A fan in Boston has been arrested and banned for life from TD Garden for throwing a water bottle at Nets star Kyrie Irving in postgame tunnel tonight.
https://twitter.com/shamscharania/status/1399197049065598977
Texas Democrats leave House floor, effectively blocking passage of restrictive voting bill for now
https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/31/politics/texas-voting-rights-bill-sb7-house-adjourned-no-quorum/index.html
1/5 Japanese Olympic athletes begin vaccinations on Tuesday. But the Japanese Olympic Committee is severely limiting coverage. Obviously. Bad look. Healthy, robust young athletes jump to head of line. While almost no one else in Japan is vaccinated. We knew this would happen.
https://twitter.com/StephenWadeAP/status/1399254343795154947
3 But behind the scenes the IOC is pushing athletes to get vaccinated. Priorities? Clearly financial interests of IOC surpass all else. The IOC is a business. The Olympics are going on because the IOC loses billions if they don't. That simple. Games don't need any fans. Only TV.
https://twitter.com/StephenWadeAP/status/1399254346697646080
Texas House Dems responding to Gov. Abbott's call for a special session: "You wouldn't call a special session for covid, for mass shootings, or for Hurricane Harvey, but you want one for voter suppression. We're ready to have that fight."
This is our fourth village of the day. We covered the tribal / adivasi belt today providing ration to close to 600 families. None of the villagers have been vaccinated. Two dead in the village of what they call some strange fever
https://twitter.com/i/status/1398978138403610628
The federal government's Paycheck Protection Program closed to new applicants Friday after funding was exhausted
https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-paycheck-protection-program-closes-to-new-applications-11622310265
Kyrie Irving, in part, on the fan throwing a water bottle at him: "You're seeing a lot of old ways come up... just underlying racism and treating people like they're in a human zoo. Throwing stuff at people, saying things. There is a certain point where it gets to be too much."
At least 160 children died digging tunnels for Hamas. Use of child labor not stopped by police in Gaza, where children's "nimble bodies" help dig the tunnels that lead into Israel and Egypt. Hamas used children to help them dig numerous tunnels into Israel and Egypt, a 2012 paper written for the Journal of Palestine Studies reported.
https://www.jpost.com/Diplomacy-and-Politics/At-least-160-children-died-digging-tunnels-for-Hamas-369138
West Virginia Republican Gov. Jim Justice owes $700 million in loans from collapsed lender Greensill
https://www.businessinsider.com/jim-justice-greensill-loans-bluestone-credit-suisse-west-virginia-2021-5
In the name of bipartisanship, Manchin is giving Senate Republicans a veto on whether Congress should respond to the wave of voter suppression laws that state Republicans are passing entirely on party line votes. It's illogical even by his own standards.
President Biden plans to significantly expand legal immigration and make the process easier for applicants, according to documents obtained by The New York Times. The effort would undo much of Donald Trump's immigration legacy.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/31/us/politics/biden-immigration.html
37% of global heat deaths each year are due directly to global warming
https://apnews.com/article/climate-climate-change-science-environment-and-nature-f0b4baded0e335035fdb1ba8c8f65e53
There are people who think saying "the former guy" on this site and elsewhere is a) deeply clever and b) makes this all magically disappear. There's a world where a very dangerous conversation is still happening.
Just a reminder that Mike Flynn, a retired three-star U.S. Army general, Trump's first National Security Adviser, and later admitted felon, spent the Memorial Day weekend supporting the idea of a violent military overthrow of the government of the United States of America.
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https://www.newyorker.com/news/us-journal/the-women-who-preserved-the-story-of-the-tulsa-race-massacre
The Women Who Preserved The Story Of The Tulsa Race Massacre
Two pioneering Black writers have not received the recognition they deserve for chronicling one of the country's gravest crimes
By Victor Luckerson
May 28, 2021
After teaching an evening typewriting class, Mary E. Jones Parrish was losing herself in a good book when her daughter Florence Mary noticed something strange outside. "Mother," Florence said, "I see men with guns." It was May 31, 1921, in Tulsa. A large group of armed Black men had congregated below Parrish's apartment, situated in the city's thriving Black business district, known as Greenwood. Stepping outside, Parrish learned that a Black teen-ager named Dick Rowland had been arrested on a false allegation of attempted rape, and that her neighbors were planning to march to the courthouse to try to protect him.
https://www.newyorker.com/news/dispatch/in-tulsa-an-energized-juneteenth-celebration-focusses-on-change-not-trump
Soon after the men left, Parrish heard gunshots. Then fires lit up the night sky as the buildings just west of her home began to burn. The effort to protect Rowland had gone horribly wrong, resulting in a chaotic gun battle at the courthouse. Now a heavily armed white mob was pressing down on the entirety of Greenwood, bent on violent retribution. Parrish, who lived just north of the railroad tracks that divided Tulsa's two segregated worlds, watched from her apartment window as the mob grew. She observed a pitched skirmish between white and Black shooters across the railroad tracks, then saw white men haul a machine gun to the top of a grain mill and rain bullets down on her neighborhood. Instead of running away, Parrish remained in Greenwood and documented what she saw, heard, and felt. "I had no desire to flee," she recalled. "I forgot about personal safety and was seized with an uncontrollable desire to see the outcome of the fray."
The thirty-one-year-old was an eyewitness to the Tulsa Race Massacre, which left as many as three hundred people dead and more than a thousand homes destroyed. Though Parrish had previously found success in Tulsa as an educator and entrepreneur, the massacre compelled her to become a journalist and author, writing down her own experiences and collecting the accounts of many others. Her book "Events of the Tulsa Disaster," published in 1923, was the first and most visceral long-form account of how Greenwood residents experienced the massacre.
https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/watching-watchmen-as-a-descendant-of-the-tulsa-race-massacre
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/20/us/tulsa-greenwood-massacre.html
https://www.amazon.com/Events-Tulsa-Disaster-Jones-Parrish/dp/B00LGZPT18
When the attack faded into obscurity in the ensuing decades, so did Parrish and her small red book. But, since the nineteen-seventies, as the event slowly gained national attention, Parrish's work became a vital primary source for other people's writings. Yet her life remained unknown, even as the facts that she had gathered—such as several firsthand accounts of airplanes being used to surveil or attack Greenwood—became foundational to the nation's understanding of the massacre. She was, quite literally, relegated to the footnotes of history.
As the centennial of the race massacre approaches, a raft of documentaries, along with a new thirty-million-dollar museum, are poised to make the story of Greenwood more widely known—and financially lucrative—than it has ever been. But the Black Tulsans who preserved the community's history risk being forgotten, particularly the women who did the foundational heavy lifting. It's not just Parrish—Eddie Faye Gates, an Oklahoma native and longtime Tulsa educator, continued Parrish's work by interviewing massacre survivors more than seventy years later, recording their perspectives in books and video testimonials.
History lessons draw power from their perceived objective authority, but if you drill to the core of almost any narrative you will find a conversation between an interviewer and a subject. In Greenwood, Black women such as Parrish and Gates were the ones having those conversations. Now descendants of both women are working to insure that their legacies are recognized. "She was a Black woman in a patriarchal, racist society, and I think bringing all those elements together tells you exactly how she's been erased," Anneliese Bruner, a great-granddaughter of Parrish, said. "It's convenient to use her work, but not to magnify and amplify her person."
In 1921, Mary E. Jones Parrish was a relative newcomer to Tulsa. Born Mary Elizabeth Jones in Mississippi in 1890, she spent some time in Oklahoma in her early adulthood, giving birth to her daughter Florence in the all-Black town of Boley, in 1914. (In 1912, she had married Simon Parrish.) Soon after having Florence, Parrish migrated to Rochester, New York, where she studied shorthand at the Rochester Business Institute.
Parrish was called back to Oklahoma, where her mother was ailing in the town of McAlester. Six months after Parrish arrived, her mother passed away. Around 1919, Parrish settled in Tulsa, attracted by the friendly faces and collaborative enterprises in Greenwood. The neighborhood was home to two movie theatres, a jeweller, a small garment factory, a hospital, a public library, and many restaurants, dance halls, and corner dives. In her book, Parrish describes the thrill of stepping off the Frisco railroad and into a world of Black-owned businesses and well-kept homes. She dubbed the community the "Negro's Wall Street," one of the first documeted uses of a now iconic phrase. "I came not to Tulsa as many came, lured by the dream of making money and bettering myself in the financial world," she wrote, "but because of the wonderful co-operation I observed among our people."
She opened the Mary Jones Parrish School of Natural Education on the neighborhood's most popular thoroughfare, Greenwood Avenue, and offered classes in typewriting and shorthand. She was one of many female entrepreneurs in the neighborhood who never received the same level of renown as their male counterparts. "When we talk about Greenwood, it usually is a very male-focussed story," Brandy Thomas Wells, a professor at Oklahoma State University who specializes in Black women's history, told me. "The day-to-day activities of those businesses depended upon the invisible labor of women."
During the massacre, Parrish lost everything. But, instead of leaving town, she remained in Greenwood. As the neighborhood smoldered, she immediately realized how important it was to bear witness to what had happened to her community. The attack destroyed the offices of Tulsa's two Black-owned newspapers, the Tulsa Star and the Oklahoma Sun; the former never resumed publishing. The city also had two white-owned newspapers—the Tulsa World and the Tulsa Tribune—which published stories blaming Black people for their own community's destruction. There was little space in the city for Black residents to explain what had happened to them in their own words.
Several days after the massacre, Parrish was approached by Henry T. S. Johnson, a Black pastor who also served on a statewide interracial commission aimed at improving race relations. At the commission's behest, he asked Parrish to interview survivors and write down what they had endured. Parrish was intrigued. "This proved to be an interesting occupation," she wrote, "for it helped me forget my trouble in sympathy for the people with whom I daily came in contact."
Parrish collected first-person accounts from about twenty massacre survivors. Collectively, their stories captured every major phase of the attack and its aftermath. Some had fled northward in the middle of the night, amid torrents of gunfire. Others were snatched from their houses by members of the white mob and taken to internment camps situated around the city. Nearly all returned to find their homes either burned or looted. "I feel this damnable affair has ruined us all," Carrie Kinlaw, a survivor who rescued her bedridden mother during the shooting, told Parrish.
Parrish's book challenged many of the false narratives that Tulsa city officials had spread about the massacre. The planes that circled above Greenwood, the authorities claimed, were used only for reconnaissance. Parrish and her sources said that they witnessed men with rifles climb aboard the aircraft and fire down on Greenwood residents. The white-owned newspapers cast the massacre as an aberration caused by supposedly mounting lawlessness in the city. Parrish said that the violence fit a broad pattern, and she connected it to recent attacks on Black communities in Chicago and Washington, D.C., during the Red Summer of 1919. She also proposed policy solutions that might help prevent such disastrous events in the future, including the passage of a federal anti-lynching measure. Parrish's work placed her in the tradition of other pioneering Black female journalists, including Ida B. Wells, an anti-lynching crusader, and Mary Church Terrell, who criticized the convict-lease system prevalent in the Deep South. "Just as this horde of evil men swept down on the Colored section of Tulsa," Parrish wrote, "so will they, some future day, sweep down on the homes and business places of their own race."
https://www.theworldwar.org/learn/wwi/red-summer
https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/chicago-race-riot-of-1919
Parrish's hundred-and-twelve-page book was published in 1923, two years after the massacre, thanks in part to the nine hundred dollars that Greenwood residents raised to help cover the printing costs. It was greeted with little fanfare. Few copies were printed, and the publication appeared to garner no mention at all in Tulsa's white newspapers. (The Oklahoma Sun probably discussed it, but few issues of the paper from those years exist today.) Copies of the book sat in the closets and chests of local historians and massacre survivors, dug out on occasion as proof of what had happened.
Parrish left Tulsa in the mid-nineteen-twenties, to become the head of the commerce department at a high school in Muskogee, Oklahoma. She returned in the mid-nineteen-thirties, but then seems to have disappeared from the public record. According to Bruner, her great-granddaughter, Parrish died in Oklahoma in the early nineteen-seventies. During her lifetime, Parrish did not receive the recognition for her writing that she deserved. "The onus is not on Parrish," said Wells, the Oklahoma State University professor. "The act of forgetting has little to do with Black people, because the story of the massacre in Greenwood was very much alive." Decades after the massacre, another Black female writer would recognize the importance of Parrish's work and expand on it.
As a teen-ager, Eddie Faye Gates spent her summers in the rebuilt Greenwood of the nineteen-forties, when the community proudly promoted itself as "a symbol of racial prominence and progress." She enjoyed gazing at the downtown skyline from the swing on an aunt's grand front porch and drinking free sodas at a drugstore on Greenwood Avenue owned by an older cousin. In 1954, Gates and her husband honeymooned at the nearby Small Hotel, where celebrities such as Louis Armstrong were regular guests.
Gates's affection for Greenwood and the North Tulsa area dovetailed with her long-standing interest in history. Born in 1934 to a family of sharecroppers in rural Oklahoma, she decided at the age of five that she wanted to be an educator. When her family moved to North Tulsa, in 1968, Gates became the second Black teacher at Edison Senior High School. At the time, her children were not allowed to attend the school because of lingering segregation policies. As Gates taught history, she experienced the effects of society's resistance to learning from it. "There is no need for any person to waste another ounce of energy in denying that racism exists in this country, and in the world," she wrote in her memoir, "Miz Lucy's Cookies: And Other Links in My Black Family Support System." "Let's get on with this recognition process."
https://www.amazon.com/Miz-Lucys-cookies-family-support/dp/0962429791
In the late nineteen-nineties, Gates was appointed to the Tulsa Race Riot Commission, a state-sanctioned task force charged with investigating the 1921 massacre. She spearheaded a nationwide campaign to identify massacre survivors scattered around the country. The commission ultimately located a hundred and eighteen of them, living as far away as California and Florida. Having retired from teaching, Gates made it her mission to interview as many survivors as possible. The work became all-consuming, filling multiple books that she authored and dominating family conversation every Sunday evening around the dinner table. "It really got into her soul," Gates's son, Derek Gates, told me.
Gates conducted video interviews with dozens of current and former Greenwood residents, asking them to recall the most traumatic event of their lives. Some of the interviews took place in people's living rooms, others at nursing homes. Parrish's subjects had been as old as ninety-two during the massacre; Gates's were children or teen-agers at the time, but their memories remained vivid. "Some of them had never talked about what had happened, not even to their own families—but they opened up to her," Derek Gates said. George Monroe, who was only five years old in 1921, told Gates that four white men with torches burst into his family's home and set the curtains aflame, as he and his siblings hid beneath a bed. "Everything in and around was burning," Monroe said. "That's what I remember more than anything else."
Many of Gates's interviews are now available on YouTube, where they've collectively been viewed more than seven hundred thousand times. Kavin Ross, a longtime family friend who grew up in Tulsa, helped her record the testimonials. "You can read all the books you want to—to hear it firsthand, like I did and Ms. Gates did, it's even more powerful," Ross said.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PmZf1PHW8yk
Like Parrish, Gates advocated for policies that would provide justice for the people she interviewed. She supported reparations for massacre victims and pushed the riot commission to do the same. After the panel called for reparations, the state of Oklahoma rejected its own commission's recommendation. When massacre survivors travelled to Washington, D.C., in 2005, to petition the Supreme Court to hear a reparations lawsuit, Gates was with them. The Supreme Court declined to hear the group's case. After those setbacks, the story of the race massacre again lay dormant for years.
Today, the work done by Parrish in the nineteen-twenties and Gates in the nineteen-nineties forms the bedrock for books, documentaries, and a renewed reparations push that, a century after the massacre, is experiencing a groundswell of support. But, in Greenwood, that support never wavered. Ross's father, Don Ross, a former state representative, lobbied the Oklahoma legislature to launch the riot commission, which provided Gates with the resources she needed to conduct her many interviews. The interviews, along with a series of elegant portraits of massacre survivors, are preserved in the Greenwood Cultural Center, which was built after years of advocacy by Don Ross and the former state senator Maxine Horner. Kavin Ross noted that, as national-news crews and documentarians descend on Greenwood for the centennial, many local historians and community leaders are not getting the credit they deserve. "I'm seeing all these folks that's coming from out of nowhere telling the story, but they are not acknowledging their source," Ross told me, referring to his father, Gates, and others. "Those were the true fighters who kept this story alive all this time."
Last year, Gates's family donated much of her research to the Gilcrease Museum, in North Tulsa. (Gates, now in her eighties and in deteriorating health, declined to be interviewed.) The museum's Gates collection includes over six hundred photographs, over fifty hours of video footage, and handwritten notes from her time on the riot commission. Interviews between Gates and the Greenwood elders, which transport viewers to an earlier time, are the highlight. "She wanted to give these people dignity and allow their stories to matter," Derek Gates said. "Her whole deal was, 'It matters what you had to live through.' "
Though the Gates collection is anchored by the massacre, it also includes images and oral histories about daily life in North Tulsa across decades. Gates dedicated much of her later years to investigating Greenwood's darkest days, but she was just as passionate about preserving the history of the thriving mid-century community of her youth. "She did this out of a passion to tell North Tulsa's story," Autumn Brown, the lead researcher for the Gilcrease's Gates collection, said. "She saw a need to document this history and, because of that passion, she embarked on such a laborious task. That's no small feat."
Anneliese Bruner, Mary E. Jones Parrish's great-granddaughter, has been striving to make her ancestor's work more widely known since her father handed her his copy of "Events of the Tulsa Disaster," in 1994. Bruner's father, she recalled, told her, "Now you're the matriarch of the family." She said that work became more urgent after she saw the parallels between the Tulsa Race Massacre and the riot at the U.S. Capitol on January 6th, which she wrote about for the Washington Post. She has partnered with Trinity University Press to publish a new edition of Parrish's book, under the title "The Nation Must Awake," a line taken from the volume. On Memorial Day weekend, Bruner, who wrote a new afterword to the book, will return to the city where Parrish's life was upended, to mark the centennial of the massacre. "Here is my opportunity to reiterate what my great-grandmother has said, to resurrect her memory," Bruner told me. "I think my ancestors were speaking to me, and I had prepared myself and was ready to heed the call."
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/01/25/among-the-insurrectionists
https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/the-gop-looks-for-new-ways-to-ignore-january-6th
https://www.thelily.com/my-grandmother-survived-the-tulsa-massacre-100-years-later-i-watched-a-mostly-white-mob-attack-my-city/
https://www.amazon.com/Nation-Must-Awake-Witness-Massacre/dp/159534943X
The parallels Bruner noted between the world that Parrish described and the country today include mob violence and public displays of racism endorsed by those in power. The continued resonance of Parrish's work speaks to the keenness of her insight in the aftermath of one of America's darkest chapters. "What I'd like for people to understand is the cyclical nature of history unless we do something about it," Bruner told me. "And that's why I think she said, 'The nation must awake' to these influences, these forces, these recurring themes in human interaction."
Victor Luckerson is a journalist in Tulsa who is writing a book about the city's Greenwood district, and a newsletter about neglected Black history called Run it Back.
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https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/05/31/a-proclamation-on-day-of-remembrance-100-years-after-the-1921-tulsa-race-massacre/
A Proclamation on Day Of Remembrance: 100 Years After The 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre
May 31, 2021 • Presidential Actions
One hundred years ago, a violent white supremacist mob raided, firebombed, and destroyed approximately 35 square blocks of the thriving Black neighborhood of Greenwood in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Families and children were murdered in cold blood. Homes, businesses, and churches were burned. In all, as many as 300 Black Americans were killed, and nearly 10,000 were left destitute and homeless. Today, on this solemn centennial of the Tulsa Race Massacre, I call on the American people to reflect on the deep roots of racial terror in our Nation and recommit to the work of rooting out systemic racism across our country.
Before the Tulsa Race Massacre, Greenwood was a thriving Black community that had grown into a proud economic and cultural hub. At its center was Greenwood Avenue, commonly known as Black Wall Street. Many of Greenwood's 10,000 residents were Black sharecroppers who fled racial violence after the Civil War.
In the decades following the Civil War and Reconstruction, Greenwood became a place where Black Americans were able to make a new start and secure economic progress despite the continued pain of institutional and overt racism. The community was home to a growing number of prominent Black entrepreneurs as well as working-class Black families who shared a commitment to social activism and economic opportunity. As Greenwood grew, Greenwood Avenue teemed with successful Black-owned businesses, including restaurants, grocery stores, hotels, and offices for doctors, lawyers, and dentists. The community also maintained its own school system, post office, a savings and loan institution, hospital, and bus and taxi service.
Despite rising Jim Crow systems and the reemergence of the Ku Klux Klan, Greenwood's economic prosperity grew, as did its citizens' demands for equal rights. This made the community a source of pride for many Black Americans. It also made the neighborhood and its families a target of white supremacists. In 2 days, a violent mob tore down the hard-fought success of Black Wall Street that had taken more than a decade to build.
In the years that followed, the destruction caused by the mob was followed by laws and policies that made recovery nearly impossible. In the aftermath of the attack, local ordinances were passed requiring new construction standards that were prohibitively expensive, meaning many Black families could not rebuild. Later, Greenwood was redlined by mortgage companies and deemed "hazardous" by the Federal Government so that Black homeowners could not access home loans or credit on equal terms. And in later decades, Federal investment, including Federal highway construction, tore down and cut off parts of the community. The attack on Black families and Black wealth in Greenwood persisted across generations.
The Federal Government must reckon with and acknowledge the role that it has played in stripping wealth and opportunity from Black communities. The Biden-Harris Administration is committed to acknowledging the role Federal policy played in Greenwood and other Black communities and addressing longstanding racial inequities through historic investments in the economic security of children and families, programs to provide capital for small businesses in economically disadvantaged areas, including minority-owned businesses, and ensuring that infrastructure projects increase opportunity, advance racial equity and environmental justice, and promote affordable access.
A century later, the fear and pain from the devastation of Greenwood is still felt. As Viola Fletcher, a 107-year-old survivor of the Tulsa Race Massacre courageously testified before the Congress recently, "I will never forget the violence of the white mob when we left our home. I still see Black men being shot, Black bodies lying in the street. I still smell smoke and see fire. I still see Black businesses being burned. I still hear airplanes flying overhead. I hear the screams. I have lived through the massacre every day. Our country may forget this history, but I cannot."
With this proclamation, I commit to the survivors of the Tulsa Race Massacre, including Viola Fletcher, Hughes Van Ellis, and Lessie Benningfield Randle, the descendants of victims, and to this Nation that we will never forget. We honor the legacy of the Greenwood community, and of Black Wall Street, by reaffirming our commitment to advance racial justice through the whole of our government, and working to root out systemic racism from our laws, our policies, and our hearts.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim May 31, 2021, a Day of Remembrance: 100 Years After The 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. I call upon the people of the United States to commemorate the tremendous loss of life and security that occurred over those 2 days in 1921, to celebrate the bravery and resilience of those who survived and sought to rebuild their lives again, and commit together to eradicate systemic racism and help to rebuild communities and lives that have been destroyed by it.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this thirty-first day of May, in the year of our L-rd two thousand twenty-one, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-fifth.
JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR.
