09 May 21
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Marc Ash
Founder, Reader Supported News
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09 May 21
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Bernie Sanders | We Must Expand Medicare Benefits and Lower the Age of Medicare Eligibility
Bernie Sanders, Bernie Sanders' Facebook Page
t is outrageous that more than 50 years after Medicare was enacted seniors still do not receive basic hearing, vision and dental coverage. Many seniors are unable to read a newspaper because they can’t afford eyeglasses, they can’t talk with their grandchildren because they can’t afford hearing aids and they have trouble eating because they can’t afford dentures.
It is also time to acknowledge that we must lower Medicare eligibility for the millions of older workers who are in desperate need of health care.
This pivotal moment in American history is the time for a Democratic president and a Democratic Congress to do what the American people want. We must expand Medicare benefits and lower the age of Medicare eligibility. Using our majority to take this step is not only the right thing to do for the American people – it’s good politics as well.
A day-care center in the Congress Heights neighborhood in D.C. President Biden wants to expand universal prekindergarten options nationwide, but some conservatives say most parents would prefer to stay home with their kids instead. (photo: Jahi Chikwendiu/WP)
Jill Filipovic | Conservatives Say They Want to Help 'Parents' Stay Home. They Mean Mothers.
Jill Filipovic, The Washington Post
Filipovic writes: "Gender-neutral language sounds like progress. But look at the policy ideas."
READ MORE
Union leader and Socialist Party presidential candidate Eugene Debs campaigning in 1900. (photo: Historica Graphica Collection/Heritage Images/Getty Images)
How 'Socialism' Stopped Being a Dirty Word for Some Voters - and Started Winning Elections Across America
Joshua Kluever, The Conversation
Kluever writes: "The leftist Democratic Socialists of America, which helped congressional star Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez get elected in 2018, looks to be a big political player again in New York City's 2021 municipal elections."
READ MORE
William Darby. (photo: Huntsville-Decatur WAFF/MSM)
Alabama Police Officer Convicted in Killing of Suicidal Man
Tiffany Thompson, MSM
Thompson writes: "Following a week-long trial, William Darby was found guilty of murdering 49-year-old Jeffery Parker in 2018."
Now Huntsville Police Officer William Darby could spend the rest of his life behind bars for the murder of Jeffery Parker in 2018.
Darby shot and killed Parker in the face with a shotgun after he refused to put down the gun he was holding to his own head.
The attorney for William Darby says there is no question, they will be appealing the decision, but a longtime friend of Jeffery Parker tells us they won’t be successful.
““He is looking forward to an appeal and I’m certain that when this is reviewed at the appellate level that this decision today will not stand,” defense attorney Robert Tuten said.
“Facts are facts. You had everything in front of you. The camera footage was there. I don’t see how you could look at it any other way,” Bill Parks, long-time friend of Jeffery Parker said.
Two very strong opinions, after a guilty verdict Friday.
Attorney Robert Tuten says the jury was not only wrong, but this decision will set a precedent for future cases if not overturned.
“It will affect every law enforcement agency in the state and how they protect their citizens, how they respond to calls with people with guns. How they respond to suicide threats,” Tuten explained.
However, the attorney representing Jeffery Parker’s family and Parker’s brother say his death resulted from major problems within the city and the police department.
“I hope that Jeff’s death results in better mental health responses nationwide, not just in Madison County but we seem to have a significant issue with that here,” Jeffery’s brother, Bill Parker said.
Darby’s legal trouble doesn’t end there, a wrongful death lawsuit has already been filed. That suit is against the city of Huntsville, which includes HPD and Darby.
“The reason we’re continuing to fight Is there is a major issue in Huntsville, we’ve seen that time and time again. If officer Darby wouldn’t have responded, Jeffery Parker would have lived. other officers were doing the morally right thing,” attorney for Parker’s family, Martin Weinberg said.
He made a decision. It was split second and it was the wrong decision. He has to live up to that,” Parks said.
Following Friday’s verdict, family and friends of Parker held a press conference with their attorney. You can hear their remarks below:
Darby’s defense team also held a press conference following Parker’s verdict. You can hear what they had to say below:
Huntsville Police Chief Mark McMurray told us the department is in a state of shock and he does not believe Darby is a murderer.
McMurray sent WAFF the following statement:
“We are in the first stages of shock. While we thank the jury for their service in this difficult case, I do not believe Officer Darby is a murderer. Officers are forced to make split-second decisions every day, and Officer Darby believed his life and the lives of other officers were in danger. Any situation that involves a loss of life is tragic. Our hearts go out to everyone involved.”
