21 August 20
When We Say Donations Are Down, You Can Believe They Are
Pulling in enough donations on a monthly basis to cover RSN’s basic operating costs is one difficult job … in normal times.
These times are anything but normal. We’re down a good 20% from last month at this time. While that may not seem like much, to a community based organization it’s the difference between keeping services turned off and keeping them on.
Slow down for a moment and do what you can to keep RSN doing this.
Marc Ash
Founder, Reader Supported News
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21 August 20
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Bob Bauer and Jack Goldsmith | The Senate Russia Report and the Imperative of Legal Reform
Bob Bauer and Jack Goldsmith, Lawfare
Excerpt: "The final report on Russian electoral interference by the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence notes 'several ways in which hostile actors [are] able to capitalize on gaps in laws or norms and exert influence.'"
Democrats' presidential nominee Joe Biden, his wife Dr. Jill Biden and vice presidential candidate Kamala Harris. (photo: Andrew Harnik/AP)
Joe Biden Accepts Democratic Presidential Nomination, With a Call for Optimism at a Time of Fear
Annie Linskey, Matt Viser, Colby Itkowitz, Felicia Sonmez and John Wagner, The Washington Post
Excerpt: "Joe Biden accepted the Democratic presidential nomination Thursday night with a call to optimism at a time of national fear, concluding an unusual four days of virtual pageantry in which Democrats portrayed their struggle against President Trump as a battle against a dark force with American democracy hanging in the balance."
READ MORE
Voters cast their ballots. (photo: AP)
Trump Says He Wants to Use 'Sheriffs' as Poll Watchers on Election Day
Dareh Gregorian, NBC News
Gregorian writes: "President Donald Trump, who's repeatedly railed against mail-in voting, said Thursday he has concerns about in-person voting as well, and wants to use law-enforcement as poll watchers on Election Day."
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Dotti Lockhart raised her hand as she, her husband Bob Lockhart and Julie Driscoll sit quietly on the lawn of Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron's house. (photo: Matt Stone/Courier Journal)
'Grannies for Justice': 7 People, Including 79-Year-Old Nun, Arrested in Kentucky After Sit-In for Breonna Taylor
Tessa Duvall, Ben Tobin and Emma Austin, The Louisville Courier Journal
Excerpt: "Police charged seven senior citizens with criminal trespassing and arrested one of them during a Thursday morning sit-in on the front lawn of Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron's Louisville home."
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U.S. Postal Service letter carrier Juan Padilla arranges mail in his truck while on his delivery route in San Francisco, California. (photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty)
NAACP Files Lawsuit Against Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, Alleging Voter Disenfranchisement
Alex Hider, Denver7
Hider writes: "The NAACP has filed a lawsuit against Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, claiming that he is attempting to 'disenfranchise voters of color' amid the coronavirus pandemic."
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Smoke and flames rise after Israeli warplanes carried out air raids over al-Zaytun neighborhood of Gaza City late Tuesday. (photo: Anadolu Agency)
Israel Bombs Gaza for Tenth Day in a Row After Rocket Fire
Middle East Eye
Excerpt: "Israeli planes launched raids against Gaza late on Thursday in response to rocket fire from the Gaza Strip, as mediators sought to broker an end to the latest flare-up."
Palestinian sources reported light damage but no casualties after the raid in Khan Yunis, southern Gaza
sraeli planes launched raids against Gaza late on Thursday in response to rocket fire from the Gaza Strip, as mediators sought to broker an end to the latest flare-up.
Rockets were fired at Israel but crashed inside the Palestinian enclave, according to witnesses and Gaza security sources cited by AFP. Palestinian sources reported light damage but no casualties after the Israeli raid in Khan Yunis, southern Gaza.
The latest exchanges followed anti-tank fire by the Israeli army in the morning against Hamas, the de facto ruling party in the blockaded Palestinian territory. Israel had recently threatened Hamas that it was risking "war" by failing to stop incendiary balloons it said were being launched across the border.
The Israeli army confirmed the air strikes on Twitter.
Israel has bombed Gaza almost every night since 6 August, in retaliation for the balloons or, less frequently, rocket fire. It has also tightened its 13-year blockade on Gaza's two million inhabitants.
In addition, Israel has banned Gaza fishermen from going to sea and closed its goods crossing with the territory, prompting the closure of Gaza's sole power plant because of a lack of fuel.
Gaza security officials said the strikes hit Hamas observation posts near al-Maghazi and al-Bureij refugee camps and the town of Khan Yunis, without causing casualties.
Since the exchanges erupted two weeks ago, Israeli reprisals had mainly involved warplanes, and Gaza security sources said the switch to tanks could be an attempt to de-escalate.
Egyptian mediation
The reprisals came after an Egyptian delegation had been trying to broker a return to an informal truce. Egypt has acted to calm repeated flare-ups in recent years to prevent any repetition of the three wars the two sides had fought since 2008.
