November 8, 2016


News and Views


http://www.cbsnews.com/news/big-pot-the-m-word-marijuana/

Why captains of cannabis industry don't like the "M word"
By CHRISTINA CAPATIDES CBS NEWS
November 6, 2016, 8:00 PM


There are countless nicknames tossed around for America’s most widely used recreational drug. There’s marijuana, pot, weed, herb, even reefer. But as the argument for legalization becomes more and more widespread, and as more and more companies sprout up to meet consumer demand, you might notice that the word cannabis is being placed at the forefront.

That choice of terminology is far from accidental. For companies in the rapidly growing business, there’s a very deliberate reasoning behind it.

“We at Privateer decided that we were going to use the C word six years ago. And we’ve stuck to it,” explains Privateer Holdings CEO Brendan Kennedy in the new CBSN Originals documentary, “Big Pot: The Commercial Takeover.”

tony-in-amazon.png
CBSN correspondent Tony Dokoupil with Privateer Holdings CEO Brendan Kennedy at their shipping facility in Vancouver, British Columbia. CBSN ORIGINALS

In fact, Kennedy went on to describe the other slang terms for cannabis almost as if they were curse words or viscerally offensive in some way.

“When we’re talking to media, media will use every other word. They’ll use the M word, the P word. Lots of other words. And they don’t use slang words when they talk about alcohol,” he told CBS News correspondent Tony Dokoupil. “You know, you don’t interview a CEO of an alcohol company and say, ‘So let’s talk about booze,’ or ‘Let’s talk about hooch.’ ‘Tell me about firewater.’”

tilray-marijuana-plants.jpg, Cannabis growing at a Tilray facility in Vancouver. CBSN ORIGINALS

When Dokoupil replied that, with the exception of “firewater,” a reporter might very well use slang terms when interviewing an alcohol CEO, Kennedy noted that the stakes for the fledgling pot industry are simply higher.

“For us, it was about mainstreaming the industry. For us, it was about respecting patients who are using this product for, you know, very serious conditions. And marijuana’s a slang word from the 1930s,” he said.

Indeed, for “big pot,” legitimacy seems to be the name of the game. Everything from product names to their marketing materials and logos are conceptualized with mainstreaming in mind. A photo used on packaging for Privateer’s medical cannabis company, Tilray, for example, is a hiker pictured atop rugged terrain against a setting sun. Think: the Marlboro Man, if he hiked trails instead of riding horses.

screen-shot-2016-11-04-at-4-12-02-pm.png, Tilray’s marketing image (left) bears a resemblance to the iconic Marlboro Man. TILRAY/MARLBORO/CBSN ORIGINALS

What is Privateer hoping to communicate with these visuals?

“That this is a natural product, that it’s produced in a pure, precise, predictable environment,” explains Kennedy. “That it’s produced with quality. And that it’s a brand that stands for quality to patients, so that they can differentiate it from products available in the illicit, you know, black market... We’re going for sort of, it’s a natural product. It’s found in nature.”

That focus on nature may explain why the the term “cannabis” — which sounds like a plant one could stumble across in the wild — is so much more preferable to industry insiders than a slang term like “pot” or “weed.” And the industry’s pursuit of legitimacy explains why companies would want to distance themselves from “marijuana,” a word that’s been used to describe illegal smoking for years.

But treating “the M word” as if it’s “the N word” — an archaic, offensive term that’s best avoided? That’s a linguistic anomaly no one could have predicted.


This is one time when I do agree with cannabis sales theory. Names that have traditionally signified illegality and thuggery will not help a purified and carefully cultivated form to sell as a legitimate drug. People just won't trust it.



http://www.cbsnews.com/news/extensive-damage-reported-from-oklahoma-earthquake-near-major-oil-hub/

Extensive damage reported from Oklahoma earthquake near major oil hub
CBS/AP
November 7, 2016, 7:53 AM

Photograph -- Damage to building in downtown Cushing, Oklahoma is seen after 5.0 magnitude earthquake shook the region, near a major oil hub, on night of Nov. 6, 2016 THE CUSHING CITIZEN


CUSHING, Okla. -- A magnitude 5.0 earthquake centered near one of the world’s key oil hubs brought down building facades and shattered windows in a central Oklahoma city, rendering century-old buildings unsafe and raising concerns about key infrastructure.