Mayor Tommy Battle told us he disagrees with the verdict and said Darby followed the appropriate safety protocols.
Read Mayor Battle’s full statement below:
While I respect the jury’s opinion, I disagree with the verdict. We recognize this was a hard case with a lot of technical information to process. Officer Darby followed the appropriate safety protocols in his response on the scene. He was doing what he was trained to do in the line of duty. Fortunately, Officer Darby has the same appeal rights as any other citizen and is entitled to exercise those rights.
WAFF has requested interviews with the Chief and Mayor but we were told they are out of town today.
Sentencing is scheduled for July, and Darby faces a minimum of 20 years in prison. Darby has since been released on bond for $100,000.
UPDATE (11:20 a.m.): WAFF’s Kate Smith reports the Darby trial jury has reached a verdict.
William Darby was found guilty of murder at 11:30 a.m. on May 7.
Huntsville Police Chief Mark McMurray released the following statement following the verdict:
“We are in the first stages of shock. While we thank the jury for their service in this difficult case, I do not believe Officer Darby is a murderer. Officers are forced to make split-second decisions every day, and Officer Darby believed his life and the lives of other officers were in danger. Any situation that involves a loss of life is tragic. Our hearts go out to everyone involved.”
Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle also released a statement on Friday:
“While I respect the jury’s opinion, I disagree with the verdict. We recognize this was a hard case with a lot of technical information to process. Officer Darby followed the appropriate safety protocols in his response on the scene. He was doing what he was trained to do in the line of duty. Fortunately, Officer Darby has the same appeal rights as any other citizen and is entitled to exercise those rights.”
Defense Attorney Robert Tuten released the following statement Friday afternoon:
“Everyone is shocked by the jury’s verdict. While we appreciate their hard work and will give their verdict the respect that it deserves, we still disagree with their decision. Officer Ben Darby will appeal this verdict. Once reviewed at the Appellate level, this verdict will not stand. Officer Darby’s case is extremely important to all Alabama Law Enforcement. This case will clarify Alabama law regarding on-duty police shootings and will impact the way law enforcement protects Alabamians and perform their duties. We look forward to the appeal of this case.”
UPDATE (9:20 a.m.): WAFF reporter Tiffany Thompson has learned one of the jurors in the William Darby trial has been replaced with an alternate due to a medical emergency.
ORIGINAL: On Friday, the jury will meet again to deliberate the fate of Huntsville Police Officer William Darby.
Darby is accused of murdering Jeffery Parker, a suicidal man with a gun pointed at his own head.
Jury deliberations started at 1 p.m. on Thursday and went into the early evening hours before breaking for the day. Prosecuting attorneys presented closing arguments first on Thursday.
Assistant District Attorney Tim Douthit argued a person can use deadly physical force only in self-defense or when defending someone else if that person reasonably believes another person is using or about to use unlawful deadly physical force. Douthit said neither of these happened during this situation. He also stated Darby was the initial aggressor.
Robert Tuten closed for the defense. He said Darby is not the initial aggressor and instead was protecting not only himself but his fellow officers. Tuten noted that if an officer hesitates that can mean death. Throughout the whole week, both sides called several witnesses to the stand.
One of the witnesses was Former Officer Genisha Pegues who testified that she never felt Parker was a threat to officers on the scene. An action-reaction expert for the defense said if a police officer has a weapon sighted on a suspect holding a firearm, the suspect could still fire first before the officer. An Assistant Chief of Police from another department also testified that officers are trained action is faster than reaction.
Earlier this week attorney Mark McDaniel who isn’t on this case said the jury will have to look at the facts.
As the jury reaches a verdict we will update you.
In this April 27, 2018 file photo, a great white heron appears through trees on Bayou Sorrel in the Atchafalaya River Basin in La. (photo: Gerald Herbert/AP)
Louisiana Anti-Protest Law Draws Legal Challenge
Janet McConnaughey, Associated Press
McConnaughey writes: "Protesters [...] arrested during a protest against pipeline construction may continue their challenge of a Louisiana law carrying a possible five-year prison sentence for anyone convicted of trespassing in the area of a pipeline, a federal judge has ruled."
rotesters from New Orleans and Mississippi and a journalist from New York arrested during a protest against pipeline construction may continue their challenge of a Louisiana law carrying a possible five-year prison sentence for anyone convicted of trespassing in the area of a pipeline, a federal judge has ruled.
