23 April 21
It’s Friday and we didn’t get any donations early. If we don’t get any donations early on a Friday then we don’t get any donations, period.
In an effort to stave off a very bad day of fundraising we are reaching out to someone, anyone who can chip-in with a nice donation.
Can you do that?
Marc Ash
Founder, Reader Supported News
If you would prefer to send a check:
Reader Supported News
PO Box 2043
Citrus Hts, CA 95611
23 April 21
It's Live on the HomePage Now:
Reader Supported News
Garrison Keillor | My Plan for the Future, Whenever It Happens
Garrison Keillor, Garrison Keillor's Website
Keillor writes: "Spring is here, the park is gloriously in bloom, and I sit on a sunny bench watching the young on the running path, working hard out of their fear of mortality, and I feel the great privilege of being in my late seventies, all my ambition gone, enjoying life itself."
pring is here, the park is gloriously in bloom, and I sit on a sunny bench watching the young on the running path, working hard out of their fear of mortality, and I feel the great privilege of being in my late seventies, all my ambition gone, enjoying life itself, not aiming for distinguishment. All those decades I tried to be intelligent, to be in the know and to maintain a cool sense of irony, an elegant detachment from the mundane, and now that rock-climb is over: it takes no effort whatsoever to be an old man. You sit in the park and savor your happiness and let the young do the suffering.
I enjoy writing more now than I ever used to. I have writer friends my age who’ve been stuck for decades because they once published a book that was greeted by heavyweight critics as “provocative and profound,” “unflinching,” “bold and riveting,” “dense and dazzling,” “lushly layered,” “exceptional,” and “exquisitely crafted,” so now they look at a first draft and there’s nothing exquisite and it makes them flinch — you get put on a high pedestal and it’s a long way down. But nobody ever accused me of exquisiteness, the most I ever got was “amusing yet often poignant.” That’s not a pedestal, it’s a low curb. So I write freely, happily, no looking back.
Now that we’re vaccinated, I’m trying to talk my sweetie into taking a long car trip and head west since heading east from Manhattan takes you into deep water, and enjoy a month or two of dedicated aimlessness. So many of my well-laid plans have gone astray so I’d like to try improvisation. Just get in the car and go.
My great-great-grandfather David Powell felt that urge back in 1859 when he and a bunch of other Iowa farmers formed a wagon train and headed west in the great Colorado silver rush. He was tired of raising corn and hogs and fathering ten children and the gold rush was a great excuse for irresponsibility.
He got to Colorado too late for gold but thirty years later got in on the Oklahoma land rush. I’d like to see that river he crossed and find his gravesite in Hennessey, Oklahoma.
All the gold is gone and I’m not looking for land, I just want to roam. I haven’t taken a long car trip since I was a kid. Every summer my parents packed us in a station wagon and drove from Minnesota to Idaho to visit relatives and it was a great thrill, sitting in a window seat and holding my hand out the window, planing through the air, feeling the lift, and then in adult life I switched to airlines and now getting on a plane is like riding the school bus to high school except now there are seat belts.
The beauty of freedom is that you don’t know what might happen. I flew to Rome once on a sudden impulse, my first trip, and the day before I left, I got a haircut and told my barber George Latimer that I was hoping to meet the pope and he said, “No way. You’re not even Catholic. You won’t get within a mile of him.” I got to Rome and ran into a priest from Milwaukee, Father Reginald Foster, the head Vatican Latinist, and he took me on a tour of the Vatican and showed me the Latin ATM he’d designed, the only one in the world, and who should be withdrawing cash but the pope himself. He invited me up to his penthouse. There was a ping-pong table. He made popcorn. Offered me a Pepsi. And then he said to me, “Qui in nomine Domini Dei tui interficiam capillos? Et tamquam degradatur monachus. Et maior patera exsequi oportuit meum iussum.” (“Who in the name of God cut your hair? You look like a defrocked monk. He should’ve used a bigger bowl.”)