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One way to vaccine trust is through the black barbershop. For barber Mike Brown, sometimes customers tell him "hell, no" they won't get a shot. But sometimes he can change a mind. "It's an awesome thing."
https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2021/05/30/barbershop-coronavirus-vaccines/
Alston received his jab of the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine, along with a free fried fish sandwich and a $30 coupon toward a haircut and a shave, at The Shop Spa, a barbershop that serves a predominantly Black and Latino clientele. It's the first coronavirus vaccine clinic in a barbershop in Maryland and organizers hope it will become a national model. A newly formed partnership that includes Black community and business leaders, the University of Maryland and the White House covid-19 response team is working to make that happen by reaching out to barbers and stylists across the country, starting with a June 2 Zoom town hall. | "J & J is radioactive in the Black community because of the baby powder issue," he said, referring to the product the company stopped selling last year after it was ordered to pay billions of dollars related to claims the product causes cancer. The company has denied the allegations. | Other people opted out of the clinic over worries about the rare but severe type of blood clot that has been linked to the vaccine, even though federal health officials have said the vaccines' benefits far outweigh those risks. | Still others expressed a distrust of the health-care system that Thomas says can be overcome only by expanding these health-care outreach efforts beyond coronavirus vaccinations. That distrust is evident in the large share of Black and Latino adults (22 percent and 15 percent, respectively) who want to "wait and see" how the vaccine is working for others before getting vaccinated themselves, compared with 10 percent for White adults, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation survey released Friday. | Thomas believes barbershops and salons are the kinds of places where conversations like this can comfortably take place. "It is where people hang out," he said. Before the pandemic, customers might have spent hours there, listening to music, talking sports, sharing stories about their lives. The man selling tube socks might stop by, followed by church ladies selling cut fruit.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2021/05/30/barbershop-coronavirus-vaccines/
https://www.npr.org/2020/05/19/859182015/johnson-johnson-stops-selling-talc-based-baby-powder-in-u-s-and-canada
https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2021/04/19/johnson-and-johnson-vaccine-blood-clots/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2021/02/13/covid-racial-ethnic-disparities/
https://www.kff.org/coronavirus-covid-19/poll-finding/kff-covid-19-vaccine-monitor-may-2021
Naomi Osaka dropped out of the French Open one day after officials threatened to expel her from the season's second Grand Slam tournament if she continued to refuse to attend news conferences after her matches.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/31/sports/tennis/naomi-osaka-quits-the-french-open.html
She has never made it to week 2 at Roland Garros. She loses on clay courts all the time.
https://au.sports.yahoo.com/tennis-news-concerns-naomi-osaka-clay-court-misery-004808867.html
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott vows to defund and cancel State Legislature after voting restrictions bill fails, threatening salaries. This is getting to a level of absurdity beyond anything seen. I can't but help notice that this sounds a lot like that cancel culture Republicans have been saying they hate so much.
https://www.texastribune.org/2021/05/31/texas-greg-abbott-funding-legislature/
Greg Abbott and his party are anti-democracy, anti-Constitution, and anti-American.
Unrestricted and equal access to voting is the bedrock principal of America. True, it was a mysognist and racist and classist implementation to begin with, but it has been gradually and consistently improved over the centuries. The changes being implemented are a direct attack on equal access to voting and are a direct attack on democracy.
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https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2021/05/31/remarks-by-president-biden-at-the-153rd-national-memorial-day-observance/
Remarks by President Biden at the 153rd National Memorial Day Observance
May 31, 2021 • Speeches and Remarks
Arlington National Cemetery
Arlington, Virginia
10:34 A.M. EST
THE PRESIDENT: Madam Vice President, Secretary Austin, Secretary McDonough, General Milley, Gold Star families, my fellow Americans — we're gathered at this sacred place in this solemn hour to engage in the most fundamental of undertakings: the rite of remembrance.
We remember those who gave their all in the service of America, in the service of freedom, in the service of justice. We remember their sacrifice, their valor, and their grace. We remember their smiles; their loves; their laughter; their essential, vibrant, and transcendent humanity.
For while we stand amid monuments of stone, we must never forget that each of these markers, for those known and unknown, here at Arlington and far beyond represent a precious life: a son, a daughter, a mother, a spouse, a brother, a sister, a friend, a neighbor.
To those who mourn a loved one today: Jill and I have some idea how you're feeling. Our losses are not the same, but that black hole you feel in your chest — as if it's going to suck you into it — we get.
I know the incredible pride you felt seeing your loved one wear the uniform of our country, and the pride they felt wearing it.
Our son Beau's service in the Delaware Army National Guard unit, the year he spent deployed in Iraq, was one of the things that he was most proud of in life.
Yesterday marked the anniversary of his death. And it's a hard time — a hard time of year for me and our family, just like it is for so many of you. It can hurt to remember, but the hurt is how we feel and how we heal.
I always feel Beau close to me on Memorial Day. I know exactly where I need to be: right here, honoring our fallen heroes. Because through pain and anguish of his loss, I remember the pride on his face the day I pinned those bars on his shoulders.
To all of you who are fighting with the fresh pain of loss, as hard as it is to believe, I promise you this: The day will come when the image of your loved one will bring a smile to your lips before it brings a tear to your eyes.
The Bible teaches, "Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted." That comfort, that reassurance can be a long time in coming, but it will come — I promise you. And my prayer for all of you is that that day will come sooner rather than later.
We all know Memorial Day origins lie in the wake of the Civil War — a war for the freedom of all. A war for union. A war for liberty and for the preservation of the Constitution.
In calling for such today, General John Logan, commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, issued General Order Number 11. He directed the nation set aside a day to honor, and I quote, "those who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion and whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village, and hamlet churchyard throughout the land."
And so we have and so we do again today, in our time, where the children of sacrifice made by a long line of American servicemembers, each a link in that chain of honor. We live by the light of the flame of liberty they kept burning. We're free because they were brave.
Here on these gentle, rolling green hills and across America and around the globe lie buried the heroes of the greatest experiment the world has ever known, ever seen. The experiment bears the noble name: The United States of America.
Women and men, all those we honor today, gave their lives for their country, but they live forever in our hearts — forever proud, forever honorable, forever American.
They are — they are the sentinels of liberty, defenders of the downtrodden, liberators of nations. And still today, Americans stand watch around the world, often at their great personal peril.
War and conflict, death and loss are not relics of our American history; they're a part of Americans' story. Here in Arlington lie heroes who gave what President Lincoln called "the last full measure of devotion."
They did not only die at Gettysburg or in Flanders Field or on the beaches of Normandy, but in the mountains of Afghanistan, the deserts of Iraq in the last 20 years.
Section 60 — when I walk through it, it reminds me of the cost of war. Hundreds of graves — hundreds of graves are here from recent conflicts. Hundreds of patriots gave their all, each — each of them of the leaving behind a family who live with their pain and their absence every single day.
I want to assure each of those families: We will never forget what you gave to our country. We will never fail to honor your sacrifice.
Each day — starting when I was Vice President of the United States — I carry in my pocket a number of troops killed during the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Not an approximation, not rounded-off numbers — they each leave behind an entire community and family. And today, that number is 7,036 — 7,036 fallen angels who have lost their lives in these conflicts.
And on this Memorial Day, we honor their legacy and their sacrifice. Duty, honor, country — they lived for it, they died for it. And we, as a nation, are eternally grateful.
You know, America has been forged in the battle and the fires of war. Our freedom and the freedom of innumerable others has been secured by young men and women who answered the call of history and gave everything in the service of an idea: the idea of America.
It's the greatest idea in the long history of humankind. An idea that we're all created equal in the image of Almighty G-d. That we're all entitled to dignity, as my father would say, and respect, decency, and honor. Love of neighbor. They're not empty words, but the vital, beating heart of our nation.
And that democracy must be defended at all costs, for democracy makes all this possible. Democracy — that's the soul of America, and I believe it's a soul worth fighting for, and so do you; a soul worth dying for. Heroes who lie in eternal peace in this beautiful place, this sacred place, they believed that too.
The soul of America is animated by the perennial battle between our worst instincts — which we've seen of late — and our better angels. Between "Me first" and "We the People." Between greed and generosity, cruelty and kindness, captivity and freedom.
The Americans of Lexington and Concord, of New Orleans, Gettysburg, the Argonne, Iwo Jima and Normandy, Korea and Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq, and thousands of places in between — these Americans weren't fighting for dictators; they were fighting for democracy.
They weren't fighting to exclude or to enslave; they were fighting to build and broaden and liberate. They weren't fighting for self; they were fighting for the soul of the nation, for liberty and simple fair play — simple fair play and decency.
Today, as we remember their sacrifice, we remind ourselves of our duty to their memory, to the future they fought for. We owe the honored dead a debt we can never fully repay. We owe them our whole souls. We owe them our full best efforts to perfect the Union for which they died.
We owe them the work of our hands and our hearts, to make real the promise of a nation founded on the proposition that all of us — all of us — all of us are created equal and deserve to be treated that way throughout our lives.
Democracy is more than a form of government. It's a way of being; it's a way of seeing the world. Democracy means the rule of the people — the rule of the people. Not the rule of monarchs, not the rule of the moneyed, not the rule of the mighty — literally, the rule of the people.
The lives of billions, from antiquity to our own hour, have been shaped by the battle between aspirations of the many and the greed of the few. Between people's right to self-determination and the self-seeking of the dictator. Between dreams of democracy and appetites for autocracy, which we're seeing around the world.
Our troops have fought this battle on fields around the world, but also the battle of our time. And the mission falls to each of us, each and every day. Democracy itself is in peril, here at home and around the world.
What we do now — what we do now, how we honor the memory of the fallen, will determine whether or not democracy will long endure. We all take it for granted. We think we learned in school. You have to — every generation has to fight for it.
But, look, it's the biggest question: Whether a system that prizes the individual, that bends towards liberty, that gives everybody a chance at prosperity — whether that system can and will prevail against powerful forces that wish it harm.
All that we do in our common life as a nation is part of that struggle. The struggle for democracy is taking place around the world — democracy and autocracy. The struggle for decency and dignity — just simple decency. The struggle for posterity — prosperity and progress. And, yes, the struggle for the soul of America itself.
Folks, you all know it: Democracy thrives when the infrastructure of democracy is strong; when people have the right to vote freely and fairly and conveniently; when a free and independent press pursues the truth, founded on facts, not propaganda; when the rule of law applies equally and fairly to every citizen, regardless of where they come from or what they look like.
(Coughs.) Excuse me.
Wherever Americans are, there — there is democracy: churches and synagogues and mosques, neighborhoods and coffee shops and diners, bleachers at kids' baseball or soccer games, libraries and parks. Democracy begins and grows in the open heart and the impetus to come together for a common cause.
And I might note, parenthetically: Thank you, TAPS. That's what you do.
And that's where it will be preserved. For empathy is the fuel of democracy. Let me say that again: Empathy — empathy is the fuel of democracy, a willingness to see each other — not as enemies, neighbors. Even when we disagree, to understand what the other is going through.
To state the obvious: Our democracy is imperfect. It always has been. But Americans of all backgrounds, races, creeds, gender identities, sexual orientations, have long spilled their blood to defend our democracy. The diversity of our country and our arm- — and of our armed services is and always has been an incredible strength.
And generation after generation of American heroes have signed up to be part of the fight because they understand the truth that lives in every American heart: that liberation, opportunity, justice are far more likely to come to pass in a democracy than an autocracy.
If every person is sacred, then every person's rights are sacred. Individual dignity; individual worth; individual sanctity; the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. We say those words so often, but think of it: the right to vote, the right to rise in a world as far as your talent can take you, unlimited by unfair barriers of privilege and power — such are the principles of democracy.
So how would you put these noble principles into practice? How do we do that? How do we make the idea real, or as close to real as we can make it?
This nation was built on an idea — the only nation in the world built on an idea. Every other nation was built on ethnicity, geography, religion, et cetera.
We were built on an idea: the idea of liberty and opportunity for all. We have never fully realized that aspiration of our founding, but every generation has opened the door a little wider, and every generation has opened it wider and wider to be more inclusive, to include those who have been excluded before. It's a mission handed down generation to generation: the work of perfecting our union.
In 1830, when we were a young nation, dis-unionists put their sectional interests ahead of the common good. A great senator, Daniel Webster, rose in the Capitol to defend the Union. To him, we were not just a collection of competing forces, but a coherent whole.
His cry, first uttered just across the Potomac in the Capitol, resonates even now. He stood on the floor and he said, "Liberty and Union, now on forever, one and inseparable." Liberty and Union.
More than 142 years later, when I first came to the United States Senate — at a time when our country was so deeply divided over Vietnam, the struggle of civil rights, the fight over women's rights — I had the notion that my first task, as I stood to make my first speech on the floor of the Senate — it all of a sudden hit me: I'm standing where Daniel Webster had stood; his desk was next to mine.
And I was struck by the weight of history, as corny as it sounds, by the legacy of the work we're charged to carry forward: liberty and union, now and forever.
Now as then, unity is essential to life; liberty and the pursuit of happiness. And so we remember those who gave their all in the cause of unity, in the cause of a nation that endures because of them.
We must honor their sacrifice by sustaining the best of America, while honestly confronting all that we must do to make our nation fuller, freer, and more just. We must remember that we may find the light and the wisdom and, yes, the courage to move forward — in the words of that great hymn, fight as they "nobly fought of old."
For in remembrance lies not just our history, but our hope. Not just our solemn remembrance, but our renewed purpose. Not just our solace, but our strength.
This Memorial Day, remember that not all of us are called to make the ultimate sacrifice. We all are called, by G-d and by history and by conscience, to make our nation free and fair, just and strong, noble and whole.
To this battle, may we now dedicate our souls, that our work may prove worthy of the blood of our fallen. For this work — the work of democracy — is the work of our time, and for all time. And if we do our duty, then ages still to come will look back on us and say that we too kept the faith. And there's nothing more important, nothing more sacred, nothing more American than keeping the faith.
May G-d bless the United States of America. And may the light perpetually shine upon the fallen. May G-d bring comfort to their families. And may G-d protect our troops, today and always. G-d bless you all.
10:56 A.M. EDT
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Kamala Harris said have a nice weekend while Michael Flynn said he supported a military overthrow of the US government. Guess which one of these statements Republicans are offended by.
Frank Vogel says a MRI confirmed a groin strain for Anthony Davis. He is listed as questionable for Game 5 and the team will see how he is feeling Tuesday after treatment. Adds that the team is "hopeful" that KCP plays
https://twitter.com/mcten/status/1399473712479363072
Concert-goers, if you're indoors for (say) 2 hours, "socially distancing" is not going to protect you from an airborne infection. This is because the longer you're indoors, the farther exhaled virus can travel. 2 metres between couples is not some kind of magic protection zone.
A growing chorus of Democrats are telling Biden to pull the plug on bipartisan infrastructure talks. A coalition of liberal groups began airing a national commercial Thursday pushing him to add child care and paid leave to infrastructure legislation. Downwards arrow
https://account.mcclatchydc.com/paywall/registration?resume=251734603
A member of @replouiegohmert's staff just tried to tell one of our reporters that he wasn't at that event.
https://twitter.com/david_lippman/status/1399434320398405634
A sitting member of Congress, Louie Gohmert, is currently speaking at a QAnon event in front of the event's logo, which has the QAnon slogan right in it.
https://twitter.com/AlKapDC/status/1398693148965146629
A sitting member of Congress, Louie Gohmert, criticized calls for a proposed commission to investigate the insurrection at an event for QAnon, a conspiracy theory whose adherents were part of the insurrection.
https://start.umd.edu/sites/default/files/publications/local_attachments/START%20QAnon%20Research%20Brief_5_26.pdf
Watching Devin Booker, Steph Curry, and Elfrid Peyton highlights😈😈 that's who I model my game after💯💯
https://www.twitter.com/raf_tyler/status/601213560639909888
Manatees are dying in droves this year. The die-offs could spell trouble for FloridaNews
https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/30/us/manatee-deaths-florida-2021-trnd/index.html
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https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/anarchists-and-an-increase-in-crime-hijack-portlands-social-justice-movement/2021/05/28/d49ee1b6-bf1a-11eb-a55f-4871b8ac676f_story.html
Anarchists and an increase in violent crime hijack Portland's social justice movement
By Scott Wilson
May 31, 2021 at 6:00 a.m. EDT
PORTLAND, Ore. — The church, on the edge of this city, was built to hold thousands, and on this drizzly day the pews of Mannahouse were filled with hundreds of mourners, scattered throughout the broad, high-ceilinged chamber to comply with pandemic rules.
Nearly all of them were Black.
They had gathered to memorialize Jalon Yoakum, 33, whose body lay in a clear casket at the front of the stage. The wounds on his face had been brushed over; a blue suit and white open-collar shirt hid the rest of the scars from the daylight gunshots that killed him in a pizza restaurant parking lot this month.
Portland is a White city, overwhelmingly so — African Americans account for just 6 percent of the population. But it is Black people such as Yoakum, an aspiring union electrician, who are dying at near-historic rates and filling churches with grief.
On May 12, Yoakum, a father of two young boys, became the city's 30th homicide victim this year. That is five times more than were recorded during the same period in 2020, a frightening pace that could see more slayings here by the end of the year than in the past four decades.
This was not how the year following George Floyd's murder was supposed to end, not with Bishop Garry Tyson, of the General Baptist Convention of the Northwest, telling mourners that "Jalon didn't die. He was killed. His life was taken."
http://www.gbcnw.com/
After months of social-justice activism that made Portland a vivid, sometimes violent focal point for a nation debating the same issues around police accountability and reform, the movement here has splintered into bickering groups, at odds over tactics, goals and an overall direction for how to make the city safer, with the police force still at the debate's bitter center.
The sharpening conflict between rising violent crime and efforts to reduce the size of police departments has played out across the American West throughout this pandemic year. Now cities such as Portland, considered among the most ambitious in moving to reshape its police force, have retrenched. So have Oakland, Calif.; Berkeley, Calif.; Los Angeles and several other influential cities on the issue.
The nightly confrontations with police and federal agents deployed here by President Donald Trump have been replaced by a kind of generational hopelessness, a tenuous sense of security across an under-policed city and a return to an old-school style of gun violence reminiscent of a tit-for-tat cycle of deadly reprisals, almost always among young men of color. Through April, the police reported 348 shootings, more than double those recorded over the first four months of last year.
https://www.portlandoregon.gov/police/81203
"There is a lot of anger, a lot of frustration out there, a lot of feeling that there should be a life for a life," Twauna Hennessee, Yoakum's mother, a church elder resplendent in white, told the congregation. "We must make sure that we have forgiveness in our hearts. Because that's where I am at. And we may not all be there. And it may take some time, and that's okay, but it may never come.
https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/2021/05/victim-in-ne-portland-shooting-identified-as-stepson-of-anti-gun-violence-advocate.html
"But I know for me, my prayer is that we have forgiveness in our hearts and that we're mindful of what we do because of the lasting effect that it has on those of us that are left behind," Hennessee continued. "Jalon is not suffering anymore. But what you see here is a family of people that are suffering, and we're going to continue to suffer."
A history of liberalism and anarchy
A city of about 650,000 people, Portland has long experienced the push and pull of its stridently felt politics. By many measures, particularly on social issues such as marijuana legalization, the environment and gay rights, the city has been at the vanguard.
But there has also been a historical strain of violent independence in some of its residents, a trait that has helped small groups of self-described anarchists overwhelm the year-old push for police reform and social justice.
From the assessments of the White mayor, Ted Wheeler, and the Black police chief, Chuck Lovell, this smaller faction comprises mostly White, middle-class students and others, who have made places such as churches, public libraries, small Black-owned businesses and a Boys & Girls Club the confounding targets of their vandalism.
https://www.portland.gov/wheeler
On Tuesday, police declared a riot when one of two groups that had gathered to mark the anniversary of Floyd's murder broke windows, set fires and threw objects at police. Five people were arrested; all were White.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/police-declare-riot-make-multiple-arrests-in-portland/2021/05/26/f5b9d53c-be10-11eb-922a-c40c9774bc48_story.html
"We're a city of two populations. Even though we're not in the 1950s anymore, many of the people leading us seem to think so," said Teressa Raiford, director of Don't Shoot Portland, one of the largest long-standing civil rights groups in the city.
https://www.dontshootpdx.org/
Raiford's nephew, Andre Payton, was fatally shot in 2010, at 19 years old. In his memory, she founded Don't Shoot as a "nonviolent, direct action" movement to bring community members and police together against gun violence.
But Raiford, 50, said there is so little trust right now between the social-justice movement and the police that it is nearly impossible to make progress. She believes that some of the vandalism is caused by police informants — plants paid to discredit the wider movement.
"I think I've led my people into a burning house," she said, echoing a quote by Martin Luther King Jr. "There's not enough work that we can do to beat the machine."
A generation struggling, a city debating
Portland's once-vibrant downtown, the heart of a world-class food scene, is still marred by boarded-up windows and closed businesses, the aftermath of a year of pandemic and fear of random assault and vandalism often committed under the name of the police reform movement.
"You have more and more African American leaders coming out to say that this is not helpful," said Kris R. Henning, a professor of criminology and criminal justice at Portland State University. "But when you look over the longer history of what's been going on in Portland — there's something else happening. It's not just the protests. It is not just covid-19. There is something else going on in Portland."
https://www.pdx.edu/criminology-criminal-justice/profile/kris-r-henning-phd
Henning and others say crime was rising in the city before the pandemic shut it down and before Floyd died in Minneapolis with a White police officer's knee on his neck. From 2019 to 2020, the number of homicides nearly doubled, something Henning called "unheard of" in Portland. This followed years with some of the nation's lowest crime rates for a city its size.
"So these perpetrators, my guess, were coming of age, were in elementary and middle school right around the Great Recession," said Brian Renauer, director of the Criminal Justice Policy Research Institute at Portland State. "Now they're in their early to mid-20s. So what we're seeing is the outgrowth of a breakdown in the family, in the economy, in those neighborhoods they came out of, if this is very much a homegrown phenomenon."
https://www.pdx.edu/criminology-criminal-justice/research-faculty
The rising gun violence, and for a time the downtown demonstrations, have stressed the police department and put it largely on its back foot, a response unit rather than a force with resources to prevent crime. As one measure, police response time to emergency calls has more than doubled over the past eight years, to more than 40 minutes of wait-time before a call is even fielded by emergency dispatchers.
"Police are bailing," Henning said. "We are losing our best, most experienced officers left and right, and calls for service are increasing every year."
A public wanting more police, not fewer
The Portland Police Bureau is authorized to have 1,001 sworn officers. At the moment it has about 900, a shortage that city officials blame on a lack of urgency in hiring and police leaders attribute to a lack of support and funding.
Lovell, the police chief, who took office in the hot early days of the demonstrations in June 2020, said more than 120 sworn officers have left the department in the past nine months.
https://www.portlandoregon.gov/police/article/762402
The city council last year cut about $27 million from the roughly $200 million police budget — about $11 million because of a pandemic-caused budget crisis, and $15 million as part of the "defund" effort to shift some police resources to other agencies that may be able to handle nonviolent calls more effectively.
But the police bureau also disbanded a unit last July that focused specifically on gun violence, a high-profile initiative that had been designed to make the agency less reactive and more attuned in advance to rising gang- and gun-related crime as the protests began slowly fading.
