News Dump

Military Postpones Refueling Deal with Scottish Airport Amid Investigation of ‘Serious Conflicts of Interest’
https://lawandcrime.com/high-profile/military-postpones-refueling-deal-with-scottish-airport-amid-investigation-of-serious-conflicts-of-interest/

CBP Detains, Separates Bahamian Child From Family Evacuating Hurricane Dorian
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/cbp-separate-detain-child-family-evacuate-bahamas-hurricane

Donald Trump didn’t donate $1 million to Hurricane Dorian victims in the Bahamas
https://www.politifact.com/facebook-fact-checks/statements/2019/sep/10/facebook-posts/donald-trump-didnt-donate-1-million-hurricane-dori/

Trump Campaign Advisors Receive Over $2 Million in Trade Bailout Payments | Fifteen members of an agribusiness council that advised Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign have received $2.2 million from the federal bailout program for farmers hurt by the president’s trade war with China.
https://www.ewg.org/agmag/2019/08/trump-campaign-advisors-receive-over-2-million-trade-bailout-payments

Trump’s Taliban invite is one of the most shameful moments of his presidency | Imagine if, back in 2011, President Barack Obama had not only withdrawn all U.S. forces from Iraq, facilitating the rise of the Islamic State, but also invited Islamic State leaders to Camp David to sign an agreement cementing his withdrawal plan. Obama’s decision to pull out American troops was catastrophic, but even he was not dumb enough to seek a photo op with terrorists. Yet this is precisely what President Trump tried to do when he initially invited the Taliban to Camp David for a meeting this past weekend. Here is the image that would have been broadcast across the Muslim world: Taliban leaders sitting at the very table where U.S. officials planned the overthrow of their regime, accepting what they would have portrayed as the terms of the United States’ surrender — right before the 18th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. The propaganda victory for the Taliban would have been enormous, sending a message of U.S. weakness and emboldening terrorists across the world. It gets worse. The Taliban team with whom the Trump administration has been negotiating includes five senior Taliban commanders — the “Taliban Five” — who were held at Guantanamo for 13 years before Obama freed them in exchange for U.S. Army deserter Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl. They include Mullah Fazel Mazloom, who according to his Guantanamo military file is “wanted by the UN for possible war crimes while serving as a Taliban Army Chief of Staff” and has “operational associations with significant al-Qaeda and other extremist personnel.” They include Mullah Norullah Noori, “wanted by the UN for possible war crimes” and “associated with members of al-Qaeda.” They include Abdul Haq Wasiq, Taliban deputy minister of intelligence who “utilized his office to support al-Qaeda and to assist Taliban personnel elude capture … [and] arranged for al-Qaeda personnel to train Taliban intelligence staff in intelligence methods” and “assigned al-Qaeda members to the Taliban Ministry of Intelligence.” They include Mullah Khairullah Khairkhwa, who was “directly associated to [Osama bin Laden] and Taliban Supreme Commander Mullah Muhammad Omar.” And they include Mohammad Nabi Omari, “a senior Taliban official” who was “a member of a joint al-Qaeda/Taliban [anti-coalition militia] cell in Khowst and was involved in attacks against U.S. and Coalition forces,” including one that killed two Americans. These are murderous terrorists with American blood on their hands. It is an outrage that Obama freed them. But for Trump to even consider allowing leaders of a designated terrorist organization to set foot in Camp David is worse than an outrage; it is an insult to all those who died on 9/11 and the American troops who gave their lives fighting them in Afghanistan. It was only the Taliban’s brutality — launching a suicide attack that killed an American service member on the eve of the Camp David summit — that prevented this debacle from unfolding. After the attack, Trump canceled the summit and tweeted, “What kind of people would kill so many in order to seemingly strengthen their bargaining position?” Terrorists, Mr. President — that’s who. Trump’s defenders say this would have been no different from his diplomacy with Kim Jong Un, or his offer to meet with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani. Yes, it is. First, Kim and Rouhani are heads of government. Taliban leaders are terrorists. They claim to be the heads of a state — the “Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.” Hosting them at Camp David grants them undeserved legitimacy. Second, in the cases of North Korea and Iran, Trump is acting from a position of strength. He has imposed crippling sanctions on both regimes. With the Taliban, he’s negotiating from a position of weakness. He wants to get out of Afghanistan, and the Taliban knows it. A peace deal would not be a victory for the United States; it would be a victory for the Taliban.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/09/10/trumps-taliban-invite-is-one-most-shameful-moments-his-presidency/
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/26/world/asia/taliban-guantanamo-afghanistan-peace-talks.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/01/us/bowe-bergdahl-american-soldier-is-freed-by-taliban.html
https://wikileaks.org/gitmo/prisoner/7.html
https://wikileaks.org/gitmo/prisoner/6.html
https://wikileaks.org/gitmo/prisoner/4.html
https://wikileaks.org/gitmo/prisoner/579.html
https://wikileaks.org/gitmo/prisoner/832.html