Cushing Assistant City Manager Jeremy Frazier told a news conference late Sunday that a few minor injuries were reported. He said the damage appeared to be contained to downtown, where piles of debris sat at the base of some commercial buildings.

CBS Oklahoma City affiliate KWTV described the damage as extensive.

In downtown Cushing, there is everything from moderate to severe damage, the station said.

Oklahoma has had thousands of earthquakes in recent years, with nearly all traced to the underground injection of wastewater left over from oil and gas production. Sunday’s quake was centered one mile west of Cushing and about 25 miles south of where a magnitude 4.3 quake forced a shutdown of several wells last week.

News9.com - Oklahoma City, OK - News, Weather, Video and Sports |

Fearing aftershocks, police cordoned off older parts of the city to keep gawkers away late Sunday. Frazier said an assisted living community had been evacuated after damage was reported. Part of the building collapsed, reports CBS Tulsa affiliate KOTV.

The Cushing Public School District canceled Monday classes.

Emergency managers said the town’s hospital and hotels weren’t damaged, KOTV says.

“Stay out of the area,” said City Manager Steve Spears, who noted that while some damage was superficial, compromised foundations and other potential problems would be difficult to assess until daylight in the city of 7,900 about 50 miles northeast of Oklahoma City.

The Oklahoma Department of Transportation reported Sunday night that no highway or bridge damage was found within a 15-mile radius of the earthquake’s epicenter.

The quake struck at 7:44 p.m. Sunday and was felt as far away as Iowa, Illinois and Texas. The U.S. Geological Survey initially said Sunday’s quake was of magnitude 5.3 but later lowered the reading to 5.0.

“I thought my whole trailer was going to tip over, it was shaking it so bad,” said Cushing resident Cindy Roe, 50. “It was loud and all the lights went out and you could hear things falling on the ground.

“It was awful and I don’t want to have another one.”

Photograph -- quake-damage-cushing-oklahoma-110616.jpg
Goods that fell from store shelves are seen after 5.0 magnitude earthquake on night of November 6, 2016 in area of Cushing, Oklahoma JESSI MITCHELL, KWTV

Cushing’s oil storage terminal is one of the world’s largest. As of Oct. 28, tank farms in the countryside around Cushing held 58.5 million barrels of crude oil, according to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The community bills itself as the “Pipeline Crossroads of the World.”

Frazier said two pipeline companies had reported no trouble as of late Sunday but that the community hadn’t heard from all companies.

Megan Gustafson and Jonathan Gillespie were working at a Cushing McDonald’s when the quake hit.

“It felt like a train was going right through the building, actually,” Gustafson, 17, said Sunday night as she and her co-workers stood behind a police barricade downtown, looking for damage. “I kind of freaked out and was hyperventilating a bit.”

Gillespie said the building shook for about 10 seconds, but that he wasn’t as alarmed as Gustafson because he lives in an area that has experienced multiple earthquakes, especially in recent years.

“I didn’t think it was anything new,” he said.

According to USGS data, there have been 19 earthquakes in Oklahoma in the past week. When particularly strong quakes hit, the Oklahoma Corporation Commission directs well operators to cease wastewater injections or reduce volume.

A 5.8 earthquake - a record for Oklahoma - hit Pawnee on Sept. 3. Shortly afterward, geologists speculated on whether the temblor occurred on a previously unknown fault.

“I was at home doing some work in my office and, basically, you could feel the whole house sway some. It’s beginning to become normal,” Spears, the Cushing city manager, said Sunday night. “Nothing surprises you anyway.”



What we need is for all the class action law firms to join together to sue all fracking companies, plus the state and federal government bodies that are supposed to oversee corporations with the aim of preventing this kind of damage to the earth. Rock looks very strong and solid, but when it absorbs water some of the chemicals will be dissolved, and things like sandstone are not as solid to begin with as granite. The result can be disastrous.

