Second Republican presidential candidate debate fact checked. “Moderator Ilia Calderón asked Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to address the descendants of enslaved people regarding his state’s new standards on how to teach Black history in schools. Calderón: ‘Florida’s new Black history curriculum says, ‘slaves developed skills, which in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit.’ ….DeSantis: ‘First of all, that’s a hoax that was perpetuated by Kamala Harris. We are not going to be doing that.’ ….DeSantis’ claim is false. Florida’s new standards for teaching Black history do include the clause that Calderón read out. ….[Nikki] Haley and [Ron] DeSantis went back and forth on fracking, with the former South Carolina governor claiming DeSantis ‘banned fracking’ [in Florida] on his second day in office. ….Haley is largely right. ….an executive order signed just days after he took office as governor of Florida calls for the state to ‘adamantly oppose all off-shore oil and gas activities off every coast in Florida and hydraulic fracturing in Florida’. ….During DeSantis’ 2018 gubernatorial campaign, he was asked if he supported a ban on fracking and he emphatically said yes,’ ….Asked about how he would address high child care costs in the US, [Tim] Scott said he would lower Americans’ taxes. ….’We actually lowered a single mother’s taxes by 70% on the federal level and for dual-income households by 60%,’ he said. ….Under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, the average federal tax reduction for single parents was $1,010, a change of less than 14%, according to Elaine Maag, a senior fellow at the nonpartisan Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center. ….For married couples, the average tax cut was $3,350, or 9.2%, Maag said.” https://edition.cnn.com/2023/09/27/politics/fact-check-second-gop-debate/index.html OMG, DeSantis opposed off-shore oil drilling and fracking, that’s outrageous! He should be running as a Green candidate. (sarcasm)
Social welfare programs more damaging to African-Americans than slavery, claims Republican candidate. “Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), the only Black candidate running for the Republican presidential nomination, has sparked a debate around former President Lyndon B. Johnson’s ‘Great Society’ [programs] and the impact [they have] had on Black Americans. ….’Black families survived slavery. We survived poll taxes and literacy tests. We survived discrimination being woven into the laws of our country,’ Scott said. ‘What was hard to survive was Johnson’s Great Society, where they decided to put money — where they decided to take the Black father out of the household to get a check in the mail. And you can now measure that in unemployment and crime and devastation.'” https://thehill.com/homenews/race-politics/4228762-scotts-comments-on-great-society-sparks-debate-on-black-americans/
Anti-conquistador protester shot by man spotted earlier wearing MAGA hat. “A protester was wounded in a shooting during a demonstration against a plan to redisplay a statue of a controversial Spanish conquistador in the New Mexico city of Española on Thursday, authorities said. A suspect has been arrested. ….A large crowd of protesters had gathered outside the location, and the shooting stemmed from an altercation between them, a sheriff’s office spokesperson told CBS News. ….The sheriff’s spokesperson identified the suspect as 23-year-old Ryan Martinez. The exact circumstances that precipitated the shooting were unclear.” https://www.cbsnews.com/news/juan-de-onate-shooting-new-mexico-statue-spanish-conquistador-espanola/ “The gunman, reportedly seen earlier in the day sporting a red ‘Make America Great Again’ hat was collared by sheriff’s deputies shortly after fleeing the scene in a white Tesla, according to the Albuquerque Journal. The newspaper reported that he identified himself to a Journal photographer on the scene as Ryan Martinez prior to the shooting, and that he allegedly shot a Native American man following a ‘scuffle’. ….It was not the first time that a statue of the conquistador precipitated a shooting in New Mexico. One person was wounded after being shot during a protest in Albuquerque’s Old Town in June 2020. The gunman, Stephen Baca, argued he’d shot the victim in self-defense, and pleaded to lesser charges in a deal that saw his felony shooting charge dismissed.” https://www.thedailybeast.com/man-shot-by-suspect-in-maga-hat-at-new-mexico-protest-over-juan-de-onate-statue-report
Federal Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board says agencies should be required to get a warrant before accessing foreign surveillance data on Americans. “The report comes as a White House push to secure the reauthorization of the program known as Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act is encountering major bipartisan opposition in Congress and during a spate of revelations that FBI employees have periodically mishandled access to a repository of intelligence gathered under the law, violations that have spurred outrage from civil liberties advocates. Section 702 permits allow spy agencies without a warrant to collect swaths of emails and other communications from foreigners located abroad, even when those foreigners are in touch with people in the United States.” https://apnews.com/article/fbi-surveillance-terrorism-espionage-fisa-section-702-e3cc13ea55680ad185c642d7dadbd37c If I correctly understand how this works, anyone who has ever exchanged electronic communications with anyone abroad, even a fellow American, is open to warrantless searches of all of their electronic data, i.e., even data that is not communication with people living abroad. This is because communicating with someone abroad is the ‘backdoor’ they need to access your data, using your email address, name, phone number, etc. that was used during the international communication, as a database search term of all of the collected communications.