Republicans support Trump's wall even after he grabs military funds from their states
https://www.politico.com/story/2019/09/11/republicans-border-wall-military-funding-1488818


A National Security Council adviser who praised carbon dioxide and spearheaded efforts to create a presidential committee to review climate science is leaving the administration, following the departure of his patron John Bolton. William Happer, a physicist, is stepping down from his post on Friday, according to the CO2 Coalition, a think tank that touts the benefit of carbon dioxide emissions. Happer formerly led the organization.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-09-11/climate-science-critic-to-follow-bolton-in-leaving-white-house

Plants are going extinct up to 350 times faster than the historical norm
https://theconversation.com/plants-are-going-extinct-up-to-350-times-faster-than-the-historical-norm-122255

Judge Orders Release of Records that Might Tie Saudi Royals to 9/11
https://whowhatwhy.org/2019/09/11/judge-orders-release-of-records-that-might-tie-saudi-royals-to-9-11/

Trump’s trade war has killed 300,000 jobs
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/trumps-trade-war-has-killed-300000-jobs-194717808.html

Good, ban all drugs already: Trump administration plans to ban sale of flavored electronic cigarettes
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/trump-administration-meeting-address-vaping-crisis-n1052396

Former Florida Governor Rick Scot rejected federal funds to fight HIV, sending Florida infection rates soaring
http://theguardian.com/us-news/2019/sep/11/florida-hiv-rick-scott-republican-governor

Parliament suspension ruled 'unlawful'
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-49661855

House Panel to Investigate Report That Cabinet Official Coerced NOAA Chief
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/11/climate/noaa-wilbur-ross-dorian.html

Dan Bishop, a North Carolina Republican known for writing the state’s controversial “bathroom bill,” narrowly beat out Democrat Dan McCready to win a House seat in the state’s Ninth Congressional District, according to Decision Desk HQ. His victory comes in the wake of a massive scandal that plagued the district’s election last fall, and suggests that Republicans still have a lot to worry about in 2020. North Carolina’s Ninth is, after all, a staunchly conservative district that’s been electing Republicans since the 1960s, and one President Donald Trump won by 12 points in 2016. Bishop’s win should have been relatively easy, but was overshadowed by the previous Republican candidate fielding allegations of ballot fraud and suburban voter pushback toward Trump. The fact that Bishop held onto the seat for Republicans will surely be a relief for the party.
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/9/10/20856987/daniel-bishop-north-carolina-special-election-donald-trump-suburbs

Women's rights protesters are taking to the streets for the sixth time in as many months as anger mounts in Japan over 'outdated' rape laws, after a man was allowed to walk free despite sexually assaulting his daughter for years
https://www.france24.com/en/20190911-protecting-rapists-protesters-accuse-japan-of-failing-women

A new poll finds that more voters favor an optional government-run health insurance plan, as former Vice President Joe Biden advocates, than full-scale "Medicare for All" that eliminates private health insurance, as advocated by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).
https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/460886-poll-public-option-more-popular-than-medicare-for-all-in-general-election

Ahead of the Democratic debate in Houston tomorrow, more than 100 Texas elected officials and community leaders endorse Beto O'Rourke for President.
https://twitter.com/robsfriedlander/status/1171809857307107328?s=20

Court rules VA must pay for veterans' emergency room care, a decision that may be worth billions
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/veterans/court-rules-va-must-pay-veterans-emergency-room-care-decision-n1052131

[Mark Katches] Nick Anderson’s stats since joining the #Rays. 15 innings. 1 Earned Run. 0 Walks. 30 Strikeouts. #raysup
https://mobile.twitter.com/markkatches/status/1171615809724137474?