This reminds me of the “mountaintop removal” method of coal mining, which is probably still being used today – or was ten or so years ago. The coal mining companies then dump the pulverized waste rock into the nearby streams or on piles, as in England some 20 years ago. In that case the pile absorbed enough rain water to slide off onto a school, where a large number of children were killed or injured. There was a picture of the Queen standing in front of the devastated area sadly. Business, and especially industry, needs to be regulated much more closely than they have been up to the present.



http://www.cbsnews.com/news/misty-flowers-north-carolina-deputy-fired-after-accidentally-shooting-her-daughter-11-at-halloween-party/

Deputy fired after accidentally shooting her daughter, 11 at Halloween party
By CRIMESIDER STAFF CBS/AP
November 2, 2016, 11:06 AM

Photograph -- halloween.jpg, The North Carolina home where police say a deputy accidentally shot her daughter during a Halloween party WBTV


LINCOLNTON, N.C. -- An off-duty Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office deputy has been fired after she accidentally shot her 11-year-old daughter while she was reportedly showing off her service weapon at a Halloween party.

Lincoln County Sheriff David Carpenter confirmed that Misty Michelle Flowers was fired on Monday.

Carpenter said in a news release that Flowers was negligent while showing the handgun to friends Saturday night at her house. Neighbors tell CBS affiliate WBTV she had been hosting a Halloween party attended by children at the time of the incident. Police say the gun discharged accidentally and the bullet went through a wall and struck her daughter in the abdomen in the next room.

The girl was airlifted to a medical center, underwent surgery and is expected to recover.

Carpenter says Flowers’ firing came independent of a State Bureau of Investigation probe currently underway regarding the shooting.

The Sheriff’s Office policy says firearms are expected to be locked away when they are at a deputy’s home.

“It’s a great relief to know she’s going to be okay, that she’s going to recuperate from it. If she would have lost her life in this accident, it would have been a tragedy for this whole community,” neighbor Clyde Queen told the station.

Flowers has been with the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office since 2015 and worked for the Catawba County Sheriff’s Office before that, the station reports.



All my life I’ve heard that guns should be locked away when not in use. My father had a handgun, a Colt 45, and a 22 caliber hunting rifle. He had set up a shop in the basement, and made a nice pine gun cabinet with a glass front and a key locked door. Unfortunately, people don’t always do that. This sheriff’s deputy will be without a job for a while, probably, unless she’s lucky, but she must feel great relief that her daughter is expected to recover. It’s a sad story with a happier ending than all too many.



http://www.cbsnews.com/news/2016-race-hillary-clinton-north-carolina-philadelphia-obama-final-pitch-to-voters/

"Stronger, fairer, better America": In final pitch, Clinton urges supporters to vote
CBS NEWS
November 8, 2016, 7:42 AM

Full Video: Hillary Clinton speaks at Philadelphia rally on the eve of Election Day


Hillary Clinton’s last campaign trip didn’t end until about 3:30 a.m. Tuesday, but dozens of supporters were waiting as her plane arrived north of New York City. Clinton and her husband greeted people in the crowd.

Clinton is trying to set a good example, voting bright and early at her neighborhood polling place at Douglas Grafflin Elementary School in Chappaqua, New York. Her campaign believes victory is well within their grasp, if their supporters do their civic duty and vote, reports CBS News correspondent Nancy Cordes.

“You know, North Carolina. You’ve got to vote!” Clinton said, capping her 17-month bid with a raucous midnight rally.

“If you believe we need to do more to support working families with affordable child care, paid leave and equal pay for women, then you have to vote,” she said, followed by loud cheers.

Earlier, a record crowd of more than 33,000 cheered her on in Philadelphia, where she needs to run up the score Tuesday to win the state.

“Every person who lives in Philadelphia lives within five blocks of your polling place,” Clinton said.

The Clintons and Obamas joined forces at Independence Hall, ending a campaign not only for Clinton, but to protect the president’s legacy.

“I’m betting that men across this country have no problem voting for the more qualified candidate, who happens to be a woman,” Obama said.

There’s been little time to dwell on the history she could make Tuesday night.

Controversies – hers and his – have dominated the election and led to epic clashes.

“I regret deeply how angry the tone of the campaign became,” Clinton told the crowd in Philadelphia.

