| Why Court-Packing? Posted: 12 Oct 2020 08:35 AM PDT  Why do Joe Biden and Kamala Harris refuse to give a straightforward yes or no answer when asked whether they intend to "pack the Court" and expand it to a number larger than the nine justices that have been on the Court for the past 150 years?Because a considerable portion of the Democratic Party wants to expand the Court beyond nine. In a recent YouGov survey, 47 percent of registered voters opposed expanding the size of the Supreme Court, 34 percent supported it, and 19 percent responded they didn't know how they felt. But self-identified Democrats were much more supportive: 60 percent wanted to expand the Court, 18 percent opposed the idea, and 22 percent didn't know.In late September, an ABC News/Washington Post poll found 54 percent of Americans oppose expanding the Court and 32 percent support the move. The survey found 45 percent of Democrats support expanding the size of the Court, while 39 percent oppose.Democrats want to pack the Supreme Court because they believe that, until Ruth Bader Ginsburg died, the Court often split, with a barely tolerable 5-4 majority in favor of conservatives or Republicans in most decisions. They fear that, with Amy Coney Barrett becoming a justice, the Court will split 6-3 in favor of conservatives or Republicans in most decisions.This thinking overlooks the fact that cases don't always shake out along the expected lines. Any Democrats who think the Court always breaks 5-4 in favor of what the GOP wants should ask a grassroots conservative about Chief Justice John Roberts and Obamacare, and then stand back and brace themselves for a likely volcanic reaction. Just in the past few years, Roberts joined with the Court's "liberals" to strike down a Louisiana abortion law, to bar the addition of a question about citizenship to the U.S. Census, and to block President Trump from immediately ending the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.Justice Neil Gorsuch joined Roberts -- and the liberal majority -- in authoring a sweeping ruling that employers could not legally discriminate against gay and transgender people. And Justice Brett Kavanaugh sided with the Court's liberals in a case about whether iPhone users can sue Apple over app-store prices and ordered a stay of execution for a Buddhist inmate in Texas over the state's policies about who can be in the room during the moment of death. Kavanaugh and Roberts joined the liberals in declining to review cases that sought to block Planned Parenthood from receiving Medicaid funding.Add it all up, and there are plenty of cases where the justices don't decide the way they're "supposed" to decide. A Supreme Court that is 6 to 3 in favor of conservatives on paper may not be 6-3 or even 5-4 in practice.But the average Democrat thinks that, with Barrett on the Court, a majority will overturn Roe v. Wade and open the door to bans on abortion and block a significant portion of a Biden administration agenda -- or, perhaps someday, a Harris administration agenda.The overturning of Roe v. Wade would leave the decisions about the legality of abortion at any point during pregnancy in the hands of state governments. Many states, such as New York and California, would likely quickly pass laws ensuring the legality of abortion. Some states, such as Arkansas and Kentucky, would probably ban it in all or almost all situations. And a lot of states would enact some restrictions, such as bans on partial-birth abortion or parental notification laws, and leave it legal in other situations.Pro-choice Democrats ought to see this as an opportunity. How many states would really want to enact sweeping restrictions once the Supreme Court gave them a green light? How many legislators and executives are pro-life in name only, and would flinch at the moment of decision? Ross Douthat, a pro-life columnist for the New York Times and contributor to NR, acknowledges that "the prospect of abortion bans might consolidate a true pro-choice majority, which would either codify Roe in legislation or else make liberal court-packing popular and usher in a few extra liberal justices with a mandate to affirm abortion rights."Biden himself declared that if Roe v. Wade is overturned, "the only responsible response to that would be to pass legislation making Roe the law of the land."As for the question of whether a Supreme Court with a Justice Barrett would prove an implacable foe of the Biden administration, we've seen the "conservative" justices disappoint pro-lifers, Obamacare foes, corporate America, and death-penalty supporters, and rebuke the Trump administration on immigration and the release of financial records. If a Biden administration cannot enact an agenda that is seen as consistent with the U.S. Constitution in the eyes of justices like Roberts, Gorsuch, and Kavanaugh, whose fault is that?America's think tanks, interest groups, universities, and policy wonks of every political stripe are constantly coming up with new ideas to tackle public problems. Vast numbers of those ideas would pass muster with the Supreme Court, even with a 6-3 "conservative" majority.A Biden administration would have a buffet table of constitutionally viable options to shape the law and American life, even with a skeptical Supreme Court looking over its collective shoulder. The president controls the armed forces, an executive branch of 268 federal agencies as part of the cabinet and another 137 independent agencies, totaling more than 4 million American employees, spending roughly $4.7 trillion. The president appoints roughly 4,000 positions in the executive branch. The president enjoys broad powers for executive orders to direct federal agencies to take particular actions, has near-unlimited powers for pardons and clemencies, and nothing becomes federal law without his signature, except in the rare cases when a bill is passed by veto-proof legislative majorities. And Democrats fear that a conservative majority on the Supreme Court is going to somehow unfairly hinder a President Biden? Just how much more power does a U.S. president need?A Biden administration must have policy options to prevent mass shootings beyond gun confiscation, as embodied by Beto O'Rourke's "hell yes, we're going to take your AR-15!" rallying cry. No one should be surprised by a Supreme Court majority that finds the Second Amendment bars federal-government confiscation of legally purchased firearms, without any probable cause to believe that firearm has been used or will be used in a crime.Not every idea that pops into a president's head is constitutional. This summer, Biden said that as president he would enact a national mandate to wear masks to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. But in September, Biden backtracked a bit, recognizing that such a move would appear to exceed the powers of the presidency: "There's a constitutional issue whether federal government could issue such a mandate. I don't think constitutionally they could, so I wouldn't issue a mandate." A week later, he backtracked upon the backtracking: "Well, the question is whether I have the legal authority as president to sign an executive order. We think we do, but I don't — I can't guarantee you that yet." This is why we have a Supreme Court: to determine whether a federal law, executive order, or regulation is consistent with the Constitution.Biden even recognizes that some of what he wants to do is unconstitutional, as the U.S. Constitution is currently written. He wants campaigns for public office to be entirely funded by the taxpayers, with no private donations whatsoever, which violates the First Amendment and would require a constitutional amendment. Credit Biden for at least recognizing that what he wants and what the Bill of Rights guarantees are in contradiction, and for advocating the passage of a new amendment banning private expenditures to elect candidates.President Franklin Roosevelt's Court-packing was resoundingly rejected -- and then Roosevelt went back to work, with the Court as-is. (Some historians and legal scholars contend the Court took a more open-minded view of Roosevelt's proposals after the Court-packing threat.) Life in a government built upon checks and balances and separation of powers means you can't always get what you want, because you're not supposed to always get what you want. A leader who always gets what he wants is a dictator.Sometimes your fellow citizens will prevent you from enacting everything you want -- either through an election to the executive branch, or elections to the legislative branch, or because a majority of the Supreme Court finds your idea violates the Constitution. A failure to understand that reflects a failure to understand the American system of government at its most basic level.