I met my wife in this park in April 1992. She came running by and I got up and ran after her, in my suit and tie and brown wingtips, and caught up with her, and the rest is history. I haven’t run since. What would be the point? But a random car trip east from L.A. on two-lane roads through mountains, listening to the radio, sounds perfect. Sirius Radio has hundreds of channels, some serious, most frivolous. Click the Random switch and you get Buck Owens one moment, Backstreet Boys, Bix Beiderbecke, then J.S. Bach.
Cellphone video shows police officers trying to apprehend a suspect inside a downtown Chicago train station in 2020. After a struggle with police, the suspect was shot as he fled up the escalator with the officers in pursuit. (photo: AP)
You Have the Right to Film Police. Here's How to Do It Effectively - and Safely
Geoffrey A. Fowler, The Washington Post
Fowler writes: "Darnella Frazier changed the course of history by tapping record on her smartphone. We can learn a lot from her about what to do when facing down badges, guns and a potentially dangerous situation."
There is much to learn from how Darnella Frazier recorded the George Floyd arrest on her smartphone
arnella Frazier changed the course of history by tapping record on her smartphone. We can learn a lot from her about what to do when facing down badges, guns and a potentially dangerous situation.
On the way to the convenience store last May, Frazier came upon George Floyd being arrested by former police officer Derek Chauvin. Then 17, Frazier recorded ten minutes and nine seconds during which Floyd was murdered.
She kept a distance so her phone was not confiscated.
She used a steady hand.
And she posted her video on Facebook so the world could see the raw evidence.
“It was a master class,” says Allissa Richardson, a journalism professor at the University of Southern California and the author of “Bearing Witness While Black.” “She played an outsized role in the guilty verdict for Chauvin.”
Cameras are transforming the conversation about police violence, but they’re not all equally effective. Officer-worn body cameras have become increasingly common in the U.S., yet can both illuminate and obscure the truth. Smartphones now allow citizens to film and even live-stream their own police encounters, yet the act of recording can put people at risk in highly charged situations. Many Black Americans are tired of having to document each time a cop kills a Black person to prove it happened. And while the surge in smartphone evidence has fueled calls for reform, one reason Frazier’s video stands out is because it was so rare in actually leading to the conviction of an officer.
So how can and should you use your phone to bear witness? I spoke with lawyers, police, activists, photojournalists and technologists to get their advice on how to best record the police, both legally and technologically.
“The smartphone has become the eyes of our nation,” says Charmine Davis, a Black psychotherapist and mother in Los Angeles. She made an app called Just Us that lets people stopped by police instantly start live-streaming while letting trusted contacts know about their whereabouts. The idea, she says, is to help people remain calm during encounters because they know their loved ones have been alerted.
The American Civil Liberties Union, too, offers an app called Mobile Justice that offers guidance specific to many states and lets you share video recordings with the organization’s lawyers.
“Knowing your rights is a different thing from knowing how to keep yourself fully safe,” says Daniel Kahn Gillmor, senior staff technologist with the ACLU’s Speech, Privacy and Technology Project.
Choices you make in the moment about how to use your phone could shape the outcome of the encounter. The experts largely agreed that Frazier’s video was so effective because it told Floyd’s story, rather than became part of it.
Here are five things you should know about how to most effectively - and safely - bear witness with your smartphone.
1. You have the right to film police
Recording officers performing their duties is generally lawful, though details about the circumstances can vary from state to state. Most police departments have a policy on this. Cops, who may be wearing body cameras themselves, should be neutral to why you are recording and may even be glad to have more proof of how everyone acted.
But you may put yourself at risk of arrest or having your phone seized if you encounter an officer who isn’t aware of your rights . . . or doesn’t care.
“A good rule of thumb is if you have a legal right to be present - such as on a public sidewalk or even on private property where you have permission of the owner - then you can be there with your camera,” says Mickey Osterreicher, the general counsel for the National Press Photographers Association, who runs training programs for both journalists and police.
Know there are some limits. You can’t disrupt police doing their jobs. “The time, place and manner are important,” says Mike Parker, a retired Los Angeles County Sheriff’s commander who now trains police. If you cross yellow tape, or get so close that you are putting law enforcement or yourself in danger, an officer can ask you to step back.