Her campaign admits battleground Florida will be close, though they think they will win in the end. Ohio and Iowa will be a reach, and North Carolina could go either way.

“Years from today, when your kids and grandkids ask you what you did in 2016 when everything was on the line, you’ll be able to say you voted for a stronger, fairer, better America,” she said in North Carolina.

Clinton plans to keep a low profile Tuesday. She’ll do some radio interviews from her home in Chappaqua, then head into Manhattan to where she will hold her election celebration at the Javits Center, in a room that is conveniently equipped with a glass ceiling.



http://www.cbsnews.com/news/catholic-priest-frank-pavone-aborted-fetus-on-altar-appeal-for-donald-trump/

Catholic priest Frank Pavone displays aborted fetus on altar in appeal for Donald Trump
CBS NEWS
November 8, 2016, 11:32 AM

Still shot from video -- Rev. Frank Pavone, in a still from a video in which he displayed an aborted fetus to encourage people to vote for Donald Trump. FATHER FRANK PAVONE VIA FACEBOOK


A staunch anti-abortion Catholic priest in Texas says he was given an aborted fetus for proper burial, but he thought it was best to display the fetus on an altar first in order to make a political point about the 2016 election.

In a Facebook Live post from Nov. 6, Father Frank Pavone said: “I am showing him to you because in this election we have to decide if we will allow this child killing to continue in America or not. Hillary Clinton and the Democratic platform says yes, let the child killing continue (and you pay for it); Donald Trump and the Republican platform says no, the child should be protected.”

(You can view the post and video here, but be warned some viewers may find the content offensive.)

Pavone is a priest in the Amarillo, Texas, Archdiocese, and is a well-known and long-time vocal opponent of abortion. His aggressive work on the topic has run him afoul of the diocese previously, reports CBS Amarillo affiliate KFDA.

In 2014, Cardinal Timothy Dolan cut ties with the Pavone, despite Dolan’s own outspoken advocacy against abortion, reports the Washington Post.

In a post on the New York Archdiocese website, Dolan’s former home diocese, Ed Mechmann writes that Pavone is free to post such videos as an American citizen, but that it was wrong to do so.

“It was absolutely appalling, and deserves to be repudiated by all of us who consider ourselves to be pro-life in the fullest meaning of that word,” Mechmann wrote.

Mechmann said Pavone was just exploiting the body of the dead baby to further his own ends, and not worshiping or loving it as a good Catholic should. He expressed special horror for placing the baby’s body “on an altar, which has been sanctified for the celebration of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.”

In response to the outrage online against the video, Pavone has replied to several angry Facebook users who saw his post.

In defense against claims he was exploiting a dead baby, Pavone said: “The exploitation was the violent killing of the child, and deprivation, by the government, of the protection of that child’s life. THAT’s the exploitation. This body would have been in the garbage had we not given this child a funeral and a cemetery crypt. Wake up.”

The Washington Post reports that a recent poll show Catholics divided in this election, with 48 percent of Catholics going for Hillary Clinton while 44 percent favored Trump.



http://www.cbsnews.com/news/concern-over-alcohol-drug-use-spurs-fraternity-sorority-events-ban-at-washington-state-university/

Alcohol, drugs, rape: Greek Life shut down temporarily at Washington State University
CBS/AP
November 8, 2016, 7:07 AM

Photograph -- Washington State Cougars fans and their mascot cheer during the game against the Oregon Ducks on October 21, 2006 at Martin Stadium in Pullman, Washington. Washington State won 34-23. OTTO GREULE JR/GETTY IMAGES


PULLMAN, Wash. -- Officials on Monday banned all Washington State University sorority and fraternity events, from formals to football tailgates, for the rest of the semester, which ends in December.

The school’s Interfraternity Council made the move along with the Panhellenic Council, an umbrella organization for some sororities. The councils made the announcement in a letter to students, staff and others, citing alcohol and drug-use issues, rapes, and hospitalizations as the reason for banning all events as of 5 p.m. Monday.

The letter directly references a concerning rise in the number of assaults, rapes, falls and hospitalizations, saying the incidents and accompanying negative reputation put the future of Greek Life at the school in jeopardy.