"What I know is that being chief, and being a Black chief in particular, this movement to really exclude police from some facets of enforcement or community interaction, it really bears the brunt on the African American community," Lovell said. "These shootings have an outsized impact on people of color."
The chief's goal to reestablish a larger uniformed presence on Portland's streets and in its most dangerous neighborhoods appears to be supported by many residents, who just a year ago were very much opposed to the city's police practices.
Some of those practices have changed — in particular, mass arrests during demonstrations have eased — but the confrontations have persisted.
A poll conducted by the Oregonian newspaper this month found that three-quarters of Portland-area residents did not want police officer levels to decline more than they have. Just more than half said they favored an increase in the number of officers.
https://www.oregonlive.com/news/2021/05/amid-calls-to-defund-the-police-most-portland-residents-want-police-presence-maintained-or-increased-poll-finds.html
"They are trying to run a Cadillac with a Volkswagen engine," said Daryl Turner, who retired after nearly 30 years as a Portland police officer to lead its largest union, the Portland Police Association. "You cannot defund the police and expect the changes they are seeking. Our public officials are not reading the data."
https://www.facebook.com/PortlandPoliceAssociation/
Adjusting to an old issue — and a resurgent one
The data that landed on Mike Schmidt's desk in early August 2020, when he took over as Multnomah County district attorney, was a carry-over from the early demonstrations and broad arrests. His predecessor had resigned some six months before Schmidt was scheduled to take office, so Schmidt stepped in before planned.
https://www.oregonlive.com/politics/2020/05/mike-schmidt-wins-multnomah-county-district-attorney-race-oregon-election-results.html
Most pressing were the 550 cases related to the protests that prosecutors hadn't yet engaged during the rapid transition in the DA's office. Nearly all involved first-time offenders charged with interfering with a police officer, which usually carries a public-service penalty but also results in a record.
Schmidt, who interned in the same DA's office years earlier, did not see a public safety benefit in taking the cases to court, a move that he said would "simply throw fuel on the fire" of public sentiment against law enforcement. Only those charged with serious property crimes, among other major offenses, would be prosecuted.
"These were people who are out here in the streets for the right reasons, to have this system changed, to have their voice heard, people who had felt like the criminal justice system had lost their faith," Schmidt said.
"I was faced with a bunch of competing priorities," he continued. "Do I use the power of this office to essentially criminalize people who are showing up to criticize the criminal justice system and the inherent conflict in making that decision? If I had to do that, from a public safety standpoint, is there a good public safety case to be made for people being prosecuted for this conduct?"
But Schmidt, who was elected with 77 percent of the vote, said the "message I was sending got twisted," and the public began to think that no cases associated with protests would be prosecuted. Vandalism and property crimes spiked — and at a time of rising violence against young men of color, Schmidt was making the rounds to explain that people who broke windows and burned buildings would be prosecuted.
So would police officers, a pledge he ran on. Within months, Schmidt will bring two cases involving shootings by officers to grand juries for possible indictments. He will hire outside counsel to present the cases, a change in policy designed to strengthen the public's sense of independent accountability for police action.
"The work of this office is really ramping up to handle the surge in gun violence," Schmidt said. "And sometimes, to be frank, it has been frustrating — when I'm at meetings and I'm talking about broken windows and I know that there are bodies in the street, Black and Brown bodies disproportionately, and there I am talking about broken windows."
"Not that I can't walk and chew gum. I can," Schmidt continued. "And you know, both things are true and were happening simultaneously, but the violence didn't seem to be getting that same attention."
A halting rebirth
Wheeler, the mayor, said he believes that the city has begun to recover, at least from the demonstrations that have left downtown largely empty on most days. Over the past year, he said, the city has recorded an 85 percent decline in downtown foot traffic. The result has been economic despair and more crime.
Now, the pandemic is easing, as are the intensity and frequency of the demonstrations.
"Portland has always had this great tradition of protest," Wheeler said. "But the anarchists that joined into the demonstration really co-opted what had been a nonviolent message in favor of change. And now that group has gotten much smaller, but also much more blatant in the damage they are causing and the targets they are picking."
Over the spring, the group of self-described anarchists, usually masked and dressed in black, has shattered windows at the Oregon Historical Society, at a Boys & Girls Club, at a public library, and at many small business, including some owned by Black merchants. Wheeler made a public plea for Portlanders to "take the city back."
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/04/24/ted-wheeler-portland-protests/?itid=lk_inline_manual_76
At City Hall, Wheeler and the rest of the council are debating ways to increase police resources, a shift for a symbol of the defund movement.
The mayor plans to triple the number of unarmed officers in the police bureau, from 11 to 33, to help manage reports related to mental illness and mounting homelessness while freeing up armed police for more serious calls.
"I think other people are just understanding that this is a really challenging time to be a police officer," Wheeler said. "And we are finally putting racial disparity and institutional racism front and center in our society. This is an opportunity for us to be honest about its existence, to call it out for what it is and to change it."
"The legacy of George Floyd is that he gave us this opportunity to address these issues that have been with us for hundreds of years," he added. "What he gave us is the conversation, and we're not going to waste it here."
A call to stop the killing
In the large parking lot of Mannahouse church, five police vehicles, including an RV-size command center, took up positions a few hours before Yoakum's funeral was scheduled to begin.
https://mannahouse.church/
Their presence underscored the potential volatility of the event — Yoakum's parents had called for no public gatherings other than the service — and the community's uneasy relationship with a police force that can feel heavy at times and invisible at others.
Yoakum's family wore mostly white; his oldest son, Jahyier, 10, was dapper in a new blue suit. He saw his father for the last time, surrounded by wreaths, behind glass, his eyes closed.
Yoakum was remembered by siblings, pastors and parents, co-workers and friends as dedicated, quiet with a quick smile, dependable, with a taste for Starburst candy. Ushers busily passed out boxes of tissue as speakers described the loss.
"Let this be the first step toward stopping this violence," said Patricia Daniels, executive director of Constructing Hope, where Yoakum had been due to begin his electrician training the day after he was killed. "As Black people, we are killing each other, killing our brothers and sisters. This is a step to end this now that Jalon would want us to take."
https://www.constructinghope.org/
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The GAO analyzed the coronavirus' impact on 13,380 U.S. nursing homes and found that 94 percent of these facilities suffered more than one Covid-19 outbreak. Read the latest Covid-19 oversight news here:
https://www.americanoversight.org/covid-19-oversight-news-emergent-biosolutions-hydroxychloroquine-communications-and-the-pandemic-in-nursing-homes
A fan gets tackled in the Wizard's arena
https://streamable.com/7x8ae7
The Fan Who Just Ran On The Court Has Been Put In HandCuffs And Kicked Out.
https://streamable.com/lab2yx
TX Democrat legislator: "Breaking quorum is about the equivalent of crawling on our knees begging the president and the United States Congress to give us the For the People Act and give us the John Lewis Voting Rights Act."
https://washingtonpost.com/politics/texas-voting-rights-congress/2021/05/31/a3ff5f6a-c229-11eb-93f5-ee9558eecf4b_story.html
Poacher who killed 70 tigers in Sundarbans arrested at last
https://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/nation/2021/05/30/poacher-who-killed-70-tigers-in-sundarbans-arrested-at-last
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-06-01/bangladesh-tiger-poacher-captured-habib-talukder/100180240
This "news" news was being reported in 2019.....: A man in eastern China has contracted what might be the world's first human case of the H10N3 strain of bird flu, but the risk of large-scale spread is low, the government said Tuesday. The 41-year-old man in Jiangsu province, northwest of Shanghai, was hospitalized April 28 and is in stable condition, the National Health Commission said on its website. No human case of H10N3 has been reported elsewhere, the commission said. "This infection is an accidental cross-species transmission," its statement said. "The risk of large-scale transmission is low."
https://apnews.com/article/china-bird-flu-flu-health-b5862e1d9892b25fdb470abf30432289
China is really cranking out the viruses as of late. Probably has nothing to do with all the virus research they were doing. Or the fact they eat everything that moves.
Iowa Democrats say they feel their party receding, especially in industrial river towns they once dominated. To some, Republican Donald Trump's popularity with the white working class feels like a final blow. They question whether they can make a comeback.
https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-iowa-health-coronavirus-pandemic-government-and-politics-0a3f95250a6feb5bbc45be2840537e38
The government of Peru just announced a huge reevaluation of the cumulative number of COVID-19 deaths in the country, from 69,000 to 180,000. This is by far the largest mortality correction in the pandemic until now.
https://twitter.com/afpfr/status/1399437942259601408
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https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/06/01/fact-sheet-biden-harris-administration-announces-new-actions-to-build-black-wealth-and-narrow-the-racial-wealth-gap/
FACT SHEET: Biden-Harris Administration Announces New Actions to Build Black Wealth and Narrow the Racial Wealth Gap
June 01, 2021 • Statements and Releases
One hundred years ago, the thriving Black community of Greenwood in Tulsa, Oklahoma, known as "Black Wall Street," was ruthlessly attacked by a violent white supremacist mob. An estimated 300 Black Americans were killed and another 10,000 were left destitute and homeless.
The destruction wrought on the Greenwood neighborhood and its families was followed by laws and policies that made recovery nearly impossible. The streets were redlined, locking Black Tulsans out of homeownership and access to credit. Federal highways built through the heart of Greenwood cut off families and businesses from economic opportunity. And chronic disinvestment by the federal government in Black entrepreneurs and small businesses denied Black Wall Street a fair shot at rebuilding. These are the stories of Greenwood, but they have echoes in countless Black communities across the country.
Because disparities in wealth compound like an interest rate, the disinvestment in Black families in Tulsa and across the country throughout our history is still felt sharply today. The median Black American family has thirteen cents for every one dollar in wealth held by White families.
Today, on the centennial of the Tulsa Race Massacre, the Biden-Harris Administration is announcing new steps to help narrow the racial wealth gap and reinvest in communities that have been left behind by failed policies. Specifically, the Administration is expanding access to two key wealth-creators – homeownership and small business ownership – in communities of color and disadvantaged communities.
The Administration will:
Take action to address racial discrimination in the housing market, including by launching a first-of-its-kind interagency effort to address inequity in home appraisals, and conducting rulemaking to aggressively combat housing discrimination.
Use the federal government's purchasing power to grow federal contracting with small disadvantaged businesses by 50 percent, translating to an additional $100 billion over five years, and helping more Americans realize their entrepreneurial dreams.
The Administration is also releasing new information regarding President Biden's American Jobs Plan proposals to create jobs and build wealth in communities of color:
A new $10 billion Community Revitalization Fund to support community-led civic infrastructure projects that create innovative shared amenities, spark new local economic activity, provide services, build community wealth, and strengthen social cohesion.
$15 billion for new grants and technical assistance to support the planning, removal, or retrofitting of existing transportation infrastructure that creates a barrier to community connectivity, including barriers to mobility, access, or economic development.
A new Neighborhood Homes Tax Credit to attract private investment in the development and rehabilitation of affordable homes for low- and moderate-income homebuyers and homeowners.
$5 billion for the Unlocking Possibilities Program, an innovative new grant program that awards flexible and attractive funding to jurisdictions that take steps to reduce needless barriers to producing affordable housing and expand housing choices for people with low or moderate incomes.
$31 billion in small business programs that will increase access to capital for small businesses and provide mentoring, networking, and other forms of technical assistance to socially and economically disadvantaged businesses seeking to access federal contracts and participate in federal research and development investments.
Taking Action to End Racial Discrimination in the Housing Market. The Biden-Harris Administration is announcing additional steps to end discrimination and bias in the housing market. More than 50 years since the Fair Housing Act's passage, access to wealth through homeownership remains persistently unequal. In his first week in office, President Biden issued a memorandum directing the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to address discrimination in our housing market. Today, the Administration is announcing that it is taking critical steps towards realizing the President's directive. HUD has now sent both its proposed rule on countering housing practices with discriminatory effects and its proposed interim final rule on the legal duty to Affirmatively Further Fair Housing to HUD's Congressional authorizing committee in the Senate and the House of Representatives for review and will publish them in the Federal Register next week. These proposed rules will align federal enforcement practice with the congressional promise in the Fair Housing Act to end discrimination in housing and will collectively provide the legal framework for HUD to require private and public entities alike to rethink established practices that contribute to or perpetuate inequities.
Additionally, the Biden-Harris Administration is taking on discrimination in home appraisals. A 2018 Brookings study found that homes in majority-Black neighborhoods are often valued at tens of thousands of dollars less than comparable homes in similar—but majority-White—communities. And the crisis is worsening: a recent study found that the gap between the appraised value of homes in predominantly White neighborhoods compared to comparable homes in predominantly Black and Latino neighborhoods nearly doubled between 1980 and 2015. The impact of these disparities in home appraisals can be sweeping, limiting homeowners' ability to properly benefit from refinancing or re-selling their homes at higher valuations and thereby contributing to the already-sprawling racial wealth gap.
https://www.brookings.edu/research/devaluation-of-assets-in-black-neighborhoods/
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-09-21/race-gap-in-home-appraisals-has-doubled-since-1980?sref=A1Z2GUXp
President Biden is charging Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Marcia Fudge with leading a first-of-its-kind interagency initiative to address inequity in home appraisals. The effort will seek to utilize, quickly, the many levers at the federal government's disposal, including potential enforcement under fair housing laws, regulatory action, and development of standards and guidance in close partnership with industry and state and local governments, to root out discrimination in the appraisal and homebuying process. These are the kinds of policies and practices that keep Black families in Greenwood and across the nation from building generational wealth through homeownership.
Using the Government's Purchasing Power to Drive an Additional $100 Billion to Small Disadvantaged Business Owners. The federal government is the largest consumer of goods in the world, buying everything from software to elevator services to financial and asset management, Federal procurement is one of our most powerful tools to advance equity and build wealth in underserved communities. And yet, just roughly 10 percent of federal agencies' total eligible contracting dollars typically go to small disadvantaged businesses (SDB), a category under federal law for which Black-owned, Latino-owned, and other minority-owned businesses are presumed to qualify. Increasing federal spending with these businesses will help more Americans realize their entrepreneurial dreams and help narrow racial wealth gaps. In 2019, for instance, the gap in business ownership between Black and Latino households, relative to White households, accounted for 25 percent of the overall racial wealth gap between these groups.
Today, the Biden-Harris Administration is launching an all-of-government effort to expand contracting opportunities for underserved small businesses across the country. At its center is a new goal: increasing the share of contracts going to small disadvantaged businesses by 50 percent by 2026—translating to an additional $100 billion to SDBs over the 5-year period. To achieve this goal, agencies will assess every available tool to lower barriers to entry and increase opportunities for small businesses and traditionally-underserved entrepreneurs to compete for federal contracts. The impact could be historic: all told, attainment of the new goal will represent the biggest increase in SDB contracting since data was first collected more than 30 years ago.
Detailing the President's Proposal for Historic Investments to Build Wealth and Opportunity More Equitably, Including in Communities of Color. Today the Biden-Harris Administration is also releasing new details of President Biden's American Jobs Plan, which will make historic investments in building wealth and opportunity in Black and other communities of color. The American Jobs Plan will:
Create a Community Revitalization Fund to Support Community-Led Civic Infrastructure. The American Jobs Plan calls for a new $10 billion Community Revitalization Fund based at the Department of Housing and Urban Development to support community-led civic infrastructure projects in urban, suburban, and rural areas that create innovative shared amenities, spark new local economic activity, provide services, build community wealth, and strengthen social cohesion. The Fund would be targeted to economically underdeveloped and underserved communities, including those, like Greenwood, that suffer from the effects of persistent poverty, historic economic disinvestment, and ongoing displacement of longtime residents.
The Community Revitalization Fund will:
Invest directly in community-led projects that benefit residents. The Community Revitalization Fund will provide $500 million in planning grants and $9.5 billion in implementation funds to community-based organizations, non-profits, community development corporations (CDCs), and their partners, centering the community as direct beneficiaries and drivers of project outcomes. These grants will flow to persistent poverty counties, high-poverty census tracts, and areas both at risk of or rapidly gentrifying. Recognizing that a legacy of underinvestment may mean some communities lack capacity to build complex projects or apply for federal grants, the Fund will seek partnerships with philanthropy, community development financial institutions (CDFIs), and local government to provide technical assistance and capacity-building support.
Activate vacant land and buildings to create community amenities. The Community Revitalization Fund will support a wide range of projects, including: upgrading access to natural areas, adaptive reuse of vacant buildings and storefronts to provide low-cost space for services and community entrepreneurs (such as health centers, arts and cultural spaces, job training programs, business incubators, and community marketplaces), and removing toxic waste to create new parks, greenways, urban agriculture, and community gardens. The Fund will promote the best of American equitable and resilient design, advancing the Biden-Harris Administration's Justice40 climate goals and building a strong link between past and future. This includes in-fill development that reknits areas damaged by urban renewal and the revitalization of commercial corridors with locally-owned businesses and services.
Strengthen social cohesion and build community wealth. The Community Revitalization Fund will prioritize projects that strengthen social cohesion through shared use and civic engagement, and build community wealth and equity for existing residents. The Fund will encourage innovative approaches to achieve those goals, including land acquisition, creation of new businesses and stronger connections to existing employment centers, establishment of community investment trusts and similar wealth-building models, and projects that provide for intercultural and intergenerational mixing.
Spark new local economic activity and unlock private capital. The Community Revitalization Fund will support projects that show potential to spark new local commercial activity and unlock private investment for further equitable development, with a strong vision of continued community benefit. The Fund will encourage collaboration with CDFIs to leverage additional resources, and integration with existing federal economic development resources and tax credits to drive upward community mobility. The Fund will also support pilot projects, tactical urbanism projects, pop-up spaces for local retail, and other smaller-scale interventions that build activity and opportunity for residents.
Retrofit Transportation Infrastructure to Reconnect Neighborhoods.Too often, past transportation investments meant to provide greater access instead divided low-income communities, displacing and disconnecting people from their homes, work, and families. Recognizing this history and committed to redressing it, President Biden proposes funding specifically for neighborhoods where historic transportation investments cut people off from jobs, schools, and businesses. This proposal will support the planning, removal, or retrofitting of existing transportation infrastructure that creates a barrier to community connectivity, including barriers to mobility, access, or economic development.
Specifically, the Reconnecting Neighborhoods Program will provide $15 billion in new competitive grants for planning, technical assistance (TA) and capital investments:
Planning and TA grants. These can be used for planning studies and public engagement activities to evaluate the feasibility of infrastructure removal or retrofitting, building organizational or community capacity, transportation planning, and identifying innovative solutions to infrastructure challenges, including reconnecting communities impacted by disruptive infrastructure or those lacking safe, reliable, and affordable transportation choices. It will prioritize grantmaking to historically disadvantaged, underserved and overburdened communities.
Capital grants. These may be used to support infrastructure construction, demolition, and all necessary feasibility and related planning activities, community partnerships, and anti-displacement and equitable neighborhood revitalization strategies including land banking and equitable transit-oriented development. The minimum grant size will be $5 million and will prioritize communities most impacted by past inequitable infrastructure development.
The program will begin to correct past harms and reduce pollution, create more public and green spaces, support local businesses, increase job opportunities, and lay the groundwork for more equitable transit systems and affordable housing solutions. The "Highway to Boulevards" movement has already seen 18 U.S. cities either replace or commit to replace a freeway with more urban and accessible streets. Cities like Rochester, NY, have chosen to remove dividing highways and replace the highway with infrastructure that has revived and reconciled neighborhoods decades later. President Biden's proposed investment will fund and accelerate reconnecting neighborhoods across the country.
In addition, the Department of Transportation will establish a new Thriving Communities program to support communities with eliminating persistent transportation barriers and increasing access to jobs, school, and businesses. This initiative seeks to invest $5 billion in historically marginalized communities and bring everyone to the table to ensure that more communities have clean, robust, and affordable transportation options, including high-quality transit, equitable neighborhood revitalization, and other enhancements to improve neighborhood quality of life and address climate change.
Enact a New Neighborhood Homes Tax Credit. The American Jobs Plan calls for a new Neighborhood Homes Tax Credit to attract private investment in the development and rehabilitation of affordable homes for low- and moderate-income homebuyers and homeowners. These tax credits will increase homeownership opportunities and asset-building for underserved communities, reduce blight and vacant properties, and create thousands of good-paying jobs. The Neighborhood Homes Tax Credit will:
Encourage investment in homes that cost more to redevelop than they can sell for on the open market. Across the country, millions of homes are in poor condition with property values that are too low to support new construction or substantial renovation. Approximately 40 percent of U.S. housing stock is at least 50 years old and more than 15 million properties are vacant even as families struggle to find affordable housing. In many neighborhoods, these properties make it difficult to attract or retain local homebuyers, reducing property values and community wealth. Modeled after the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit and the New Markets Tax Credit, state housing finance agencies would receive an annual allocation of Neighborhood Homes Tax Credits based on population. Each state's housing finance agency would then award tax credits to project sponsors—developers, lenders, or local governments—through a competitive application process. Sponsors would use the credits to raise investment capital for their projects, and the investors could claim the credits against their federal income tax when the homes are sold and occupied by eligible homebuyers. These tax credits would cover the difference between total development costs (including acquisition, rehabilitation, demolition, and construction) and the sales price. This would, for example, make it financially viable to spend $120,000 acquiring and rehabilitating a vacant property that would only sell for $100,000 on the open market by offering a $20,000 tax credit to cover the difference.
Bolster homeownership rates for low- and moderate-income homebuyers in underserved communities, while protecting against gentrification. The U.S. is home to stark and persistent disparities in homeownership and wealth. Across the country, just 49 percent of Hispanic Americans and 45 percent of Black Americans own their own homes, compared to 74 percent of White Americans. Hispanic and Black households also have just a fraction of the wealth of their White counterparts. As home prices rise, the Neighborhood Homes Tax Credit will make a generational investment in homeownership affordability. Specifically, only homes that are located in census tracts with poverty rates of at least 130 percent of the area poverty rate, median family income below 80 percent of area median income, and median home values lower than the area median value are eligible for the credit. This covers approximately 1 in 4 census tracts nationwide – the most underserved communities in America. Homes that are redeveloped using the credit may only sell for four times the area median family income, and homebuyers cannot have incomes exceeding 140 percent of the area median family income. This will enable low- and moderate-income buyers – including homebuyers of color – to purchase their own homes and build wealth.
Incentivize Ending Exclusionary Zoning and Expanding Housing Choices. Exclusionary zoning laws – like minimum lot sizes, mandatory parking requirements, and prohibitions on multifamily housing – inflate housing and construction costs and lock families out of neighborhoods with more opportunities. In the American Jobs Plan, President Biden is calling on Congress to enact the Unlocking Possibilities Program, an innovative, new $5 billion competitive grant program that awards flexible and attractive funding to jurisdictions that take concrete steps to eliminate needless barriers to producing affordable housing and expand housing choices for people with low or moderate incomes.
The fund has several key features to support locally-led efforts to advance zoning reforms:
Grant program for community engagement, technical assistance and analysis that will help communities identify the most powerful levers to produce more affordable housing;
Investment and incentives to implement land-use and zoning policies that remove needless barriers to needed housing; and
Extensive evaluation and development agenda to identify the policy changes that most effectively encourage affordable housing production.
