19 January 21
We are Feeling the Love, But We Have to Have Some Support
We are getting many messages of support, and it means a great deal, but we need some donations as well. We're confident that with the size and strength of the RSN community our budget should be a pretty attainable goal. We can do this. All it takes is a few contributions.
Thanks to all in advance.
Marc Ash
Founder, Reader Supported News
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19 January 21
It's Live on the HomePage Now:
Reader Supported News
Inside the Capitol Riot: What the Parler Videos Reveal
Alec MacGillis, ProPublica
Excerpt: "The trove of more than 500 videos recovered from a largely pro-Trump social platform provides a uniquely immersive account of the violence and confusion as seen from inside the insurrection."
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National Guard members near the White House. (photo: Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
Pentagon Accelerates Efforts to Root Out Far-Right Extremism in the Ranks
Eric Schmitt, Jennifer Steinhauer and Helene Cooper, The New York Times
Excerpt: "The F.B.I. investigation into the Capitol siege, still in its very early stages, has identified at least six suspects with military links out of the more than 100 people who have been taken into federal custody or the larger number still under investigation."
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The Google campus in Mountain View, California. (photo: Jeff Chiu/AP)
ALSO SEE: Outlook Darkens for Wall Street as Biden's Regulators Take Shape
Big Tech Critics Alarmed at Direction of Biden Antitrust Personnel
David Dayen and Ryan Grim, The Intercept
Excerpt: "A last-minute campaign by a coalition of groups working to check monopoly is being launched to stave off what they worry could be a series of calamitous antitrust appointments by President-elect Joe Biden."
The Bridge of the Americas connects Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, to El Paso, Texas. (photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Biden Plans 8-Year Path to Citizenship for Millions of Immigrants
Lisa Mascaro and Bill Barrow, Associated Press
Excerpt: "President-elect Joe Biden plans to unveil a sweeping immigration bill on Day One of his administration, hoping to provide an eight-year path to citizenship for an estimated 11 million people living in the U.S. without legal status, a massive reversal from the Trump administration's harsh immigration policies."
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'Virginians converge on the capitol each Lobby Day to petition state legislators on issues of public interest, but the day has been dominated by gun rights activists in recent years.' (photo: Reuters)
Pro-Gun Demonstration Set for Virginia Capital in Wake of Capitol Siege
Julia Harte and Julio-Cesar Chavez, Reuters
Excerpt: "Police stopped a car of Black men and confiscated two of their guns at Virginia's annual 'Lobby Day' on Monday while white gun rights activists defied local laws unimpeded in the state capital of Richmond."
In a day with racial tensions on display, Black protesters denounced what they called a double standard in a state where people are free to openly carry firearms.
Virginians converge on the capitol each Lobby Day to petition state legislators on issues of public interest, but the day has been dominated by gun rights activists in recent years. It coincides with Martin Luther King Jr. Day, which honors the slain civil rights hero.
Reuters witnessed the police stop of the African Americans, which stood in contrast to dozens of white pro-gun activists on foot and in hundreds of trucks that drove through Richmond’s streets flying “Guns Save Lives” flags without police interceding.
They were stopped one block from Richmond’s memorial to Confederate General Robert E. Lee, less than an hour after a white, anti-government “boogaloo” leader boasted on a megaphone that his group was violating gun and ammunition laws.
One of the Black men to have handguns confiscated unleashed an expletive-laden complaint, calling it a double-standard and an example of why many African Americans resent the police.
“Everybody in the city is carrying today, and you’re only pulling us over,” yelled a Black woman who was looking on with a group of enraged bystanders. “Shoutout to Martin Luther King Day!”
Richmond police did not immediately respond to a Reuters query about the incident and about the protesters’ allegation of discrimination. On Twitter, police said they had issued a summons to one man at that scene for possessing a concealed firearm without a permit, and had confiscated the gun.
This year’s Lobby Day took place in a highly polarized climate, coming shortly after supporters of President Donald Trump seized the U.S. Capitol and after a year in which anti-racist and white nationalist demonstrators clashed at demonstrations across the United States.
Authorities were on high alert in Richmond, about 110 miles (175 km) south of Washington, D.C., where Democratic President-elect Joe Biden will be sworn in on Wednesday, replacing the Republican Trump.
Windows at the statehouse were boarded up, the public entrance was fenced off, and police patrolled the grounds.
But only dozens of protesters assembled on Monday, compared to last year’s crowd of 22,000, as estimated by police.
Similarly, nationwide pro-Trump demonstrations on Sunday largely fizzled after several states deployed the National Guard.