How far back is a matter of interpretation. If a cop tells you to scram, “you can say, ‘It is my understanding I have every right to record this. If you would like to direct me where to stand, I will move,’” says Osterreicher. But in general, police cannot legallytell you to stop recording entirely or destroy what you’ve saved.
Practically speaking, the best way to keep from having a cop try to shut you down as a witness is just to maintain your distance, like Frazier did during the Floyd arrest. She used the zoom function on her phone, and her microphone was still able to pick up Floyd’s pleas that he couldn’t breathe.
2. Do it in an obvious way
Don’t try to record covertly or hide away your camera, say the experts.
There’s some evidence that being clear that you’re filming can actually help de-escalate a situation, which should be everyone’s goal.
Being sneaky could run afoul of local laws, or put you in danger if officers misinterpret your moves. In a tense situation, police are going to be concerned for their own safety - and it’s possible they could mistake your phone for a gun. “The more citizens make officers feel uncomfortable, the more likely the situation will become unstable,” says attorney and police practices and procedures consultant Eric Daigle.
In the Floyd arrest, other cameras showed Frazier was holding her smartphone out in front of her body. “She had it very high and obvious so that the officers would know that she wasn’t doing anything to threaten their safety,” says Richardson. You can even see officer Chauvin looking directly into the camera.
Police may be particularly concerned about the location and visibility of your hands. That’s why some of the more advanced tools, including the Just Us app, can activate recording simply with a voice command.
There’s even an iPhone Siri voice shortcut - “I’m getting pulled over” - that can activate your phone’s camera without you touching it. (You can download it here, but will need to adjust your Siri Shortcut settings to install it.)
3. Record like a journalist
When you’re a witness, your job is to be a tripod. The more your video looks like a true audiovisual version of what happened, the more useful it will be as evidence.
Many professional journalists recommend filming horizontally because it captures more of what’s happening on the ground (and looks better on TVs). But if you do capture vertical video, which is common in social media apps, try to fill up the frame with the important action like Frazier did. Hold as still as possible, and if you have to move, try to do so very slowly like you’re making a movie.
The more you film, the better. Part of the power of Frazier’s video is that it went on for so long.
When it comes to picking which app to use to record, the best bet is the one that you’re comfortable operating even in a stressful situation.
It can be very difficult to remain silent while something terrible is happening in front of you, but it can also be useful to think of yourself more as a detached observer than an advocate.
“When you look at successful citizen recordings, what do they have in common? They didn’t interfere,” says Parker. “I have seen so many videos that otherwise would have been quite compelling but the video became about the argument between the officer and the citizen.”
4. Lock down your phone
If you film evidence of a crime, the police can ask you for a copy of it. In certain circumstances, an officer might even temporarily seize your phone and get a search warrant to go through it.
In a worst-case scenario, Osterreicher says, cops could try to delete your video. They don’t have a right to do that because of the First Amendment - not to mention ethical policing standards - but some digital security steps you take in advance could help protect your footage.
First, modern iPhones and Android phones offer encryption, but the locks only work if you’ve got a passcode set up. A secure one has more than four numbers in it. And since your face or fingerprint could be used to unlock the phone, you might consider turning off those functions if you know you’re heading toward a protest or another situation you know will be tense, says the ACLU’s Gillmor.
There are also ways to make a copy of what you film online in case your phone gets taken or lost. The simplest is cloud backup: If you turn on a service such as iCloud Photos or Google Photos, smartphones can automatically upload a copy of whatever you film (though it may wait until you’re in the range of WiFi for a big file).
Streaming apps such as Facebook, which has a function called live, both instantly broadcast what you record and keep a copy of it for later. “Just remember, if you do that then you don’t have control over the footage going forward,” says Gilmor. First, someone who sees it can copy it. And second, if you decide to later delete or hide your video, police could push any Internet company that had access to it for a copy.
5. Think before you share
What helped Frazier’s video reignite a worldwide reckoning on race is that she posted it on Facebook. It provided a completely different version of what had happened to Floyd than what the Minneapolis police had initially reported.
