Light News Dump

Chile cancels international conference where Trump hoped to sign trade deal with China
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/business/wp/2019/10/30/chile-cancels-international-conference-where-trump-hoped-to-sign-trade-deal-with-china/

Steve Bannon Targeted Incels Because They Are 'Easy to Manipulate,' Cambridge Analytica Whistleblower Says
https://www.newsweek.com/steve-bannon-targeted-incels-manipulate-cambridge-analytica-whistleblower-christopher-wylie-1468399

Pelosi wants Americans to see the trial of Donald Trump
http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/trump-impeachment-inquiry/pelosi-wants-americans-see-trial-donald-trump-n1073686

The Brexit party is considering pulling out of hundreds of seats in what would be a game-changer for Boris Johnson's hopes of winning #ge2019. The party is expected to announce its strategy on Friday.
https://twitter.com/SebastianEPayne/status/1189605927856607236
https://www.ft.com/content/76e74c38-fb22-11e9-98fd-4d6c20050229

Bolton slated to testify next week as part of impeachment inquiry into Ukraine
https://thehill.com/policy/national-security/468194-bolton-slated-to-testify-next-week-as-part-of-impeachment-inquiry

White House Republicans are exploring a loophole that would illegally allow Trump to bypass a federal law to illegally appoint Ken Cuccinelli to DHS
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/dhs-secretary-job-loophole-trump_n_5db91056e4b066da5528c76a

Republicans storm out of Veterans' Affairs Committee, refuse to vote on health care bill for women veterans | The Deborah Sampson Act was passed by the committee despite GOP refusals to vote on it.
https://www.newsweek.com/republicans-storm-out-female-veteran-health-care-bill-1468605

Trump told allies he "wanted to sue" leakers instead of discussing national security, former Defense Dept. official says
https://www.newsweek.com/trump-allies-sue-leakers-national-security-former-defense-dept-official-1468689

How can GOP senators serve as impeachment jurors when they're implicated in Trump's misdeeds? Ron Johnson and Marsha Blackburn are tied to Russian money and Trump's conspiracy theories. They're not alone
https://www.salon.com/2019/10/30/how-can-gop-senators-serve-as-impeachment-jurors-when-theyre-implicated-in-trumps-misdeeds/

Roundup weedkiller: 42,000 plaintiffs sue Bayer over glyphosate - Lawsuits against Bayer are on the rise over claims that the company's weedkiller causes cancer. The legal cases have taken a toll on Bayer's share price and reputation.
https://www.dw.com/en/roundup-weedkiller-42000-plaintiffs-sue-bayer-over-glyphosate/a-51043520

Vindman says White House deleted Trump's reference to Biden tapes in transcript of Zelensky call
https://edition-m.cnn.com/2019/10/30/politics/alexander-vindman-testimony-white-house-transcript/index.html

A shutdown would hit roughly 2 million federal workers in their wallets as the holiday season begins, including staffers working on the impeachment proceedings. Schumer rightfully suggesting Trump may want to shut down the government to stop impeachment.
https://www.rollcall.com/news/congress/impeachment-collision-course-possible-shutdown

The bankruptcy of the coal company owned by Robert Murray, a major donor to President Trump, isn't just another sign of struggle for the U.S. coal business. It is also a troubling development for tens of thousands of former coal miners, whose pension plan is floundering to stay afloat.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/paloma/the-energy-202/2019/10/30/the-energy-202-bankruptcy-of-trump-donor-s-coal-company-is-bad-news-for-retired-coal-miners/5db86e5688e0fa5ad928db8c/?tid=sm_tw_pol

Reporter Who Published Katie Hill Photos Called Herself 'Campaign Manager' for Hill's Republican Opponents
http://www.newsweek.com/reporter-who-broke-katie-hill-story-called-herself-campaign-manager-hills-gop-opponents-1468590

Turkey summons US ambassador over Armenian genocide resolution
https://www.politico.eu/article/turkey-summons-us-ambassador-over-armenian-genocide-recognition/