Communities that qualify for implementation and investment awards will have access to flexible funding that help support public services in neighborhoods where new affordable housing is being developed and that benefit all community members. The goal of these efforts will be to increase the production of affordable housing, expanding access to good jobs and powering inclusive economic growth.
Invest $31 Billion to Scale Up Efforts to Support Minority-Owned Small Businesses. Too many small businesses owned by people of color struggle to access loans and federal programs that can help them grow and succeed. President Biden has proposed a historic effort to tackle these persistent challenges and empower small business creation and expansion in communities of color. Specifically, the President's American Jobs Plan will invest $30 billion in new Small Business Administration (SBA) initiatives that will reduce barriers to small business ownership and success. These initiatives will increase access to capital by establishing a new direct loan program for the smallest businesses, developing new loan products to support small manufacturers and businesses that invest in clean energy, and launching a new Small Business Investment Corporation that will make early stage equity investments in small businesses with priority for those owned by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals. The American Jobs Plan will also invest billions of dollars in SBA technical assistance programs that incubate and offer mentoring and technical assistance to 8(a) firms, reinforce the American subcontracting network to create pathways to prime contracting, encourage Fortune 500 firms to diversify their procurements, and bring more socially and economically disadvantaged businesses into federal research and development programs. These investments will also include an innovative new $1 billion grant program through the Minority Business Development Agency that will help minority-owned manufacturers access private capital.
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https://twitter.com/jeremyherb/status/1399707728134774786
Apparently Michael Flynn's derangment is tempered by cowardice: He's now attempting to retcon his endorsement of a military coup at a QAnon event & pretend he said the opposite of what he is caught on video saying.
https://texasnewstoday.com/michael-flynn-goes-back-after-supporting-a-myanmar-style-coup-in-the-united-states-at-the-qanon-conference/294110/
A colonel fired by Trump has offered to prosecute Michael Flynn by court martial for calling for a military coup in the US
Islamic terrorists kidnap more than 150 children in latest Nigeria kidnapping raid
https://edition.cnn.com/2021/05/31/africa/gunmen-abduct-children-nigeria-intl/index.html
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https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/06/01/a-proclamation-on-national-immigrant-heritage-month-2021/
A Proclamation on National Immigrant Heritage Month, 2021
June 01, 2021 • Presidential Actions
America is, always has been, and always will be a Nation of immigrants. It was the premise of our founding; it is reflected in our Constitution; it is etched upon the Statue of Liberty — that "from her beacon-hand glows world-wide welcome." During National Immigrant Heritage Month, we reaffirm and draw strength from that enduring identity and celebrate the history and achievements of immigrant communities across our Nation.
Across each generation throughout our history, wave after wave of immigrants have enriched our Nation and made us better, stronger, more innovative, and more prosperous. The American story includes the story of courageous families who ventured here — be it centuries ago, or just this year — from every part of the world to seek new possibilities and help to forge our Nation. In every era, immigrant innovators, workers, entrepreneurs, and community leaders have fortified and defended us, fed us and cared for us, advanced the limits of our thinking, and broken new ground.
After an especially difficult period marked by both the COVID-19 pandemic and the all-too-frequent demonization of immigrants, it is vital that our Nation reflect on the leadership, resilience, and courage shown by generations of immigrant communities, and recommit ourselves to our values as a welcoming Nation. We recognize all of the workers, many of whom are immigrants, who have contributed to the food security, health, and safety of all Americans during this challenging year — and every year. And we honor the sacrifices made by immigrants who serve on the front lines of the pandemic as health care providers, first responders, teachers, grocers, farm workers, and other essential workers. It was these same immigrant families and communities of color who were disproportionately struck by the virus. In honor of those we've lost, let us dedicate ourselves as a Nation to protecting one another and doing our part to put an end to this pandemic for good.
The promise of our Nation is that every American has a fair shot and an equal chance to get ahead, yet systemic racism and persistent barriers have denied this promise to far too many immigrants throughout our history and today. I have placed equity at the center of my Administration's agenda. From day one, I promised that my Administration would reflect the full diversity of our Nation — and today, nearly one-third of my Administration's 1,500 political appointees are naturalized U.S. citizens or children of immigrants.
I have directed Federal agencies to rebuild trust in our immigration system that has been lost, to reach out to underserved communities unable to access the opportunities our Nation offers them, to offer again a welcoming humanitarian hand to the persecuted and oppressed, and to reduce barriers to achieving citizenship and equality.
I am honored to serve alongside Vice President Harris, the first daughter of immigrants to hold the Office of the Vice President, and to work with so many dedicated public servants who are immigrants — and who carry with them every day the legacies of their families' sacrifice and resilience.
Despite the progress our Nation has made since our founding, there is more work to be done to extend the full promise of America to all our people. Nearly 11 million people in this country are undocumented — and it is time that the Congress acts by passing the U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021, the immigration reform plan that I introduced on day one of my Presidency. My plan would provide a pathway to lawful permanent residency and citizenship for these undocumented immigrants, including Dreamers, individuals with Temporary Protected Status, farm workers, and other essential workers who contribute to our Nation every day.
Vice President Harris and I affirm that immigrants historically have made and continue to make our Nation stronger. I urge my fellow Americans to join us this month in celebrating immigrant heritage, stories, and cultures.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim June 2021 as National Immigrant Heritage Month. I call upon the people of the United States to learn more about the history of immigrant communities throughout the generations following our Nation's founding, and to observe this month with appropriate programming and activities.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this first day of June, in the year of our L-rd two thousand twenty-one, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-fifth.
JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR.
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Republican-led legislatures have passed 22 laws restricting voting access in 14 states this year, more than any one year in recent memory. And lots of bills are still moving in other states
https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/556294-states-are-passing-a-record-number-of-voting-restrictions
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/06/01/a-proclamation-on-national-caribbean-american-heritage-month-2021/
A Proclamation on National Caribbean-American Heritage Month, 2021
June 01, 2021 • Presidential Actions
America's diversity is and always has been the defining strength of our Nation — in every generation, our society, spirit, and shared ambitions have been refreshed by wave after wave of immigrants seeking out their American dream. Throughout our history, Caribbean Americans have brought vibrant cultures, languages, traditions, and values that strengthen our country and add new chapters to our common story. In recognition of Caribbean Americans' countless gifts and contributions to our Nation, we celebrate National Caribbean-American Heritage Month.
Caribbean Americans have made our country more innovative and more prosperous; they have enriched our Nation's arts and culture, our public institutions, and our economy. I am honored to celebrate this National Caribbean-American Heritage Month alongside Caribbean-American barrier-breaking public servants in my Administration — including Vice President Kamala Harris, Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona, and Domestic Policy Advisor Susan Rice — all of whom continue to be sources of pride and inspiration for Caribbean Americans across the country.
Caribbean-American intellects and artists like James Weldon Johnson, the poet who gave us the anthem, Lift Every Voice and Sing; celebrated neo-expressionist painter Jean-Michel Basquiat; and John B. Russwurm, the first Caribbean-American editor of a U.S. newspaper, have left a lasting impact on our country. Caribbean-American jurists like Constance Baker Motley, the first Black woman appointed to the Federal bench, and the Nation's first Latina Supreme Court Justice, Sonia Sotomayor, have made innumerable contributions to the American justice system. Shirley Chisholm, the daughter of Caribbean immigrants, blazed new trails as our Nation's first Black Congresswoman — and the first Black woman to launch a major-party bid for the Presidency. Public servants like Antonia Novello, our Nation's first female Surgeon General, and Colin Powell, our first Black Secretary of State, have followed in her footsteps, charting new paths of their own in service to the American people.
Despite the powerful legacy of achievement of Caribbean Americans, many members of the Caribbean-American community continue to face systemic barriers to equity, opportunity, and justice. Systemic racism has uniquely impacted Black and Latino immigrant communities, including Caribbean Americans, leading to disparities in health care, education, housing, criminal justice, and economic opportunity. My Administration is committed to addressing those entrenched disparities — and to bringing our Nation closer to its promise that all people are created equal and deserve to be treated equally throughout their lives. That is why I have launched a whole-of-government approach to advancing racial justice and equity.
During National Caribbean-American Heritage Month, we celebrate the legacy and essential contributions of Caribbean Americans who have added so much to our American fabric.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim June 2021 as National Caribbean-American Heritage Month. I encourage all Americans to join in celebrating the history, culture, and achievements of Caribbean Americans with appropriate ceremonies and activities.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this first day of June, in the year of our L-rd two thousand twenty‑one, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-fifth.
JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR.
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https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/06/01/a-proclamation-on-great-outdoors-month-2021/
A Proclamation on Great Outdoors Month, 2021
June 01, 2021 • Presidential Actions
America's great outdoors, diverse landscapes, and pristine waterways are a limitless source of pride, inspiration, and sustenance of both body and soul — and an essential part of our national identity. It is our shared responsibility as Americans to be good stewards of these irreplaceable treasures for our children and grandchildren, and for generations to come. During Great Outdoors Month, we celebrate our Nation's natural wonders, and rededicate ourselves to conserving nature's splendor for all Americans and safeguarding our environment against the existential threat of climate change and other challenges.
Our Nation is blessed by an abundance of incredible outdoor spaces that provide opportunities for exploration, recreation, and rejuvenation. From the Sierra Nevadas to the Ozark Trail to the Everglades — to local trails and parks in every part of the country — the outdoors inspire creativity, provide educational opportunities, and bring communities together. This past year, so many of us have developed an even greater appreciation for the powerful role that outdoor spaces play in our physical and mental well-being — providing outlets for activity, solace, and connection in the midst of a devastating pandemic.
Now more than ever, we must rise to meet the challenges of environmental degradation, climate change, and inequitable access to nature. The natural world provides critical resources that sustain all life on Earth — from the air we breathe and the water we drink to the food we eat. Ensuring that we maintain healthy ecosystems and a resilient planet is not just a matter of environmentalism. It is also critical to our health, our safety, the security of our families, and the strength of our economy.
My Administration is committed to taking swift action to address the existential threat of climate change. I have proposed a major investment to put Americans to work building critical industries to produce and deploy clean technologies — reducing harmful emissions, and putting us on the path to a more sustainable and equitable future while creating millions of good-paying jobs. We are going to put Americans to work building a clean, resilient power grid; capping hundreds of thousands of abandoned oil and gas wells and coal mines to put a stop to methane leaks; constructing the next generation of electric vehicles; and developing new carbon capture and green hydrogen technologies on farms and in factories to make everything from our steel and cement to our agricultural sector cleaner and more sustainable. We will also speed up implementation of the Great American Outdoors Act, which invests in conservation projects that will benefit communities across the country — including Black and brown communities that have too often been excluded from our great outdoor spaces. My Administration has also outlined a new "America the Beautiful" initiative to bring the Federal Government together with State, Tribal, and local partners to conserve at least 30 percent of our lands and waters by 2030.
During Great Outdoors Month, I encourage all Americans to explore our Nation's beautiful outdoor spaces. As we enjoy the great outdoors — from national parks to our own backyards — let us rededicate ourselves to conserving our Nation's natural spaces for our own well-being, and for the health, safety, prosperity, and fulfillment of generations to come.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim June 2021 as Great Outdoors Month. I urge all Americans to explore the great outdoors, to experience our Nation's natural heritage, and to continue our Nation's tradition of preserving and conserving our lands for future generations.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this first day of June, in the year of our L-rd two thousand twenty‑one, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-fifth.
JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR.
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You're antisemitic and friends with Matt Gaetz and refuse to both condemn and/or distance yourself from Gaetz, your career is over
https://twitter.com/NikkiFried/status/1399791366712999943
President Biden has landed in Tulsa where he will become the first president to address the race massacre here a century ago
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https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/06/01/a-proclamation-on-national-ocean-month-2021/
A Proclamation on National Ocean Month, 2021
June 01, 2021 • Presidential Actions
The world's ocean basins are critical to the success of our Nation and, indeed, to life on Earth. The ocean powers our economy, provides food for billions of people, supplies 50 percent of the world's oxygen, offers recreational opportunities for us to enjoy, and regulates weather patterns and our global climate system. During National Ocean Month, we celebrate our stewardship of the ocean and coasts, and reaffirm our commitment to protecting and sustaining them for current and future generations.
My Administration is dedicated to improving our Nation's public health by supporting resilient ocean habitats, wildlife, and resources in which all Americans rely on. Through our "America the Beautiful" initiative, we are working with State, Tribal, and local partners to conserve at least 30 percent of United States lands and waters by 2030 — so that our natural world can continue to supply the food, clean air, and clean water that every one of us depends on to survive. We are also committed to supporting safe, plentiful, and sustainable seafood harvesting for domestic consumption and export, and reducing public health risks such as harmful algal blooms that have proliferated as a result of climate change and the acidification of our waters.
The ocean has always been essential to our economy, and that will remain true as we build back better and develop the clean industries and good jobs of the future. My plan to dramatically expand offshore wind energy over the next 10 years will provide good-paying union jobs and a sustainable source of clean energy. Investing in resilient, reliable coastal infrastructure — including modern ports and waterways — that can withstand the impacts of rising seas and powerful storms will keep our economy competitive in the global marketplace while making our families safer. Conserving and restoring coastal wetlands and habitats will also strengthen our efforts to tackle climate change, improve the resilience of coastal communities, and help restore nursery areas that are important to our fisheries. Investing in our fishing communities and supporting local seafood supply options will also be critical to helping us build a climate-resilient, sustainable ocean economy.
Climate change is a global challenge that is integrally linked to the ocean. By protecting our ocean and coastal ecosystems and resources, we are also protecting the worldwide economies and people that depend on them. To address these challenges, we are building on our Nation's long legacy of ocean exploration and research to gain new insights into ocean ecosystems and biodiversity and ways the ocean can sequester and store carbon. Marine life, changing ocean conditions, and plastic and other pollution pay no attention to national boundaries. That is why we must focus on a worldwide approach to conservation and sustainability. In collaboration with our international partners, my Administration will continue America's global leadership in ocean science, stewardship, and conservation. Our engagement in international efforts, such as the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development, reflects the priorities and values of my Administration to ensure that ocean science delivers greater benefits for the American people, the people of the world, and international ocean ecosystems.
My Administration is also committed to delivering climate justice, including ensuring equitable access to our ocean and coasts for all Americans — and working to ensure that Indigenous Americans, Black Americans, and other people of color are no longer forced to shoulder disproportionate climate and environmental burdens, as they historically have. My Administration will work hard to further break down the barriers many communities of color face by creating new opportunities to diversify ocean-related access and workforces. We will also equip educators with tools to teach our Nation's youth how to become a powerful generation of ocean stewards.
It is imperative that we take proper action now to ensure that the ocean continues to thrive. During National Ocean Month, we recognize the central role of a healthy ocean in sustaining all of our lives, and pledge to find innovative ways to conserve, protect, and restore our ocean.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim June 2021 as National Ocean Month. I call upon Americans to take action to protect, conserve, and restore our ocean and coasts.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this first day of June, in the year of our L-rd two thousand twenty‑one, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-fifth.
JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR.
_____________________________________________
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/06/01/a-proclamation-on-national-homeownership-month-2021/
A Proclamation on National Homeownership Month, 2021
June 01, 2021 • Presidential Actions
For millions of Americans, homeownership is the cornerstone of a life with security, with dignity, and with hope. A home is more than four walls and a roof; it is a place where we can celebrate triumphs and weather the trials of life. A place where we can watch our families grow and prosper. A place that helps us build wealth we can pass down to our children and our grandchildren.
The aspiration to own a home is connected deeply to the American dream. It has driven generations of Americans, in search of a place to call one's own.
Today, for people across the United States, the desire to own a home burns as brightly as it ever has. Yet the stark reality is that, for too many, the dream of homeownership is becoming more difficult to realize and sustain. This is especially true in the wake of the economic devastation inflicted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
We also know that people of color continue to face discrimination in our housing market — when trying to secure mortgages, to have their homes appraised, and to live in neighborhoods where their families can thrive. In recent years, the homeownership gap between Black and white families reached its widest point since 1968, when banks could still legally discriminate against borrowers based on the color of their skin.
This is economically and morally wrong, and it is why, as President, I have made it a central priority to expand stability and opportunity within our housing market. On my first day in office, I took executive action to extend foreclosure moratoriums for nearly 11 million households with mortgages guaranteed by the Federal Government. My Administration introduced and passed the American Rescue Plan, which will deliver nearly $10 billion in relief for homeowners who have fallen behind on their mortgage payments during the pandemic. And to create greater opportunities for homeownership moving forward, we have proposed the American Jobs Plan — which can spur the construction and rehabilitation of more than 500,000 homes for buyers of more modest means.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development will continue to advance affordable and sustainable homeownership throughout our Nation. This will require that we help more hardworking Americans purchase their first homes, increase access to credit and mortgage insurance for borrowers of color, and fully enforce the 1968 Fair Housing Act — to root out systemic discrimination from our housing market and break down the unjust barriers that prevent too many Americans from buying a home.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim June 2021 as National Homeownership Month. I call upon the people of this Nation to recognize the enduring value of homeownership and to recommit ourselves to helping more Americans realize that dream.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this first day of June, in the year of our L-rd two thousand twenty-one, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-fifth.
JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR.
_____________________________________________
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/06/01/a-proclamation-on-black-music-appreciation-month-2021/
A Proclamation on Black Music Appreciation Month, 2021
June 01, 2021 • Presidential Actions
Throughout our history, there has been no richer influence on the American songbook than Black music and culture. From early spirituals born out of the unconscionable hardships of slavery; to the creation of folk and gospel; to the evolution of rhythm and blues and jazz; to the ascendance of rock and roll, rap, and hip-hop — Black music has shaped our society, entertained and inspired us, and helped write and tell the story of our Nation.
During Black Music Appreciation Month, we honor the innovative artists whose musical expressions move us, brighten our daily lives, and bring us together. Across the generations, Black music has pioneered the way we listen to music while preserving Black cultural traditions and sharing the unique experiences of the Black community. Black artists have dramatically influenced what we all hear and feel through music — joy and sadness, love and loss, pride and purpose.
Black music has always stood on its own — a beacon of resilience and resistance — while at the same time helping to shape countless other musical and cultural traditions. From the syncopated rhythms of jazz to the soulful expressions of R&B, Black music spans an extraordinarily broad spectrum of genres and styles. The distinct voices and instruments of Black artists have filled the halls of the Apollo Theater in New York City, Preservation Hall in New Orleans, the Fillmore in San Francisco, and other iconic venues throughout the United States and around the world, energizing audiences and inspiring millions. The music created and expressed by Black communities has paved the way for generations of musicians across all races, creeds, colors, religions, sexual orientations, and identities. The creativity and spirit of Black music is everywhere, and our Nation and the world are richer for it.
This month, we also honor the many important contributors to our Nation's musical heritage that are no longer with us. And although they have taken their final bows, their musical legacies and influence will live on in our hearts and souls, and inspire a new generation of artists and fans.
In appreciating the indelible contributions of Black Americans to the music landscape, we must also recognize the crisis of racial inequity that Black Americans have faced in America for centuries — a crisis that is often reflected and challenged in Black music. We must rededicate ourselves to rooting out systemic racism from every part of our society, and work together to advance racial justice and equity. In the music industry, that work includes identifying and eliminating barriers that Black creatives face in producing and maintaining ownership of their music and other creations. In this month of June, we celebrate the Black music that has shaped and enlivened our lives and our country, and recommit ourselves to advancing racial equity for artists — and for everyone.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim June 2021 as Black Music Appreciation Month. I call upon public officials, educators, and all the people of the United States to observe this month with appropriate activities and programs that raise awareness and appreciation of Black music.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
first day of June, in the year of our L-rd two thousand twenty-one, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-fifth.
JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR.
_____________________________________________
Eritrean soldiers killed 19 civilians in a village at the foot of an internationally celebrated rock-hewn church in Tigray
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jun/01/eritrean-soldiers-killed-19-civilians-in-latest-tigray-atrocity-locals-claim
GOOD, they were originally going to keep these illegal and unconstitutional leases: Biden administration to cancel oil and gas leases in Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2021/06/01/arctic-national-wildlife-refuge
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/01/us/politics/biden-drilling.html
Federal prosecutors disclosed Tuesday that for the first time they're dropping one of the 450-plus cases filed against people accused of descending on the US Capitol on Jan. 6. Christopher Kelly of New York was arrested two weeks after the insurrection and charged with obstruction of an official proceeding, which is a felony crime, and several misdemeanor counts for illegally entering the Capitol. More than four months later, a prosecutor notified the judge in Kelly's case that the government wanted to withdraw the charges; they didn't offer details about why, only saying that it "serves the interests of justice." "The government and defense counsel have discussed the merits of the case, and upon reflection of the facts currently known to the government, the government believes that dismissal without prejudice at this time serves the interests of justice," Assistant US Attorney Tejpal Chawla wrote. | Kelly was allowed to go home while his case was pending. In April and then again in May, the government asked the judge to extend deadlines in Kelly's case; in the May request, the prosecutor said that they had engaged in "substantial plea discussions" with Kelly's attorney. A dismissal without prejudice means the government could bring charges against Kelly again in the future. The parties are due in court tomorrow to update the judge on the status of his case; the judge will have to approve the government's request to dismiss it. | The source gave the FBI a screenshot of a Facebook group chat from Jan. 6 where someone named "Chris," whom the bureau believed to be Kelly, wrote "We're in!" Another person replied telling him to be safe, and then "Chris" sent a photo of what appeared to be the inside of the Capitol. A federal magistrate judge signed a search warrant for Kelly's Facebook account, and the FBI affidavit quoted other messages Kelly allegedly sent via the platform that suggested he was inside the Capitol during the riots; in one exchange dated Jan. 6, someone asked, "Are you inside?" and Kelly replied, "Sure spread the word, Taking this back by force now, no more bs." "We're inside! Hearing stopped, sending everyone to the basement," Kelly allegedly messaged another person via Facebook at 2:36 p.m., presumably referring to members of Congress stopping their certification of the election results and evacuating. Kelly also sent messages before Jan. 6 talking about his plans to go to Washington, according to the government, including one where he referenced traveling with "ex NYPD and some proud boys"; the FBI affidavit noted that Kelly's brother is a retired New York police officer. The FBI also found photos that Kelly sent via Facebook that appeared to show him standing with an American flag outside the Capitol. In one photo he is wearing a sweatshirt; in another he is shirtless.
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/zoetillman/justice-department-drops-capitol-riot-case-christopher-kelly
Biden: "I hear all the folks on TV saying why doesn't Biden get this done? Well because Biden only has a majority of effectively four votes in the House and a tie in the Senate, with two members of the Senate who vote more with my Republican friends."
https://twitter.com/kathrynw5/status/1399830637616320512
The administration has very little power to act unilaterally when it comes to voting laws. That's why advocates had been pushing to change the filibuster. And as Manchin made extra clear last week, he's not moving on that either.
Putting Harris in charge of selling HR1 — the voting rules bill — isn't going to help make the sell for Joe Manchin.