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| Storm-ravaged Louisiana takes stock of Delta damage Posted: 11 Oct 2020 11:14 AM PDT  After Hurricane Delta ripped through Louisiana on Friday, residents, having waited out the storm elsewhere, returned on Sunday to survey damage to their homes. Delta made landfall near the town of Creole on Friday evening as a Category 2 hurricane, packing sustained winds of 100 miles per hour (160 km per hour). Hurricane #Delta makes landfall near Creole, Louisiana, at 6:00 PM CDT as a category 2 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale.
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| Trump appears to threaten aliens with 'military the likes of which we've never had before' Posted: 11 Oct 2020 11:57 AM PDT  'I'll take a good, strong look at that,' president says of UFOs
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| 19-year-old dies after brain damage from breast implant surgery, Colorado family says Posted: 12 Oct 2020 09:26 AM PDT  "Emmalyn's parents and siblings are heartbroken."
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| A Black man is suing a Texas city for $1 million after he was tied to police on horseback during an arrest Posted: 11 Oct 2020 10:34 AM PDT  Donald Neely's lawsuit says the situation has caused him "embarrassment, humiliation, and fear," according to local news reports.
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| China denies Canadians 'arbitrarily' detained over Meng case Posted: 12 Oct 2020 03:13 AM PDT  China on Monday denied that two Canadian citizens held for almost two years had been "arbitrarily" detained in response to Canada's arrest of an executive of technology giant Huawei. Foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian's denial came days after China granted consular access to Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor for the first time since January. Canada's government on Saturday issued a statement saying it remains "deeply concerned by the arbitrary detention by Chinese authorities" of the two, and called for their immediate release.
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| Malaysia police to summon Anwar over list of backers of PM bid Posted: 12 Oct 2020 02:13 AM PDT  Malaysia's police said on Monday they have asked opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim to give a statement after they received complaints about names of lawmakers appearing in news media reportedly backing his claim to the premiership. Anwar last week announced he had been granted an audience with King Al-Sultan Abdullah on Tuesday to present documentation "of the strong and convincing majority" of legislators behind his bid to replace Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin. Police in a statement said they had received unspecified complaints over a widely circulated list of 121 federal lawmakers who supposedly were backing Anwar's bid.
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| Klobuchar calls hearings for SCOTUS nominee Barrett a ‘sham’ Posted: 12 Oct 2020 08:37 AM PDT  On the first day of hearings for Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett, Sen. Amy Klobuchar calls the confirmation proceedings a "sham."
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| California Republicans are allegedly setting up fake 'official' drop-off boxes to harvest ballots Posted: 11 Oct 2020 09:35 PM PDT  California Secretary of State Alex Padilla's office has received complaints about what appear to be unauthorized ballot drop boxes in Los Angeles, Orange, and Fresno counties, and it appears from social media posts that California Republicans have set them up to collect ballots, The Orange County Register reported Sunday night. The metal boxes, which purport to be "official," have been reported at local political party offices, churches, and headquarters for GOP candidates."Operating unofficial ballot drop boxes — especially those misrepresented as official drop boxes — is not just misleading to voters, it's a violation of state law," Padilla said, and a felony conviction would land perpetrators in prison for two to four years. County elections officials and registrars are solely empowered to set up and maintain drop boxes in accordance with strict state security rules.The California Republican Party did not respond to the Register's requests for comments, nor did individual GOP operatives who have implicated themselves on social media. But the state GOP has "been defending the practice in replies on Twitter, alleging the process was made legal under a 2016 law that allows California voters to designate a person to return their ballot for them," the Register reports. "The GOP calls the practice 'ballot harvesting' and blames it for losses to the Democrats in OC and other places in 2018." State officials say unauthorized drop boxes would violate that law since there's no designated person to sign for the ballot, as required.Slate judiciary staff writer Mark Joseph Stern sees something a little more nefarious than just trying to make it more convenient for Republicans to vote. "California Republicans are allegedly creating fake drop boxes and tricking voters into depositing their ballots in them," he tweeted. "Apparently they're trying to prove voter fraud is real by committing actual election fraud."Republicans in Texas, Ohio, and other states are currently fighting to limit ballot drop boxes to one per county. Republicans in Southern California are trying to win back a slate of congressional seats they lost in the 2018 midterms. And if they are using fake official drop boxes, they are breaking the law, Orange County Registrar of Voters Neal Kelley said Sunday. "It would be like me installing a mailbox out on the corner — the post office is the one that installs mailboxes." Read more at The Orange County Register.More stories from theweek.com Mike Pence was the unlikely winner of the vice presidential debate The myth of Mike Pence's appeal Trump is shockingly bad at this
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| A 30-year-old British woman traveling through a London airport was arrested after authorities found about $2.6 million in her luggage, report says Posted: 11 Oct 2020 02:00 PM PDT  The UK's minister for immigration compliance and the courts called the find the "largest individual cash seizure at the border so far in 2020."