[Brewers] Christian Yelich left tonight’s game with a fractured right knee cap. He will miss the remainder of the season.
https://twitter.com/Brewers/status/1171615520719814658

The September 11 attacks (also referred to as 9/11)[a] were a series of four coordinated terrorist attacks by the Islamic terrorist group al-Qaeda[2][3][4] against the United States on the morning of Tuesday, September 11, 2001. The attacks killed 2,996 people, injured over 6,000 others, and caused at least $10 billion in infrastructure and property damage.[5][6] Additional people died of 9/11-related cancer and respiratory diseases in the months and years following the attacks. | 9/11 is the single deadliest terrorist attack in human history and the single deadliest incident for firefighters and law enforcement officers[7] in the history of the United States, with 343 and 72 killed, respectively. | Suspicion quickly fell on al-Qaeda. The United States responded by launching the War on Terror and invading Afghanistan to depose the Taliban, which had failed to comply with U.S. demands to extradite Osama bin Laden and expel al-Qaeda from Afghanistan. Many countries strengthened their anti-terrorism legislation and expanded the powers of law enforcement and intelligence agencies to prevent terrorist attacks. Although Osama bin Laden, al-Qaeda's leader, initially denied any involvement, in 2004 he claimed responsibility for the attacks.[1] Al-Qaeda and bin Laden cited U.S. support of Israel, the presence of U.S. troops in Saudi Arabia, and sanctions against Iraq as motives. After evading capture for almost a decade, bin Laden was located in Pakistan and killed by SEAL Team Six of the U.S. Navy in May 2011. | Although not confirmed, there is evidence of alleged Saudi Arabian involvement in the attacks.[10] Given as main evidence in these charges are the contents of the 28 redacted pages of the December 2002 Joint Inquiry into Intelligence Community Activities before and after the Terrorist Attacks of September 11, 2001 conducted by the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. These 28 pages contain information regarding the material and financial assistance given to the hijackers and their affiliates leading up to the attacks by the Saudi Arabian government.[11]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/September_11_attacks

Donald Trump Sparks Anger With 'Never Forget' 9/11 Tweet | "Except when we invite the Taliban over for a photo op," George Conway fired back on Twitter.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/donald-trump-9-11-tweet-backlash_n_5d78cec2e4b09342507c5a2e

A bipartisan group of senators introduced a resolution on Wednesday to nix President Trump’s emergency declaration allowing him to build a border wall. The resolution, from Sens. Tom Udall (D-N.M.), Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), would block Trump from shifting funds for military construction to building his wall. Collins is a top Democratic target in the 2020 elections. 
https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/460896-senators-from-both-parties-offer-resolution-to-nix-trump-emergency

White House hasn't held a traditional press briefing in 6 months
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-white-house-held-traditional-press-briefing-months/story?id=65509975

Trump ranted about poll numbers and the ‘Lamestream Media’ minutes before the national moment of silence to remember 9/11
https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-ranted-media-polls-911-national-moment-of-silence-2019-9

NC House Republicans override Gov. Cooper’s budget veto while he’s at 9/11 memorial event | According to Jackson, almost half of the House members were absent when the vote was taken, which resulted in a 55-9 tally. Jackson said Democrats were specifically told by Republicans that no votes would be held in Wednesday’s morning session.
https://www.cbs17.com/news/north-carolina-news/nc-house-republicans-overrode-gov-coopers-budget-veto-while-he-attended-9-11-memorial-event/