But before you post, the experts suggest thinking through how you - and the person you’re trying to help - can stay in control of the narrative.
For starters, Facebook is notoriously inconsistent about what kinds of content it allows to stay up, or gets yanked for violating its content standards.
And if you’re not a lawyer, you may not be able to see how your video could be used to build a case against the person you were trying to help.
“I would try to get in touch with the family first,” says Richardson. Survivors, lawyers or a community organization will have a read of the big picture and when and how it makes sense to release the video - just like police already do in deciding when and how to release bodycam footage.
It’s also about respect for the privacy of the people involved. For survivors, video of someone being hurt or murdered can be traumatizing. The family might be thankful for having the video to use in court, but not want it on the open Internet as the final memory of a loved one.
“Allow them to remain in control of the humanity of that person’s final moments,” says Richardson.
A man holds up a 'Black Lives Matter' sign during a demonstration in New York City, 7 June 2020. (photo: Ira L. Black)
Virginia Family Questions Why Sheriff's Deputy Shot Black Man 10 Times
Associated Press
Excerpt: "The family of a Black man shot by a Virginia sheriff's deputy this week says he is in intensive care with 10 bullet wounds, and they have no idea why."
Relatives of Isaiah Brown, who is in intensive care, say they haven’t been given a reason why deputy opened fire
he family of a Black man shot by a Virginia sheriff’s deputy this week says he is in intensive care with 10 bullet wounds, and they have no idea why.
Relatives of Isaiah Brown, 32, spoke with Washington TV station WRC about the shooting, which happened outside their home in Spotsylvania county early on Wednesday.
Brown was unarmed, they said, and they have not been given a reason why the deputy opened fire. The encounter was recorded by the deputy’s body camera, but state police said they will not release it pending an investigation, the station reported. The disciplinary record of the officer involved is not known.
“I’m just still trying to figure out where he felt the threat at, to feel the need to shoot,” Brown’s sister, Yolanda Brown, told the station.
Brown’s family said the same deputy had given Brown a ride home from a gas station after his car broke down. Tazmon Brown told the station that when they arrived, the deputy assured him that his brother was in no trouble, and had just needed a ride.
At some point later, 911 was called. The sheriff’s department called it a domestic disturbance, but Tazmon Brown said he thinks his brother just wanted a ride back to the car so that it would not be towed. The same deputy returned and encountered Isaiah Brown walking away from the home.
Authorities provided no details about what prompted the deputy to shoot. Virginia state police, which is handling the investigation, issued a statement on Wednesday saying: “The sheriff’s deputy attempted to verbally engage Brown and it was during this encounter that the deputy discharged his service weapon.”
The TV station reported that the agency confirmed Brown was unarmed. A state police spokesman has not responded to questions from the Associated Press.
“The officer just started shooting at him for no reason. I didn’t hear a warning shot. All I heard was ‘Hands up!’ one time. And all he had was his phone, so I know he put his hands up,” Tazmon Brown said.
The ACLU of Virginia has demanded that any recordings be made public immediately.
“Our community deserves to know what happened to him,” the group tweeted late on Thursday.
Sen. Ted Cruz is applauded by Republican colleagues after challenging the certification of Arizona's presidential election results Jan. 6 at the U.S. Capitol. (photo: Bill O'Leary/The Washington Post)
Ted Cruz Maintains Ties to Right-Wing Group Despite Its Extremist Messaging
Beth Reinhard and Neena Satija, The Washington Post
Excerpt: "On Aug. 4, 2019, the day after a gunman who had posted a hateful diatribe against Hispanics fatally shot 23 people at an El Paso Walmart, a leader of a tea party group in Texas said on Facebook: 'You're not going to demographically replace a once proud, strong people without getting blow-back.'"
His wife, the founder of the group, in the Fort Worth suburbs of Tarrant County, added in a comment: “I don’t condone the actions, but I certainly understand where they came from.”