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| Protester says he knocked down Trump supporter, 72, in self-defense Posted: 12 Oct 2020 07:22 AM PDT  A man in his 20s is claiming that he knocked down an elderly Trump supporter in Nocatee, Florida in an act of self-defense. The confrontation between the Floridians began Saturday with a flag the younger man had on his golf cart that included a profane word. The man was allegedly protesting while Vice President Mike Pence was traveling through the small town after engagements in Orlando and the conservative senior community known as The Villages.
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| El Salvador bar attack: Six people shot dead Posted: 12 Oct 2020 04:36 AM PDT  Thirteen people are killed in violence across the Central American nation in 24 hours at the weekend.
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| China urges Malaysia to 'fairly investigate' held fishermen Posted: 12 Oct 2020 02:26 AM PDT |
| NYC slaps COVID-19 rule breakers with $150,000 in fines Posted: 11 Oct 2020 03:48 PM PDT  NEW YORK - City officials gave out 62 fines totaling $150,000 for violations of COVID-19 rules in hot spots in Brooklyn and Queens over the weekend, the city government said Sunday. Five unnamed religious institutions were among those hit with fines. The crackdown came amid an alarming spike in COVID-19 cases from Borough Park, Brooklyn, to Kew Gardens, Queens. With many of the affected areas ...
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| Analysis: 'I have failed' - Kim Jong Un shows tearful side in confronting North Korea's hardships Posted: 12 Oct 2020 09:13 AM PDT  North Korean leader Kim Jong Un appeared to shed tears at the weekend as he thanked citizens for their sacrifices, in the most striking demonstration yet of how he is relying on his "man of the people" persona to tackle his country's deepening crises. Speaking at a military parade on Saturday, Kim became emotional as he paid tribute to troops for their response to national disasters and preventing a coronavirus outbreak and apologised to citizens for failing to raise living standards. "Kim's modesty and candour, and his tears and choking, were all highly unusual, even for someone who publicly acknowledges shortcomings and has an established pattern of being expressive," said Rachel Minyoung Lee, an independent researcher and former open-source North Korea analyst for the U.S. government.
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| Hundreds evacuated as Polish divers begin high-risk bomb defusal Posted: 12 Oct 2020 06:14 AM PDT  Hundreds of residents were evacuated on Monday as Polish military divers began a delicate operation to defuse a massive World War II bomb in a channel near the Baltic Sea.
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| Postmaster General Louis DeJoy donated more than $685,000 to the Republican National Convention Posted: 11 Oct 2020 11:07 AM PDT  The Republican mega-donor has been heavily criticized by Democrats over changes he's made at the US Post Office that led to mail delays amid the 2020 election cycle.
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| Iran and Venezuela are Circumventing American Energy Sanctions Posted: 12 Oct 2020 03:30 AM PDT  In September, the Iranian regime of Hassan Rouhani sent four oil tankers to Venezuelan coasts. Last week, the fleet arrived, a lifeline for a regime that has been struggling to meet Venezuela's energy needs.Historically, Venezuela has been among the largest oil-producing countries in the world. Before Venezuela's socialist revolution bankrupted the Venezuelan oil sector, the South American country used to produce over three million barrels of oil per day. Similarly, Venezuela used to refine over a million barrels of fuel per day, which is roughly ten times its domestic consumption. Hence, Venezuela had enough fuel to subsidize the country's consumption and to export the vast majority of it.Today, that is no longer the case. The Venezuelan regime, after years of mismanaging the Venezuelan oil industry, achieved the seemingly impossible. It turned the oil-rich Venezuela into a nation desperate for fuel. The Venezuelan oil sector is not only producing just about 350,000 oil barrels per day but also refining about 7,000 barrels of fuel per day, which is just 6 percent of the country's fuel demand of about 120,000 barrels per day of fuel.As a result, the country has been experiencing chronic fuel shortages. To fill up their tanks, Venezuelans now have to do kilometric lines in their cars. These lines usually last days, even weeks in some cities, such as Barquisimeto and San Cristobal. And for those who can afford it, authorities estimate that between 5,000 and 15,000 barrels of fuel are being smuggled from Colombia to Venezuela, which is later sold at about $8 per gallon.To overcome its nationwide fuel crisis, the Venezuelan regime is relying on one of its closest allies: Iran. This oil partnership began in June, when four Iranian tankers carried over 1.5 million barrels of fuel to Venezuela. In exchange, the Venezuelan regime paid Iran with gold, which is being transported by plane to Tehran. Moreover, the regime also gave Iran the control of the "El Palito" refinery, which can process over can process 140,000 barrels of fuel per day. One can only speculate what other deals could these two "anti-imperialist" countries might be doing.For these reasons, in August, the United States decided to seize an Iranian shipment bound for Venezuela. The shipment carried 1.1 million barrels of fuel, it was being transported by four Liberian-owned oil tankers, and it was managed by the Greek firms Vienna LTD and Palermo SA. Specifically, the United States stopped the shipment on August 13. After Washington warned the crew and the company that they would be sanctioned for doing business with the sanctioned regimes of Maduro and Rouhani, the company decided to surrender the shipment by sending it to Houston.In response, Iran sent another shipment in September. This time, the shipment was carried and managed by the Iranian regime itself. The shipment included four medium-size vessels, self-identified as Honey, Forest, Fortune, and Faxon. Iran sent them through African seas (around Africa's horn) to avoid any interference from the United States. The tankers also had their transponders switched off, making it difficult for tracking systems to detect their locations. Overall, the four tankers arrived in Venezuela between the last week of September and the first week of October. Between the four, they carried 2 million barrels of blending agents to boost Venezuela's collapsing oil production. The fleet also contained between 800,000 and 1.5 million barrels of fuel, to fulfill Venezuela's urgent needs. In exchange, Venezuela is paying Iran with gold, control over its oil sector, and God knows what else.As a result, while one can only speculate the U.S. response to this situation, it is safe to say that numerous policymakers in Washington are worried about it. To this end, they should begin asking themselves: Why is Venezuela specifically relying on Iran, another sanctioned country from the other side of the globe, to solve its fuel crisis? To this question, I would argue that the U.S. sanctions have some fault.Before the sanctions, Venezuela imported fuel from other countries besides Iran. For instance, two years ago, Venezuela used to import about 135,000 barrels of fuel per day from the United States. A year ago, Venezuela used to import about 196,000 barrels of fuel per day from Europe under oil-for-fuel swap agreements. Yet, these transactions are no longer possible, as the Treasury prohibited them under executive orders 13857 and 19884.For this reason, I would argue that the U.S. foreign policy is -- at least -- partially responsible for this growing relationship between Caracas and Iran. While the Treasury's sanctions against Venezuelan officials and oligarchs are being effective, the sanctions against the Venezuelan oil industry are having the unintended consequence of bringing Iran and Venezuela together. As a result, my recommendation to the State Department would be to reevaluate the desirability of the Treasury's sanctions against the Venezuelan oil industry, PDVSA.