Pope Francis 'not afraid' of schism with US Catholics - The pope has responded to attacks from conservative Catholics who criticize his stance on social issues and climate change.
https://www.dw.com/en/pope-francis-not-afraid-of-schism-with-us-catholics/a-50376182

Journalists Blocked from Attending Secretive Immigration Tent Courts. Normally, the press can observe immigration court proceedings. But journalists are being turned away from the first asylum hearings in Laredo under the Migrant Protection Protocols.
https://www.texasobserver.org/immigration-court-tent-laredo-trump-migrant-protection-protocols-mexico/

Dangerous New Hot Zones Are Spreading Around The World | The clam die-off was an alarming marker of a new climate era, an early sign of this coastline's transformation. Scientists now suspect the event was linked to a gigantic blob of warm water extending from the Uruguayan coast far into the South Atlantic, a blob that has only gotten warmer in the years since. The mysterious blob covers 130,000 square miles of ocean, an area nearly twice as big as this small country. And it has been heating up extremely rapidly — by over 2 degrees Celsius — or 2C — over the past century, double the global average. At its center, it's grown even hotter, warming by as much as 3 degrees Celsius, according to one analysis. The entire global ocean is warming, but some parts are changing much faster than others — and the hot spot off Uruguay is one of the fastest. It was first identified by scientists in 2012, but it is still poorly understood and has received virtually no public attention. What researchers do know is that the hot zone here has driven mass die-offs of clams, dangerous ocean heat waves and algal blooms, and wide-ranging shifts in Uruguay’s fish catch. The South Atlantic blob is part of a global trend: Around the planet, enormous ocean currents are traveling to new locations. As these currents relocate, waters are growing warmer. Scientists have found similar hot spots along the western stretches of four other oceans — the North Atlantic, the North Pacific, the South Pacific, and the Indian. A Washington Post analysis of multiple temperature data sets found numerous locations around the globe that have warmed by at least 2 degrees Celsius over the past century. That's a number that scientists and policymakers have identified as a red line if the planet is to avoid catastrophic and irreversible consequences. But in regions large and small, that point has already been reached. Some entire countries, including Switzerland and Kazakhstan, have warmed by 2C. Austria has said the same about its famed Alps. The percentage of the globe that has exceeded 2C varies depending on the time periods considered. Over the past five years, 8 to 11 percent of the globe crossed the threshold, The Post found, while over the past 10 years, the figures drop slightly to between 5 and 9 percent. Considering just the past five years increases the area by roughly 40 percent. These hot spots are the scenes of a critical acceleration, places where geophysical processes are amplifying the general warming trend. They unveil which parts of the Earth will suffer the largest changes. Extreme warming is helping to fuel wildfires in Alaska, shrink glaciers in the Alps and melt permafrost across Canada’s Northwest Territories. It is altering marine ecosystems and upending the lives of fishermen who depend on them, from Africa to South America to Asia. It is making already hot places in the Middle East unbearable for outdoor workers and altering forests, lakes and rivers in the United States. It has thawed the winters of New England and transformed the summers of Siberia. For Uruguay, a small and politically liberal country of fewer than 4 million, the key vulnerability is in the oceans. | The Post’s analysis relied upon four separate temperature records from the U.S. government and scientific researchers. Variations in the data sets themselves, and how they were analyzed, produce somewhat different assessments of the extent of the planet that has warmed by 2C. Because the Earth goes through a number of natural cycles, climate scientists consider long periods, of multiple years, to analyze temperature change. The Post’s analysis considered two “preindustrial” periods — the 50 years from 1850 to 1899 and the 20 years from 1880 to 1899. It also considered two end periods, the past five years and the past 10, which were compared with the two preindustrial periods to determine the amount of warming that has taken place. The past five years are by far the hottest — and display the most numerous and expansive 2C hot spots. And while five years may be a brief period in climatic terms, 2019 is already following the same ultrawarm pathway. Barring some dramatic event like a major volcanic eruption — which can cause temporary global cooling by spewing ash that blocks the sun — scientists expect this to continue and steadily worsen. “We’re not going to really cool down much in the future, so the last five years are indicative of the new normal, " said Zeke Hausfather, a researcher with Berkeley Earth, which produces one of the data sets The Post analyzed. | Straddling the equator, the tropics are already hot because they receive the most sunlight. As the sun hits the tropics, enormous columns of air rise skyward and then outward. But as greenhouse gases trap more heat, those columns of air are pushed farther toward the north and south poles. Air that rises in the tropics falls back down over the middle latitudes. With a warming planet, though, the air is falling in different places. One region where that air sinks is the South Atlantic Ocean, where the tropical expansion has led to a southward shift in the location of a gigantic counterclockwise circulation of winds. These winds, in turn, drive key ocean currents, including a warm, salty, 60-mile-wide stream called the Brazil Current, which is being pushed even farther south. Near Uruguay, the Brazil Current collides with the cold and nutrient-rich Malvinas Current that flows north from waters off Argentina. Where the two currents meet — what is known as the “confluence” — features sudden temperature contrasts and fosters rich fisheries. But that zone, too, is on the move. Research suggests it is shifting southward at a rate of more than 40 miles per decade. The result has been a stunning temperature change off the Uruguayan coast. “The southward displacement of warm waters creates a very strong signal,” explains oceanographer Alberto Piola, a professor at the University of Buenos Aires. The hot spot emerges most dramatically in The Post’s analysis when the most recent five years are compared with the last two decades of the 19th century. By this standard, it has only recently crossed the 2C threshold. In 2012, scientists first flagged it as one of the ocean’s fastest-warming stretches. And they’ve attributed the changes to a broad global pattern that can’t be explained just by natural climate variability.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2019/national/climate-environment/climate-change-world/
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/253937688_Enhanced_warming_over_the_global_subtropical_western_boundary_currents
https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/2015JC011513
https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2019/national/climate-environment/climate-change-world/hotoceans-map-xlarge.jpg?v=30
https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2019/national/climate-environment/climate-change-world/?wpisrc=nl_most&wpmm=1#methodology