The latest ceasefire, which had already been renewed several times, is bolstered by millions of dollars in financial aid from Qatar to Gaza. But complaints from Hamas that Israel had failed to live up to its side of the bargain had been accompanied by sporadic conflict on the border.
The truce was sought to supply permits for Gazans to work in Israel and financing for Gaza development projects, both measures that would provide some economic relief in an impoverished territory where unemployment exceeds 50 percent.
Sources told AFP that the twin issues were at the root of the latest flare-up.
A source close to Hamas said that the Israeli government had told the Egyptian delegation that it expected a "return to calm" before considering implementation of truce provisions such as "the extension of the eastern Gaza industrial zone" and the construction of a new power line to the territory.
Hamas had asked for the number of work permits issued to Gazans to be doubled to 10,000 once anti-coronavirus restrictions were lifted, the source said.
The truce also stipulated a monthly aid payment from Qatar of $30m until the end of next month, but the source said that Gaza's Gulf benefactor had "agreed to increase the financial subsidy by $10m per month" and extend its timeframe.
The chairman of the Qatar Committee for the Reconstruction of Gaza, Ambassador Mohammed Al-Emadi, spoke on Wednesday of "intensive efforts to contain the escalation" between Israel and Hamas.
Israel has maintained a crippling blockade of the Gaza Strip since 2007, which critics say amounts to collective punishment of the impoverished enclave's residents. Egypt also upholds the siege, restricting movement in and out of Gaza on its border.
The United Nations has long warned that Gaza would become unliveable by 2020 if the siege was not lifted.
Aedes aegypti mosquitoes. (photo: Christophe Simon/Getty)
'Jurassic Park Experiment': 750 Million Genetically Engineered Mosquitoes to Be Released in Florida
James Crump, The Independent
Crump writes: "US authorities have approved a plan to release more than 750 million genetically modified mosquitoes across the Florida Keys, despite objections from local residents."
Programme intends to reduce amount of disease carrying insects in US region
S authorities have approved a plan to release more than 750 million genetically modified mosquitoes across the Florida Keys, despite objections from local residents.
British-based firm Oxitec are behind the project, that will test whether the altered mosquitoes can work as an alternative to pesticides to control the spread of diseases, such as Zika, dengue, chikungunya and yellow fever, according to CNN.
The male mosquito, which is named OX5034, has been created to produce female offspring that die at larval stage, before they grow big enough to spread disease and bite.
Female mosquitoes bite for blood while they mature their eggs, but males do not carry the diseases as they feed on nectar, according to Sky News.
The mosquitoes will be released in the Florida Keys in 2021, but will be expanded into Harris County, Texas, after the Environmental Protection Agency granted Oxitec’s request for an experimental use permit.
Jaydee Hanson, policy director for the International Centre for Technology Assessment and Centre for Food Safety, released a statement on Thursday, where he criticised the decision.
“With all the urgent crises facing our nation and the State of Florida — the Covid-19 pandemic, racial injustice, climate change — the administration has used tax dollars and government resources for a Jurassic Park experiment,” he said.
“Now the Monroe County Mosquito Control District has given the final permission needed. What could possibly go wrong? We don’t know, because EPA unlawfully refused to seriously analyse environmental risks, now without further review of the risks, the experiment can proceed,” Mr Hanson added.
Zika was declared an international emergency in 2016, and although it was later downgraded, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said it was still a “significant public health challenge requiring intense action” later that year.
The WHO records around 390 million dengue infections each year, as half of the world’s population are at danger of being infected, according to Sky.
This project will be the first of its kind in the US, but follows on from a similar trial in Brazil in 2016, where researchers recorded a decline in disease-carrying mosquitoes and found they did not cause harm to other insects.
Since the initial announcement of the project in May, more than 230,000 people have signed a petition against the proposal, which was supported by more than 30 local physicians.
Local media reported that residents were unhappy to be treated as “guinea pigs” for the experiment, as the petition claimed that the “GMO (genetically modified organisms) mosquitoes could pose major risks to fragile ecosystems”.
This argument was echoed by Dana Perls, a programme manager at Friends of the Earth, who released a statement on Wednesday where she said she was concerned about the damage the mosquitoes may cause to the local ecosystem.
“The release of genetically engineered mosquitoes will needlessly put Floridians, the environment and endangered species at risk in the midst of a pandemic,” Ms Perls said
However, in a statement on Wednesday, Oxitec CEO Grey Frandsen claimed that the programme will be beneficial to the area and said the company plan on working with local authorities during the project.
“Our team is incredibly thankful to the FKMCD commissioners, regulators and our diverse partners for placing trust in us. We’re ready to get to work, and we couldn’t think of better partners than the FKMCD’s professional staff and collaborators in this project.
“We’re looking forward to working hand-in-hand with the Keys community to demonstrate the effectiveness of our safe, sustainable technology in light of the growing challenges controlling this disease-spreading mosquito.”
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