopes to begin gathering testimonials that it can then use to produce ads knocking the Democratic presidential nominee. He said he also hopes to recruit like-minded individuals from across the aisle to serve in leadership roles for the group. "We don't have Democrats right now serving in a board capacity," he said. "But we certainly will invite that type of input as soon as we possibly can."As for funding, Nickolas said he'll be relying largely on grassroots donations. One of his most prominent political projects, an advocacy group called Americans for Responsible Leadership, "had some support from the Koch Brothers, but this one is totally on our shoulders here in Scottsdale."Nickolas founded Americans for Responsible Leadership in 2011 along with a former chairman of the Arizona Republican Party. And it soon found itself at the center of a major campaign finance scandal. In 2013, ARL and an affiliated group paid a $1 million fine to California authorities to settle allegations that they illegally laundered $11 million in contributions to a political group in the state.Nickolas said his experience being targeted during that ordeal by Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA), Biden's running mate and at the time California's attorney general, has given him "a personal stake in this election." Harris, he said, "ran us through the wringer... Her tactics were appalling and I was very upset with how it was handled."In addition to his political endeavors, Nickolas runs a handful of businesses in Arizona, primarily in the bottled water space, but also a couple of companies that appear to do media consulting, according to documents he filed during bankruptcy proceedings in 2018. One of his companies, natural hand sanitizer manufacturer Think Smarter Products, also employs Alex Meluskey, who ran for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate in Arizona in 2016. Meluskey is also involved in running DVAJB; when The Daily Beast reached out to request an interview with Nickolas, Meluskey responded, from a DVAJB email address, to set it up.The Think Smarter Products website also lists its social media and marketing director as a young man named Chris Chavez, whose LinkedIn page says he previously worked for another Nickolas company called Raintree Media Group. Chavez is currently a field organizer for Trump Victory, a joint fundraising committee for the Trump campaign and the Republican National Committee. Chavez's father is the Tracy Chavez who is featured in DVAJB's sole testimonial video, in which he holds up a voter registration card showing his Democratic affiliation.Tracy Chavez may be a Democrat, though the date of his Democratic Party registration isn't clear from the video, but he's also a longtime Trump supporter, according to his son. "My dad supported him for president back in the 80s before he ever considered politics," the younger Chavez tweeted last year. The father and son duo were even pictured with Trump at a meet-and-greet in 2017 after the younger Chavez donated $3 to the RNC and won a chance to meet the president.Beyond Nickolas, Meluskey, and Tracy Chavez, the only other person associated with the DVAJB effort in public records is John Michael Capaldi. He's listed as a director of Americans for Responsible Government in corporate filings in Arizona, and he told The Daily Beast that he too is a Trump supporter, having voted for him in 2016 and with plans to do so again this year.Capaldi's past ventures are considerably more unorthodox than his foray into politics. He describes himself in his Instagram profile as an "internationally known celebrity psychic, life coach and stylist." A résumé posted to his LinkedIn page lists Capaldi as an employee of Nickolas's Raintree Media Group and says he's active in a number of philanthropic and cultural initiatives in Arizona. It also details his experience with the supernatural and the occult, noting his participation in a number of "ghost hunts" and his experience teaching classes including "Exorcisms Done Right." In an interview on Tuesday, Capaldi said he "stopped working in that world, and the reason I did is too many people are doing it and unless you have a TV show it's not fun."Capaldi said he met Nickolas about 15 years ago and leapt at the opportunity to get involved with DVAJB this year. "I left the Democratic party quite some time ago. I couldn't vote for [Biden] if I even tried," he said. In his circle of acquaintances in West Hollywood, Capaldi insisted, burgeoning Trump support is quiet but unmistakable. "I've met multiple Democrats who are ready to vote for Trump," he said. But he acknowledged the challenge of getting them to say so publicly, including in DVAJB's hoped-for testimonials. "There are Democrats who want to be known and there are Democrats