Ten days later, amid a brewing backlash over the comments by Fred and Julie McCarty, the Northeast Tarrant Tea Party posted an undated testimonial from Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) wishing the group a happy 10th anniversary as it rebranded itself as True Texas Project.
“Thank you for the incredible work you do,” Cruz said, in the only on-camera endorsement from an elected official posted on the group’s Facebook and YouTube pages to mark the occasion. “Julie, Fred, thank you for your passion.”
A Washington Post review of True Texas Project’s activities and social media shows that Cruz has continued to embrace the group, even as its nativist rhetoric and divisive tactics have alienated some other conservative elected officials. Cruz’s father, a frequent campaign surrogate for his son, spoke at a meeting of the group shortly after the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, at a time when the group’s leadership was defending the pro-Trump mob on social media.
A spokeswoman did not respond to a request for an interview with the senator or to specific questions about TTP. “The Senator is not aware of every tweet, post, or comment of activists in the state of Texas,” the spokeswoman, Erin Perrine, said in a statement. “If you want to know what he thinks on any issue — feel free to look at his decades-long record. Sen. Cruz is unequivocal in his denunciation of any form of racism, hatred, or bigotry.”
In 2019, Cruz condemned the El Paso shooting as “a heinous act of terrorism and white supremacy.” The gunman’s manifesto had railed against a “Hispanic invasion of Texas,” and many of those killed or wounded were Hispanic.
Cruz’s ongoing ties to TTP contrast with the group’s fraught relationship with much of the Republican establishment in Texas. The group has lashed out at Republicans it perceives as too moderate — including Sen. John Cornyn (Tex.) and Gov. Greg Abbott — and has backed candidates against officeholders it once helped elect. “We are not here to be best buddies with our electeds,” Julie McCarty says in a recruitment video.
In a sign that some conservatives continue to court the group’s support, Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) attended a TTP fundraiser last week, an event that drew hundreds of people, according to pictures posted on social media. But many elected officials are no longer active with the group, according to Rick Barnes, chairman of the Tarrant County Republican Party.
“We’ve got to accept that to grow the Republican Party, we can’t be using rhetoric that most people find offensive,” Barnes said.
James Riddlesperger, a political science professor at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, said Cruz appears to have “turned a blind eye” to the group’s most extreme rhetoric. Many Cruz supporters would not view the group’s messaging as racist, he added.
“From a political standpoint, there probably isn’t a downside for him supporting this group because they represent a large segment of the Republican Party in Texas,” he said. “So Cruz sees no downside, but he does see the upside because they have organization and can bring votes.”
Fred McCarty, the president of the group’s PAC, did not respond to an email seeking comment. Julie McCarty, the group’s chief executive, initially agreed to speak with a Post reporter, but then did not answer the phone at the scheduled time and did not respond to subsequent calls and emails.
In a recent TTP newsletter, Julie McCarty said The Post was writing a “hit piece” and urged members not to talk to the newspaper. “The truth is, our reputation and integrity stands for itself,” she wrote.
Like many of the tea party organizations that sprang up during President Barack Obama’s first term, the group in North Texas initially crusaded against federal spending and government overreach, particularly “Obamacare,” as critics dubbed the president’s signature health-care legislation.
In 2012, the group supported Cruz — who had never been elected to public office — over the sitting lieutenant governor, David Dewhurst, in a race for an open Senate seat. Cruz won, and the group became a must-stop for Republican politicians courting the right.
Late that year, then-Gov. Rick Perry (R) used the group’s meeting just days after the mass shooting at a Newtown, Conn., elementary school to affirm his support for allowing teachers to carry weapons. Abbott spoke to the group twice in 2013, first as attorney general and later as a gubernatorial candidate.
An appearance by Dewhurst in 2013 drew headlines when he called for Obama’s impeachment. One of the group’s former vice presidents — backed by Cruz — won election to the state Senate in 2014. In early 2016, then-presidential candidate Ben Carson spoke at the group’s town hall meeting. The Northeast Tarrant Tea Party was widely hailed as one of the most powerful tea party groups in Texas before the 2016 election.