Chuck Schumer wants whistleblower protections for Ukraine expert Alexander Vindman after impeachment testimony
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/30/schumer-alexander-vindman-should-be-protected-after-impeachment-testimony.html

Growth rate in the 7 quarters before/after the tax cut: down slightly, reflecting small slowing of consumer spending, large slowing of investment, partly offset by faster government spending. This updates my @AEIdeas blog, see that for more context.
https://twitter.com/jasonfurman/status/1189577872639283200
https://www.aei.org/economics/not-much-what-macroeconomic-data-say-about-the-impact-of-the-tax-cuts-and-jobs-act/

Ayanna Pressley endorses Jessica Cisneros for her primary bid. I'm sure comments will all be congratulatory a- no of course they're fucking not it's all Bernie stans calling Ayanna, having just endorsed a progressive primarying a conservative democrat in her district, a corporate shill.
https://twitter.com/JCisnerosTX/status/1189153086469738496?s=19

Russia Tests New Disinformation Tactics in Africa to Expand Influence
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/30/technology/russia-facebook-disinformation-africa.html

United States Objects to Mention of "Sexual and Reproductive Health" in UN Resolution on Women Because It Gives Women Rights Over Their Own Bodies
https://www.newsweek.com/united-states-objects-mention-sexual-reproductive-health-un-resolution-women-says-it-1468541

NBA's Enes Kanter calls out Ilhan Omar over Turkey sanctions vote
https://thehill.com/homenews/house/468050-enes-kanter-calls-out-ilhan-omar-she-seems-like-on-dictator-erdogan-s-payroll

By close of business today, more than 50,000 citizens from across the political spectrum will have called on the U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC) to help secure the vote by banning wireless devices and internet connectivity in voting equipment certified by the federal government. The action is taking place as part of the official comment process on the new Voluntary Voting System Guidelines, which the EAC is charged with issuing. The guidelines influence the design and manufacture of voting machines that the public uses in federal elections. Although the federal guidelines are voluntary, many states require voting systems to adhere to them. After the 2016 elections raised questions about the integrity of U.S. election systems, it often was stated that voting systems could not be remotely attacked because they are not connected to the internet. However, some voting systems include cellular modems to be used to communicate election results at the end of election night and other purposes. Public telecommunication networks communicate over the internet at points; the modems create an attack vector that hackers can exploit to compromise the voting system, install malicious software and tamper with election data in current or future elections. Many states ban the use of wireless modems because of the grave security risk they pose, but several still use voting systems with wireless modems. Those states include Florida, Michigan, Minnesota, Rhode Island and Wisconsin. Advocacy organizations – including Public Citizen, the National Election Defense Coalition, Common Cause and FreedomWorks – have alerted their members of the need for citizen comments supporting a ban on wireless modems and internet connectivity in the federal guidelines. More than 50,000 citizens responded and sent comments to the EAC on the subject.
https://www.citizen.org/news/advocates-across-the-political-spectrum-submit-more-than-50000-comments-to-u-s-election-assistance-commission/

Kamala Harris' CM Juan Rodriguez just told staff to expect layoffs at Baltimore HQ as spending woes surface. He’ll cut his own pay and trim consulting contracts. He's also redeploying aides to Iowa from NH/NV/CA as part of their all-in strategy there
https://www.politico.com/news/2019/10/30/kamala-harris-campaign-layoffs-061112

Lt. Col. Vindman passed a background check that Jared and Ivanka didn't
https://www.msnbc.com/deadline-white-house/watch/wallace-lt-col-vindman-passed-a-background-check-that-jared-and-ivanka-didn-t-72294469963

GOOD: Community organizer John Mason says he’ll challenge U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar in a Democratic primary for Minnesota’s 5th District. Mason, a first-time candidate, said Tuesday he wants to build on President Barack Obama’s accomplishments in health care care, education, gun control and the environment. He said he supports inclusivity and condemns all forms of hate, including “anti-Semitic tropes” — a dig at Omar, who was criticized this year for remarks about Israel and the strength of the Jewish state’s influence in Washington.
https://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2019/10/15/omar-gets-a-primary-challenger-in-organizer-john-mason/