who don't want to be known, and that's the problem."Capaldi's decidedly pro-Trump political leanings, and those of the others currently involved with the DVAJB effort, means it still has some work to do to claim to be a counterweight to Republican Voters Against Trump. That hasn't stopped the group from trying, with language that appears to explicitly mirror the RVAT website itself—including the way it bolded its website text. DVAJB's online donation portal says, with emphasis in the original, that its "goal is to get the unfiltered and authentic voices of anti-Biden/establishment voters who will spread the message across key swing states in hopes of keeping Biden away from the White House. This strategy is not new, but it has been tried and tested -- we know it works." RVAT's, meanwhile, says, also with original emphasis, that its "strategy is to take the messages of anti-Trump Republicans, authentic and unvarnished, directly to persuadable voters in key states. This strategy has been exhaustively tested for over two years -- we know that it works."Elsewhere, DVAJB's website says: "These are the stories of Democrats, former Democrats, liberals, and former Obama/Biden voters who will not be voting for Joe Biden on November 3rd." That's remarkably similar to the RVAT website, which says: "These are Republicans, former Republicans, conservatives, and former Trump voters who can't support Trump for president this fall."Tim Miller, RVAT's political director, brushed off the apparent copycat. "They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery but given that they have only recruited the 1 video of a purported Democrat for Trump, imitation feels a bit like an overstatement," he wrote.Asked whether the explicit imitation was intentional, Nickolas said, "Yes, it was," and left it at that.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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| Mysterious brain found wrapped in foil on Lake Michigan beach, police say Posted: 17 Sep 2020 06:40 AM PDT  "I popped it open and it looked like a chicken breast — kind of."
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| Deputy fired over Florida school massacre to get job back Posted: 16 Sep 2020 08:09 AM PDT  A Florida sheriff's deputy who was fired for his inaction during a school shooting that left 17 dead has been reinstated with back pay by an arbitrator who ruled that the sheriff missed a deadline for dismissing the deputy. An arbitrator ruled this week that Broward Sheriff Gregory Tony acted 13 days too late when he fired deputy Josh Stambaugh last year for his conduct during the February 2018 massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported. It is unknown exactly how much Stambaugh will receive in back pay, but he earned more than $150,000 in 2018, including overtime.
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| Hawaii to allow pre-travel testing program to travelers to avoid 14-day quarantine period Posted: 17 Sep 2020 07:33 AM PDT  Hawaii Gov. David Ige said on Wednesday the state's pre-travel testing program would give travelers the option of potentially avoiding a 14-day quarantine period on arrival to the state.
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| Massachusetts man puts up electric fence around Trump lawn sign after string of thefts Posted: 16 Sep 2020 07:55 PM PDT  "I'm defending my property and my right to free speech," he said. "This is about my right to free speech, period."
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| CDC: Almost all of the US kids and teens who've died from COVID-19 were Hispanic or Black Posted: 15 Sep 2020 02:42 PM PDT  Roughly 0.03% of coronavirus cases in kids and teens under 21 have been fatal so far in the US. Overwhelmingly, the deaths have been people of color.
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| Navalny team says nerve agent was found on hotel room water bottle Posted: 17 Sep 2020 12:25 AM PDT  The nerve agent used to poison Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was detected on an empty water bottle from his hotel room in the Siberian city of Tomsk, suggesting he was poisoned there and not at the airport as first thought, his team said on Thursday. Navalny fell violently ill on a flight in Russia last month and was airlifted to Berlin for treatment. Laboratories in Germany, France and Sweden have established he was poisoned by a Novichok nerve agent, a poison developed by the Soviet military, though Russia denies this and says it has seen no evidence.
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| Breonna Taylor: Louisville to pay family $12m over police shooting Posted: 15 Sep 2020 02:40 PM PDT  The health worker was fatally shot by police, leading to widespread protests against police violence.