He Used to Work at the NRA. Now He’s Shaping Gun Policy at the White House. | Michael Williams also worked for the American Suppressor Association, which represents silencer manufacturers and dealers. | A deputy assistant to the president, Williams has been one of the White House’s main points of contact on gun control in recent weeks, sources on Capitol Hill and in the White House told VICE News. Before working for Trump, Williams spent almost two years as the top lawyer for the American Suppressor Association, which represents silencer manufacturers and dealers. Before that, in 2013, he worked as a law clerk for the National Rifle Association's Institute for Legislative Action. The American Suppressor Association lobbies against regulations on silencers, like the one legally owned and then used in the attack on a Virginia Beach municipal building that killed 12. The association describes itself as “the boots on the ground in the fight to legalize and deregulate suppressors, and are the front line defense against the anti-suppressor factions that want them banned.” Suppressors are banned in eight states, and are regulated by the National Firearms Act. | Williams still has ties to the industry: His brother, Knox Williams, is the executive director and president of the American Suppressor Association. In an interview, Knox Williams confirmed that Michael Williams used to work for the group. The two brothers are in “close” contact about gun issues, Knox Williams said. He said his brother “wore many hats” at the trade group, including drafting state and federal legislation.
https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/d3a3bj/he-used-to-work-at-the-nra-now-hes-shaping-gun-policy-at-the-white-house

Barcelona's car-free 'superblocks' could save hundreds of lives | Superblocks are groups of streets where traffic is reduced to close to zero, with the space formerly occupied by cars given over to pedestrians & play areas; study calculates that the city could prevent 667 premature deaths every year
https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2019/sep/10/barcelonas-car-free-superblocks-could-save-hundreds-of-lives