The letter states: “The reoccurrence of these incidents have been associated with the irresponsibility of alcohol and drug consumption by persons in our chapters. It is necessary to understand that although incidents like these may hurt the image of the individual chapter, they also greatly degrade the perception and credibility of Greek Life at Washington State University.”

The ban follows other actions against WSU’s Greek community after incidents involving alcohol and drugs, The Spokesman-Review reported.

The ban applies whether or not alcohol would be involved in an event, points out CBS Seattle affiliate KIRO-TV.

In September, the national headquarters of Delta Upsilon fraternity suspended the WSU chapter amid allegations by an 18-year-old student that she was sexually assaulted at a party hosted by the fraternity. In October, a student was critically injured after falling from a second-floor balcony. Four students were injured in falls while drinking last year.

In 2014, then-WSU President Elson Floyd barred alcohol in all Greek houses that house freshmen, citing an “unprecedented number of Greek chapters that have lost recognition in recent years.”

The councils say a chapter’s recognition on campus will be revoked if the moratorium is violated. It will be lifted for spring semester, and all chapters will be expected to adhere to new policies at that time, officials said. Members will be expected to complete a comprehensive checklist provided to them.

Current WSU President Kirk Schulz tweeted Monday night that the move was not his decision but the decision of WSU student leaders. “Let’s give them credit for taking a bold stand for student safety,” Schulz said.



I’m delighted to see that the student body is the source of this decision. Peer pressure is more effective against things that are “fun,” but destructive than is that of a governing group. Nonetheless, the “new policies,” in the end will be the key to a better future.

For as long as I can remember, colleges, even the good ones, have had very lenient policies for the privileged alumni-backed groups. Parents often want their kids to attend their alma mater and be a member of their fraternity. There isn’t enough seriousness of purpose in that plan; and many a freshman will be a little behind educationally or in their reading speed, which can cause them to be unable to keep up with the coursework.

Joining a fraternity doesn’t give them enough time to do their coursework. Of course, both fraternities and sports teams have been involved in cheating scandals – the alternative way to get a degree!! My dear alma mater UNC-Chapel Hill got caught in that a few years ago. As Deep Throat said to Bob Woodward, “Follow the money!”



http://www.cbsnews.com/news/vicious-road-rage-incident-los-angeles-theft-death/

Vicious road rage incident in Los Angeles turns to theft, death
CBS NEWS
November 8, 2016, 7:28 AM

Photograph -- The scene where a driver died after a road rage incident in Van Nuys, California, on Nov. 5, 2016. CBS LOS ANGELES


VAN NUYS, California — Police are searching for a man involved in a road rage incident that they say escalated into a killing and then theft of the victim’s car, CBS Los Angeles reports.

Neighbors at a Van Nuys apartment say they heard a loud crash and saw a man lying in the middle of the street with shattered glass everywhere at around 10 p.m. Sunday.

The LAPD says a 37 year-old man and his wife were in their car going northbound on Sepulveda Boulevard when a man on a bike was riding southbound toward their car. When the driver honked at the bicyclist, the bicyclist punched the car’s front windshield. That’s when the driver got out of the car and a fight broke out. The bicyclist hit the driver and sent him to the ground.

The bicyclist then got into the car, but as he started to drive away, the 37 year-old man’s wife jumped out. Her husband, not knowing she had gotten out, grabbed the driver’s side door. As the bicyclist drove off, he rammed the driver’s side door against parked cars. The 37 year-old man later died from his injuries and the bicyclist got away in the car.

Investigators don’t have much to go on. The suspect is only described as 5-foot-11, 20 to 30 years old, he was wearing a dark hooded sweatshirt and dark pants. If you have any information call the LAPD Valley Bureau homicide detectives.



We are a sick, sick society, in my view. Was this bicyclist trying to commit suicide, or stop the car and steal it to begin with, or did this begin as an idiotic danger loving incident. An interesting article I read a number of years ago was about the fact that some people have a gene, yes a gene, for physical excitement and danger. Among those are Bungee jumpers, sky divers, snake handlers, teens who drive at 70 mph while texting, etc.