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| Regeneron CEO: Trump ‘is a case of one’ and ‘weakest evidence’ for Covid-19 treatment Posted: 11 Oct 2020 11:16 AM PDT  He says "large clinical trials" are still needed.
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| A well-timed Venus flyby looks for signs of life Posted: 12 Oct 2020 06:34 AM PDT  The "gravity slingshot" of the BepiColombo space probe was planned years ago, long before astronomers detected traces of phosphine in the Venusian atmosphere.
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| Cardinal George Pell meets Pope Francis for first time since acquittal Posted: 12 Oct 2020 04:40 AM PDT  The Vatican's ex-treasurer had his conviction for sexual abuse overturned in Australia in April.
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| China threatens to invade Taiwan and parades one of its citizens as a 'spy' Posted: 12 Oct 2020 06:35 AM PDT  Beijing has stepped up its intimidation of Taiwan by releasing a video on state media of a simulated attack on the island and by airing the purported confession of a Taiwanese businessman detained in China on spying charges. The twin-pronged strategy came as Tsai Ing-wen, the Taiwanese president, appeared to offer an olive branch to China amid growing tensions across the Taiwan Strait, urging the Chinese Communist Party to engage in "meaningful dialogue" on an equal basis. President Tsai made the gesture on Saturday during National Day celebrations, describing relations with Beijing as "quite tense" after weeks of China ramping up its air force activity close to Taiwanese airspace and crossing the Taiwan Strait's sensitive mid line, which normally acts as an unofficial buffer zone. But her overtures were immediately rebuffed by Beijing, which has refused to negotiate with Ms Tsai's administration since she was first elected in 2016, and which immediately accused Taiwan of continuing to pursue independence and of having a confrontational mindset.
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| Pakistan cleric killed in apparent sectarian attack Posted: 10 Oct 2020 11:03 PM PDT |
| Coronavirus updates: More than a dozen states set case records; NYC protest leader arrested Posted: 12 Oct 2020 09:55 AM PDT  Thirteen states set new case records over seven days. An anti-lockdown protest leader in New York has been arrested. More COVID-19 news.
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| Greece says Turkey lacks credibility after new sail to disputed waters Posted: 12 Oct 2020 03:33 AM PDT  Greece accused rival Turkey of lacking credibility on Monday by sending a survey vessel into contested waters in the eastern Mediterranean, and of orchestrating the partial opening of an abandoned town on ethnically-split Cyprus. Earlier on Monday Turkey issued a maritime advisory that it planned to dispatch the Oruc Reis survey vessel to the region, drawing strong criticism from Greece. Last month, Ankara withdrew the vessel from contested waters in the Eastern Mediterranean to "allow for diplomacy" before an EU summit at which Cyprus had pushed for sanctions and Turkey.
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| Federal judge throws out Trump challenge to Pennsylvania voting Posted: 10 Oct 2020 01:35 PM PDT  The judge ruled that the campaign did not provide "concrete" evidence of impending voter fraud.
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| Florida won’t be releasing new coronavirus cases and deaths on Saturday. Here’s why Posted: 10 Oct 2020 02:25 PM PDT  UPDATE 10/11/2020: Florida adds 5,570 COVID-19 cases a day after duplicate tests led state to hold report
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| Immigrant family deceived by ICE, father facing deportation Posted: 11 Oct 2020 12:04 PM PDT |
| Huckabee: Biden might want to read the Constitution when it comes to presidential powers Posted: 11 Oct 2020 05:24 AM PDT  FOX News contributor reacts to Joe Biden casting doubt on the election and his stance on packing the Supreme Court.
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| S.African president says farm attacks 'not genocidal' Posted: 12 Oct 2020 04:42 AM PDT  South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa called for calm on Monday, rejecting claims by pressure groups representing the country's white minority that a spike in deadly attacks on farms was "ethnic cleansing".