Governor Gavin Newsom signs bill to raise fast food minimum wage to $20 an hour, effective next April 1st. “The state’s minimum wage for all other workers — $15.50 per hour — is already among the highest in the United States. The new minimum wage will apply to workers in fast-food chains that have at least 60 locations nationwide, with an exception for chains that make and sell their own bread, like Panera Bread. ….Right now, California’s fast-food workers earn an average of $16.60 per hour, or just over $34,000 per year, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s below the California Poverty Measure for a family of four, a statistic calculated by the Public Policy Institute of California and the Stanford Center on Poverty and Equality that accounts for housing costs and publicly funded benefits. Newsom on Thursday dismissed the popular view that fast-food jobs are meant for teenagers to have their first experience in the workforce. ‘That’s a romanticized version of a world that doesn’t exist,’ he said, noting that the vast majority of fast-food workers are women of color who are supporting their families.” https://www.kqed.org/news/11962737/most-california-fast-food-workers-will-make-at-least-20-per-hour-starting-next-spring An interesting carve-out for restaurants that also sell bread. I’ll bet there’s a story behind that. “Good for them. But why not raise the minimum wage for everyone? And what’s the name of the lobbyist from Panera?” https://www.reddit.com/r/news/comments/16umyde/california_gov_gavin_newsom_signs_law_to_raise/?rdt=53762
Elon Musk visits U.S. border. “Dressed in a black T-shirt, black cowboy hat and aviator-style sunglasses, Musk urged a two-pronged approach to overhauling U.S. immigration laws in a video-selfie posted to the social media platform X, formerly Twitter, which he purchased last April. He called for an ‘expedited legal approval’ as part of a ‘greatly expanded legal immigration system’ that welcomes ‘hard-working and honest’ migrants, while also barring entry for those who are ‘breaking the law’. ….Musk, a native of South Africa, noted his own status as an ‘immigrant to the United States’ and called himself ‘extremely pro-immigrant’.” https://www.reuters.com/world/us/elon-musk-wades-into-us-immigration-debate-texas-mexico-border-2023-09-29/ I wonder if this has anything to do with increasing the number of H1-B visas for foreign tech workers, who might want to work at one of Mr. Musk’s enterprises?
News story implies that Arizona governors transfer their authority to others when traveling outside the state. “Fox News stirred up conspiracy theories online Thursday with a report about state Treasurer Kimberly Yee being named acting governor after what the conservative cable news network called the ‘mysterious disappearance of Gov. Katie Hobbs’. ….Hobbs didn’t disappear. She was in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday for a meeting about border issues with Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas following a weeklong visit to Taiwan, an important Arizona trade ally. ….Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes was acting governor while Hobbs was out of state, but he left the state Wednesday for a pre-planned trip to Washington, D.C., where he’ll meet with congressional staff and members ‘about the need for federal funding for elections’, said Fontes’ spokesman, Paul Smith-Leonard. State Attorney General Kris Mayes, next in the state’s line of succession, is also in Washington, D.C., for ‘meetings’ and will return Friday morning, said her spokesman, Richie Taylor. That meant Yee, the treasurer, was acting governor for less than 24 hours.” https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/politics/arizona/2023/09/28/fox-news-governor-katie-hobbs-disappeared-where-she-was/70996365007/ I’ve never heard of this before. It must be an Arizona thing.