New Pedestrianism (NP) is a more pedestrian and ecology-oriented variation of New Urbanism in urban planning theory, founded in 1999 by Michael E. Arth, an American artist, urban/home/landscape designer, futurist, and author. NP addresses the problems associated with New Urbanism and is an attempt to solve various social, health, energy, economic, aesthetic, and environmental problems, with special focus on reducing the role of the automobile.[1][2][3] A neighborhood or new town utilizing NP is called a Pedestrian Village. Pedestrian Villages can range from being nearly car-free to having automobile access behind nearly every house and business, but pedestrian lanes are always in front.[4][5][6]

To a large extent New Urbanism is a revival of traditional street patterns and urban design. New Pedestrianism also respects traditional town design, but seeks to further reduce the negative impact of the automobile, the use of which has increased dramatically since WWII. By eliminating the front street and replacing it with a tree-lined pedestrian lane, emphasis is placed on low-impact alternative travel such as walking and cycling. Pedestrian lanes are usually 12 to 15 feet (5 m) wide, with one smooth side for rolling conveyances such as bicycles, Segways, and skates and the other, narrower, textured side for pedestrians and wheelchairs. Eliminating the automobile street from the front allows for intimate scale plazas, fountains, pocket parks, as well as an unspoiled connection to natural features such as lakes, streams, and forests that may border or be included in a Pedestrian Village. A vast public realm is created that is free from the sight, smell, and sound of automobiles, yet automobiles are still served on a separate network.[1][7][8][9]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_pedestrianism

On 9/11, people remember how actor Steve Buscemi helped search for survivors as a New York firefighter | Sixteen years ago, on 11 September 2001, Hollywood actor Steve Buscemi— known for his depictions of gangsters and weirdos, once described by The Guardianas a "strangely attractive shoelace" — returned to his job as a New York firefighter. He worked 12 hour shifts for several days alongside other firefighters, searching for survivors in the rubble from the World Trade Center. Buscemi had taken the FDNY civil service test when he was 18, and used to work as a FDNY firefighter in downtown Manhattan in the 1980's.  He later left the service to become an actor, but has remained engaged in New York firefighters causes, having spoken at union rallies and hosted the HBO documentary A Good Job: Stories of the FDNY. At the time, he said of his efforts during the rescue: "It was a privilege to be able to do it. It was great to connect with the firehouse I used to work with and with some of the guys I worked alongside. And it was enormously helpful for me because while I was working, I didn't really think about it as much, feel it as much."
https://www.businessinsider.com/on-911-people-remember-how-steve-buscemi-searched-for-survivors-2017-9

Sen Durbin says he will introduce an amendment to the DOD approps bill tomorrow which "limits the president’s transfer authority from appropriations," targeting what President Trump did to reallocate $$ to the border wall. Sen @LindseyGrahamSC tells me he'll vote against it.
https://twitter.com/frankthorp/status/1171892812016754689

Oil tycoon and corporate raider T. Boone Pickens dies at 91 | Pickens’ advocacy for renewable energy led to some unusual alliances. He had donated to many Republican candidates since the 1980s, and in the 2004 presidential campaign he helped bankroll television ads by a group called Swift Boat Veterans for Truth that attacked Democratic nominee John Kerry. A few years later, Pickens endorsed a Kerry proposal to limit climate change.
https://www.latimes.com/obituaries/story/2019-09-11/t-boone-pickens-oil-tycoon-has-dead

The @WhiteHouse denies TPS for Bahamians escaping the destruction of hurricane Dorian: “The Bahamians impacted by hurricane Dorian are facing a humanitarian crisis, and the American government, international partners and private organizations continue to support them.....
https://twitter.com/johnrobertsFox/status/1171889093145518081

.....with aid and services. At this time we do not plan to invoke Temporary Protected Status for those currently in the United States.” WH Official.
https://twitter.com/johnrobertsFox/status/1171889093879504897

Uber arguing that drivers aren’t a core part of their business — and therefore don’t have to be classified as employees under a new California law — is pretty remarkable. Speaks to how threatened they are by this new movement on the left.
https://twitter.com/IanKullgren/status/1171888576809881601