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| Inside Disney’s Ugly COVID Reopening Battle in California Posted: 12 Oct 2020 12:18 AM PDT  When The Walt Disney Co. planned to reopen its American theme parks in July, they released a now-notorious trailer, splicing shots of theme park attractions with a chorus of Disney cast members chiming "Welcome home!" The ad projected an air of insistent normalcy, disrupted only by the workers' uniform masks. It seemed to contain the latent hopes of the Trumpian COVID-19 era: the desire to not let the virus "dominate" lives, to relax into the open arms of entertainment, to return to business as usual with modest accommodations: Masks, ample sanitizer, a "no hugging" rule.But in California, the welcome was not especially warm. When the company announced plans to reopen the Anaheim resort, it had not yet gotten approval from the state. Gov. Gavin Newsom's pandemic roadmap, which assessed preparedness in a four-phase system, put amusement parks in Stage Four—so far down the line that he had not yet released reopening guidelines. Disney backtracked under pressure, opening just a small retail and restaurant strip. But the entertainment empire, one of the state's largest employers and a major source of tourism revenue, did not let up in its campaign to reopen—waging a three-month battle with California that has at times caught workers in its crossfires."All of our other theme parks both in the United States and around the world have been allowed to open on the strength of our proven ability to operate with responsible health safety protocols," a Disney spokesperson told The Daily Beast in a written statement. "Promoting health and safety for our guests, cast members, and the larger community is a responsibility we take seriously."In September, as rumors floated that the company internally planned for a late-month reopening, tensions between Disney and California were at a high. After a surge in summer cases, the state had revamped its reopening protocols, with a state-wide tier system for reopening businesses. Theme parks remained in the final tier. On Sept. 22, Chairman of Disney Parks, Experiences, and Product's Josh D'Amaro made a public plea that the Governor "treat theme parks like you would other sectors, and help us reopen." (Other large venues like concert halls and convention centers have not been permitted to reopen). D'Amaro's plea came with a warning. Nearly 80,000 Orange County jobs, he cautioned, lay on the line.Gavin Newsom Ignores the Desperate Pleas of Hunger-Striking Disney WorkersJust days later, D'Amaro's prediction proved true: Disney announced plans to lay off 28,000 domestic workers, almost all from theme parks, most from California. In a statement, the Chairman claimed the company's financial struggles had been "exacerbated in California by the State's unwillingness to lift restrictions that would allow Disneyland to reopen." The layoffs, which will be finalized Nov. 1, could kick thousands of workers off their health insurance."[Cast members] are concerned about losing their health insurance seeing how serious this is now that Trump is sick," the spouse of a Disney cast member told the Daily Beast anonymously this week. "That's why they want to keep their jobs—especially now."> This isn't about staying afloat financially, it's about sending a message to California to reopen the parks by using thousands of people's jobs and lives as collateral damage. Anyway https://t.co/IncIcosqK4 is a volunteer-run effort to get food to struggling and laid-off cast> > — Jenny Nicholson (@JennyENicholson) October 2, 2020The following week, Newsom answered D'Amaro's request, announcing plans to release his guidelines on Oct. 2—just one day after President Trump announced he had tested positive for the coronavirus. But the proposed rules further angered industry executives. After seeing a draft, former Disney CEO Bob Iger quit the state's COVID-19 task force in protest. The California Attractions and Parks Association, a trade group that includes Disney, called on Newsom to postpone the release and engage with the industry "in a more earnest manner" and "listen to the park operators' expertise."The guidelines have not yet been released, as Newsom complied with the request. But an Anaheim official familiar with the draft told the O.C. Register that parks would have to open at just 25 percent capacity, only after the county reached the "minimal" final stage of Newsom's reopening plan. Theme park journalist Carlye Wisel reported the restrictions also included advance reservations, face coverings, and limits on visitors traveling from outside a certain distance. A Disney spokesperson declined to comment on Iger's rationale or what the company wanted from the finalized rules, and CAPA did not respond to requests for comment.Orange County officials have taken Disney's side in the dispute, pointing to a budget shortfall of some $100 million, though the county remains a "substantial" infection risk, according to the state's reopening plan. Eighteen state congress members echoed the sentiment in a public letter to Newsom. In a Sept. press conference called "ReOpenOC Now," Anaheim Mayor Harry Sidnu called on Newsom to release guidelines. "It's a disaster right here!" he said, gesturing around him. "All the businesses are closed here. How long are you going to keep us closed? Give us the guidelines!"Last week, O.C. Health Care Agency Director Dr. Clayton Chau greenlit the parks to reopen. "I have advocated for theme parks to be safely reopened in Tier 3—the Orange Tier," Chau told The Daily Beast in a statement, referring to the "moderate" risk tier. Chau said he had assessed the risks in terms of physical health, but also "emotional health and economic/financial health."The financial health of The Walt Disney Co. specifically has taken a hit during the pandemic. In August, the company reported a loss of $2 billion in the months since shutdowns began. But the layoffs caused some, including heir Abigail Disney, to question the financial priorities of the company, which brought in nearly $70 billion in revenue last year. "If Disney had not spent down every penny of its cash on share buy-backs in 2019 (11.5 billion worth)," Disney wrote in a Sept. 29 Twitter thread, "perhaps there'd have been some dough on hand to ensure that even at a partial level they could continue to keep some of these workers on until things return to normal."> What did I tell you? The layoffs were always coming. Today Disney chose to layoff nearly 30% of their workforce on the same day as the first presidential debate. Hoping, I am sure, to have the news of this drowned out by the news of that. 1/> > — Abigail Disney (@abigaildisney) September 30, 2020Disney was referring to share buybacks, or when companies purchase stocks back from their shareholders. Buybacks reduce the amount of cash a company has on hand in exchange for minimizing dividends and consolidating corporate power. Sharply criticized by Wall Street critics like Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, and Kristen Gillibrand—all three of whom have advocated for banning the practice—stock buybacks have soared to record levels in recent years, largely due to Donald Trump's 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which lowered the corporate tax rate to 21 percent.When lockdowns began in March, Disney navigated their financial shortfall by announcing executive pay cuts. Disney Executive Chairman Bob Iger, who ranked third on Equilar's Highest-Paid CEOs list last year with a haul of $65 million—1,424 times that of the median Disney worker—agreed to forgo his full salary. Bob Chapek, Iger's replacement