Woman sentenced to five years in prison for abortion clinic arson. “New details behind the 2022 arson at Wellspring Health Access in Casper, delaying the clinic’s opening by almost a year, emerged as Lorna Roxanne Green, 22, was sentenced to five years in prison and three years probation. In addition, Green will have to pay ‘very, very substantial’ restitution that is yet to be determined but will be ‘well over $280,000’, U.S. District Judge Alan Johnson said. Green said little at the hearing, but through her attorney, Ryan Semerad, told the court she acted alone, accepted responsibility and didn’t intend to cause fear or make a political statement but failed to handle her strong emotions about the clinic. ….Green admitted to breaking in, pouring gasoline around the inside of the building and lighting it on fire, according to court documents. The Casper College mechanical engineering student showed no sign of anti-abortion views on social media but told investigators she opposed abortion. ….The arson was one of hundreds against abortion clinics in the U.S. since the 1970s, Wellspring founder and President Julie Burkhart said in the hearing.” https://news.yahoo.com/judge-sentences-woman-investigators-burned-211836637.html
San Francisco utility worker killed in trench collapse. “A two-hour rescue attempt involving around 50 firefighters trying to reach and save the victim failed, the San Francisco Fire Department said. The accident was first reported in a 911 call received by SFFD at around 10 a.m. that mistakenly reported that a building had collapsed on the corner of Oak Street and Divisadero, Lt. Jonathan Baxter of SFFD told reporters at the scene Thursday. …’One individual who was working on this project site was trapped under an estimated 8 to 10 feet of dirt and concrete.'” https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/sf-worker-dead-after-work-site-collapses-18395012.php
Polk county, Florida deputies arrest 219 people in prostitution sting. “The seven-day undercover operation earlier this month led to 44 felonies and 242 misdemeanor charges against the dozens of suspects – 35 of whom are suspected of being in the country illegally, Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said during a news conference. Overall, 83 suspects were charged for soliciting prostitution or traveling to the undercover location to negotiate having sex in exchange for money, the sheriff said. ….At least 21 possible human trafficking victims were identified out of the 119 alleged prostitutes who were taken into custody, the sheriff’s office said.” https://nypost.com/2023/09/28/disney-workers-among-200-arrested-in-fl-human-trafficking-sting/
St. Louis area police officer accused of sexually assaulting handcuffed male suspects. “On Thursday, U.S. Attorney for Eastern Missouri Sayler Flemming announced [former North County Police Cooperative officer Marcellis] Blackwell has been charged with 16 counts of deprivation of civil rights and five counts of altering records in a federal investigation. Some of those charges carry sentences of up to 10 years, and others carry sentences of up to 40 years. The charges stem from alleged incidents between Nov. 8, 2022, and June 5, 2023, in which he allegedly sexually assaulted men he had handcuffed, according to court documents. ….St. Louis County Prosecutor Wesley Bell’s Office issued a charge of sodomy or attempted sodomy in June against Blackwell after Blackwell allegedly sexually assaulted a man after he took the man into custody. ….That charge, and the media coverage of it, led to seven other alleged victims coming forward to say Blackwell did similar things to them, according to a release from Fleming’s office. The release also said Blackwell’s phone ‘contains videos of as-yet unidentified victims’, and the FBI is now looking to identify those additional victims.” https://www.ksdk.com/article/news/crime/north-st-louis-county-officer-allegations-sexual-abuse-fbi-more-victims/63-c5184589-508d-42d2-b7cc-0f82c532c8ce
Thai court drops murder charges against park officials over disappearance of indigenous activist. “It was the latest twist in a long-running legal saga after ethnic Karen leader Porlajee Rakchongcharoen, better known by his nickname Billy, went missing in 2014 while working on a lawsuit alleging officials had destroyed homes in Kaeng Krachan National Park. The investigation centred around then-park chief Chaiwat Limlikitaksorn, who was the last person to see Billy alive, and who was indicted for murder last year following an outcry after charges were initially dropped in 2020. But on Thursday, the Central Criminal Court for Corruption declined to prosecute any of the officials for murder, acquitting three outright and sentencing Chaiwat to three years in prison for malfeasance. The court said there was not enough evidence to continue with the murder charges. ….The kingdom remains a deadly place for environmental and Indigenous activists. Rights campaigners have accused officials of using harassment and violence to force indigenous people out, with the United Nations logging over 80 cases of enforced disappearances in Thailand since 1980.” https://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/afp/article-12569997/Thai-court-drops-murder-charges-against-officials-vanished-activist.html
Federal Communications Commission plans to restore Obama administration’s ‘net neutrality’ rules. “They will vote on reinstating net neutrality next month, which would bar internet providers from blocking access or throttling customers’ connections based on how much they pay or which websites they visit. ….Digital rights activists welcomed the announcement. The watchdog group Common Cause said, ‘To allow a handful of monopoly-aspiring gate-keepers to control access to the internet is a direct threat to our democracy.'” https://www.democracynow.org/2023/9/27/headlines/fcc_to_reinstate_net_neutrality_rules_repealed_under_trump One of the things net neutrality would forbid is offering to provide faster internet speeds to those who can afford to pay more for their connection. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Net_neutrality