Members of the Twin Cities Armenian community criticized U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar on Tuesday for not supporting a measure that recognizes the century-old mass killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks as a genocide.
http://www.startribune.com/minnesota-armenians-upset-u-s-rep-ilhan-omar-didn-t-support-measure-recognizing-genocide/564076352/

YEP: In the following paragraph, Gabbard makes her strategy even more apparent. “Whether Mrs. Clinton’s name is on the ballot or not,” she writes, “her foreign policy will be, as many of the Democratic candidates adhere to her doctrine” of endless regime change, etc. Gabbard is saying right now that any Democratic nominee is going to be Hillary Clinton. What does that tell you about her intentions? | Gabbard’s op-ed is structured as an apparent refutation of the claim Clinton made about her. In fact, nothing could do more to vindicate Clinton’s suspicion that Gabbard is being groomed by the Republican party as a spoiler candidate than a Wall Street Journal op-ed previewing her case for a spoiler campaign.
http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/10/tulsi-gabbard-third-party-campaign-russia-spoiler.html

Twitter to ban all political advertising, raising pressure on Facebook
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/oct/30/twitter-ban-political-advertising-us-election

Tucker Carlson And Guest Blame Wildfires On Liberals, Diversity
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/tucker-carlson-liberals-diversity-california-fires_n_5db9610be4b066da55296f9e

ABA Says Trump Judicial Nominee ‘Not Qualified’ on Eve of Hearing, Conservatives Call It ‘Political Drive-By Shooting’
https://lawandcrime.com/high-profile/aba-says-trump-judicial-nominee-not-qualified-on-eve-of-hearing-conservatives-call-it-political-drive-by-shooting/

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey announced that his social media platform will stop running political ads, citing online ads' "significant risks to politics." Facebook has been criticized for allowing deceptive political ads.
https://twitter.com/jack/status/1189634360472829952

For instance, it‘s not credible for us to say: “We’re working hard to stop people from gaming our systems to spread misleading info, buuut if someone pays us to target and force people to see their political ad…well...they can say whatever they want!
https://www.twitter.com/jack/status/1189634371407380480

Tim Morrison, the top Russia official on Trump's National Security Council who is scheduled to testify in the impeachment inquiry on Thursday, is expected to leave his White House post imminently, three sources familiar with the plan told NPR.
https://www.npr.org/2019/10/30/774815627/trumps-russia-director-to-leave-national-security-council-amid-impeachment-inqui

Aerial footage shows devastation at the site of Shuri Castle in Japan, a UNESCO World Heritage Site which dates back to the 14th century
https://twitter.com/BNONews/status/1189653473324937217

A Kurdish informant provided key intel in operation that killed ISIS leader. Informant proved to U.S. intelligence he had direct access to Baghdadi by turning over Baghdadi's used underwear and sample of his blood. DNA test by U.S. intelligence got positive DNA matches, kicking hunt into high gear.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/kurdish-source-provided-key-intel-operation-killed-isis-leader-abu-n1072921

Russian hacking group Fancy Bear has carried out "significant cyber attacks" against more than a dozen anti-doping authorities and sporting organisations around the world.
https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/russia-hackers-2020-olympics-doping-fancy-bear-tokyo-a9175541.html

YEP: So grateful to @CoryBooker for taking on the rhetoric of gun extremists like @MeghanMcCain who use insults and misinformation to further the gun lobby’s dangerous and extremist agenda. These conversations can be civil; American lives are at stake.
https://twitter.com/shannonrwatts/status/1189648441820897280

A report out today in Nature finds that we've been underestimating the effects of climate-change-related flooding, and that major cities across the globe will be inundated and essentially unlivable by 2050. | New elevation data triple estimates of global vulnerability to sea-level rise and coastal flooding | Bombay, Jakarta, Bangkok, some of the most densely populated cities in the world, literally filling with water at each high tide. | "Sea levels projected by 2050 are high enough to threaten land currently home to a total of 150 (140–170) million people to a future permanently below the high tide line." 150 MILLION PEOPLE.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-019-12808-z