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| ‘The Day of Reckoning Is Upon Us’: Graham Announces Comey Will Testify on Russia Probe While Mueller Refused Posted: 17 Sep 2020 07:48 AM PDT  Former FBI director James Comey has agreed to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee on September 30 regarding "Crossfire Hurricane," the counterintelligence investigation into whether President Trump's campaign colluded with Russia to influence the 2016 election, Senator Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.) announced Wednesday. "The day of reckoning is upon us when it comes to Crossfire Hurricane," said Graham, the Republican chairman of the Senate panel, in an appearance on Fox News."I appreciate Mr. Comey coming before the committee and he will be respectfully treated but asked hard questions. We are negotiating with [former Deputy FBI Director Andrew] McCabe; we are hoping to get him without a subpoena -- time will tell."Graham added that former special counsel Robert Mueller had declined a request to testify about his own investigation, saying he "doesn't have enough time." Ahead of Comey's testimony, the committee will likely interview two FBI employees who interviewed Russian analyst Igor Danchenko, the primary source for Christopher Steele's Trump dossier.Graham has been following up on an investigation by the Justice Department inspector general that found under Comey's leadership, the FBI had misled the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to get surveillance orders against former Trump aide Carter Page.The report said the FBI used the Steele dossier as justification to surveil Page, but did not disclose that during interviews with the FBI and Justice Department in January 2017 Danchenko had warned that Steele embellished parts of the dossier. Graham said he aims to uncover which FBI officials were told about Danchenko's statements during the interviews in which an FBI counterintelligence agent and a supervisory intelligence analyst took part. "Now who did the intel analyst and the case agent tell?" Graham said. "We're going to talk to them in the next week to 10 days."The case agent has been identified as Steven Somma, a veteran counterintelligence investigator in the FBI's New York Field Office, the Daily Caller reported. Somma, who was involved in several aspects of Crossfire Hurricane, was the first FBI investigator to suggest applying for a FISA warrant against Page.In May, Graham requested documents related to FBI supervisory intelligence analyst Brian Auten, though the FBI has declined to say whether he is the analyst mentioned in the IG report.
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| A survey of 11,000 Americans ages 18 to 39 has found a 'worrying lack of basic Holocaust knowledge' Posted: 16 Sep 2020 06:59 AM PDT  Twelve percent of respondents said they "definitely have not heard" or "don't think I've heard" of the Holocaust.
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| Hurricane Sally topples crane, wrecking huge piece of new Florida bridge, photos show Posted: 16 Sep 2020 12:56 PM PDT  "It's going to take a considerable amount of time to clean up from this."
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| ‘She paid the price’: ICE deports immigrant woman weeks after she alleges guards sexually assaulted her Posted: 16 Sep 2020 11:13 AM PDT  The immigrant woman was deported on Monday with little notice, her lawyer says
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| Two cranes collide at Austin construction site, sending at least 16 people to the hospital Posted: 16 Sep 2020 03:40 PM PDT  At least 22 people were injured after two cranes collided in Austin, Texas, Wednesday morning, medics said.
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| Singapore Airlines reportedly plans to offer sightseeing 'flights to nowhere' that take off and land at the same airport Posted: 15 Sep 2020 02:52 PM PDT  For those looking to take a sightseeing flight during your next stay-cation, Singapore Airlines will soon have you covered, according to a new report.
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| Bronze statue of Melania Trump unveiled in Slovenia Posted: 15 Sep 2020 10:43 AM PDT  A life-size rough bronze sculpture of U.S. first lady Melania Trump was unveiled near her hometown of Sevnica in southeastern Slovenia on Tuesday to replace a wooden figure which was set on fire in July. The wooden sculpture of Trump was torched on the night of July 4, as Americans celebrated U.S. Independence Day. Standing on a 2.8 metre-high wooden pillar, the new bronze statue has rough features and a face unrecognisable as the first lady.
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| $1M bail set for Lancaster police shooting demonstrators Posted: 15 Sep 2020 11:36 AM PDT  Thirteen people who are accused of committing crimes while participating in a civil disturbance in Lancaster on Sunday night sat behind bars Tuesday, with bail for seven of them set at $1 million. The eight for whom charging documents have been made public are accused of being instigators during demonstrations over the fatal police shooting of an armed man. Authorities said the protests degenerated into rioting that damaged Lancaster's police headquarters and produced an arson fire that blocked a downtown intersection.
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| Republicans tell the truth about Biden probe: “It would certainly help Donald Trump win re-election” Posted: 17 Sep 2020 02:00 AM PDT  Democrats compared the admission to Kevin McCarthy's 2015 boast that the Benghazi probe was aimed to hurt Clinton
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| Malaysian man 'finds' monkey selfies on lost phone Posted: 16 Sep 2020 02:51 AM PDT  Zackrydz Rodzi says he was stunned to find photos after tracing lost phone to nearby jungle.