as CEO, took a 50 percent salary cut, while vice-presidents reduced their salaries by 20 to 30 percent. The cuts barely scratched at the executives' annual earnings, the majority of which come in bonuses (Chapek's base salary is $2.5 million, for example, but he also receives a target bonus of $7.5 million and an incentive award of $15 million). "This temporary action will remain in effect until we foresee a substantive recovery in our business," Chapek told staff in an email abstained by the L.A. Times.In August, however, one month before the layoffs, Disney restored its executives' salaries to pre-pandemic levels. A Disney spokesperson declined to comment on the change, or whether it indicated a "substantive recovery" in their business. To some extent it may—the Washington Post reported this month that investors have "display[ed] incredible faith" in its future profits. "Investors are such firm believers in Disney's prospects that they're willing to pay now for 44 years worth of potential earnings," they wrote.The next day, news broke that an activist investor—hedge fund billionaire Daniel Loeb—had urged the company in a letter to suspend its $3 billion annual dividend, meaning the money paid to shareholders for their investment, and reroute it, not to workers, but toward their new streaming platform, Disney+."It's so heartless this is the moment Disney is choosing to cut so many off health insurance instead of taking a cut to upper management to help make up for losses," the Cast Member's spouse said. "Why not waive bonuses for Iger and Chapek if things are so bad financially for the company?"As of now, unions are negotiating the terms of the layoffs with Disney. The cuts will primarily target part-time workers, who don't qualify for benefits like child care, health care, and 401ks. But several unions told The Daily Beast that full-time workers in their membership had also been laid off. Chris Duarte, President of Workers United Local 50, told the Daily Beast 2,858 workers, or more than a third of their Disney membership, would be laid off, many of them full-time. "We're still working out who exactly comprises the grand total number of 2,800 or so," Duarte said. "We're in a time crunch because the layoffs go into effect on Nov. 1."> The layoffs are apparently heavy on part-time workers and it should concern you that such a high percentage of their workforce is part time. That's because, like so many other companies relying on an hourly labor force, lots of shenanigans are used to prevent.3/> > — Abigail Disney (@abigaildisney) September 30, 2020"We don't know about the terms of health care yet," said Maria Hernandez, spokesperson for hospitality union Unite Here! Local 11. "The right to be rehired if and when the pandemic ends is important to us.""My main concern is that we're all safe going back," said Inez Guzman, a furloughed full-time housekeeper at the Disneyland Hotel. "We live with a lot of older people—that's true in my own family—and I can't bring anything back to them."The stalemate has no obvious end in sight. In a press conference last week, Gov. Newsom announced that he felt "no hurry" in putting out reopening guidelines. "We're going to be led by a health-first framework," he said, "and we're going to be stubborn about it."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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| Indian workers in Libya released after monthlong abduction Posted: 12 Oct 2020 09:53 AM PDT |
| Protesters in Portland topple statues of Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt Posted: 12 Oct 2020 06:12 AM PDT  Police declared a riot after windows in downtown buildings were smashed.
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| Aerials over train derailment outside of Atlanta Posted: 11 Oct 2020 09:03 AM PDT  A train derailment outside of Atlanta early Sunday sparked a small fire, created runoff concerns and briefly forced some residents from their homes in Lilburn, Georgia. The CSX train was carrying about 170 cars, including three locomotives. (Oct. 11)
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| Democrats’ Silence on Court Packing Could Cost Them Senate Control Posted: 11 Oct 2020 03:49 PM PDT  Joe Biden is refusing to answer questions about whether he and his party would support packing the Supreme Court and ending the Senate filibuster. Indeed, on Friday a reporter said to him, "Sir I've got to ask you about packing the courts. I know that you said yesterday you aren't going to answer the question until after the election. But this is the No. 1 thing that I've been asked about from viewers in the past couple of days. . . . Don't the voters deserve to know where you stand?"Biden replied, "No, they don't deserve -- I'm not going to play his [Trump's] game."Biden seems to think that all he has to do to occupy the Oval Office in January is run out the clock and avoid angering his activist left-wing backers close to the election.Court packing may not be the deciding issue in the presidential race. But it could be in close Senate races where several Democratic candidates are imitating Biden's silence and being pummeled for it by effective GOP opponents.In Maine, Democratic candidate Sara Gideon won't rule out backing a court-packing plan. Colorado Democrat John Hickenlooper gave an embarrassing non-answer in his debate this past week with Republican senator Cory Gardner. Iowa Democrat Theresa Greenfield was once opposed to court packing but now can't be pinned down on the issue in her race against GOP senator Joni Ernst.The chances of Democrats winning a Senate majority for Democrats are up in the air because of court packing.The irony is that their candidates are taking all this abuse over an idea that is unlikely to happen. Yet it may nonetheless cost them control of the Senate.Let's look at the state of play in Senate races. Democratic senator Doug Jones is badly trailing his GOP opponent in Alabama. That's one seat gone. Michigan Democratic senator Gary Peters is up only 47 percent to 44 percent in the latest CBS Battleground poll. That's a seat in jeopardy. Republican have a long-shot chance of winning in Minnesota, where Democratic senator Tina Smith leads by 8.5 points in the RealClearPolitics average of polls.Let's assume Democrats lose Alabama and keep Michigan and Minnesota. They will have to take back four GOP-held seats to win a tie in the Senate. That tie could then be broken by Kamala Harris if the Biden-Harris ticket wins.But with only 50 senators, Democrats would need the vote of West Virginia's Joe Manchin to pass court packing and end the filibuster. Manchin is a moderate Democrat who may not be susceptible to pressure. He isn't up for reelection until 2024 when he will be 77 and might retire. Manchin has bluntly said that he opposes court packing and abolishing the filibuster. Arizona Democratic senator Kyrsten Sinema has also said she opposes court packing.If the filibuster remains in place, Democrats would be unlikely to pass a bill admitting either the District of Columbia or Puerto Rico as a state as a means of gaining additional senators.And unless they nuke the filibuster, Democrats can't move forward on their other liberal legislative priorities such as the Biden version of the Green New Deal, gun control, taxpayer financing of campaigns, restricting independent political speech, and weakening ballot integrity protections.It would be arduous for Democrats to deal with a Majority Leader McConnell to win Senate confirmation of every judge and cabinet member.But Democrats would find it almost as painful to deal with Joe Manchin as the swing vote in the Senate. There's not enough pork barrel