Trump puts D.C. hotel lease back on the market.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2021/06/01/trump-dc-hotel-sale/
Here's a Feb 21, 2020 email to Fauci from a Weill Cornell Medical College associate professor of dermatology who wrote: "we think that there is a possibility that the virus was released from a lab in wuhan, the biotech area of china". Fauci forawds to a colleague: "please handle"
https://twitter.com/JasonLeopold/status/1399838023412420614
https://twitter.com/JasonLeopold/status/1399838023412420614/photo/1
_____________________________________________
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/06/01/statement-from-vice-president-kamala-harris-on-administrations-voting-rights-efforts/
Statement from Vice President Kamala Harris on Administration's Voting Rights Efforts
June 01, 2021 • Statements and Releases
Every American has a right to have their voice heard at the ballot box, and no American should be kept from voting early, voting by mail, or voting at all. Our democracy is strongest when everyone participates, and it is weaker when people are left out.
Throughout the arc of our nation's history, many have worked—and many have died—to ensure that all Americans can cast a ballot and have their vote counted. Today, that hard-won progress is under assault.
In the last election, more people voted than ever before. Since then, more than 380 bills have been introduced across the country that would make it harder for Americans to vote. These bills seek to restrict the options that make voting more convenient and accessible, including early voting and vote by mail. Our Administration will not stand by when confronted with any effort that keeps Americans from voting.
We must protect the fundamental right to vote for all Americans regardless of where they live. There are two important bills in Congress that would do just that. The For the People Act would provide all Americans with fair and accessible voting options, and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act would prevent discriminatory changes to voting laws and procedures.
President Joe Biden asked me to help lead our Administration's effort to protect the fundamental right to vote for all Americans. In the days and weeks ahead, I will engage the American people, and I will work with voting rights organizations, community organizations, and the private sector to help strengthen and uplift efforts on voting rights nationwide. And we will also work with members of Congress to help advance these bills.
The work ahead of us is to make voting accessible to all American voters, and to make sure every vote is counted through a free, fair, and transparent process. This is the work of democracy.
###
_____________________________________________
Secretary Antony J. Blinken is traveling to Central America on June 1-2, 2021 to engage with leaders from the region at a meeting of the Central American Integration System (SICA) in San Jose, Costa Rica. In its current role as chair of SICA, Costa Rica is inviting senior leaders from Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Panama, and the Dominican Republic, as well as Mexico, for this meeting. They will discuss a collaborative approach to the shared regional challenge of irregular migration and promoting democracy, human rights, prosperity, and rule of law.
https://www.state.gov/strengthening-democracy-in-central-america-and-addressing-root-causes-of-migration-at-central-american-integration-system-meeting/
Did you hear the news? The President's FY22 Budget supports #MineReclamation 🙌🙌🙌
The Budget add funds to the Abandoned Mine Land Economic Revitalization grants program AND protects communities from legacy impacts of coal mining.
https://www.osmre.gov/resources/newsroom/News/2021/FY22BudgetInvestments.pdf
https://www.doi.gov/sites/doi.gov/files/fy2022-bib-bh037.pdf
http://www.osmre.gov/
https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/
President Biden's FY 2022 Budget Makes Significant Investments in @BureauIndianEdu. Includes increase for Indian School Equalization Program, expanding Scholarships & Adult Education Opportunities, among many other administration priorities. DETAILS: https://www.indianaffairs.gov/news/president-biden-s-fiscal-year-2022-budget-makes-significant-investments-bureau-indian-education
https://twitter.com/USIndianAffairs/status/1398368537698136067
@Interior leaders underscored the important role that Interior will play to accomplish the Biden-Harris administration's goals to move our country forward in this unprecedented time. See the President's proposed budget investments in Interior:
https://www.doi.gov/pressreleases/president-bidens-fiscal-year-2022-budget-makes-significant-investments-interior
The Federal Election Commission slapped the National Enquirer's parent company with a $187,500 fine for its role in 2016 in silencing a Playboy model who claimed she had an affair with Donald Trump. $187,500 if you were curious, so barely more than what Trump paid in hush money to begin with. Seems like a slap on the wrist considering how it was yet another thing that helped get Trump elected in 2016, and there's no disincentive for them to not do it again or worse.
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/karen-mcdougal-fec-trump-ami-fine
55 killed by Islamic terrorists in eastern Congo massacres, including people in a camp for displaced people. The Islamic terrorists murdered more than 850 people in 2020 according to the United Nations.
https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/least-50-killed-eastern-congo-massacres-research-group-2021-05-31/
https://www.reuters.com/world/congo-declares-state-siege-over-eastern-bloodshed-2021-05-01/
I gotta give it to KD, no matter what he always ends up saying the dumbest shit.
The families of the capitol police who died also have devastating family matters... you needed to show up to vote you lying mentally ill deranged TERRORIST.
https://twitter.com/RafaelCarranza/status/1399836043075985412
Trump Met Man Who Helped Organize 'Patriot Caravans' On January 6
https://theuprising.info/p/photo-trump-met-man-who-helped-organize-c83
ILLINOIS: per sources, Dems are considering redrawing #IL17 even more aggressively in light of Rep. Cheri Bustos (D)'s exit, in a bid to save their House majority. In the 14D-3R example below, #IL17 would go from Trump +2 to Biden +3. All 13 other D seats are Biden +12 or more.
https://twitter.com/Redistrict/status/1399859335329636356
A 14D-3R map would eliminate Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R)'s #IL16 (Dems figure he'd lose a primary to a pro-Trump R anyway) and severely threaten #IL13 Rep. Rodney Davis (R). Here's the hypothetical map shaded by partisan lean:
https://twitter.com/Redistrict/status/1399861496675459074
A big winner in this scenario would be Rep. Lauren Underwood (D), whose #IL14 would go from Biden +2 to Biden +15 after picking up Joliet and Bolingbrook.
https://twitter.com/Redistrict/status/1399862426040942595
"I am by this memorandum terminating the MPP program." The U.S. has officially ended Trump's "remain in Mexico" policy, which forced tens of thousands of asylum-seekers to wait in often squalid conditions in Northern MX for their court datesRightwards arrowhttps://dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/21_0601_termination_of_mpp_program.pdf?
Polls are now open! Just 12 hours left to vote in the #NM01 special election! Everything is on the line in this election, and we need you to get out and vote! Visit http://nmvote.org to find your nearest polling place - let's keep our district blue! #nmpol
https://twitter.com/MelanieforNM/status/1399712332930904065
New Mexico 1st District U.S. House special election results | The special election to fill the seat vacated by Interior Secretary Deb Haaland features two Albuquerque state legislators, Melanie Stansbury, a Democrat, and Mark Moores, a Republican. Mr. Moores has sought to overcome the heavily Democratic nature of the district by running with a near-singular focus on Albuquerque's rising crime rate, while Ms. Stansbury has received a boost from visits by Jill Biden, the first lady, and Doug Emhoff, the second gentleman. See full results from New Mexico's First Congressional District election in November.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/elections/election-results/new-mexico-2021/
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/06/01/us/elections/results-new-mexico-house-district-1-special-election.html
Congratulations to Democrats in Texas for protecting democracy and the right to vote. Let's see if Democrats in the U.S. Senate have the same courage. We MUST pass S. 1, the For The People Act. The future of American democracy is at stake.
https://twitter.com/BernieSanders/status/1399394801519321096
The American people want action, not never-ending "negotiations" and obstructionism, and they will not come out and vote for a party that does not deliver.
If not now, when?
https://twitter.com/BernieSanders/status/1398291974042574850
The U.S. Senate is the only institution in the world where a vote of 59-41 can be considered a defeat instead of a huge victory. Enough is enough. Let us change the outdated rules of the Senate, end the filibuster and pass a bold agenda for working families with majority vote.
https://twitter.com/SenSanders/status/1399785939954712577
Interior Department Suspends Oil and Gas Leases in Arctic National Wildlife Refuge - Agency to Review Underlying Analysis of Oil and Gas Leases on the Coastal Plain
http://www.doi.gov/pressreleases/interior-department-suspends-oil-and-gas-leases-arctic-national-wildlife-refuge
A 12-year-old girl who had gone to a mosque in Delhi to drink water was abducted and raped by the Imam inside the mosque.
https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/delhi/delhi-minor-rape-mosque-cleric-7340005/
In Mexico, drug dealers are hunting down police at their homes
https://news.yahoo.com/mexico-cartels-hunting-down-police-121927049.html?utm_source=nextdraft&utm_medium=email
New law prohibits locking up animals in cages in The Netherlands per 2023
https://www.welingelichtekringen.nl/politiek/2800445/vogelkooi-en-konijnenhok-worden-verboden.html
Democrat Melanie Stansbury Wins New Mexico Special Election To Fill the seat vacated by Interior Secretary Deb Haaland
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/01/us/politics/melanie-stansbury-new-mexico-house.html
Damian Lillard had 17 of the Blazers 19 total OT points. The rest of the team went 1/12 during OT.
Damian Lillard tonight in loss: 55 points, 10 assists, 6 rebounds, 3 blocks, 1 turnover on 17/24 shooting and 12/17 from three
History: Portland's Damian Lillard has set the NBA postseason record for 3-pointers made in a game at 12 (and counting). 🔥News (
https://twitter.com/shamscharania/status/1399938496694001664
Rivers gets called for a ridiculous foul on Lillard's three with 8 seconds left
https://streamable.com/x7y2li
In a double overtime game, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson was a -21 in just 9 minutes
The Democratic Party isn't fighting for a living wage, universal healthcare, free public college, or an impactful climate change work program (aka the Green New Deal). The party also chastises its left and blames its base for not electing establishment candidates who disagree with populist policies. What else? The Democratic Party moves further right each election cycle, supports the military industrial complex and wars, and is loyal only to the wealthy. It isn't as if other issues don't matter but no one is going to miss a day's pay check to vote for a party that's misaligned with his/her values.
The Higher Education Act of 1965 empowered the Department of Education to "compromise, waive, or release any right, title, claim, lien, or demand, however acquired, including any equity or any right of redemption." And thanks to a reform passed under Barack Obama in 2010, the federal government now owns roughly 92 percent of all student debt. Which is to say, more than $1.5 trillion of Americans' student debt is owed to the Department of Education — which has the explicit authority to waive "any claim" it possesses and can therefore unilaterally make all that debt disappear.
https://prospect.org/day-one-agenda/cancel-student-debt-dept-education/'
A Houston mother riding bikes with her 5-year-old tried to shoot a puppy running into the street but unintentionally shot her child instead.
Last week, Texas lawmakers voted to remove background check and training requirements for concealed carry.
https://abc13.com/mom-charged-after-bullet-targeted-for-loose-dog-strikes-her-son/10728726/
If I could add anything to that Godard quote "There was theatre (Griffith), poetry (Murnau), painting (Rossellini), dance (Eisenstein), music (Renoir) . . . and the cinema is Nicholas Ray," I'd add that architecture was Dreyer.
The Town (2010)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0840361/
Boston head coach Brad Stevens is planning to transition from his current role into becoming the new head of basketball ops. of the Celtics. Danny Ainge plans to resign from his role as Celtics President, sources said.News
https://twitter.com/shamscharania/status/1400094456129507335
Brad Stevens is moving into the front office on a full-time role, and Celtics are expected to start a search for a new head coach, sources tell ESPN. Celtics staff and coaches have been informed of the changes.
https://twitter.com/wojespn/status/1400094894551617545
Stevens has been described as worn down with coaching since The Bubble, and welcomed the chance to make the transition to the front office. Stevens will help lead the search for his successor as head coach.
https://twitter.com/wojespn/status/1400097447121199104
What a crazy league the NBA is. Four years ago the Nets were in purgatory with no picks, no future and the Celtics were humming along making all the right moves. Today, Nets are the favorites to win it all, Ainge is on his way out and Stevens is no longer a coach. Madness.
The NBA informed teams of new measures regarding fan misconduct, such as: - In addition to bans, teams/arenas encouraged to develop processes for pursuing law violations - Code of Conduct announcement to be made 3 times during games - Enhanced arena security deployment
https://twitter.com/shamscharania/status/1400115167908831238
Doc Rivers weighs in on fan incidents: "Fans are important for our game, but at the end of the day, there is a respect, there is a humanity, we've got to treat each other with respect. It's all right to cheer, boo, but you start throwing bottles, spitting, [throwing] popcorn, those can't happen."
https://www.inquirer.com/sixers/nba-playoffs-sixers-doc-rivers-comments-on-fan-incidents-20210531.html
Brad Stevens on hiring next coach: "The good news about whoever is hired, they don't have to fill Doc Rivers' shoes, and they don't have to fill Danny Ainge's shoes. They just have to figure out a way to be better than the last guy."
https://twitter.com/chrisforsberg_/status/1400124951743639557
Good GO VEGAN: JBS cyberattack linked to Russia wipes out a fifth of US beef capacity
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/jbs-hack-russia-beef-capacity-b1857920.html
The Massachusetts Steamship Authority said a ransomware attack was impacting its operations Wednesday morning.
https://www.wcvb.com/article/massachusetts-steamship-authority-hit-by-ransomware-attack/36607299
The cyber landscape is too sprawling to prevent ransomware attacks like this. Not every organization/business can be locked down like an intelligence agency - federal agencies still have issues. Microsoft is routinely hacked. The truth is that crypto needs to essentially be regulated out of existence. The only reason these ransomware attacks are happening is because of bitcoin making the ransom process easy. Ban cryptocurrencies already and outlaw ransom paying. Those payments are funding further attacks.
Meanwhile in America the disgraced former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn is advocating a military overthrow of the United States Government. We're fighting ourselves while Russia takes pot shots at us through cyber warfare. Perhaps we should take out the real aggressor here, Vladimir Putin. Just level his Palace. Officially Russia doesn't claim it so if it blows up, it blows up. No harm no foul.
48-year-old cleric arrested for raping a 12-year-old girl inside a mosque who went there to fetch water
https://www.indiatoday.in/cities/delhi/story/cleric-rapes-minor-year-old-girl-gone-fetch-water-delhi-mosque-arrested-1809861-2021-06-02
Biggest ship in Iran's navy catches fire and sinks under unclear circumstances, semiofficial Iranian news agencies say
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/kharg-iran-navy-ship-fire-gulf-oman/
Huge plume of smoke rises near oil refinery in Iran capital
https://apnews.com/article/middle-east-iran-business-ba9925e4df84bacd5036b18e7f3e1d0b
The 76ers say Joel Embiid has a small lateral meniscus tear in his right knee.
https://twitter.com/thesteinline/status/1400135478423310350
Embiid has been ruled out of tonight's Game 5 against the Wizards and will be listed as day-to-day.
https://twitter.com/thesteinline/status/1400135628965224453
Starting his treatment 4 minutes later would have zero affect his ankle but okay. This is blatantly an excuse and lowkey disrespectful to the Lakers players and their fans: "In terms of LeBron going in the back, LeBron had to start his treatment. It doesn't do any good for him to sit over there without getting worked on or beginning the treatment as soon as possible to help him get ready for Game 6."
https://www.sportingnews.com/ca/nba/news/lebron-james-lakers-frank-vogel-game-5/vh27r0l06bcs1oblo22t0g6kg
Hold him accountable for his lack of leadership, consistently poor body language, and frequent lack of effort on defense.
#EricNelson files motion asked Judge Cahill to sentence #DerekChauvin to time served or probation for the unintentional murder of #GeorgeFloyd. #EricNelson argues that #Chauvin didn't know he was committing a crime ans is a product of a "broken system."
https://twitter.com/BuckEsq/status/1400180025635356672
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson announces the new DAVINCI+ and VERITAS space missions to study Venus, during a "State of NASA" address at NASA headquarters, in Washington on Wednesday.
https://twitter.com/Al_Drago/status/1400183009349939209
Suffolk County Legislator Kara Hahn just kicked off a bid for the Dem nomination in open #NY01. She also happens to be descended from Vice President Elbridge Gerry—yes, the gerrymandering guy
https://twitter.com/DKElections/status/1400182054965420033
They say Netanyahu is a divisive politician, but he did bring together some pretty unusual allies ... to kick him out of office. Pictured: Yair Lapid, secular leader of Israeli opposition, Naftali Bennett, settler party head, and Mansour Abbas, leader of Islamist Arab party Raam.
https://twitter.com/Yair_Rosenberg/status/1400181393838247940
Just because Lapid got everyone's signatures on paper to replace Netanyahu doesn't mean it's a done deal. Bibi will pursue every possible pressure point right up until the new government is sworn in. But getting all those signatures on paper together is historic in its own right.
https://twitter.com/Yair_Rosenberg/status/1400183147417985026
Half of U.S. states, all of them led by Republican governors, are cutting off billions of dollars in unemployment benefits for residents, rebuffing a key part of President Joe Biden's response to the coronavirus recession.The payments - an extra $300 per week from the federal government to unemployment recipients because of the pandemic - have become part of a political battle in Washington over how to best guide the country out of an economic downturn. Maryland on Tuesday became the 25th state to announce it would stop the $300-per-week benefits before the federal program lapses in September. | The United States is about to undergo a real-time test of the issue. The 25 states turning down the federal cash have announced different end dates for the program. Benefits expire June 12 in Alaska, Iowa, Mississippi and Missouri, with the other 21 states falling off through July 10. Unemployed workers may still be eligible for regular state unemployment benefits. But those vary widely. Unemployed people must take suitable jobs that are offered, White House officials have emphasized.
https://www.reuters.com/business/half-us-states-end-biden-backed-pandemic-unemployment-early-2021-06-02/
U.S. sets and suspends tariffs on six countries over digital taxes
https://www.reuters.com/technology/us-sets-suspends-tariffs-six-countries-over-digital-taxes-2021-06-02/
Biden privately tells lawmakers reparations legislation is off the table
https://www.politico.com/news/2021/06/02/biden-reparations-tulsa-491607
Ron DeSantis Forces Cruise Ships to Take Unvaccinated Passengers
http://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/ron-desantis-cruise-ships-unvaccinated-passengers-florida.html
Cargo Ship Carrying 25 Tons of Acid Sinks in Sri Lankan Waters; Marks One of Worst Environmental Disasters in Decades
https://www.newsweek.com/cargo-ship-carrying-25-tons-acid-sinks-sri-lankan-waters-marks-one-worst-environmental-1596881
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/06/02/sri-lanka-ship-environment-sink-beach/
The Arizona Legislature is continuing its attack on voting by mail. In a party line vote, the state house advanced a bill that would turn mismatched signatures on mail ballots into criminal cases. Variation in signatures — a common and generally harmless occurrence — should not subject voters to the threat of prosecution.
https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/arizona-bill-would-refer-mismatched-mail-ballot-signatures-prosecutors
The M.T.A. Is Breached by Chinese Hackers as Cyberattacks Surge | Hackers with suspected ties to China penetrated the New York transit agency's computer systems in April, an M.T.A. document shows. Transit officials say the intrusion did not pose a risk to riders.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/02/nyregion/mta-cyber-attack.html
"The reality is when you have a system that's not working effectively, and I would think most would agree, the Senate is not a particularly well-oiled machine, the way to fix that is for Democrats to change their behavior," Sinema said, as she said she would never under any circumstances eliminate the filibuster or vote for any Democratic legislation
https://kvoa.com/news/2021/06/01/sinema-committed-to-keeping-filibuster-in-place/
Well hopefully voters change their behavior and vote her out in the next primary. I do have to say that is one of the dumbest takes on this I've heard from anyone and Manchin has had some pretty dumb ones.
US Atty's put price tag on damage to Capitol structure from the 1/6 riot: $1.5 million worth. And prosecutors are gonna make the 450~ they've arrested pay the tab, per today's guilty plea in DC federal courthouse.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/legal-issues/guilty-plea-capitol-riot-sentencing/2021/06/02/b0bc0326-c3ae-11eb-93f5-ee9558eecf4b_story.html
Stimulus checks substantially reduced hardship, a new study has found. Researchers found that sharp declines in food shortages, financial instability and anxiety coincided with the two most recent rounds of payments.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/02/us/politics/stimulus-checks-economic-hardship.html
Biden ran on a platform opposing new nuclear weapons, but his first defense budget backs two controversial new projects put in motion by Trump, & also doubles down on upgrading all three legs of the arsenal.
https://www.politico.com/news/2021/06/02/biden-trump-nuclear-weapons-491631?2
14 years ago, the state Supreme Court upheld Michigan's current voter ID law, ruling it did not amount to a "poll tax" because of an affidavit option ... that a Senate Republican plan now proposes to eliminate.
https://bridgemi.com/michigan-government/michigan-gop-advances-voter-id-mandate-common-sense-or-new-poll-tax
Appeals court rejects bid by landlords to resume evictions
https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/556536-appeals-court-rejects-bid-by-landlords-to-resume-evictions
No. Nothing about the status of Pwesident Trump's presence on our platform has changed. He remains indefinitely suspended.
https://twitter.com/andymstone/status/1400214493926465540
Giovanni Brusca completed 25 years in prison for murder, including the killings of Giovanni Falcone, an anti-mafia crusader, and a 14-year-old boy he dissolved in acid. He later became an informant | Mr. Brusca, known as the "People Slayer," was arrested in 1996 and later admitted to involvement in more than 100 killings before becoming an informer and helping the authorities identify and arrest dozens of fellow mobsters from the mafia families of Sicily. | Among the crimes committed by Mr. Brusca was the killing of Giuseppe Di Matteo, the 14-year-old son of a mafia informant. After kidnapping the boy and keeping him in hiding for two years in retaliation for his father's confessions to the authorities, Mr. Brusca and his brother strangled Giuseppe and dissolved him in acid. At a public hearing years later, Mr. Brusca said that tears rolled down the boy's cheeks while he was dying. | Mr. Brusca will still have to serve four years' probation, and he will be provided with a new identity in an undisclosed location under Italy's witness protection program. Brusca's brother, Enzo, also a mobster, had been serving a 30-year term, but was released from prison to complete it under house arrest.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/01/world/europe/italy-mafia-killer-informant.html
Julius Randle against the Hawks in the regular season: 37.3/12.3/6.7 (73.2 TS%). Julius Randle against the Hakws in the playoffs: 18/11.6/4 (42.5 TS%)
Westbrook in the first round vs Philly: 18.8/10.2/11.8, but on 33/25/81 shooting splits
Microsoft Irish subsidiary paid zero corporate tax on £220bn profit last year
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jun/03/microsoft-irish-subsidiary-paid-zero-corporate-tax-on-220bn-profit-last-year
Miami Commissioner Ken Russell says he'll run to challenge Marco Rubio for US Senate
https://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics-government/state-politics/article251839898.html#storylink=mainstage_lead
We had our first major pandemic in 100 years, a large group of insurrectionists stormed the Capitol, and Republicans are still lying to our faces and trying to undermine confidence in the election process - if those aren't extraordinary circumstances, then there aren't any: Parliamentarian guidance deals blow to reconciliation strategy
https://www.rollcall.com/2021/06/02/democrats-reconciliation-strategy-dealt-blow-senate-parliamentarian/
The FBI is investigating Postmaster General Louis DeJoy over possible campaign finance violations
https://www.businessinsider.com/fbi-investigating-dejoy-over-possible-campaign-finance-violations-wapo-2021-6
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/louis-dejoy-fbi-investigation/2021/06/03/4e24e122-c3d3-11eb-93f5-ee9558eecf4b_story.html#click=https://t.co/5Wb5tH4OWn
Biden-Harris Administration Unveils Strategy for Global Vaccine Sharing, Announcing Allocation Plan for the First 25 Million Doses to be Shared Globally | The sharing of millions of U.S. vaccines with other countries signals a major commitment by the U.S. government. Just like in the United States, we will move as expeditiously as possible, while abiding by U.S. and host country regulatory and legal requirements, to facilitate the safe and secure transport of vaccines across international borders. This will take time, but the President has directed the Administration to use all the levers of the U.S. government to protect individuals from this virus as quickly as possible. The specific vaccines and amounts will be determined and shared as the Administration works through the logistical, regulatory and other parameters particular to each region and country.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/06/03/fact-sheet-biden-harris-administration-unveils-strategy-for-global-vaccine-sharing-announcing-allocation-plan-for-the-first-25-million-doses-to-be-shared-globally/
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https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/press-briefings/2021/06/03/background-press-call-by-senior-administration-officials-on-the-fight-against-corruption/
Background Press Call by Senior Administration Officials on the Fight Against Corruption
June 03, 2021
• Press Briefings
Via Teleconference
8:47 A.M. EDT
MODERATOR: Good morning, everyone, from the National Security Council at the White House. I would like to welcome our participants to an on-background conference call to discuss a forthcoming announcement by the White House related to the fight against corruption.