About an hour before the Black men were pulled over, boogaloo leader Mike Dunn hoisted a megaphone alongside about 10 members of his “Last Sons of Liberty” group, all white men.
Dunn told the assembled reporters and police that his group was openly carrying semiautomatic rifles “in pure defiance” of local laws, and “rocking mags (ammunition magazines) with double the legal limit.”
Dunn confirmed to Reuters that his group faced no police blowback.
City law allows police to ban openly carrying guns at large public events, but they did not intervene against most gun owners on Monday.
“Virginia is and remains an open carry state,” Richmond police said in a statement.
The demonstrators, including boogaloos sporting their trademark Hawaiian shirts, Proud Boys, and about 20 members of two Black self-defense groups were outnumbered by reporters.
Despite being united in their support for gun rights, racial tensions were visible.
Members of the Black Lives Matter 757 and Original Black Panthers of VA were talking to reporters near the Richmond statehouse when a group of Proud Boys walked by flashing the “OK” hand gesture commonly used as a white power sign.
Honduran refugees detained by police. (photo: AP)
Guatemala Prevents Honduran Migrants From Heading to US Border
teleSUR
Excerpt: "Guatemala's Military forces Sunday prevented the passage of more than 6,000 Honduran migrants who were trying to continue their way to the Mexico-U.S. border."
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A road leads toward rock formations in Joshua Tree National Park. (photo: Mario Tama/Getty Images)
Trump Administration Proposes 11th-Hour Plan to Strip California Desert Protections
Troy Farah, Guardian UK
Farah writes: "The outgoing Trump administration is proposing to strip away protections for millions of acres of California desert, threatening damage to Joshua trees, desert tortoises and landmarks."
Plan would open up desert areas to mining projects, eliminating up to 2.2m acres of conservation lands
The plan would open up California’s desert areas to mining projects, eliminate up to 2.2m acres of conservation lands, as well as remove 1.8m acres designated as Areas of Critical Environmental Concern (Acecs).
Acecs are regions given special protections because of extra sensitive and culturally important features. The spires of eroded volcanic rock known as Turtle Mountain, for example, is one of the Acecs considered for the chopping block, and has an extremely dense population of endangered desert tortoise, as well as many indigenous homestead sites and historic mining camps.
“It’s a bit baffling at the 11th hour that something like this would hit the street,” said Geary Hund, the executive director for the Mojave Desert Land Trust, a non-profit conservation group that has purchased nearly 90,000 acres of desert over 15 years in order to protect it. “It doesn’t make sense. Any changes to this plan should really be within the purview of the new administration.
“I’m not saying that there should be no renewable energy development out here,” Hund said. “But I think it needs to be thoughtful, smart and avoid impacts to important conservation lands.”
Other areas that would be affected by the rule changes include wildlife corridors near beloved desert landscapes, such as Death Valley national park, Mojave Trails national monument and Joshua Tree national park.
The amendment would also change or eliminate 68 existing conservation rules. The changes would allow for greater impacts in recreation areas used by hikers, birders and off-road vehicles.
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Officials say that the new plan – which amends an existing Obama administration plan for renewable energy development in the desert – is needed because otherwise there will not be enough land available for solar and wind projects.
As California slowly shifts away from fossil fuels, “large expanses of desert landscape will be needed to bring alternatives online to avoid blackouts and new constraints on the grid”, Casey Hammond, an assistant secretary at the interior department, which oversees the Bureau of Land Management, said in a statement.
Hammond, who joined the department shortly after Donald Trump’s inauguration, said he hopes making more federal land available for renewable energy projects will balance energy consumption, “as well as keeping the lights on and the air conditioning blowing”.
Local conservation groups are not convinced. In a statement, Defenders of Wildlife called the amendment “ill-conceived” and Pamela Flick, the non-profit’s California program director, described the move as “the last gasp of the current anti-environment administration” that will only impede efforts by Joe Biden, the president-elect, to meet clean energy and climate goals.
The California Democratic senator Dianne Feinstein released a statement saying changes to existing law made “no sense”, adding: “The proposed changes are designed to significantly reduce federally designated conservation lands protections and potentially open that land up to mining or other industry uses. Californians have made clear that is not what we want in our desert.
“I will work with the new administration to immediately block this rule change when President Biden takes office next week,” Feinstein said. “The desert plan carefully balances recreational use, energy production and preservation. There is no reason to amend it now.”
Other state lawmakers are also opposing the move. The public has 90 days to comment on the proposed changes.
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