that can be shipped to West Virginia to attempt to rent Joe Manchin's vote on big issues.So, to govern without Manchin's vote, and to have a chance to enact their agenda, Democrats need at least 51 senators. So, assuming a loss in Alabama, they have to beat five Republican incumbents.Democrats think there are three races they're likely to win: Maine, Colorado, and Arizona.But of the next closest six races, they must win at least two. That may not be easy.North Carolina's Senate race has been upended by reports that Democratic nominee Cal Cunningham, a lieutenant colonel in the Army Reserve, had an affair with the wife of Jeremy Todd, a junior officer with whom he served. The U.S. Army Reserve Command is investigating Cunningham for a possible violation of the Code of Military Justice. Todd has called on Cunningham to leave the race.South Carolina, Georgia, Iowa, Montana, and Alaska are the other races where Democrats could pull off an upset.But five of those six races are in deep-red states that consistently vote Republican in most statewide elections.Iowa is a swing state where anything could happen.Republicans in all six states are telling voters that a Democratic Senate majority will unleash plans to pack the Supreme Court, undermine Second Amendment rights, ram through the Green New Deal by regulatory edict, and impose a radical cultural agenda.Democrats who might be able to defeat a GOP incumbent if the race were about other issues might lose if the race becomes focused on an idea as unpopular as court packing.Moderate voters who are thinking about voting for Biden because they dislike Trump may well be scared by the radical idea of packing the Supreme Court.If Biden were a less cautious, and less party-trained politician, he might rethink his silence on court packing. He could take a lesson from Bill Clinton, who convinced moderate voters that he wasn't a knee-jerk liberal when he condemned rapper "Sister Souljah" for her anti-police lyrics.After all, Biden opposed court packing as recently as last year, in two Democratic-primary debates. He would simply be returning to a position he has held for more than 15 years.But I predict he won't do it. He has consistently shown an inability to break with his party's base.But what will happen if key Democratic Senate candidates take the same stance as Biden even though they are running in largely red states? The last time court packing was attempted -- by Franklin Roosevelt, in 1937 -- it stirred up passionate opposition and contributed to Democrats' losing eight Senate seats and 62 House seats in the 1938 midterm elections.Nationally, only 34 percent of registered voters in a new YouGov poll support expanding the number of justices on the Supreme Court. In red states where Democrats need to beat GOP incumbents, support for such an extreme idea is clearly well below that.Indeed, polls show strong support for a "Keep Nine" amendment that simply says, "The Supreme Court of the United States shall be composed of nine Justices." The amendment has been endorsed by nine former Democratic state attorneys general. Three of those former AGs recently wrote in the New York Daily News that, in regard to court packing, "we can think of few threats more serious to the future of constitutional checks and balances that have preserved our Republic for the last two centuries." They reminded their readers that the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg called increasing the number of justices on the Supreme Court a "bad idea."It's unlikely that the silent Senate candidates running as Democrats this year will break with Biden and oppose court packing. Biden apparently believes he can get away with his evasive maneuvers. But it may be a different story for his fellow Democrats further down the ticket.If Democrats end up electing Joe Biden, they will have succeeded in turning the presidential race into a referendum on President Trump's personality. But if they fail to win the Senate, it will be because of an issue they wisely avoided endorsing in their party platform: overturning a 151-year-tradition of having nine justices on the Supreme Court.By stubbornly remaining silent on something that wasn't even part of their agenda a few months ago, they may convince voters they really are the radicals they are accused of being. It could cost them the Senate.
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| Record-breaking python killed in Florida Everglades hunt Posted: 10 Oct 2020 03:42 PM PDT  ORLANDO, Fla. - One of the latest pythons to be caught in the Everglades is a record-breaker. A pair of trappers caught the 18-foot, 9-inch invasive Burmese python on a hunt working for the South Florida Water Management District. Ryan Ausburn and Kevin Pavlidis caught the 104-pound female on Oct. 2 as part of the district's Python Elimination Program, which has seen the capture of nearly ...
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| Latest on the worldwide spread of coronavirus Posted: 11 Oct 2020 10:22 PM PDT  * U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday he had fully recovered from COVID-19 and was not an infection risk for others. * Brazil registered 559 additional coronavirus deaths over the last 24 hours and 26,749 new cases, the Health Ministry said on Saturday.
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| This Boeing 727 lets passengers experience zero gravity by flying crazy maneuvers, and it's now on tour across the US Posted: 11 Oct 2020 05:28 AM PDT  Affectionately known as "G-Force One," other names for the aircraft include the "Vomit Comet" and a full breakfast comes with the purchase price.
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| Taiwanese detained in China 'confesses' on state TV Posted: 11 Oct 2020 08:12 AM PDT  A Taiwanese man detained in China and accused of "endangering national security" appeared on Chinese television Sunday evening, admitting to illegally filming military exercises in a city bordering Hong Kong during protests there last year.
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| A 33-year-old Texas man may have posed as a Black man when he killed the mother of his 1-year-old child, authorities say Posted: 10 Oct 2020 08:08 PM PDT  According to the Dallas Morning News, police discovered dark makeup foundation and a fake beard in Andrew Charles Beard's cars.
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| Two 12-year-old girls and a 17-year-old boy are missing. Police are asking for help Posted: 12 Oct 2020 06:56 AM PDT  Three children who walked away from their homes have the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office appealing to the public for help in finding them.
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| Wife of Pennsylvania's Lt. Governor called racist slur at grocery store Posted: 12 Oct 2020 05:15 AM PDT  Gisele Barreto Fetterman, wife to Lt. Gov. John Fetterman and a formerly undocumented immigrant from Brazil, said the Sunday incident happened after she was recognized at the store.
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| Protesters knock down Roosevelt, Lincoln statues in Portland Posted: 12 Oct 2020 12:34 AM PDT  Protesters overturned statues of former Presidents Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln in Portland, Oregon, on Sunday night in a declaration of "rage" toward Columbus Day. Protest organizers dubbed the event "Indigenous Peoples Day of Rage," in response to Monday's federal holiday named after 15th-century Italian explorer Christopher Columbus, a polarizing figure who Native American advocates have said spurred centuries of genocide against indigenous populations in the Americas.