Today we are joined by [senior administration official], as well as [senior administration official]. We will begin with remarks from [senior administration official], and then we'll open it up for a question-and-answer session.
As a reminder, today's briefing is on background, attributable to "senior administration officials." And the call content and the factsheet that we have not circulated yet but we will circulate at the conclusion of the call will be embargoed until they're released by the White House later today.
And with that, I will turn it over to our senior administration official for introductory remarks.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Great. Thanks. Hi, everybody. Good morning and thanks for joining the call today. I am really excited to be speaking to all of you about the President's anti-corruption agenda in advance of our rollout later this morning of a national security study memorandum — that's NSSM — on the fight against corruption.
It's worth noting that this is the first national security study memorandum of the administration, so it'll come out as "NSM-1." I don't want to get hung up on the bureaucratic language of all of that, but the point is the memorandum is important because it'll serve as formal and public direction from President Biden that he expects all relevant federal departments and agencies to up their anti-corruption game in very specific ways. And when you see the NSSM yourselves, you'll see the specificity in the document itself.
So, with the memorandum, President Biden is formally establishing the fight against corruption as a core national security interest of the United States. That was a commitment that he made during the campaign. And his pledge was that he would prioritize anti-corruption efforts and bring additional transparency to the U.S. and international financial systems.
So that's what we are embarked on, and the memorandum also speaks to our focus on delivering a foreign policy that benefits the American people, and particularly the middle class.
So what the NSSM does is it directs the U.S. government to review and send to President Biden a report and recommendations in 200 days on how the government and its partners can modernize, coordinate, and further resource efforts to better fight corruption, tackle illicit finance, hold corrupt actors accountable, and build international partnerships. So it's really the broadest span of what each of our federal departments and agencies does on anti-corruption.
We're really confident that implementation of this directive is going to lead to new and bold and decisive actions to combat corruption around the world. It, of course, builds upon much that we're already doing — and I'm happy to speak to some of that agenda right now — but this is very much going to accelerate and prioritize that agenda.
So, with that, why don't I leave it there and we'll take a few questions.
Q Hi, guys. Thank you for doing this. I just — my first question is simply, you know, can you talk a little bit about some of the existing efforts under the Biden administration at the various agencies to make corruption a priority? Because I know this has sort of been in the works for a while, so it's not like they're starting from scratch.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Yeah, thanks for that. So, that's exactly right. We are very much hitting the ground running on this agenda, so let me just kind of give a few wave tops in terms what different departments and agencies are already doing that we expect to elevate with the NSSM today.
So, some on the line may be familiar with the Corporate Transparency Act — that's the law that Congress passed in last year's National Defense Authorization Act that directs the Treasury Department to establish what's called a "beneficial ownership registry" that effectively bars illicit assets from hiding the proceedings of corruption behind anonymous shell companies. So, Treasury is moving out on making that registry a reality. It's a massive undertaking.
And among other things, in his budget request, the President asked Congress to increase funding for this work by roughly 50 percent — 60-odd million dollars above what was enacted last year. So that really gave an early preview of how we're looking to transform what Treasury does in terms of making sure that law enforcement is able to view the proceeds of corruption such that illicit actors can't hide behind anonymity.
Likewise, Treasury is building off of what's already been done to limit the ability of illicit actors to hide behind anonymity. In terms of residential real estate, we have seen several instances over past years in which the proceeds of corruption have been funneled through shell companies and wound up in major metropolitan areas in the United States to offshore those ill-gotten gains, and so we're going to be taking additional steps to make sure that that doesn't happen in the future.
And across the board, we're looking at analyzing the need for additional reforms to close loopholes in the entire regulatory regime that deals with corruption and illicit finance.
On the Department of Justice side, some may be familiar with their Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative. This initiative has really helped to make the United States a global leader in terms of recovery and return of stolen assets. In the — in the past two years, since 2019 alone, these asset recovery efforts have led to the transfer of more than $1.5 billion to countries that have been harmed by corruption.
And then, on the State and USAID side, I think you've already seen significant statements by Secretary Blinken and Administrator Power on increasing their anti-corruption work. Stay tuned. I think there are going to be more announcements out of USAID soon, but we're looking across the board to elevate our anti-corruption work in all of our bilateral context, as well as in multilateral fora, such as the G7 and United Nations.
So that's a little taste of, across departments, what we expect to be working on or accelerating ongoing work in the months to come.
Q Thank you for taking the time. You know, the previous administration took something of a hands-off approach with corruption or with — would have them — you know, a transactional relationship, where they would essentially say, "We won't worry about what's going on in your country if you will work with us on these things that we need to work on." And I'm wondering if, in any sense, this is meant to send a signal to the world that the U.S. does care about corruption again. Is there any, sort of, like, response to the past in this?
Also, ahead of Vice President Harris's trip to Latin America, are there any corruption measures associated with that, or any, sort of, additional push related to that?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: I'm not going to characterize the views of the prior administration, but I would say, to your point: The essence of the memorandum we're going to release today is that the U.S. government is placing the anti-corruption plight at the center of its foreign policy, so we very much want to prioritize this work across the board.
In terms of the Vice President's trip, I don't want to get ahead of any announcements that are going to be made on the trip, but I can say that anti-corruption in the region is a major focus for the administration and will be a focus of all of her conversations while she's traveling.
Q Thank you.
Q Thank you for doing this. As you know, anti-corruption activists periodically urge the U.S. government to use its various assets and capabilities, including the intelligence community, to expose specific cases of corruption overseas, to name and shame corrupt officials — and the arguments they make are familiar — but also include not only, you know, a deterrent to corruption, but also a possible contribution to the promotion of democracy.
Does the does the memorandum — does the program include any component that connects with that?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: What I can say on that front is that the memorandum includes components of the intelligence community. So, the work on that front, in part, remains to be seen, but they are included — the Director of National Intelligence and Central Intelligence Agency.
And so we're just going to be looking at all of the tools in our disposal to make sure that we identify corruption where it's happening and take appropriate policy responses.
And I'll take the opportunity to mention that we're also going to be using this effort to think about what more we can do to bolster other actors that are out in the world exposing corruption and bringing it to light.
So, of course, the U.S. government has its own internal methods, but, largely, the way that corruption is exposed is through the work of investigative journalists and investigative NGOs.
The U.S. government — to my point earlier, in terms of the support we're already providing — in some instances provides support to these actors. And we'll be looking at what more we can do on that front as well.
Q What does the word "support" mean in that context?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Well, sometimes it boils down to foreign assistance. There are lines of assistance that have jumpstarted investigatory journalism organizations. What comes to my mind most immediately is OCCRP, as well as foreign assistance that goes to NGOs, ultimately, that do investigative work on anti-corruption, as well.
Q Thank you.
Q Hi, good morning. Thank you for doing this. My question is to ask you: How are you going to engage with international allies to combat the impact of corruption coming from Latin American countries into the United States? For example, Venezuela or the Northern Triangle, as my colleague mentioned before. Thank you.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: So, as I mentioned earlier, the anti-corruption agenda will be front and center in the Vice President's upcoming trip. And, across the board, we are engaging through every relevant multilateral body on this agenda.
And much of that — again, we're not we're not necessarily creating any of that work from scratch, but we are hoping to accelerate and elevate it, and that includes in the Western Hemisphere. But maybe [senior administration official] wants to jump in and say a little bit more on that front.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Thanks. You know, I think the general — underscoring what [senior administration official] just said — you know, working closely with our allies and partners includes engaging with civil society and investigative journalists, but also through our multinational and multilateral partnerships in the G7 and G20.
This has been a big focus as well for the UK during their G7 presidency, to focus on working together on combating corruption. And so we have started those processes already, and I think you will see a lot more, particularly in our own backyard in the Western Hemisphere.
A big indication is the Vice President's trip — you know, it's her first international trip. She'll be going out there and discussing these issues. And as [senior administration official] mentioned earlier, anticorruption will be a key part of her trip there.
Q Hi. So, [senior administration official], in your intro and in a couple of answers, you've referred to "illicit finance" and the danger of people profiting from corruption and being able to hide those profits through anonymity. Are you talking here about cryptocurrency? And if so, is this part of a larger discussion?
Obviously, we've seen the use of cryptocurrency, the risk of cryptocurrency for illicit purposes in the ransomware attacks, for example. And there are certainly growing calls now for the administration to crack down on cryptocurrency and its use in illegal means. Is that what you meant to refer to, and is that where this is going?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Yeah, thanks. We'll certainly be looking at the impact of cryptocurrency as a means of illicit finance, but by no means was — were my remarks limited to crypto. We've seen, over many years, how corruption oversea- — the proceeds of corruption overseas make their way into the U.S. and international financial systems through anonymity.
So, this isn't in any way limited to new technologies like crypto, but certainly as we think about the regulatory regime — the Bank Secrecy Act that governs much of this agenda, in terms of illicit finance — we will be asking for ideas around how we might want to modernize that regime to deal with issues like crypto, certainly.
Q Good morning and thanks for doing this. I want –- I think, as you mentioned, this is the first memorandum that we saw before sanctions against corruption yesterday. And there were sanctions against Bulgarian individuals. But also, we know that bad actors were able to survive despite sanctions everywhere, whether they are U.S. sanctions or, let's say, international sanctions. Now, what tools are you planning to use? And let's say you are using sanctions again — how you would use the sanctions as a tool without affecting an entire (inaudible) population? Let's say, I give you an example here: Lebanon, let's say.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Sure, thanks for that. So, this effort is really going to be across the board. And so, thinking about how we can better use sanctions to address corruption is definitely going to be part of the toolkit that we seek to emphasize. But sanctions are not the only tool in our toolkit.
As I've been speaking to, we're looking to make significant systemic changes to the regulatory structure that governs illicit finance. We're looking to increase the use of law enforcement tools to go after corrupt actors. We're looking to improve upon U.S. foreign assistance as a tool and increase the role that anticorruption plays in our day-to-day diplomatic work in bilateral engagements, in multilateral fora.
So, thinking about how sanctions are going to impact our anti-corruption agenda will be part of this conversation, but in no way will it be limited to sanctions.
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https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/06/03/memorandum-on-establishing-the-fight-against-corruption-as-a-core-united-states-national-security-interest/
Memorandum on Establishing the Fight Against Corruption as a Core United States National Security Interest
June 03, 2021
• Presidential Actions
Section 1. Policy. Corruption corrodes public trust; hobbles effective governance; distorts markets and equitable access to services; undercuts development efforts; contributes to national fragility, extremism, and migration; and provides authoritarian leaders a means to undermine democracies worldwide. When leaders steal from their nations' citizens or oligarchs flout the rule of law, economic growth slows, inequality widens, and trust in government plummets.
In financial terms alone, the costs of corruption are staggering. It has been estimated that acts of corruption sap between 2 and 5 percent from global gross domestic product. While such costs are not evenly shared worldwide, the abuse of power for private gain, the misappropriation of public assets, bribery, and other forms of corruption impact every country and community. The proceeds of these acts cross national borders and can impact economies and political systems far from their origin. Anonymous shell companies, opaque financial systems, and professional service providers enable the movement and laundering of illicit wealth, including in the United States and other rule-of-law-based democracies.
Corruption threatens United States national security, economic equity, global anti-poverty and development efforts, and democracy itself. But by effectively preventing and countering corruption and demonstrating the advantages of transparent and accountable governance, we can secure a critical advantage for the United States and other democracies.
In issuing this National Security Study Memorandum, I establish countering corruption as a core United States national security interest. My Administration will lead efforts to promote good governance; bring transparency to the United States and global financial systems; prevent and combat corruption at home and abroad; and make it increasingly difficult for corrupt actors to shield their activities.
Sec. 2. Strategy. Accordingly, I hereby direct the Assistant to the President and National Security Advisor, in coordination with the Assistant to the President for Economic Policy and the Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy, to conduct an interagency review process under National Security Memorandum/NSM-2 (Renewing the National Security Council System) and develop a Presidential strategy that will, when implemented, significantly bolster the ability of the United States Government to:
(a) Modernize, increase, coordinate, resource, and otherwise improve the ability of key executive departments and agencies (agencies), including those represented in the review and listed below, to promote good governance and prevent and combat corruption, including, as needed, by proposing relevant legislation to the Congress;
(b) Combat all forms of illicit finance in the United States and international financial systems, including by robustly implementing Federal law requiring United States companies to report their beneficial owner or owners to the Department of the Treasury; reducing offshore financial secrecy; improving information sharing; and, as necessary, identifying the need for new reforms;
(c) Hold accountable corrupt individuals, transnational criminal organizations, and their facilitators, including by, and where appropriate, identifying, freezing, and recovering stolen assets through increased information sharing and intelligence collection and analysis, criminal or civil enforcement actions, advisories, and sanctions or other authorities, and, where possible and appropriate, returning recovered assets for the benefit of the citizens harmed by corruption;
(d) Bolster the capacity of domestic and international institutions and multilateral bodies focused on establishing global anti-corruption norms, asset recovery, promoting financial transparency, encouraging open government, strengthening financial institutions' frameworks to prevent corruption in development finance projects, and combating money laundering, illicit finance, and bribery, including, where possible, addressing the demand side of bribery;
(e) Support and strengthen the capacity of civil society, media, and other oversight and accountability actors to conduct research and analysis on corruption trends, advocate for preventative measures, investigate and uncover corruption, hold leaders accountable, and inform and support government accountability and reform efforts, and work to provide these actors a safe and open operating environment domestically and internationally;
(f) Work with international partners to counteract strategic corruption by foreign leaders, foreign state-owned or affiliated enterprises, transnational criminal organizations, and other foreign actors and their domestic collaborators, including, by closing loopholes exploited by these actors to interfere in democratic processes in the United States and abroad;
(g) Enhance efforts to quickly and flexibly increase United States and partner resources of investigative, financial, technical, political, and other assistance to foreign countries that exhibit the desire to reduce corruption;
(h) Assist and strengthen the capacity of domestic (including State and local) authorities and institutions, as well as partner and other foreign governments at all levels, to implement transparency, oversight, and accountability measures, which will counter corruption and provide their citizens with accessible and usable information regarding government programs, policies, and spending;
(i) Promote partnerships with the private sector and civil society to advocate for anti-corruption measures and take action to prevent corruption; and
(j) Establish best practices and enforcement mechanisms such that foreign assistance and security cooperation activities have built-in corruption prevention measures.
Sec. 3. Interagency Review. In accordance with this memorandum, the interagency review shall consider the recommendations of expert studies and shall include representatives from the following agencies and offices:
(a) the Office of the Vice President;
(b) the Department of State;
(c) the Department of the Treasury;
(d) the Department of Defense;
(e) the Department of Justice;
(f) the Department of Commerce;
(g) the Department of Energy;
(h) the Department of Homeland Security;
(i) the Office of Management and Budget;
(j) the United States Mission to the United Nations;
(k) the Office of the Director of National Intelligence;
(l) the Central Intelligence Agency;
(m) the Office of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff;
(n) the United States Agency for International Development; and
(o) the National Security Agency.
Executive departments and agencies shall be responsive to all requests from the Assistant to the President and National Security Advisor for information, analysis, and assistance related to the interagency review. The interagency review shall be completed within 200 days of the date of this memorandum, and the Assistant to the President and National Security Advisor shall submit a report and recommendations to the President for further direction and action.
JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR.
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The Lakers roster was perfectly constructed around LeBron and AD and LeBron and AD being injured this year doesn't mean the roster is bad. The Lakers aren't a bad team, they didn't make bad moves, the roster isn't poorly constructed, their star players are hurt and that's probably something you could have predicted the moment the NBA said they were coming back in December...
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https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/06/03/readout-from-nsc-spokesperson-emily-horne-on-national-security-advisor-jake-sullivans-meeting-with-israeli-minister-of-defense-benjamin-gantz/
Readout from NSC Spokesperson Emily Horne on National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan's Meeting with Israeli Minister of Defense Benjamin Gantz
June 03, 2021
• Statements and Releases
National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan met today in Washington with Israeli Minister of Defense Benjamin "Benny" Gantz to discuss recent developments in the region and continue the consultations between the United States and Israel on regional security issues. Mr. Sullivan reaffirmed President Biden's unwavering support for Israel's right to defend itself and commitment to strengthening all aspects of the U.S.-Israel security partnership, including support for the Iron Dome System. They exchanged views on the current situation in Gaza and Mr. Sullivan highlighted the importance of ensuring that immediate humanitarian aid is able to reach the people of Gaza. They also discussed their common interest in steps to enhance stability, peace, and security not just for Israelis and Palestinians, but across the entire region. They shared their concerns about the threat posed by Iran's aggressive behavior in the Middle East and expressed their determination to counter these threats. They agreed that the United States and Israel would remain closely engaged in the weeks ahead to advance their strategic priorities in the region.
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Feds Finally Identify Oath Keepers Defendant As Former Firefighter | Federal prosecutors claim that Walden expressed interest in joining the group's so-called quick reaction force and rode in a pair of golf carts swerved around law enforcement en route to the U.S. Capitol. Prosecutors recently claimed the group's quick reaction force, abbreviated as a "QRF," had planned to be on standby with guns waiting to be ferried across the Potomac River in the event of a "worst case scenario" on the day of the siege.
https://lawandcrime.com/u-s-capitol-siege/feds-finally-identify-oath-keepers-defendant-as-former-firefighter-who-had-all-the-necessary-2a-gear-on-jan-6/
https://lawandcrime.com/u-s-capitol-siege/2-if-by-sea-oath-keepers-messages-shed-new-light-on-alleged-plot-to-storm-d-c-with-guns-by-way-of-potomac/
The July Fourth fireworks show hosted by the RNC in Washington, DC, last summer caused $42,150 worth of damage, according to records obtained by the Democratic organization Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trump-s-july-fourth-fireworks-show-caused-more-42-000-n1269495?cid=sm_npd_nn_tw_np
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https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/06/03/executive-order-on-addressing-the-threat-from-securities-investments-that-finance-certain-companies-of-the-peoples-republic-of-china/
Executive Order on Addressing the Threat from Securities Investments that Finance Certain Companies of the People's Republic of China
June 03, 2021
• Presidential Actions
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) (IEEPA), the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) (NEA), and section 301 of title 3, United States Code,
I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of the United States of America, find that additional steps are necessary to address the national emergency declared in Executive Order 13959 of November 12, 2020 (Addressing the Threat From Securities Investments That Finance Communist Chinese Military Companies), including the threat posed by the military-industrial complex of the People's Republic of China (PRC) and its involvement in military, intelligence, and security research and development programs, and weapons and related equipment production under the PRC's Military-Civil Fusion strategy. In addition, I find that the use of Chinese surveillance technology outside the PRC and the development or use of Chinese surveillance technology to facilitate repression or serious human rights abuse constitute unusual and extraordinary threats, which have their source in whole or substantial part outside the United States, to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States, and I hereby expand the scope of the national emergency declared in Executive Order 13959 to address those threats.
Accordingly, I hereby order as follows:
Section 1. Sections 1 through 5 of Executive Order 13959, as amended by Executive Order 13974 of January 13, 2021 (Amending Executive Order 13959 — Addressing the Threat From Securities Investments That Finance Communist Chinese Military Companies), are hereby replaced and superseded in their entirety to read as follows:
"Section 1. (a) The following activities by a United States person are prohibited: the purchase or sale of any publicly traded securities, or any publicly traded securities that are derivative of such securities or are designed to provide investment exposure to such securities, of any person listed in the Annex to this order or of any person determined by the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State, and, as the Secretary of the Treasury deems appropriate, the Secretary of Defense:
(i) to operate or have operated in the defense and related materiel sector or the surveillance technology sector of the economy of the PRC; or
(ii) to own or control, or to be owned or controlled by, directly or indirectly, a person who operates or has operated in any sector described in subsection (a)(i) of this section, or a person who is listed in the Annex to this order or who has otherwise been determined to be subject to the prohibitions in subsection (a) of this section.
(b) The prohibitions in subsection (a) of this section shall take effect:
(i) beginning at 12:01 a.m. eastern daylight time on August 2, 2021, with respect to any person listed in the Annex to this order;
or
(ii) beginning at 12:01 a.m. eastern daylight time on the date that is 60 days after the date of the determination in subsection (a) of this section with respect to any person not listed in the Annex to this order.
(c) The purchase or sale of publicly traded securities described in subsection (a) of this section made solely to effect the divestment, in whole or in part, of such securities by a United States person is permitted prior to:
(i) 12:01 a.m. eastern daylight time on June 3, 2022, with respect to any person listed in the Annex to this order; or
(ii) 12:01 a.m. eastern daylight time on the date that is 365 days after the date of the determination in subsection (a) of this section with respect to any person not listed in the Annex to this order.
(d) The prohibitions in subsection (a) of this section apply except to the extent provided by statutes, or in regulations, orders, directives, or licenses that may be issued pursuant to this order, and notwithstanding any contract entered into or any license or permit granted before the date of this order.
Sec. 2. (a) Any transaction that evades or avoids, has the purpose of evading or avoiding, causes a violation of, or attempts to violate any of the prohibitions set forth in this order is prohibited.
(b) Any conspiracy formed to violate any of the prohibitions set forth in this order is prohibited.
Sec. 3. For the purposes of this order:
(a) the term "entity" means a partnership, association, trust, joint venture, corporation, group, subgroup, or other organization;
(b) the term "person" means an individual or entity;
(c) the term "publicly traded securities" includes any "security," as defined in section 3(a)(10) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, Public Law 73–291 (as codified as amended at 15 U.S.C. 78c(a)(10)), denominated in any currency that trades on a securities exchange or through the method of trading that is commonly referred to as "over-the-counter," in any jurisdiction; and
(d) the term "United States person" means any United States citizen, lawful permanent resident, entity organized under the laws of the United States or any jurisdiction within the United States (including foreign branches), or any person in the United States.
Sec. 4. The Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State, is hereby authorized to take such actions, including the promulgation of rules and regulations, and to employ all powers granted to the President by IEEPA, as may be necessary to carry out the purposes of this order. The Secretary of the Treasury may, consistent with applicable law, redelegate any of these functions within the Department of the Treasury. All executive departments and agencies (agencies) of the United States shall take all appropriate measures within their authority to carry out the provisions of this order.