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| These 18 hand sanitizers have been added to FDA’s Do Not Use List in the past 19 days Posted: 16 Sep 2020 05:21 AM PDT  As the FDA's Do Not Use List of hand sanitizers grew by 18 to 183 over the last 19 days, it conjured the scent of South Florida summer as much as aloe or alcohol.
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| University of Michigan student decries quarantine dorms: roaches, cold food, and dirty clothes Posted: 16 Sep 2020 07:57 AM PDT  University junior Sam Burnstein went viral after claiming that the school provided virtually "no supplies" to quarantining students.
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| Isis leader gave intelligence to the US leading to deaths of al Qaeda fighters, new documents show Posted: 17 Sep 2020 05:01 AM PDT  The current Isis leader gave intelligence to US forces leading to strikes on al-Qaeda, newly released files show. Documents released on Thursday suggest Muhammad Sa'id Abdal-Rahman al-Mawla gave information after his arrest in 2008 on dozens of fellow jihadists as well as the structure of al Qaeda in Mosul. He allegedly provided names for 68 al-Qaeda fighters including 19 from photographs. Three Tactical Interrogation Reports released by the Combating Terrorism Centre (CTC) allege al-Mawla, who at the time was an al-Qaeda judge, identified leading figures behind assassinations, kidnappings and the production of improved explosive devices, used to kill coalition forces. One jihadist was a Moroccan national called Abu Jasim Abu Qaswarah. Thought to be the second-in-command of al-Qaeda in Iraq at the time, he was killed by US forces eight months after al-Mawla named him as a member of the terrorist group.
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| 16 photos that show Hurricane Sally's historic floods, destruction along Gulf Coast Posted: 16 Sep 2020 11:31 AM PDT  Hurricane Sally dumped heavy rains and brought historic flooding to the Gulf Coast on Wednesday as it battered Alabama and Florida.
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| Mexico asks U.S. for answers about alleged migrant detention abuse Posted: 16 Sep 2020 08:10 PM PDT  Mexico said on Wednesday said it had formally requested a report from U.S. authorities regarding alleged negligent practices in U.S. immigration detention centers, citing accusations of sexual abuse and unauthorized hysterectomies. The request come after a complaint by a whistleblower nurse alleging that detainees in a Georgia immigration detention facility had improperly received hysterectomies and other gynecological procedures. The complaint did not specify the nationality of the affected detainees.
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| Minneapolis City Council Members Complain of Rising Crime Months after Trying to Defund Police Department Posted: 16 Sep 2020 09:07 AM PDT  Minneapolis City Council members complained of rising crime rates in the city and asked the city's police chief what he is doing about it during a Tuesday meeting on police reform, months after the council proposed dismantling the police department.Council members told police chief Medaria Arradondo that their constituents have reported seeing and hearing street racing which sometimes results in crashes, daylight carjackings, robberies, assaults and shootings, according to an MPR News report."Residents are asking, 'Where are the police'?" said newly elected council member Jamal Osman who has been swamped by resident complaints that calls for police are going unanswered."That is the only public safety option they have at the moment. MPD. They rely on MPD. And they are saying they are nowhere to be seen," Osman said.In the aftermath of the police killing of George Floyd, the City Council voted to remove the requirement to maintain a police department form the city charter — the first step in a longer process to change the charter. The council's proposal to dismantle the police department was set to be on the November ballot until the Minneapolis Charter Commission voted last month to take additional time in reviewing the plan.The council proposed replacing the police department with a Department of Community Safety and Violence Prevention which would provide a "holistic, public health-oriented approach," and a Division of Law Enforcement Services.While the council members floated the idea of ridding the city of its police department, the city has been plagued by months of higher-than-usual crime.Violent crimes such as assaults, robberies and homicides as well as property crimes like burglaries and auto thefts are up compared to 2019, according to MPD crime data reviewed by MPR. More people have been killed in the city in the first nine months of this year than all of last year.The police department has added more officers to patrol and investigative duties and cracked down on robberies, among other measures to fight