The group avidly supported much of President Donald Trump’s agenda, including his campaign vow to build a wall along the nation’s southern border and his false claims of voter fraud after last year’s election. But when Trump proposed giving Black-owned businesses access to $500 billion in capital in the fall of 2020, Julie McCarty wrote on the group’s Facebook: “Is anyone beside me disgusted by this? 500 BILLION FREAKING DOLLARS??? White people need not apply.”
During Trump’s presidency, several of the group’s closest allies in the state legislature either lost reelection bids or decided not to seek new terms. Donations to TTP’s political committee sank to roughly $4,200 last year, having peaked at over $150,000 in 2015, records show. The IRS requires nonprofits to make annual returns available to the public, but Julie McCarty declined The Post’s request for the latest filing for its tax-exempt arm, which pays for most of its activities, according to its website.
Even as tea party activity nationwide was eclipsed by Trump’s “Make America Great Again” movement, Cruz maintained ties with the Northeast Tarrant Tea Party.
In early 2017, Julie McCarty boasted about being among a group of conservative activists who won a private audience with Cruz. “He said all he knows to do is to ‘get up every day and keep fighting.’ Awww, I love that!” she wrote on Facebook.
In September 2017, Cruz spoke to the group for more than an hour and received a standing ovation. He thanked Julie McCarty for her “incredible leadership” and told the crowd, “Each and every one of you is making an incredible impact.” Cruz, the son of a Cuban immigrant, won applause for emphasizing his opposition to amnesty for children brought illegally to the United States by their parents.
In 2018, the group organized a get-out-the-vote event with the Cruz campaign. The McCartys had their picture taken with him and Vice President Mike Pence that year at a prominent Republican donor’s home in the Dallas area, a Facebook post shows.
As Trump’s presidency normalized and elevated far-right, anti-immigrant voices, TTP’s messaging grew more extreme, at times echoing white-supremacist talking points.
“Imagine flooding a place with foreign peoples to the point that the native population will become a minority,” Fred McCarty wrote in a now-deleted Facebook post, four days after the El Paso shooting. “Then imagine being shocked at the strife and hostility that results. Imagine.”
At the time, one of the only well-known Republicans to publicly criticize McCarty was a former TTP ally: political consultant Matt Mackowiak, chairman of the GOP in the Austin area.
“Fred McCarty made an outrageous statement in 2019, and as a local GOP official concerned about the image of the party, I spoke out,” he said in a recent interview. “The backlash from some members of that organization was intense and threatening. It doesn’t scare me at all, but I can understand why some elected officials don’t want to invite that kind of feedback.”
One Republican state lawmaker who used to engage with the group said it has “gone off the deep end” and described its efforts to launch chapters in other counties as “dangerous.” The lawmaker spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of political repercussions, saying, “If you disagree with them, there is hell to pay.”
Amid last summer’s protests following the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Julie McCarty said on the group’s public Facebook account run by her husband: “We can love black people all day long — all decade long — all our lives long . . . and that will not stop them looting and destroying and feeling justified in doing so.”
In a September Facebook post, as National Football League players wore decals bearing the names of victims of racism and police brutality, the group asked: “Why are NFL players wearing names of felons & rapists on their helmets when they already have them on their jerseys?”
Less than two months later, Julie McCarty tweeted a photo of Cruz holding the group’s T-shirt. “Senator @tedcruz took notice of @TrueTXProject, liked what he saw, and asked one of his team to get him a tshirt. How great is that?” she asked.
The Cruz T-shirt photo is also posted on the TTP Instagram, but it was deleted from the Facebook page after The Post asked the group about its ties to elected officials. The deleted post said: “Hey, if Ted Cruz is wearing our shirt, don’t you want one too?”
Barnes, chairman of the Tarrant County Republican Party, said officeholders may be more inclined to hold local Republican leaders accountable for offensive comments than an independent group.
“If the True Texas Project was a recognized Republican club, we would definitely be having conversations about it,” Barnes said.