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| Iowa mayor speaks out over Trump rally in his city: 'We don't want a super-spread event here in Des Moines' Posted: 12 Oct 2020 04:16 AM PDT  President returns to the campaign trail this week
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| Netherlands records soaring case numbers despite faith in 'intelligent' lockdown Posted: 11 Oct 2020 05:53 AM PDT  It prided itself on a successful 'intelligent' lockdown earlier this year, but criticism is growing in the Netherlands as infection rates near the top of European charts. Statistics suggest 20-30 year olds are driving the flare, which is acute in Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague. On Sunday, the ECDC recorded the 14-day cumulative number of Covid-19 cases per 100,000 people as 345 in the Netherlands, with only Belgium and the Czech Republic higher. The UK's cumulative case number stands at 242. In a press conference on Friday, prime minister Mark Rutte was uncharacteristically prickly when urging 17.4 million Dutch people to follow the rules: a 10pm curfew for nightlife, facemasks advised in public spaces, three guests maximum in houses and an appeal to work from home. "We aren't keeping to the rules enough," said Mr Rutte. "There are too many people, young people but also other groups, who think it will be okay for them. But it's not okay: it's completely predictable that if lots of young people are infected, they infect their parents and then their grandparents."
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| Trump’s Outrageous Pressure Campaign against Bill Barr Posted: 11 Oct 2020 06:53 PM PDT  So, what crime would you charge, Mr. President?The closing weeks of the campaign find President Trump berating William Barr, the attorney general who has served him and the country well. Trump's increasingly strident complaints relate to the probe of his 2016 campaign, launched by the Obama administration. At Barr's direction, the genesis and conduct of that probe have been under investigation since early 2019 by Connecticut U.S. attorney John Durham, a well-regarded career prosecutor.Trump is ballistic that Barr and Durham have not prosecuted top Obama-administration officials, not least Vice President Biden, Trump's opponent in this election, as well as the former president and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Trump's opponent in the last election.It is increasingly clear that Clinton had a large hand in driving the Trump-Russia narrative, which Obama intelligence and law-enforcement officials inflated into a counterintelligence and criminal probe. She accused Trump of engaging in a cyberespionage conspiracy with the Kremlin to sabotage her campaign. The allegation was based largely on Russia's suspected hacking of Democratic National Committee emails, to which no evidence tied Trump.Even before the DNC hacking, Obama's CIA director, John Brennan, had joined Clinton in beating the Trump-Russia "collusion" drum; and after the hacking, Obama's FBI director James Comey formally leapt in to investigate. The probe relied heavily on bogus political opposition research generated by the Clinton campaign -- specifically, by its retention of Christopher Steele, an incompetent and stridently anti-Trump former British spy, who churned out a "dossier" rife with unverified innuendo, obvious material errors, and, quite likely, Russian disinformation.Attorney General Barr has described the Trump-Russia probe as a "travesty" because it was triggered on the thinnest of predication and carried on long after the lack of proof was manifest. The probe continued well into Trump's presidency, forcing him to endure the appointment of special counsel Robert Mueller and govern under a cloud of suspicion until Mueller finally cleared him, 27 months into his term. Democrats cited the existence of an investigation as grounds against allowing Trump to exercise normal powers of his office, such as nominating Supreme Court justices. To this day, congressional Democrats comb Mueller's report for grounds for another impeachment.The Obama administration and federal investigators clearly abused their powers in this matter. Yet, abuses of power do not often translate into prosecutable offenses codified by the federal penal code. That fact was illustrated to the president's advantage during his Ukrainian misadventure in 2019, when he exploited his authority over the conduct of foreign relations to pressure an ally to undertake an investigation politically favorable to him. Congressional Democrats were frustrated in their effort to find a crime that fit the abuse.In "Russiagate," the Justice Department can't seem to find one either, at least not fast enough or high enough up the political food chain for Trump. The president ranted on Twitter last week about the "TREASONOUS PLOT," and inveighed against Barr in friendly talk-radio interviews over the failure to indict Obama officials.Trump's wayward invocation of treason brings the problem into sharp relief. Besides being unhinged political rhetoric, as a legal matter -- which is what Barr has to consider -- it is sheer nonsense. The presidency is not the nation. A president is a public servant, and a presidential candidate a mere public figure; neither of them is the United States, on whom war must be waged to trigger treason. Under federal law, treason's close cousin sedition, also touted by Trump supporters as a potential charge, similarly requires proof of conspiracy to use force against the nation and its government.There's a reason that the checks against abuses of power in our system are predominantly political, not legal. The discretion to exercise government's police and intelligence-collection powers must necessarily be broad because the potential threats to national security and public safety are infinite. If a presidential candidate actually was conspiring with a hostile nation against vital American interests, an incumbent administration would have not only the legitimate authority but the duty to investigate, regardless of political considerations. Fear of prosecution after the fact would paralyze an administration, to the nation's peril. If the executive's awesome powers are abused, the Constitution arms Congress with the means to discipline an administration and even remove wayward officials from office.Prosecution is obviously appropriate only if there have been unambiguous violations of the law. The one official thus far prosecuted by Durham is a former FBI lawyer who tampered with a document critical to the Bureau's sworn application to the FISA court for a surveillance warrant. Correctly, Barr has insisted that only such "meat and potatoes" crimes will meet the Justice Department's standards; there will be no extravagant reaches, no prosecutorial "creativity" to sweep Obama officials into the net. Weeks ago, in fact, Barr announced that Obama and Biden are not subjects of Durham's criminal investigation.Barr, meantime, has vowed that there will ultimately be a narrative report about the Trump-Russia investigation. That is appropriate in accounting for government misconduct, particularly where the Justice Department and FBI are implicated. It is consistent with the attorney general's duty to oversee the conduct of law enforcement, which in the case of the Hillary-email investigation was carried out by DOJ's inspector general in issuing a public report.The attorney general remains admirably mindful of his role within our system of government and determined to honor the norms that inform that system. We wish the same could be said of the president of the United States.
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| EU trade chief calls on U.S. to drop tariffs in Airbus-Boeing dispute: FT Posted: 11 Oct 2020 04:22 AM PDT  Repairing the transatlantic relationship would be EU's top priority, and the U.S. should withdraw its Airbus-related tariffs as a confidence-building measure, the EU's new trade chief Valdis Dombrovskis told https://on.ft.com/2GEqmap the FT. "Of course, if the US is not withdrawing their tariffs we have no choice but to then introduce our tariffs," he was quoted as saying.
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