the increase in crime, the police chief told the council.Council president Lisa Bender, who in June had said fear of dismantling the police department comes from "a place of privilege," accused officers of being defiant in the Tuesday meeting, saying her constituents have said officers have admitted that they're deliberately not arresting people who are committing crimes. "This is not new," Bender said. "But it is very concerning in the current context." Arradondo called the allegations "troubling to hear," and vowed to speak with commanders and the heads of each precinct. "We need to make sure that our communities know that we are going to be there," Arradondo said. "That we're going to be responsive. We've taken an oath to do that."Council members said officers have told residents that they are overworked and understaffed as around 100 officers have left the department or taken leave since the beginning of 2020 — more than double the usual number.The violence has not spared even areas of the city which are normally considered safe, leaving constituents feeling "terrorized."The department recently arrested two groups of teenagers that had been the source of crime in far south central Minneapolis, where recent carjackings and robberies of businesses have scared residents and business owners.Still, council member Phillipe Cunningham, who represents the 4th Ward, where a 17-year-old was fatally shot on Monday, doubled down on the council's approach to crime fighting and prevention, underscoring the importance, in his view, of instituting public health-based approaches to violence prevention. He supports the development of a new community safety agency to replace the police department and criticized some of his fellow council members for flip-flopping in light of the increase in crime."What I am sort of flabbergasted by right now is colleagues, who a very short time ago were calling for abolition, are now suggesting we should be putting more resources and funding into MPD," Cunningham said.The council recently divested more than $1 million from the police budget to pay for "violence interrupters" to intervene and defuse potentially violent confrontations."If we have these systems in place we are getting ahead of the violence," said Cunningham. "That's why I have advocated so strongly for the violence interrupters, because if they are interrupting the violence before the guns are being fired, then the MPD doesn't have to respond to that violence."
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| Why Joe Biden and rich Democrats should go big in Ohio: If they win it, Trump is history Posted: 16 Sep 2020 02:01 AM PDT  Ohio's count comes in fast and Biden has the right message. An election-night loss there would kill Trump's plan to declare victory no matter what.
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| A Chinese virologist claimed the coronavirus was 'intentionally' released. Turns out, she works for a group led by Steve Bannon. Posted: 17 Sep 2020 08:02 AM PDT  A strange paper claims China engineered and released the coronavirus. Its authors work for a group once led by the former Trump strategist Steve Bannon.
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| Divers in SE Asia may have found US submarine lost in WWII Posted: 15 Sep 2020 10:02 PM PDT  Divers have found what they believe is the wreck of a U.S. Navy submarine lost 77 years ago in Southeast Asia, providing a coda to a stirring but little-known tale from World War II. The divers have sent photos and other evidence from six dives they made from October 2019 to March this year to the United States Naval History and Heritage Command for verification that they have found the USS Grenadier, one of 52 American submarines lost during the conflict. The 1,475-ton, 307-foot long Grenadier was scuttled by its crew after bombs from a Japanese plane almost sent them to a watery grave.
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| Hundreds turned out for anti-mask protest in Utah, which is being mocked as 'a straight parody' on social media Posted: 15 Sep 2020 11:05 AM PDT  The demonstration gained national attention after a news report from Salt Lake City TV station KTVX-TV was shared on Twitter and TikTok this week.
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| EU diplomacy on Turkey runs aground ahead of summit, envoys say Posted: 17 Sep 2020 08:00 AM PDT  European Union diplomacy to resolve a dispute with Turkey in the Mediterranean has become bogged down in competing initiatives a week before a summit meant to show Ankara a united front, according to EU member state envoys. The impasse, which EU envoys were unable to break at a meeting on Wednesday, is holding up unrelated sanctions against Belarus and underscores the paralysis in foreign policy that the EU's chief executive berated publicly in a speech on Wednesday. "It's an extremely difficult issue," one senior member state diplomat said.