A Mexican Man Has Died In ICE Custody. He’s The 8th Death In US Custody This Year.
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/hamedaleaziz/ice-custody-death-mexican-immigrant-illinois

Reminder: Trump Administration Officials Arrested for Scamming Puerto Rico Out of $1.8 Billion in Hurricane Relief Funds
https://www.theroot.com/trump-administration-officials-arrested-for-scamming-pu-1838044256

Raskin, Cummings Threaten Subpoena If DOD Continues Withholding Documents On Taxpayer Funds Spent At Trump's Turnberry Resort
https://raskin.house.gov/media/press-releases/raskin-cummings-threaten-subpoena-if-dod-continues-withholding-documents

ICE is building a "state-of-the-art" "urban warfare" training facility that will include "hyper-realistic" simulations of homes in Chicago and Arizona | The new training center is expected to be part of an expansion at Fort Benning, a U.S. Army post straddling the Alabama-Georgia border next to Columbus, Georgia, which is expected to see as many as 50 additional buildings added to the site. "At a minimum, the TOC will contain a multitude of basic, intermediate and hyper-realistic training devices, a tactical training warehouse, classroom facilities, and vehicle assault training area," ICE said. | Among the training devices expected to be included at the new training site are "hyper-realistic props/design" that simulate "residential houses, apartments, hotels, government facilities and commercial buildings," along with other training configurations. The "devices" are defined as "scalable, portable, modular" training structures that would be "made from portable shipping containers or other appropriate modular materials that can be relocated to alternate sites as needed." "Hyper-realistic is defined as 'such a high degree of fidelity in the replication of battlefield conditions in the training environment that participants so willingly suspend disbelief that they become totally immersed and eventually stress inoculated'," ICE says.
Hyper-realism, the agency states, is "a critical component to this acquisition as the details provide essential information that must be acknowledged, processed and acted upon to minimize risk to our Special Agents, Deportation Officers and SRT operators during high-risk search and arrest warrants, fugitive operations, undercover operations, hostage rescue, gang operations, etc." "For example, details like the number of dishes left on the table, toys in the yard, lighting, furniture, etc. all provide clues that allow our agents and officers to infer vital information that directly affects their safety and the potential resolution or outcome in the scenario," it continues. "Learning to process this information quickly to identify whether there are children present, or how many people are currently in the structure is a necessary skill developed in training." "A Defense Science Board task force found that the probability of being a causualty (sic) decreases significantly after the first few 'decisive combats'," it adds. "These hyper-realistic devices will allow the teams to have those experiences in real-world conditions without the real-world casualties."
https://www.newsweek.com/ice-hyper-realistic-training-facility-homes-chicago-arizona-1458721
https://www.fbo.gov/index.php?tab=documents&tabmode=form&subtab=core&tabid=3fc3b1b0728124a1b9e23258b2961ce6

Trump vows to hit Taliban ‘harder’ than ever in 9/11 speech just days after he wanted to hold peace talks
https://www.rawstory.com/2019/09/trump-vows-to-hit-taliban-harder-than-ever-in-9-11-speech-just-days-after-he-wanted-to-hold-peace-talks/

The U.S. Supreme Court granted a request by President Donald Trump’s administration to fully enforce a new rule that would curtail asylum applications by immigrants at the U.S.-Mexico border, a key element of his hard-line immigration policies. The court said the rule, which requires most immigrants who want asylum to first seek safe haven in a third country through which they had traveled on their way to the United States, could go into effect as litigation challenging its legality continues.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-court-asylum-idUSKCN1VW2U4

Hillary Clinton visits an exhibition in Venice called “The Hillary Clinton Emails.”
https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/11/politics/hillary-clinton-email-art-exhibit/index.html

California's state Senate unanimously passed a bill to allow college athletes to profit from their name, image and likeness. Gov. Gavin Newsom has 30 days to sign or veto the bill.
https://twitter.com/nathanfenno/status/1171928107315388416

India builds detention camps for up to 1.9 million Muslims 'stripped of citizenship'
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/assam-india-detention-camps-bangladesh-nrc-list-a9099251.html