Cruz himself criticized a local GOP leader who, in the days after Floyd’s death, posted a graphic on Facebook that juxtaposed a Martin Luther King Jr. quote with a banana. “Dammit, stop it. Stop saying stupid, racist things,” Cruz tweeted.
About two weeks before the deadly Jan. 6 riot, the TTP posted a diagram on Facebook of a guillotine built from materials available at Home Depot. “Something you can do with your $600 stimulus check,” reads the caption.
As a pro-Trump mob roamed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, the McCartys each retweeted a now-suspended account that wrote: “If politicians deserve to live at all, let it be in fear.” The following day, Fred McCarty tweeted, “Capitol Stormers did nothing wrong.”
Cruz was among six senators on Jan. 6 who tried to block certification of Joe Biden’s election to the White House because, he said, of widespread concerns the vote was “rigged.” Cruz later called the mob scene a “terrorist attack” and said rioters should be prosecuted.
Five days after the riot, TTP organized a panel discussion featuring Cruz’s father, Rafael Cruz, a pastor. “We ain’t seen nothing yet, because we are about to be ruled in less than 10 days by a communist regime,” the elder Cruz said at Dallas event. “We must decide who we are going to obey.”
The event closed with a prayer for Ted and Rafael Cruz.
Rafael Cruz did not respond to messages seeking comment.
The group has become so controversial that this week it had to scramble for a meeting location in a Dallas suburb after a restaurant, a concert venue and a homeowners’ association each declined to provide space for the event, according to a Facebook post by Julie McCarty.
Lauren Trahan, who works for the corporate owner of the Rudy’s BBQ franchise in Denton, said she asked McCarty to cancel TTP’s reservation after receiving calls from concerned residents.
“We’re a barbecue restaurant,” Trahan said in an interview. “We’re not here to make a political statement regarding anything, and it’s something that we thought was going to cause turbulence.”
Chevron, the United States' second-largest oil and gas producer, has a long history of investing heavily in Washington influence. (photo: Jonathan Bachman/Reuters)
Chevron Lobbies to Head Off New Sanctions on Myanmar
Kenneth P. Vogel and Lara Jakes, The New York Times
Excerpt: "The Myanmar military's coup and brutal crackdown on dissent have left it with few allies in the West."
The oil company is arguing against efforts to restrict its involvement in a gas operation in Myanmar that provides funding for the junta there.
he Myanmar military’s coup and brutal crackdown on dissent have left it with few allies in the West. But one of the most sophisticated corporate lobbying operations in Washington has mobilized to head off intensifying pressure on the Biden administration to impose broad sanctions against the state-owned oil and gas company helping to finance the junta.
Chevron has dispatched lobbyists — including some former federal government officials, one of whom appears to have left the State Department just last month — to agencies including the State Department and key congressional offices to warn against any sanctions that might disrupt its operations in Myanmar, according to four people familiar with the lobbying.
The California-based oil and gas giant says sanctions could endanger the long-term viability of a big Myanmar gas field in which it is a partner, risk worsening a humanitarian crisis for people who rely on the operation for power and expose the company’s employees to criminal charges.
Israeli border police block members of Lehava, a Jewish extremist group, near Damascus Gate amid heightened tensions in the city. (photo: Ariel Schal/AP)
Dozens of Palestinians Injured in Police Clashes as Jewish Extremists Chanting 'Death to Arabs' March in Jerusalem
Kareem Khadder, Andrew Carey and Abeer Salman, CNN
Excerpt: "Clashes between Palestinians from east Jerusalem and Israeli police around the Damascus gate entrance to the Old City erupted in a night of unrest that earlier saw Jewish extremists marching through another city street shouting 'Death to Arabs.'"
lashes between Palestinians from east Jerusalem and Israeli police around the Damascus gate entrance to the Old City erupted in a night of unrest that earlier saw Jewish extremists marching through another city street shouting "Death to Arabs."
The violence marks a high point so far in a new phase of complex heightened tensions in the city which began a week and half ago around the start of Ramadan, and prompted an unusual statement Friday morning from the US embassy in Jerusalem in which it called on "all responsible voices [to] promote an end to incitement."