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| Why Trump’s Mideast Peace Deals Matter Posted: 17 Sep 2020 03:30 AM PDT  After Israel's resounding victory over the Egyptian, Jordanian, and Syrian armies in 1967, the Jewish state again offered the Arab world peace in exchange for recognition. And it was again rebuffed. Instead, the Arab League convened in Khartoum to formulate a consensus response that became known as "The 3 Noes" — no recognition, no negotiations, and no peace with Israel.Needless to say, this posture left little room for positive dialogue.Indeed, three years before Israel had ever attained its "occupied" territories in the West Bank, the Arab League had already created and funded the Palestine Liberation Organization, a nationalist terror group that would not only operate within Israel but develop the tactics that would subsequently be adopted by Islamists around the world.Arab states, including those in Gulf, would support and fund this violence against Jewish civilians for decades.Fast-forward to 2020. Earlier this month, the Palestinians, who had held veto power over Arab foreign policy for years, demand nothing less than a full condemnation of the Israel-UAE normalization. The Arab League gave them nothing.Instead, a couple of weeks later, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan of the United Arab Emirates, and Foreign Minister Abdullatif Al Zayani of Bahrain all came to Washington to sign the Abraham Accords, in which all three promised to "to take the necessary steps to prevent any terrorist or hostile activities against each other on or from their respective territories, as well as deny any support for such activities abroad or allowing such support on or from their respective territories."It takes only a rudimentary knowledge of modern Middle East history to comprehend the immense changes going on in the region -- and yet this seems lost on many contemporary journalists.There are likely a number of reasons that normalization deals between Israel and Arab nations haven't received the attention and praise they deserve. The first is the most obvious: Few in legacy media want to credit Donald Trump -- certainly not during a presidential campaign. Had Barack Obama facilitated a deal between Israel and any Arab nation, it would have dominated coverage. Rightly so.Even the stories written about the deal attempt to diminish the role of the Trump administration. The New York Times headline, for example, is "Israel, U.A.E and Bahrain Sign Accords, with an Eager Trump Hosting." Sunni nations and Israel have a number of geopolitical reasons to strengthen ties -- one of them the Obama administration's coddling of Iran. But it was Trump who seized on the opportunity, and for that he deserves at least as much credit as Jimmy Carter did for the Egypt–Israel peace deal or Bill Clinton did for the Israel–Jordan peace deal.Second, many reporters, think-tankers, and D.C. foreign-policy experts are all part of a hive mind in which the word "peace" means little more than the creation of Palestinian state and an embrace of Iran.And Washington's foreign-policy consensus has taken a body blow. In four years, Jared Kushner has done more to advance the cause of peace in the Middle East than the entire Brookings Institution foreign-policy team has in a lifetime.The John Kerrys of the world have long argued that wider peace would not be possible without acquiescing to the Palestinians first. They were wrong. After the Trump administration moved the American Embassy to the Israeli capital of Jerusalem, the same people warned that an eruption of violence would envelop the Middle East. They made the same claim after Trump assassinated Qasem Soleimani. Wrong. And wrong, again.The Abraham Accords also laid to rest the myth that Israel would find itself in "deepening international isolation" if it failed to heed Obama's efforts to create a Palestinian state. The Abraham Accords offer considerable economic benefits for all sides.Israel is already a major investment destination, and it now has economic ties to increasing numbers of prosperous Arab nations. A Dubai-based port operator has already reportedly partnered with an Israeli firm to bid on the largest shipping hub in Israel.The BDS movement and other economic boycotts of Israel are now little more than an anti-Semitic outlet for Western radicals.With economic ties come cultural ones, as the nations promise to "promote tourism cooperation" as well as "people-to-people" exchanges. For years, Arab nations have depicted Jews in the most nefarious ways. Yet, only two weeks after the announcement of Israel–United Arab Emirates, the latter is teaching and praising the peace initiative with the Jews. Its Islamic Studies textbook is teaching and praising the peace initiative with the Jews.Perhaps most important, the Abraham Accords may just be the beginning of the thawing. Trump says he expected Saudi Arabia -- the steward of Islam's holiest sites — to recognize Israel. "At least five or six" other countries may as well, Trump says. We'll have to see about that. But Saudi Arabia has announced that it will permit commercial flights from Israel to pass through its airspace. Bahrain would never have agreed to a deal with Israel without the Saudis' blessing. These deals only make more normalization possible.Though there are no guarantees in the Middle East, these