But landowners and environmental and community groups don’t have legal standing to sue the St. Martin Parish sheriff and district attorney over the law, Judge Robert Summerhays ruled.
Activists said they had landowners' permission to protest on the land and have described the state law as part of a larger effort against environmental activism.
The law approved in 2018 added pipelines to the list of items considered “critical infrastructure” in Louisiana and changed trespassing on such property from a misdemeanor to a felony. It was passed during protests over construction of the 162-mile (260-kilometer) Bayou Bridge oil pipeline, which was completed the following year.
The pipeline, which is connected to the Dakota Access Pipeline and owned by the same company, runs through the environmentally sensitive Atchafalaya Basin. Opponents said it would damage the basin and threaten it with oil spills, contribute to coastal land loss and hurt the health of people who live along its path.
“This law is nothing less than an effort to strong-arm Water Protectors, land owners, and concerned citizens into submission and silence us,” protester Anne White Hat of New Orleans, a member of the Lakota Nation who moved from South Dakota to Louisiana in 2010, said in a news release Thursday.
Sheriff Ronald Theriot and District Attorney Bo Duhe of the 16th Judicial District had asked Summerhays to throw out the suit. Their attorneys did not immediately respond to emails and calls requesting comment on the ruling, which was made Wednesday and entered Thursday into online court records.
White Hat, Ramon Mejia, of Biloxi, Mississippi, and freelance journalist Karen Savage of New York were arrested on land fractionally owned by three people who unsuccessfully challenged a state law letting pipeline companies expropriate land but won $10,000 each from Bayou Bridge Pipeline LLC.
Those landowners and two others who joined in this lawsuit are among hundreds who own the 38-acre (15-hectare) tract where White Hat and the others were arrested. Since they live in Virginia, West Virginia and New Mexico, their strongest claim — that the law restricts their right to enjoy that land — is “wholly speculative,” the judge said.
He said the environmental and community groups don't claim that they plan to protest in St. Martin Parish or the other two parishes in Duhe's district.
A separate challenge, filed by people who say they were arrested because they protested in a canoe and a kayak on a waterway near the pipeline, remains in federal court in Baton Rouge.
The law “is part of a national effort to crack down on environmental activists across the U.S.,” the Center for Constitutional Rights, which represents White Hat, Savage and Mejia, said in Thursday's news release. It said the first was passed in Oklahoma in 2017, and said similar bills have been introduced 23 times in 18 states since 2017, including 14 in 2019.
“This law is extremely dangerous,” said attorney Pam Spees of the Center for Constitutional Rights.
It violates the First Amendment because it makes people more reluctant to speak out, she said.
And, she said Friday, “It is so vague it runs afoul of every requirement for criminal law to give people notice as to what they can and cannot do.”
About 125,000 miles (201,000 kilometers) of pipelines run throughout the state, she said.
“You could be standing anywhere and not know if there's a pipeline under your feet,” she said.
Sunday Song: Barry McGuire | Eve of Destruction
Barry McGuire, YouTube
Excerpt: "You're old enough to kill but not for votin'. You don't believe in war, but what's that gun you're totin'?"
Folk music singer-songwriter Barry McGuire. (photo: Cover of the album, Eve of Destruction.)
The Eastern world, it is explodin'
Violence flarin', bullets loadin'
You're old enough to kill but not for votin'
You don't believe in war, but what's that gun you're totin'?
And even the Jordan river has bodies floatin'
But you tell me over and over and over again my friend
Ah, you don't believe we're on the eve of destruction
Don't you understand what I'm trying to say?
Can't you feel the fear that I'm feeling today?
If the button is pushed, there's no running away
There'll be no one to save with the world in a grave
Take a look around you boy, it's bound to scare you, boy
But you tell me over and over and over again, my friend
Ah, you don't believe we're on the eve of destruction
Yeah, my blood's so mad, feels like coagulatin'
I'm sittin' here just contemplatin'
I can't twist the truth, it knows no regulation
Handful of Senators don't pass legislation
And marches alone can't bring integration
When human respect is disintegratin'
This whole crazy world is just too frustratin'
And you tell me over and over and over again my friend
Ah, you don't believe we're on the eve of destruction
Think of all the hate there is in Red China
Then take a look around to Selma, Alabama
Ah, you may leave here for four days in space
But when you return, it's the same old place
The poundin' of the drums, the pride and disgrace
You can bury your dead but don't leave a trace
Hate your next door neighbor but don't forget to say grace
And you tell me over and over and over and over again my friend
You don't believe we're on the eve of destruction
You don't believe we're on the eve of destruction
Smoke billows from a steel factory on Nov. 19, 2015, in the industrial province of Hebei, China. China's government has set 2030 as a deadline for the country to reach its peak for emissions of carbon dioxide. (photo: Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)
China's Greenhouse Gas Emissions Surpass Those of US and Developed World Combined
Steven Mufson and Brady Dennis, The Washington Post
Excerpt: "China's greenhouse gas emissions in 2019 surpassed those of the United States and the developed world combined, according to an analysis published Thursday by the research firm Rhodium Group."