Hundreds of Palestinians gathered in the area around the Damascus gate Thursday evening to protest the closure of the plaza space in front of the gate, a popular place for young Palestinians to hang out, especially during Ramadan.
Glass bottles and rocks were thrown at police, who used stun grenades, rubber bullets and water cannons spraying foul-smelling 'skunk water,' in an effort to disperse the crowds.
At one point, a group of young men managed to break down a pole with a security camera mounted on top and set it alight, temporarily creating a barricade.
The Palestinian Red Crescent said 105 Palestinians were injured, of which 22 required treatment in hospital.
Close by, police used barricades of their own to prevent a march by hundreds of supporters of the Jewish extremist 'Lehava' movement from reaching the same area.
Videos on social media show hundreds of people marching down one of Jerusalem's main thoroughfares, Jaffa Street, towards Damascus Gate chanting repeatedly "Death to Arabs."
Israeli media reports Lehava supporters threw rocks at police, and videos on social media show police water cannon being used to disperse them.
Lehava has been emboldened by the recent election to the Israeli parliament of several extremist-racist politicians, all of whom have been openly courted by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in his ongoing attempts to form a new government.
Tensions have been heightened further by a number of videos posted to Tik Tok over the last couple of weeks apparently showing acts of assault, including one purporting to show a Palestinian youth slapping two religious Jews riding the city's light rail tram service.
The violence continued well into Friday morning with incidents reported across the city, including one captured on video apparently showing Palestinian youths repeatedly kicking a Jewish man in east Jerusalem as he lies on the ground attempting to protect his head.
Another video appears to show religious Jewish youths attacking an Arab family house throwing sticks and other objects into the compound while a baby can be heard screaming.
Police say twenty of their officers were injured, three of whom were taken to hospital.
There were 44 arrests, police say.
In a noteworthy development, the US embassy issued a statement Friday morning, in English, Hebrew and Arabic, which said, "We are deeply concerned about the incidents of violence in Jerusalem over the last several days. We hope all responsible voices will promote an end to incitement, a return to calm, and respect for the safety and dignity of everyone in Jerusalem."
Manhattan's skyline. (photo: iStock)
New York City Sues Oil Giants Exxon, BP and Shell Over Climate Change
Jenna Romaine, The Hill
Romaine writes: "New York City filed a lawsuit against three leading oil companies and an industry trade group."
“The defendants in our lawsuit have spent millions to persuade consumers that they present a clean, green choice. But they don’t."
ew York City filed a lawsuit against three leading oil companies and an industry trade group on Thursday, which is Earth Day.
The lawsuit against Exxon Mobil Corp, BP Plc, Royal Dutch Shell and the industry group American Petroleum Institute states that the oil giants “have systematically and intentionally misled consumers” by misrepresenting their fuels as “cleaner” and “emissions-reducing” despite not disclosing the true environmental effects.
The latest lawsuit comes following a federal appeals court’s rejection of a previous suit earlier this month that was filed in 2018 against BP, Chevron Corp, ConocoPhillips, Exxon and Shell. In that suit, the city tried to have the companies held liable for the cost of the effects of global warming they produce.
“The defendants in our lawsuit have spent millions to persuade consumers that they present a clean, green choice. But they don’t,” New York City Corporation Counsel James Johnson told Reuters.
Exxon spokesperson Casey Norton told Reuters, “These lawsuits have no merit and do nothing to advance meaningful efforts that address climate change. We support global efforts from policymakers, companies and individuals to develop real solutions.”
Similarly, Paul Afonso, API’s chief legal officer, referred to the suit as “meritless.”
A spokeswoman for Shell told Changing America, "We are disappointed to see the City of New York file yet another climate change lawsuit after the Second Circuit affirmed the dismissal of what is functionally the same suit mere weeks ago. Tackling climate change is a significant challenge the world faces today; it requires smart policy from government supported by inclusive action from all business sectors, including ours, and from society as a whole. We intend to play a leading, transparent and collaborative role in helping society face this challenge."
BP declined to comment.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.