peace deals also probably make an Israeli–Palestinian deal possible. Kushner approached Palestinian leadership to engage in these talks, and he was rebuffed. Mahmoud Abbas is waiting out Trump for a more friendly administration. It's probably too late.Since the early 1990s, every attempt to create a lasting agreement in the region has been bogged down by intractable Palestinian demands to make Jerusalem their capital and force Israel to accept the suicidal "Right of Return." These are non-starters. This isn't merely a Likud position; it is the position of every major party in Israel and, increasingly, a reality accepted in wider Arab world. The Abraham Accords, for example, pledge to deal with Palestinian issues in a manner that "meets the legitimate needs and aspirations of both peoples, and to advance comprehensive Middle East peace, stability and prosperity." Nowhere does it mention anything about handing over Jerusalem, a Right of Return, returning to 1967 lines, or even a Palestinian state.The decades of Middle East policy being conducted through the grievances of the PLO are likely over. Without obligatory backing from the Arab world, Palestinians may be forced to embrace reality, too. If not, they'll continue to be left behind.Some critics have pointed out that Israel has now struck deals with a number of authoritarian nations. Well, guess what, Hamas and Fatah are also authoritarians, and yet the Washington foreign-policy establishment want to give them their own state.Alas, there are the realities of the region. One hopes that Arab theocracies accelerate their liberalization, but right now it is Iran, and its proxies in Syria, Yemen, and Lebanon, that threaten peace. New alliances between Jews and Arabs, on the other hand, can only strengthen it.
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| Lindsey Graham neck-and-neck with Jaime Harrison, Susan Collins 12 points behind challenger in latest poll Posted: 16 Sep 2020 12:55 PM PDT  The good news keeps pouring in for Democrats looking to retake the Senate this fall.After a poll released earlier Wednesday put Democrat Mark Kelly 10 points over Sen. Martha McSally (R) in Arizona, a Quinnipiac University poll out Wednesday gave Sara Gideon a similar edge over Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine.). The poll also showed Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) tied with his Democratic challenger Jaime Harrison, mirroring other recent polls that show a tight race in the state.Collins is a moderate senator who's held her seat for more than 20 years. But her votes to approve Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh sparked anger from Democrats and a flood of outside donations for her opponent even before a challenger joined the race. Now, less than two months before Election Day, Gideon has a 12-point lead over the incumbent, the Quinnipiac poll shows. That's a big swing from 2014, when Collins won re-election with nearly 70 percent of the vote.In South Carolina, Graham is tied at 48 percent with former state Democratic party chair Harrison, per Quinnipiac. The last Quinnipiac poll also had them tied at 44 percent in early August. Still, things aren't looking quite as good for Amy McGrath, the former Marine fighter pilot challenging Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). McConnell got 49 percent support to McGrath's 45 percent support in the state, another Quinnipiac poll showed.From Sept. 10-14, Quinnipiac surveyed 1,183 likely voters in Maine with a 2.9-point margin of error. In Kentucky, it surveyed 1,164 likely voters with a 2.9 point margin of error. And in South Carolina, it surveyed 969 likely voters with a 3.2 point margin of error.More stories from theweek.com How a productivity phenomenon explains the unraveling of America How the Trump-Russia story was buried The conservatives who want to undo the Enlightenment
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| Apple is challenging Peloton in the race to dominate the future of fitness Posted: 16 Sep 2020 09:37 AM PDT  Apple Fitness Plus is a clear challenger to Peloton, and it's a big part of how Apple plans to sustain the Apple Watch's growth over the long term.
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| South Dakota AG was frequent traveler before fatal crash Posted: 15 Sep 2020 11:43 AM PDT  For South Dakota Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg spending Saturday driving hundreds of miles on the state's roads was not unusual. Ravnsborg has said that he thought he had hit a large animal while driving home to Pierre from a Republican fundraiser some 110 miles (180 kilometers) away in Redfield. Until then, Ravnsborg had made few waves as the state's top law enforcement officer, garnering a reputation as a quiet prosecutor, but a relentless campaigner who developed personal connections in the state's Republican Party.
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| Portland protesters burn Maga hats and guillotine giant teddy bear on eve of Trump convention Posted: 17 Sep 2020 01:46 AM PDT  More than 12 weeks on, and Portland's protests are only becoming more rancorous
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| Wilfred might form in the Gulf of Mexico soon. It’s the last name on the list Posted: 17 Sep 2020 04:24 AM PDT  If the system turns into Wilfred, it would be the 21st named storm.