China now accounts for 27 percent of global emissions, while the U.S. accounts for 11 percent
hina’s greenhouse gas emissions in 2019 surpassed those of the United States and the developed world combined, according to an analysis published Thursday by the research firm Rhodium Group.
China’s share of global emissions rose to 27 percent of the world’s total, while the United States remained the second-largest emitter at 11 percent. India’s share came third at 6.6 percent, edging out the 27 nations in the European Union, which accounted for 6.4 percent, the report found.
China, India and other developing nations have long noted that over the past century, the United States and Europe grew their economies while generating massive amounts of greenhouse gases, and that requiring the developing world to clamp down on emissions as they industrialize and bring millions of citizens into the middle class is unfair.
But with the effects of climate change intensifying and pressure growing for countries to do more to hit the targets of the Paris climate accord, the developed world has sought to make China, India and other developing nations a central part of the global push to restrict emissions for the sake of the planet. Those emissions include six key gases, as well as changes resulting from deforestation and land use.
During a climate summit President Biden organized last month featuring dozens of world leaders, Chinese President Xi Jinping said his nation would limit its coal-based emissions so that they peak ahead of the 2030 target it had set earlier. Xi also reiterated a pledge that China would have net-zero emissions by 2060.
“This major strategic decision is made based on our sense of responsibility to build a community with a shared future for mankind and our own need to secure sustainable development,” Xi said at the time. “China has committed to move from carbon peak to carbon neutrality in a much shorter time span than what might take many developed countries, and that requires extraordinarily hard efforts.”
The Biden administration has made a concerted push to work with China on combating climate change, despite diplomatic clashes between the two countries on numerous other issues, including trade disagreements and a crackdown on pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong.
White House climate envoy John F. Kerry traveled to China last month to meet with his counterparts and encourage the kind of partnership that helped make the Paris agreement a reality in 2015. After Kerry’s visit, the United States and China released a statement vowing to work together on climate change “with the seriousness and urgency that it demands.”
Under the Paris accord, nations around the world pledged to limit global warming to “well below” 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) above preindustrial levels and possibly limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. So far, the world remains far from the trajectory needed to hit such targets.
“If we can all hold to 1.5 [Celsius], we’re setting a good example for a lot of other countries as they make choices,” Kerry told The Washington Post during a recent visit to India. “Obviously, we would love to see China join in that. China is funding coal in various parts of the world, and we need to address that.”
Meanwhile, China’s emissions reached 14.1 gigatons of carbon dioxide equivalents in 2019, the Rhodium analysis calculated — more than triple 1990 levels and a 25 percent increase over the past decade.
Measuring China’s greenhouse gas emissions on a per capita basis also shows a sharp increase. China is home to more than 1.4 billion people, and its per capita emissions have reached 10.1 tons annually, nearly tripling over the past two decades.
“This comes in just below average levels across the OECD bloc,” the Rhodium report states, referring to the 37 nations that make up the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, “but still significantly lower than the U.S., which has the highest per capita emissions in the world at 17.6 tons/capita.”
Preliminary figures suggest that China’s share of global emissions grew larger over the past year in the face of the coronavirus pandemic. An earlier Rhodium analysis estimated that China’s emissions increased by 1.7 percent in 2020 in the face of the pandemic. That is substantially less than the 3.3 percent growth the nation averaged over the past decade, but still the wrong direction for a world committed to slowing Earth’s warming. Rhodium estimated that China’s emissions were equivalent to those of nearly 180 of the world’s lowest-emitting countries combined.
Although greenhouse gas pollution from China has swelled ever larger, the nation is far from the largest historical emitter. The members of the OECD, the Rhodium study found, have emitted four times more carbon dioxide than China on a cumulative basis since 1750.
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