Sec. 5. The Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State, is hereby authorized to submit recurring and final reports to the Congress on the national emergency declared in this order, consistent with section 401(c) of the NEA (50 U.S.C. 1641(c)) and section 204(c) of IEEPA (50 U.S.C. 1703(c)).
Sec. 6. The Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State, and, as the Secretary of the Treasury deems appropriate, the Secretary of Defense, is hereby authorized to determine that circumstances no longer warrant the application of the prohibitions in section 1(a) of this order with respect to a person listed in the Annex to this order, and to take necessary action to give effect to that determination."
Sec. 2. The Annex to Executive Order 13959 is replaced and superseded in its entirety by the Annex to this order.
Sec. 3. Section 6 of Executive Order 13959 is amended to replace "Sec. 6." with "Sec. 7."
Sec. 4. Executive Order 13974 is hereby revoked in its entirety. The Secretary of the Treasury and the heads of agencies shall take all necessary steps to rescind any orders or prohibitions issued prior to the date of this order implementing or enforcing Executive Order 13974 or the versions of sections 1 through 5 of Executive Order 13959 replaced and superseded by section 1 of this order.
Sec. 5. (a) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:
(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof; or
(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.
(b) This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.
(c) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.
JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR.
THE WHITE HOUSE,
June 3, 2021.
Annex
AERO ENGINE CORPORATION OF CHINA
AEROSPACE CH UAV CO., LTD
AEROSPACE COMMUNICATIONS HOLDINGS GROUP COMPANY LIMITED
AEROSUN CORPORATION
ANHUI GREATWALL MILITARY INDUSTRY COMPANY LIMITED
AVIATION INDUSTRY CORPORATION OF CHINA, LTD.
AVIC AVIATION HIGH-TECHNOLOGY COMPANY LIMITED
AVIC HEAVY MACHINERY COMPANY LIMITED
AVIC JONHON OPTRONIC TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.
AVIC SHENYANG AIRCRAFT COMPANY LIMITED
AVIC XI'AN AIRCRAFT INDUSTRY GROUP COMPANY LTD.
CHANGSHA JINGJIA MICROELECTRONICS COMPANY LIMITED
CHINA ACADEMY OF LAUNCH VEHICLE TECHNOLOGY
CHINA AEROSPACE SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY CORPORATION LIMITED
CHINA AEROSPACE SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY CORPORATION
CHINA AEROSPACE TIMES ELECTRONICS CO., LTD
CHINA AVIONICS SYSTEMS COMPANY LIMITED
CHINA COMMUNICATIONS CONSTRUCTION COMPANY LIMITED
CHINA COMMUNICATIONS CONSTRUCTION GROUP (LIMITED)
CHINA ELECTRONICS CORPORATION
CHINA ELECTRONICS TECHNOLOGY GROUP CORPORATION
CHINA GENERAL NUCLEAR POWER CORPORATION
CHINA MARINE INFORMATION ELECTRONICS COMPANY LIMITED
CHINA MOBILE COMMUNICATIONS GROUP CO., LTD.
CHINA MOBILE LIMITED
CHINA NATIONAL NUCLEAR CORPORATION
CHINA NATIONAL OFFSHORE OIL CORPORATION
CHINA NORTH INDUSTRIES GROUP CORPORATION LIMITED
CHINA NUCLEAR ENGINEERING CORPORATION LIMITED
CHINA RAILWAY CONSTRUCTION CORPORATION LIMITED
CHINA SATELLITE COMMUNICATIONS CO., LTD.
CHINA SHIPBUILDING INDUSTRY COMPANY LIMITED
CHINA SHIPBUILDING INDUSTRY GROUP POWER COMPANY LIMITED
CHINA SOUTH INDUSTRIES GROUP CORPORATION
CHINA SPACESAT CO., LTD.
CHINA STATE SHIPBUILDING CORPORATION LIMITED
CHINA TELECOM CORPORATION LIMITED
CHINA TELECOMMUNICATIONS CORPORATION
CHINA UNICOM (HONG KONG) LIMITED
CHINA UNITED NETWORK COMMUNICATIONS GROUP CO., LTD.
CNOOC LIMITED
COSTAR GROUP CO., LTD.
CSSC OFFSHORE & MARINE ENGINEERING (GROUP) COMPANY LIMITED
FUJIAN TORCH ELECTRON TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.
GUIZHOU SPACE APPLIANCE CO., LTD
HANGZHOU HIKVISION DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.
HUAWEI INVESTMENT & HOLDING CO., LTD.
HUAWEI TECHNOLOGIES CO., LTD.
INNER MONGOLIA FIRST MACHINERY GROUP CO., LTD.
INSPUR GROUP CO., LTD.
JIANGXI HONGDU AVIATION INDUSTRY CO., LTD.
NANJING PANDA ELECTRONICS COMPANY LIMITED
NORTH NAVIGATION CONTROL TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.
PANDA ELECTRONICS GROUP CO., LTD.
PROVEN GLORY CAPITAL LIMITED
PROVEN HONOUR CAPITAL LIMITED
SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING INTERNATIONAL CORPORATION
SHAANXI ZHONGTIAN ROCKET TECHNOLOGY COMPANY LIMITED
ZHONGHANG ELECTRONIC MEASURING INSTRUMENTS COMPANY LIMITED
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https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/06/03/fact-sheet-executive-order-addressing-the-threat-from-securities-investments-that-finance-certain-companies-of-the-peoples-republic-of-china/
FACT SHEET: Executive Order Addressing the Threat from Securities Investments that Finance Certain Companies of the People's Republic of China
June 03, 2021
• Statements and Releases
Today, President Biden signed an Executive Order (E.O.) to further address the ongoing national emergency declared in E.O. 13959 of November 12, 2020 with respect to the threat posed by the military-industrial complex of the People's Republic of China (PRC). President Biden also expanded the scope of this national emergency by finding that the use of Chinese surveillance technology outside the PRC, as well as the development or use of Chinese surveillance technology to facilitate repression or serious human rights abuses, constitute unusual and extraordinary threats. This E.O. allows the United States to prohibit – in a targeted and scoped manner – U.S. investments in Chinese companies that undermine the security or democratic values of the United States and our allies.
Specifically, the E.O. the President is signing today will:
Solidify and strengthen a previous E.O to prohibit U.S. investments in the military-industrial complex of the People's Republic of China: This E.O. will amend E.O. 13959 by creating a sustainable and strengthened framework for imposing prohibitions on investments in Chinese defense and surveillance technology firms. The E.O. prohibits United States persons from engaging in the purchase or sale of any publicly traded securities of any person listed in the Annex to the E.O. or determined by the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State, and, as the Secretary of the Treasury deems appropriate, the Secretary of Defense:
To operate or have operated in the defense and related materiel sector or the surveillance technology sector of the economy of the PRC; or
To own or control, or to be owned or controlled by, directly or indirectly, a person who operates or has operated in any sector described above, or a person who is listed in the Annex to this E.O. or who has otherwise been determined to be subject to the prohibitions in this E.O.
Ensure that U.S. investments are not supporting Chinese companies that undermine the security or values of the United States and our allies: This E.O. prevents U.S. investment from supporting the Chinese defense sector, while also expanding the U.S. Government's ability to address the threat of Chinese surveillance technology firms that contribute — both inside and outside China — to the surveillance of religious or ethnic minorities or otherwise facilitate repression and serious human rights abuses. It signals that the Administration will not hesitate to prevent U.S. capital from flowing into the PRC's defense and related materiel sector, including companies that support the PRC's military, intelligence, and other security research and development programs; or into Chinese companies that develop or use Chinese surveillance technology to facilitate repression or serious human rights abuse. Tackling these challenges head-on is consistent with the Biden Administration's commitment to protecting core U.S. national security interests and democratic values, and the Administration will continue to update the list of PRC entities as appropriate. At the same time, the E.O.'s prohibitions are intentionally targeted and scoped.
The President listed the following 59 entities as subject to the E.O.'s prohibitions. The prohibitions against the entities listed in the Annex to this E.O. shall take effect beginning at 12:01 a.m. eastern daylight time on August 2, 2021. The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) will also list these 59 entities on its new Non-SDN Chinese Military-Industrial Complex Companies List (NS-CMIC List).
Defense and Related Materiel Sector of the Economy of the PRC:
Aero Engine Corporation of China; Aerospace CH UAV Co., Ltd; Aerospace Communications Holdings Group Company Limited; Aerosun Corporation; Anhui Greatwall Military Industry Company Limited; Aviation Industry Corporation of China, Ltd.; AVIC Aviation High-Technology Company Limited; AVIC Heavy Machinery Company Limited; AVIC Jonhon Optronic Technology Co., Ltd.; AVIC Shenyang Aircraft Company Limited; AVIC Xi'An Aircraft Industry Group Company Ltd.; Changsha Jingjia Microelectronics Company Limited China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology; China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation Limited; China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation; China Aerospace Times Electronics Co., Ltd; China Avionics Systems Company Limited; China Communications Construction Company Limited; China Electronics Technology Group Corporation; China General Nuclear Power Corporation; China Marine Information Electronics Company Limited; China Mobile Communications Group Co., Ltd.; China National Nuclear Corporation; China National Offshore Oil Corporation; China North Industries Group Corporation Limited; China Nuclear Engineering Corporation Limited; China Railway Construction Corporation Limited; China Satellite Communications Co., Ltd.; China Shipbuilding Industry Company Limited; China Shipbuilding Industry Group Power Company Limited; China South Industries Group Corporation; China Spacesat Co., Ltd.; China State Shipbuilding Corporation Limited; China Telecommunications Corporation; China United Network Communications Group Co., Ltd.; Costar Group Co., Ltd.; CSSC Offshore & Marine Engineering (Group) Company Limited; Fujian Torch Electron Technology Co., Ltd.; Guizhou Space Appliance Co., Ltd; Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology Co., Ltd.; Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd.; Inner Mongolia First Machinery Group Co., Ltd.; Inspur Group Co., Ltd.; Jiangxi Hongdu Aviation Industry Co., Ltd.; Nanjing Panda Electronics Company Limited; North Navigation Control Technology Co., Ltd.; Panda Electronics Group Co., Ltd.; Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation; Shaanxi Zhongtian Rocket Technology Company Limited; and Zhonghang Electronic Measuring Instruments Company Limited.
Surveillance Technology Sector of the Economy of the PRC:
Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology Co., Ltd. and Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd.
Own or Control, or Owned or Controlled by, Directly or Indirectly, a Person Who Operates or Has Operated in at Least One of These Two Sectors of the PRC Economy, or a Person Who Is Listed in the Annex to the E.O.:
China Communications Construction Group (Limited); China Electronics Corporation; China Mobile Limited; China Telecom Corporation Limited; China Unicom (Hong Kong) Limited; CNOOC Limited; Huawei Investment & Holding Co., Ltd.; Panda Electronics Group Co., Ltd.; Proven Glory Capital Limited; and Proven Honour Capital Limited.
For information concerning the process for seeking removal from any OFAC list, including the NS-CMIC List, please refer to OFAC's Frequently Asked Question 897 at https://home.treasury.gov/policy-issues/financial-sanctions/faqs/897. Additional information regarding sanctions programs administered by OFAC can be found at https://home.treasury.gov/policy-issues/financial-sanctions/sanctions-programs-and-country-information.
https://home.treasury.gov/policy-issues/financial-sanctions/faqs/897
https://home.treasury.gov/policy-issues/financial-sanctions/sanctions-programs-and-country-information
_______________________________________
Former special counsel Robert Mueller and senior staff members from his investigation into Russian election meddling in 2016 will teach a law school class on their probe at the University of Virginia School of Law. The school announced that Mueller, an alumnus, will participate in the class, which will be formally taught by Aaron Zebley and two other former senior members of Mueller's team. The class will "offer an inside look at the role of special counsel" and be taught in the fall. "The course will focus on a key set of decisions made during the special counsel's investigation. Instructors will talk about the legal and practical context for those decisions in a discussion format, and walk through the challenges and trade-offs when making decisions in a high-profile investigation," the school said. "I was fortunate to attend UVA Law School after the Marine Corps, and I'm fortunate to be returning there now," Mueller said in the announcement. "I look forward to engaging with the students this fall." Zebley, a top staffer in the investigation and a former chief of staff of the FBI, said the course would rely on public records to try to explain why certain actions were taken and why others were not.
https://thehill.com/homenews/news/556539-mueller-to-teach-law-school-class-on-special-counsel-investigation
Luka now has 4 career 40 point playoff games. That's the same as: Melo, Duncan, Dame, Kawhi, Karl Malone had in their careers. It's more than: Kyrie, Pierce, AD, Ewing, Moses, Giannis, Isiah has in their careers. He's 22 years old and has played 11 career playoff games.
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https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/06/03/letter-to-the-speaker-of-the-house-of-representatives-and-the-president-of-the-senate-on-addressing-the-threat-from-securities-investments-that-finance-certain-companies-of-the-peoples-republic-of-c/
Letter to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President of the Senate on Addressing the Threat from Securities Investments that Finance Certain Companies of the People's Republic of China
June 03, 2021
• Statements and Releases
Dear Madam Speaker: (Dear Madam President:)
Pursuant to the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.), I hereby report that I have issued an Executive Order addressing the threat from securities investments that finance certain companies of the People's Republic of China (PRC).
I have determined that additional steps are necessary to address the national emergency declared in Executive Order 13959 of November 12, 2020 (Addressing the Threat From Securities Investments That Finance Communist Chinese Military Companies), including the threat posed by the military-industrial complex of the PRC and its involvement in military, intelligence, and security research and development programs, and weapons and related equipment production under the PRC's Military-Civil Fusion strategy. In addition, I find that the use of Chinese surveillance technology outside the PRC and the development or use of Chinese surveillance technology to facilitate repression or serious human rights abuse, constitute unusual and extraordinary threats, which have their source in whole or substantial part outside the United States, to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States, and I hereby expand the scope of the national emergency declared in Executive Order 13959 to address those threats.
I am enclosing a copy of the Executive Order I have issued.
Sincerely,
JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR.
_______________________________________
Experts Call It A 'Clown Show' But Arizona 'Audit' Is A Disinformation Blueprint
https://www.npr.org/2021/06/03/1000954549/experts-call-it-a-clown-show-but-arizona-audit-is-a-disinformation-blueprint
Investigators looking into whether Gaetz obstructed justice in call with witness
https://thehill.com/homenews/house/556617-investigators-looking-into-whether-gaetz-obstructed-justice-in-call-with
I think I would honestly be less infuriated with Manchin and Sinema for defending the filibuster on historical grounds if they demonstrated any kind of understanding of its actual history. They're supporting a legislative rule that was literally created by accident, has a horrible history of impeding some of the most important legislation in our nation's history and whose use in recent times has absolutely skyrocketed. And now it's all anonymous. There is no defense of your ideals. No courage of your convictions. No lonely principled stand against a dangerous idea from a majority who have not perhaps seen as clearly the danger that you yourself perceive...Nope, all you have to do is have one of your staffers respond to the email chain that goes around asking "anybody want to filibuster this one?" And the bill gets killed and no one ever even has to know it was you. Sinema and Manchin are supporting the legislative equivalent of MAGA. They want to go back to a time that never existed and are actively making things worse by trying.
NBA players have selected Portland's Damian Lillard as the 2020-21 Twyman-Stokes Teammate of the Year Award based on selfless play, on- and off-court leadership, and commitment to team.
https://twitter.com/ShamsCharania/status/1400528384195706883
Evidence was presented at the MLB owners meetings to suggest that the use of illegal foreign substances by pitchers trying to enhance spin rates and get an edge is "very prevalent" in the game. So the crackdown will now commence in earnest.
https://twitter.com/JonHeyman/status/1400529522781347843
Observers of Arizona's Republican-led 'audit' have found security gates left open, confidential manuals left unattended and quality-control measures disregarded. Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs's office is documenting the alleged infractions online.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-election-arizona-audit/2021/06/02/56de9282-c3af-11eb-9a8d-f95d7724967c_story.html
Republican Adam Kinzinger Uses Trump's Biggest Insult Against Him. Repeatedly: "He called me a loser. I've never lost an election. He has. He's the only loser in that mix … He's down there obsessing about the fact that he's a loser. I'm sorry you're a loser, but you lost."
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/adam-kinzinger-trump-loser_n_60b868e4e4b0169ca971048e
Biden opposes establishing an independent investigation into his terrorist Republican "friends" whom tried to murder Democrats - and fellow Republicans - to keep Trump in power
https://www.axios.com/biden-jan-6-commission-67eb120f-5c0b-48e6-be77-08158ef94441.html
The new White House science adviser wants to have a vaccine ready to fight the next pandemic in just about 100 days after recognizing a potential viral outbreak.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/new-science-chief-eric-lander-wants-next-pandemic-vaccine-ready-n1269444
Covid-19 cases in New York City are down 95% since the start of 2021.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/new-york-city-covid-19-cases-drop-sharply-amid-vaccinations-11622751509?mod=e2twny
What happens when the UN agency that regulates shipping is run by the shipping industry? A you-can't-make-this-up tale of self-dealing and corruption from | Internal documents, recordings and dozens of interviews reveal what has gone on for years behind closed doors: The organization has repeatedly delayed and watered down climate regulations, even as emissions from commercial shipping continue to rise, a trend that threatens to undermine the goals of the 2016 Paris climate accord. One reason for the lack of progress is that the I.M.O. is a regulatory body that is run in concert with the industry it regulates. Shipbuilders, oil companies, miners, chemical manufacturers and others with huge financial stakes in commercial shipping are among the delegates appointed by many member nations. They sometimes even speak on behalf of governments, knowing that public records are sparse, and that even when the organization allows journalists into its meetings, it typically prohibits them from quoting people by name. Next week, the organization is scheduled to enact its first greenhouse gas rules since Paris — regulations that do not cut emissions, have no enforcement mechanism and leave key details shrouded in secrecy. | No additional proposals are far along in the rule-making process, meaning additional regulations are likely five years or more away. The reason, records show, is that some of the same countries that signed the Paris accords have repeatedly diluted efforts to rein in shipping emissions — with industry representatives in their ears at every step. Shippers aligned themselves with developing nations like Brazil and India against setting emissions caps. China, home to four of the five busiest ports in the world, argued for years that it was too soon to make changes or even set targets. Often, what politicians say publicly does not match their closed-door posture. In 2019, for example, when the Chilean president, Sebastián Piñera, urged world leaders to make "more ambitious climate commitments," his diplomats in London worked to defeat shipping speed limits, a measure that would have reduced carbon emissions. | So if the I.M.O. does not curb shipping emissions, it is unclear who will. And for now, the agency is not rushing to change. | At United Nations climate meetings, countries are typically represented by senior politicians and delegations of government officials. At the maritime organization's environmental committee, however, one in four delegates comes from industry, according to separate analyses by The New York Times and the nonprofit group Influence Map. Representatives of the Brazilian mining company Vale, one of the industry's heaviest carbon polluters and a major sea-based exporter, sit as government advisers. So does the French oil giant Total, along with many shipowner associations. These arrangements allow companies to influence policy and speak on behalf of governments. Connections can be hard to spot. Luiz Gylvan Meira Filho sat on the Brazilian delegation in 2017 and 2018 as a University of Sao Paulo scientist. But he also worked at a Vale-funded research organization and, during his second year, was a paid Vale consultant. In an interview, he described his role as mutually beneficial: Brazilian officials relied on his expertise, and Vale covered his costs. | But I.M.O.'s secretary general at the time, Koji Sekimizu of Japan, openly opposed strict emissions regulation as a hindrance to economic growth. And an informal bloc of countries and industry groups helped drag out the goal-setting process for three years. Documents show that China, Brazil and India, in particular, threw up repeated roadblocks: In 2015, it was too soon to consider a strategy. In 2016, it was premature to discuss setting targets. In 2017, they lacked the data to discuss long-term goals. | The I.M.O. almost never puts environmental policies to a vote, favoring instead an informal consensus-building. That effectively gives vocal opponents blocking power, and even some of the agency's defenders acknowledge that it favors minimally acceptable steps over decisive action. So, when delegates finally set goals in 2018, Mr. de Brum's ambition had been whittled away. | When delegates met last October — five years after Mr. de Brum's speech — the organization had not taken any action. Proposals like speed limits had been debated and rejected. What remained was what several delegates called the "refrigerator rating" — a score that, like those on American appliances, identified the clean and dirty ships. European delegates insisted that, for the system to work, low-scoring ships must eventually be prohibited from sailing. China and its allies wanted no such consequence. | Ultimately, France ceded to nearly all of China's requests, records show. The dirtiest ships would not be grounded. Shipowners would file plans saying they intended to improve, would not be required to actually improve. | But the regulation includes another caveat: The I.M.O. will not publish the scores, letting shipping companies decide whether to say how dirty their ships are. | Behind closed doors, though, resistance remains. At a climate meeting last winter, recordings show that the mere suggestion that shipping should become sustainable sparked an angry response. "Such statements show a lack of respect for the industry," said Kostas G. Gkonis, the director of the trade group Intercargo. And just last week, delegates met in secret to debate what should constitute a passing grade under the new rating system. Under pressure from China, Brazil and others, the delegates set the bar so low that emissions can continue to rise — at roughly the same pace as if there had been no regulation at all. Delegates agreed to revisit the issue in five years.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/03/world/europe/climate-change-un-international-maritime-organization.html
https://unfccc.int/sites/default/files/resource/cp_inf4.pdf
https://influencemap.org/report/Corporate-capture-of-the-IMO-902bf81c05a0591c551f965020623fda
https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2020-opinion-climate-global-biggest-polluters-scope-3-emissions-disclosures/
http://www.itv.org/en/researcher/luiz-gylvan-meira-filho/
https://www.imo.org/en/MediaCentre/SecretaryGeneral/Pages/FRS-keynote.aspx
Republican-controlled Supreme Court guts anti-hacking laws even as hackers destroy elections, hospitals, schools, shipping industry, human life, etc
https://twitter.com/i/lists/884483122410213376
Republican John Katko voted against COVID relief, but now he wants more relief: Katko's calling for Congress to come up with an extra $50 billion to help restaurants hit hard by the pandemic, touting a program in the American Rescue Plan he voted against.
https://www.syracuse.com/politics/2021/06/rep-john-katko-asks-congress-to-boost-restaurant-revitalization-fund-he-voted-against.html
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https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2021/06/republican-state-legislatures-changes/619086/
Watch What's Happening in Red States
In states where Republicans control the legislature, American life is rapidly changing.
By Ronald Brownstein
11:26 AM ET
It's not just voting rights.
Though this year's proliferation of bills restricting ballot access in red states has commanded national attention, it represents just one stream in a torrent of conservative legislation poised to remake the country. Republican-controlled states—including Florida, Tennessee, Georgia, Texas, Arizona, Iowa, and Montana—have advanced their most conservative agenda in years, and one that reflects Donald Trump's present stamp on the Republican Party.
Across these states and others, Republican legislators and governors have operated as if they were programming a prime-time lineup at Fox News. They have focused far less on the small-government, limited-spending, and anti-tax policies that once defined the Republicans than on an array of hot-button social issues, such as abortion, guns, and limits on public protest, that reflect the cultural and racial priorities of Trump's base.