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| Eyeing China, Pentagon plans larger, 'more lethal' navy Posted: 16 Sep 2020 02:36 PM PDT  Secretary of Defense Mark Esper announced Wednesday an ambitious plan to expand the US Navy with a range of unmanned and autonomous ships, submarines and aircraft to confront the growing maritime challenge from China.
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| Students devastated by loss of Boston University professor who was killed in elevator accident Posted: 16 Sep 2020 02:57 PM PDT  The accident remains under investigation while documents from the state show that the elevator was inspected each of the last four years.
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| Behind $12 million Breonna Taylor settlement, 'Black America's attorney general' Benjamin Crump Posted: 16 Sep 2020 03:10 AM PDT  Tamika Palmer's voice broke as she spoke about the city of Louisville, Kentucky's $12 million settlement and planned reforms after the killing of her daughter, Breonna Taylor, during a botched police raid. "As significant as today is, it's only the beginning of getting full justice for Breonna," Palmer said during a news conference on Tuesday. Standing right behind her was Benjamin Crump, an attorney nicknamed "Black America's attorney general" by civil rights activist Reverend Al Sharpton.
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| Kayleigh McEnany reveals there's finally a Trump healthcare plan — but the details are secret Posted: 16 Sep 2020 04:38 PM PDT  "If you want to know, come work here at the White House," McEnany tells CNN's Kaitlan Collins
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| Catholic Group Launches $9.7 Million Anti-Biden Campaign in Battleground States Posted: 15 Sep 2020 11:39 AM PDT  A Catholic group is launching a multi-million dollar effort to educate Catholic voters in key battleground states about Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden's "anti-Catholic record and policy agenda" ahead of the general election in November.CatholicVote, a national Catholic political advocacy group, on Tuesday announced the $9.7 million campaign to discourage Catholics from voting for Biden. The organization is producing an "in-depth report on Biden's record on issues Catholics care about," including a shortened "voter guide" version, that it plans to send to five million Catholic voters. The effort will also kick off with a $350,000 digital ad buy in the swing states of Pennsylvania and Michigan.The group's new effort, which involves full-time staff in six states and thousands of volunteers, will reach voters through digital advertising, parish-by-parish canvassing, direct mail, and "get out the vote" efforts in six states."Joe Biden's record makes clear he will not protect our Catholic values or defend our way of life. For Catholics who cherish the Faith and their freedom to live it, a Biden presidency represents an existential threat," said Brian Burch, president of CatholicVote."Catholics are less focused on Joe Biden's claims about his personal faith, and instead on what his policies would do to the culture, and their freedom to live out their own beliefs," Burch added.Biden, who frequently touts his Catholic faith on the campaign trail, invoked Pope St. John Paul II during a campaign speech in Pittsburgh late last month as he encouraged voters to remain hopeful about the country's future."The campaign for the presidency has come down to fear," Biden said. "But I believe Americans are stronger than that. I believe we'll be guided by the words of Pope John Paul II, words drawn from the scriptures: 'Be not afraid. Be not afraid.'""Fear never builds the future," the former vice president continued. "Hope does. And building the future is what America does."Despite Biden's willingness to talk about his Catholic faith as he campaigns for president, he remains staunchly in favor of legal abortion, in direct opposition to the teachings of the Catholic Church, which prohibits abortion.Biden's presidential platform includes working to codify Roe vs. Wade, the landmark 1973 Supreme Court case that legalized abortion nationwide, as well as making sure his Justice Department does "everything in its power to stop the rash of state laws that so blatantly violate" the case. Biden also supports repealing the Hyde Amendment, which prohibits federal funds from paying for abortions.CatholicVote's first ad for its anti-Biden campaign emphasizes Biden's pro-abortion stance and invites Catholic voters to learn more about the Democratic presidential candidate's record on abortion and support for it.
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| Nintendo and other iPhone app developers warn users not to update to iOS 14 or they could experience glitches Posted: 16 Sep 2020 07:14 AM PDT  Developers found out on Tuesday they had 24 hours to prepare their apps for iOS 14 when Tim Cook announced the update would launch the next day.
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