Wealth of U.S. billionaires up sharply thanks in part to Trump tax cuts. “U.S. billionaires have seen their collective fortunes surge by more than $2 trillion since the enactment of the 2017 Trump-GOP tax cuts, according to a new analysis released Thursday as Republicans work to extend the law’s expiring provisions. ….’Instead of extending tax breaks for billionaires, Congress should be working to better tax them through President Biden’s Billionaire Minimum Income Tax and other reforms in how we tax the super-wealthy.’ ….Far from distancing themselves from the unpopular 2017 law—which slashed individual and corporate tax rates—congressional Republicans have doubled down in recent months, making clear that they want to permanently extend provisions of the law that disproportionately benefited the wealthiest Americans.” https://www.commondreams.org/news/billionaires-trump-tax-cuts
More than a million ‘1 percenters’ haven’t been filing tax forms. “Writing to IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel, [U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden,] the Oregon Democrat and chair of the Senate Finance Committee, cited data provided by the agency regarding taxes filed from 2017-20. More than 1.4 million wealthy Americans have still not filed their taxes for those years, Wyden said, with the total amount owed to the federal government reaching ‘a whopping $65.7 billion’. ….Nearly 1,000 people who earn $1 million per year or more have yet to file their tax returns, but Wyden wrote that the ‘most alarming’ revelation in the data provided to his committee by the IRS ‘was the extraordinary amount of unpaid taxes owed by a small subset of ultra-wealthy non-filers’, with the 2,000 highest-earning tax dodgers currently owing $923 million.” https://www.commondreams.org/news/rich-evade-taxes
Sen. Dianne Feinstein has reportedly died, while still in office, at the age of 90. “Senator Dianne Feinstein, who represented California in the Senate for more than 30 years, has died at 90 years old, reports say. The California Democrat was first elected to the Senate in a 1992 special election. She was the Golden State’s first female senator.” https://www.courthousenews.com/dianne-feinstein-long-serving-california-senator-dies-at-90/
Supreme Court stay on ruling barring federal agencies from interfering in social media content moderation expires. “The midnight deadline on an emergency application from President Joe Biden came and went at the Supreme Court on Wednesday after an apparent communications error at the Fifth Circuit injected uncertainty into the justices’ role in deciding if the White House should be prohibited from talking to social media companies. The White House appealed to the justices to block a Fifth Circuit ruling that would have limited the Biden administration’s communications with social platforms. Justice Samuel Alito granted a temporary stay to allow the court to review the matter; however, before the court could act, the Fifth Circuit jumped back into the fray. ‘Rather than allowing this Court’s proceedings to play out in the ordinary course, the Fifth Circuit first issued an order purporting to grant panel rehearing, then rescinded that order, recalled its mandate, and granted its own stay pending further proceedings on respondents’ rehearing petition,’ U.S. Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar told the court.” https://www.courthousenews.com/scotus-goes-silent-on-biden-social-media-case-after-appeals-court-rehearing-snafu/ So apparently, the stay on the contact ban is back in place, but this time it’s a stay from the federal appeals court, which means the government is temporarily allowed to urge social media companies to impose censorship on posts the government feels are threats, until the case is decided.
Texas attorney general and Yelp sue each other over Yelp disclaimers that flag ‘pregnancy crisis centers’ that do not perform abortions. “The current statement, Yelp writes, is truthful information intended to help its users make informed decisions, adding that it never removed such facilities from its platform and strives to ‘categorize crisis pregnancy centers more accurately and to distinguish them from health care providers that do offer abortions or abortion referrals’. ….[Texas A.G. Ken] Paxton sued on Thursday in Texas’ Bastrop County trial court, circling back to his initial gripe with the earlier notice. ‘Pregnancy resource centers provide significant care and counseling to pregnant women. And they commonly provide significant medical services, and have licensed medical professionals onsite,’ Paxton wrote in a complaint brought on behalf of the State of Texas. The attorney general added that Yelp failed to add the consumer notice to ‘other providers that catered to pregnant women’, and that its open politics motivated this discrepancy.” https://www.courthousenews.com/yelp-and-texas-ag-file-competing-suits-over-disclaimers-on-crisis-pregnancy-centers/ So Paxton wants them to flag abortion clinics too? How about, “This is a facility that provides abortions services. It will not try to convince to not to have an abortion, or try to delay you from obtaining one.”
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission accuses Tesla of ‘pervasive racial harassment’ of black employees. “‘The racial misconduct was frequent, ongoing, inappropriate, unwelcome and occurred across all shifts, departments, and positions, including but not limited to the Production Associate position,’ the commission wrote. ….Additionally, some Black employees have faced pushback for reporting the harassment. One Black worker was fired within weeks of making a report. Others reported retaliation in the form of schedule changes, reassignments and unjustified disciplinary action.” https://www.courthousenews.com/tesla-sued-by-feds-over-allegations-of-racial-harassment-retaliation/
Progressive News Service 