In part, this sharp right turn reflects a conscious backlash against unified Democratic control of Congress and the White House. Jessica Anderson, the executive director of Heritage Action for America, one of the country's foremost grassroots conservative groups, told me that right-leaning voters have shifted more of their effort toward red states because they realize that they currently have no chance of advancing their causes at the national level. But the push, she added, also reflects a determination to elevate social and cultural issues that Trump stressed, after the Republicans' congressional leadership had generally downplayed them in favor of economic priorities such as cutting taxes and regulation. "You can make the argument that the work at the state level is a rebuttal or a critique of too much of the Republicans leaving this stuff behind," she said. "Trump said it matters."
The lurch right in Republican-controlled states extends to some economic issues: Nearly two dozen states, for instance, have rejected the increased unemployment benefits that congressional Democrats approved earlier this year in President Joe Biden's stimulus plan. But the social and racially tinged issues that Trump moved to the center of Republican messaging have dominated legislative sessions in state after state. Among the issues advancing most broadly:
https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/24/politics/florida-pandemic-unemployment-benefits/index.html
- Half a dozen states, including Tennessee, Montana, Iowa, and Texas, have passed legislation allowing gun owners to carry their weapons without a permit.
- Texas, South Carolina, Idaho, and Oklahoma have passed legislation banning abortion when a fetal heartbeat can be detected, after about six weeks of pregnancy (before women typically even know they are pregnant); Texas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas also passed virtually complete bans on abortion. Arizona approved an extremely restrictive bill that includes barring abortions for certain genetic conditions.
- Ten states have adopted about two dozen laws in total targeting transgender individuals, including legislation in seven states that bars transgender athletes from competing in school sports. In the U.S., "2021 has officially surpassed 2015 as the worst year for anti-LGBTQ legislation in recent history," the Human Rights Campaign, an LGBTQ-advocacy group, recently concluded. "States have now enacted more anti-LGBTQ laws this year than in the last three years combined."
- Through mid-May, "14 states have enacted 22 new laws with provisions that make it harder for Americans to vote," and many other laws are still pending, according to the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University Law School. "At this rate," the organization wrote, "the United States is on track to far exceed its most recent period of intense legislative activity to restrict the vote—2011." More red states may join this push: After a walkout by state House Democrats blocked a restrictive Texas voting law this week, Governor Greg Abbott announced that he would call a special session to pass the law later this year.
- Florida, Oklahoma, Texas, and about half a dozen other states have passed laws stiffening penalties against demonstrators who block traffic or cause property damage, and several of those states have simultaneously provided civil or criminal protection for drivers who hit protesters, according to a tally by the International Center for Not-for-Profit Law.
- Tennessee, Oklahoma, and Texas have barred public schools from teaching "critical race theory," which focuses on racism as an endemic feature of American history. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is moving to prohibit it through a ruling by the state board of education.
- Florida, Georgia, and Texas have all passed laws penalizing local governments that cut funding for their police department. One of the measures approved in Texas stipulates that a county looking to cut police funding must first win voter approval through a referendum—but would apply only to counties with a population of 1 million or more, almost all of which lean Democratic.
- Over the past year, several red-state governors have issued executive orders or signed laws barring local governments from mandating the use of face masks or limiting local businesses' hours of operation; Florida and Tennessee have passed laws barring local governments or businesses from requiring residents to show proof of a COVID-19 vaccination. Restrictive voting laws passed in Georgia and proposed in Texas explicitly outlaw measures used to increase voter turnout in the states' largest cities (Atlanta and Houston, respectively).
https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/politics/arizona/2021/04/30/arizona-abortion-law-what-does-do-when-does-take-effect/4875570001/
https://www.hrc.org/campaigns/the-state-legislative-attack-on-lgbtq-people
https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/voting-laws-roundup-may-2021
https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/politics/2021/05/05/tennessee-bans-critical-race-theory-schools-withhold-funding/4948306001/
https://ktul.com/news/local/governor-stitt-signs-critical-race-theory-bill
https://capitol.texas.gov/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=87R&Bill=HB3979
https://www.heraldtribune.com/story/news/politics/state/2021/05/28/desantis-pushes-new-rule-limiting-how-race-taught-florida-schools/7439371002/
https://www.texastribune.org/2021/05/23/texas-police-funding-legislature/
https://www.tallahassee.com/story/news/state/2021/04/30/florida-lawmakers-give-final-ok-vaccine-passport-ban-send-desantis-politics/7410411002/
https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/politics/2021/04/06/tennessee-vaccine-passport-gov-lee-pushes-bill-banning-requirement/7107268002/
This surge of polarizing legislation is being driven largely by a combination of confidence and fear. Many observers believe that Republican legislators feel emboldened after Democrats in the 2020 election failed to record the state legislative gains they expected. In 2018, as part of the recoil from Trump, Democrats made significant gains in state legislatures, winning control of six legislative chambers and netting more than 300 seats nationwide, many in the white-collar suburbs of major metro areas. But despite unprecedented investment in local races, and Biden's win at the presidential level, the party did not flip any additional chambers last year; Republicans, on net, gained back about half as many seats as they had lost two years earlier and came out of the election with control of both legislative chambers in 30 states, compared with just 18 for Democrats (with one additional state divided and Nebraska officially nonpartisan).
https://theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2021/06/republican-state-legislatures-changes/619086/
https://ballotpedia.org/State_legislative_elections,_2018
https://ballotpedia.org/Election_results,_2020:_State_legislative_seats_that_changed_party_control
https://www.ncsl.org/research/about-state-legislatures/partisan-composition.aspx
Democrats' failure at the state level in 2020 has encouraged Republican legislators to pursue a more aggressive agenda, many observers say. The dynamic is perhaps most visible in Texas. After Democrats won several suburban seats and narrowed the Republican advantage in the Texas State House in 2018, the diminished Republican majority largely muted social issues and focused on bread-and-butter concerns, such as education, during the 2019 session. The Republicans' focus shifted back toward cultural issues after Democrats failed to make the further gains both sides anticipated in November. "All the expectations in Texas just didn't happen, so the Republican Party emerged with a kind of renewed confidence," says James Henson, who directs the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas at Austin.
Republicans' confidence, Henson adds, was also "bolstered" by a practical consequence of their 2020 success at holding both of Texas's legislative chambers: In that state, as in virtually all of the states turning right this year, Republicans will control the decennial redistricting process. The ability to draw districts that favor them next year reduces their concern about a general-election backlash against their moves even in swing suburban areas. Carisa Lopez, the political director of the Texas Freedom Network, which works to organize young people there, told me, "For progressive organizations … [Republicans] have been coming at us from all angles, and it has been exhausting. They have done almost everything they can."
Republican legislators appear to be operating more out of fear that Trump's base of non-college-educated, rural, and evangelical white voters will punish them in primaries if they fail to pursue maximum confrontation against Democrats and liberal constituencies, particularly on issues revolving around culture and race. "Very few of the districts are competitive [in a general election], so all they are worried about is being primaried," says John Geer, a political-science professor at Vanderbilt University in Tennessee, one of the states that have advanced the most aggressive conservative agenda this year. Glenn Smith, a longtime Democratic operative in Texas, notes that the state's militantly conservative Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick has pushed legislators toward his priorities this year in part by persuading them that any moderation risks infuriating "an aggrieved Trump base who feels that the election was stolen from them, are fired up, and love the red meat on every issue."
In earlier generations, when governors of both parties tended to position themselves as less partisan, business-oriented problem-solvers, the Republican chief executives in these states might have restrained their legislators from veering toward the ideological fringe or even forcing votes on polarizing social issues. But today, many governors appear to feel the same pressure of a possible primary challenge—and others, most notably Florida's DeSantis, seem to be pursuing support from the Trump base for a possible 2024 presidential bid. (As if to spotlight that intention, DeSantis signed the bill barring transgender girls from school sports on June 1, the first day of LGBTQ Pride month, and he did so at a Christian private school.)
Several other factors may be encouraging the red states' right turn. Anderson, of Heritage Action, noted that state and local governments' rules and restrictions during COVID-19 shutdowns prompted many conservative activists to conclude "that local and state politics probably impact their day-to-day more than even federal" policy does. Others I spoke with pointed out that conservatives are more confident that aggressive state-level social policies will withstand judicial challenges now that Republicans have solidified their 6–3 Supreme Court majority; the most restrictive abortion bills passed this year, for instance, would require the Court to roll back the nationwide right to abortion established in Roe v. Wade, as conservatives hope it will in a case involving a 15-week ban approved earlier in Mississippi. Groups such as Heritage Action and the American Legislative Exchange Council are also stepping up efforts to encourage Republican-controlled states to pursue a common conservative agenda; Heritage Action, for instance, published principles for election-law changes that Anderson has claimed helped guide the restrictive voter law passed earlier this year in Georgia.
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/05/abortion-fight-roe-v-wade/618930/
https://www.heritage.org/election-integrity-facts
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2021/05/heritage-foundation-dark-money-voter-suppression-laws/
Because it's so decentralized, state-level policy can become a kind of blur. But in this flurry of red-state action, two patterns are clarifying. One is that even with Trump removed from the White House, his style of belligerent, culturally and racially confrontational politics is affirming its dominance in the Republican party. Notably, in several states the restrictions on voting rights and social issues (particularly the bills targeting transgender people) are advancing despite public opposition from the business community that historically constituted the Republican party's base.
"There was a sense that once Trump moves out of town, the Republican Party will return to 'normal.' That's turned out to be a terrible bet," says Donald Kettl, a public-policy professor at the University of Texas at Austin and a longtime student of federalism and state politics. "All the forces of anger, part economic, part social, that were there to begin with are still alive, still building, and still in the process of trying to transform the Republican Party."
The other pattern evident in the surge of conservative legislation is the continuing separation of red and blue America. As Biden and the Democrats controlling Congress are advancing an ambitious progressive agenda at the national level, almost all of the red states are responding with what amounts to a collective cry of defiance. On a lengthening list of issues, the rules that govern daily life in red and blue states are diverging—and at an accelerating pace. The chasms are deepening not only between states, but within them, as Republican legislators centered in preponderantly white rural and exurban areas more aggressively annul the policy choices of racially diverse, Democratic-controlled metro centers. Bill by bill, this year's red-state offensive is measuring the continued unraveling of a country that appears to be unrelentingly pulling apart.
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U.S. to give ransomware hacks similar priority as terrorism
https://www.reuters.com/article/cyber-usa-ransomware/exclusive-u-s-to-give-ransomware-hacks-similar-priority-as-terrorism-official-says-idUSL2N2NC1SD
Key members of Congress credited the FinCEN Files with playing an important role in the final push that led to the passage of the Corporate Transparency Act, the biggest revision of U.S. anti-money laundering policy in a generation.
https://www.icij.org/investigations/fincen-files/fincen-files-source-sentenced-to-six-months-in-prison/
The 2016 Republican platform, which was adopted in 2020, opposed same-sex marriage rights, supported efforts to restrict bathrooms to individuals' birth gender, & protected businesses who refuse services to individuals based on religious objections to gay marriage
https://cnn.com/2016/07/13/politics/gop-platform-lgbt-social-conservatives-rift/index.html
https://twitter.com/GOPChairwoman/status/1400212885595426824
A new study published on Thursday found that North Atlantic right whales have shrunk by an average of three feet over the past 20 years. The study published in the peer-reviewed science journal Current Biology said the shrinking of the marine giants is due to human activity
https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/556769-new-study-says-endangered-whales-have-shrunk-in-size-three-feet
What is the fucking point of being a US Senator if you refuse to use the power you have to help people? This naive bullshit is exhausting @Sen_JoeManchin
https://twitter.com/GarrettHaake/status/1400572523985747976
17 police officers remain out of work with injuries from the Capitol attack
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/capitol-police-injuries-riot/
Intelligence officials have found no evidence that aerial phenomena witnessed by Navy pilots in recent years are alien spacecraft, but they still cannot explain the unusual movements that have mystified the military.
https://nytimes.com/2021/06/03/us/politics/ufos-sighting-alien-spacecraft-pentagon.html
Agreed...he should answer questions....and so should you. Fauci has answered plenty, how about you come on the show to discuss the jan 6 terror attack and what you knew when prez trump was saying the pandemic was a hoax?
https://twitter.com/MarkMeadows/status/1400510584785981447
Trump-approved July 4th Mount Rushmore firework display blocked by court and Biden
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/mount-rushmore-fireworks-krisit-noem-b1859196.html
The Phoenix Suns defeat the defending NBA Champion Los Angeles Lakers in a 4-2 series, 113-100, to advance to the 2nd round for the first time since 2010 behind Devin Booker's 47 points and 11 rebounds.
LeBron leaves instantly after the game ends without shaking hands
https://streamable.com/n0xejm
LeBron chills in the backcourt the entire play as the Lakers attempt to play basketball
https://streamable.com/mpnio2
Devin Booker tonight to eliminate Lakers: 47 points, 11 rebounds, 3 assists on 15/22 shooting and 8/10 from three
The Denver Nuggets (4-2) close out the series against the Portland Trail Blazers (2-4), 126-115, behind 36 points from Nikola Jokic and advance to the Western Conference Semifinals
Jae Crowder runs off the court after being ejected
https://streamable.com/qladc2
FinCEN Files source - who leaked an ocean of banking documents evidence proving hundreds of billions of dollars of global financial corruption that banks knew about and refused to report to the proper authorities - sentenced to six months in prison. Former US Treasury official Natalie Mayflower Sours Edwards leaked financial intelligence. At the heart of Edwards' case were so-called suspicious activity reports, highly confidential documents that banks are required to submit to FinCEN when they suspect that a customer is committing a crime or moving stolen money. The office and the financial data it collects play a crucial role in fighting money laundering. Last year, Edwards pleaded guilty to leaking records to a reporter, which other court documents identify as Jason Leopold of BuzzFeed News. The sentencing marks the end of a years-long saga for the official, Natalie Mayflower Sours Edwards, who worked as a Senior Advisor at the U.S. Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network prior to her arrest in 2018.
https://icij.org/investigations/fincen-files/fincen-files-source-sentenced-to-six-months-in-prison/
https://www.icij.org/investigations/fincen-files/fincen-official-accused-of-leaking-secret-bank-records-requests-time-served/
Trump's former White House counsel to appear before House committee for long-awaited testimony
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trumps-white-house-counsel-house-committee-long-awaited/story?id=78025132
Belarusian airlines will be banned from using EU airspace and airports starting tonight. The measure is the first in a set of sanctions bloc leaders vowed to implement, following Belarus' interception of a passenger jet.
https://www.politico.eu/article/eu-ambassadors-approve-belarus-flight-ban/
"They called us traitors. They beat us. They dragged us." During intense hand-to-hand combat with rioters on the west front of the US Capitol on January 6, there were moments where US Capitol Police Sgt. Aquilino Gonell thought he might die.
https://www.cnn.com/2021/06/03/politics/capitol-police-officers-exclusive-interview-january-6/index.html
The United Nations said Thursday that it had suspended the voting rights of Iran and four smaller countries for delinquent dues. The move provoked a furious reaction from Iran, which called it "astonishingly absurd" and blamed the country's arrears on U.S. sanctions that had frozen Iranian funds in banks worldwide. | Secretary General António Guterres said in a letter to the president of the General Assembly that Iran and four African countries — the Central African Republic, Comoros, Sao Tome and Principe, and Somalia — had all breached the delinquency threshold under Article 19 of the U.N. Charter. The article states that any member owing the previous two years of assessments may not vote in the General Assembly.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/03/world/middleeast/un-iran-dues-voting.html
The US economy lost 22.3 million jobs in the pandemic
14.7 million jobs (2/3rds) are back
7.6 million to go
https://washingtonpost.com/business/2021/06/04/jobs-report-may-unemployment-shortage/
A U.S. federal appeals court ruled on Thursday that the Trump administration improperly denied Endangered Species Act protections to Pacific walruses, animals reliant on diminishing Arctic sea ice for survival. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service under the Obama administration concluded in 2011 that designating walruses as "threatened" under the wildlife protection law was warranted, and the marine mammal was put in line for formal listing.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/pacific-walrus-endangered-species-appeals-court-1.6052852
For the first time in history, Forbes released a 50 Over 50 list and vegan entrepreneur Miyoko Schinner—known for her artisanal Miyoko's Creamery dairy-free cheeses—made the cut. A departure from Forbes previous spotlights on younger entrepreneurs in its 30 under 30 lists, the inaugural list features a diverse group of female leaders who have changed the world after the age of 50. "The 50 Over 50 list spotlights women who are rewriting the rules of success, shattering the prevailing misconceptions about age and gender in the workforce, and inspiring women—and men—through all stages of their careers," ForbesWomen Editor Maggie McGrath said. "By telling the stories of these incredible women, and highlighting how they are making a difference in their community, industry or the world, we can also have critical conversations about the need to acknowledge the misconceptions about age and gender, and begin to change them." | For decades, Schinner has revolutionized vegan cuisine through her work as chef, cookbook author, and entrepreneur. And while some of her business ventures have not survived—such as vegan holiday roast UnTurkey, an aughts cult favorite that featured crispy yuba skin—her passion for French-style cheeses led her to reinvent herself at age 57 with the launch of Miyoko's Creamery (then Miyoko's Kitchen) in 2014. While she planned for her business to be relatively small, demand for her cashew-based cultured vegan cheeses skyrocketed, pushing Schinner to expand production to a nearly 30,000-sqaure-foot-facility in Petaluma, CA by 2016. Now, in addition to overseeing a 200-person team and distributing her products across 29,000 stores in North America and Australia, the vegan cheese mogul is also fighting to change the narrative around dairy products to encompass cheese and butter made from "plant milk." Last year, a US district court sided with Miyoko's Creamery, preventing the State of California from enforcing its demands that the vegan brand cease using the terms "butter," "lactose-free," and "cruelty-free" on its products—setting a precedent for other companies looking for free speech protections on terms dairy lobbyists have fought to reserve for animal secretions. "We are on a compassionate mission to reinvent the perception of plant dairy, which was set upon because of our love of all living beings, but it's intertwined with the need for better sustainability approaches in business," Schinner said. "More and more people are open to hearing about a vegan or plant-based diet, and just because you choose a specific diet or way of life doesn't mean you should have to compromise on quality of food. Together we can envision a new world based on truth, compassion, and courage." In her 50s and beyond, Schinner has achieved other great feats, most recently having Miyoko's Creamery featured on a three-segment electronic billboard in New York City's Times Square. The billboard celebrates her company's compassion-centric values with the tagline "Milk Plants Hug Cows" and is being displayed every six minutes until June 27. Schinner's appearance in Forbes' 50 over 50 list adds fuel to her drive of making the world a more compassionate place, by not only promoting veganism but also embracing the power and wisdom of women over 50. "Age is absolutely an asset. Women over 50 historically were often overlooked as being 'over the hill' or as 'has beens.' Well, the world is changing now, and Forbes recognizes this," Schinner said. "Women today grow more powerful and more certain of who they are as they age. This inaugural list of 50 Over 50 by Forbes recognizes that women often come into their own after the half-century mark; after they have taken care of others and can now focus on their own inner strength—which was there all along, just not for the world to see."
https://vegnews.com/2021/6/miyoko-schinner-forbes-50-over-50-list
https://vegnews.com/2020/8/miyoko-s-scores-major-victory-in-labeling-lawsuit-can-use-term-vegan-butter
https://vegnews.com/2021/5/miyokos-creamery-vegan-cheese-sticks
Magawa the hero rat retires from job detecting landmines
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-57345703
As bombs rain down on Myanmar's hotbeds of rural resistance, tens of thousands flee to the jungle without food or water
https://edition.cnn.com/2021/06/02/asia/myanmar-chin-resistance-intl-hnk/index.html
Germany persistently broke air pollution rules, EU top court rules
https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/germany-persistently-broke-air-pollution-rules-eu-top-court-rules-2021-06-03/
Putin on the 6th Jan 2021 pro-Trump terrorists: "These are not looters or thieves, these people came with political requests." And with bombs, guns, chemical warfare, gallows, nooses, handcuffs, etc. If the same "protests" and messages would have been done by Putin's opponents those protestors would be dead. This is just more of his support of Trump and trying to create chaos in US. Gee I wonder why he supports Trump and his people so much.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/putin-capitol-riot-biden-summit/2021/06/04/1521aac8-c2ec-11eb-89a4-b7ae22aa193e_story.html
In less than a month, Trump's blog was pulled after reportedly "attracting fewer visitors than the pet-adoption service Petfinder and the recipe site Delish." But Trump's old posts are still earning hundreds of thousands of interactions despite suspension
https://mediamatters.org/facebook/trumps-failed-blog-shows-how-much-he-needs-facebook-and-platform-could-give-his-account
G7 finance ministers are nearing an agreement to support a global minimum corporate tax of at least 15% | The ministers are meeting Friday and Saturday in London
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-06-04/g-7-nears-deal-for-at-least-15-global-minimum-corporate-tax
I've seen many people touting various solutions to restoring trust in America's elections. As long Republicans spread misinformation, that will trump any fancy technology
The founder of the SEC's internet enforcement office warned Crypto investors are enabling ransomware attacks
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/06/03/ex-sec-cyber-chief-crypto-says-investors-are-enabling-ransomware-attacks.html
Facebook suspends former President Donald Trump's account for two years following finding that he stoked violence ahead of the deadly Jan. 6 insurrection.
https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-government-and-politics-technology-business-f7d165898d2b79e86c9fe15f36384b18
Hong Kong's Victoria Park empty for first time in 32 years on Tiananmen anniversary. A Hong Kong park that traditionally hosts huge vigils on the anniversary of China's deadly Tiananmen Square crackdown lay empty for the first time late Friday as police blocked access. Hong Kong police threw cordons around Victoria Park, keeping crowds out and leaving the venue free of candle-carrying mourners for the first time in 32 years. Huge crowds have routinely gathered in Hong Kong's Victoria Park to mark the anniversary of Chinese troops crushing peaceful democracy protests in Beijing's Tiananmen Square on June 4, 1989. But this year police blocked access to the park.
https://news.yahoo.com/hong-kong-park-empty-first-120105623.html
A leaky pipeline operates illegally on tribal land. Will the White House please speak up?
https://grist.org/fix/enbridge-line-5-oil-pipeline-michigan-tribal-land/
Assistant coaches from at least four NFL teams are refusing to get a COVID-19 vaccine and are set to lose Tier 1 status -- banning them from the field, meeting rooms and direct interactions with players -- if they don't get a first shot by the end of next week.
https://twitter.com/tompelissero/status/1400902385623392256
Senator Capito conveyed to the President a new offer from her group which consisted of an about $50 billion increase in spending across a number of infrastructure programs. The President expressed his gratitude for her effort and goodwill, but also indicated that the current offer did not meet his objectives to grow the economy, tackle the climate crisis, and create new jobs. He indicated to Senator Capito that he would continue to engage a number of Senators in both parties in the hopes of achieving a more substantial package. They agreed to speak again on Monday.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/06/04/statement-by-press-secretary-jen-psaki-on-the-presidents-calls-with-senator-shelley-moore-capito-and-house-transportation-and-infrastructure-chairman-peter-defazio/
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