I’m so ordinary. I just can’t imagine doing those things. It also strikes me as an enormous waste of time and energy. Parents need to TALK to their kids while they are young, guide them in better ways than those, teach the fine art of THINKING, restrain them without abusing them, until they are a teen. Then perhaps their carefully acquired good sense will keep them on a better track. I know about the “raging hormones” and the peer pressure and the not quite fully developed frontal lobe, but in the kind of society and town where I grew up it was actually a minority of the kids who did things like these.

In a less wealthy and sophisticated society than ours, such hijinks would be punished heavily by parents and the citizenry, and many of them would have a job to help out with the family finances or have started their own family already. Our teens are allowed to go wild. It isn’t inevitable.



http://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-campaign-files-lawsuit-in-nevada-over-early-voting/

Trump campaign files lawsuit in Nevada over early voting
CBS NEWS
November 8, 2016, 1:55 PM

Photograph -- People enter a polling staton [sic] to cast their ballot during the 2016 presidential election in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S November 8, 2016. REUTERS


Donald Trump’s campaign filed a lawsuit against the Clark County registrar, accusing him of intentionally coordinating with Democratic activists “in order to skew the vote unlawfully in favor of Democratic candidates.”

The suit alleges that the polls were open beyond closing time on Friday, the last day of early voting, and an emergency hearing on the matter is scheduled for 2 p.m. ET in the matter.

Clark County had a record-breaking number of early voters, exceeding 57,000 by 10 p.m. local time Friday, according to the Las Vegas Review Journal. And the lawsuit points to a location that remained open beyond closing time -- at Cardenas Market. The head of the polling location, according to the lawsuit, was “instructed by the Registrar to keep this polling location open until the market closed at 10 p.m.” The Review Journal had noted that this location, which had been slated to close at 9 p.m., “remained open long after that time to accommodate the many voters still waiting to cast their ballots.”

On CNN’s “State of the Union” Sunday, Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway said the campaign didn’t object if polls were kept open to accommodate voters who were already in line, but, she said, “we don’t know that that’s true.”

On Saturday, Nevada GOP chairman Michael McDonald complained at a Trump rally that Clark County had “kept a poll open ‘til 10 o’clock at night so a certain group could vote.” A Clark County spokesman said Friday that people who were still in line when the polls closed at 7 p.m. would be able to vote.



http://fortune.com/2016/11/07/minority-voters-election/

New Rules in These States Are Frustrating Voters
by The Associated Press
NOVEMBER 7, 2016, 11:12 AM EST
Leading to claims they’re being disenfranchised

Photograph -- Voting booths are ready for voters at an early voting site in Bradenton, Fla., Photograph by Joe Raedle — Getty Images


More than a dozen states have enacted tougher requirements for registering and voting since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a key provision of the Voting Rights Act three years ago.

That has led to confusion and claims that certain groups, mostly minorities who tend to vote with Democrats, are being disenfranchised.

Adding to the uncertainty is a call by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump for his supporters to monitor the polls on Tuesday for voter fraud and concerns by the federal government that hackers could try to disrupt the voting or vote-counting process.

Here is a breakdown of some of the top voting concerns in key states:

ALABAMA

This is the first presidential election in Alabama in which voters will be asked for photo identification. A lawsuit challenging the voter ID law is pending, with trial set for next year. The plaintiffs have argued the law disenfranchises voters who are unable to obtain a state-issued ID. Last year, 31 state driver’s license offices — many in poor, minority communities — were closed because of budget concerns. Most were open one day a week and now they are open one to two days a month, with critics complaining the reduced hours remain a barrier.

ARIZONA

Long lines led to frustration during Arizona’s March primary, when some voters in the Phoenix area waited hours to cast ballots after county election officials opened 60 polling stations — fewer than half what is typical. On Tuesday, Maricopa County, which includes Phoenix, plans on having more than 700 sites. Meanwhile, state Democrats filed a lawsuit alleging some Republicans are planning to intimidate voters at the polls. Arizona also was one of two states in which hackers over the summer attempted to breach voter registration systems.

FLORIDA

During the 2012 presidential election, Florida had the longest average wait time among all states — 45 minutes, according to the Pew Charitable Trusts. Some of the most populous counties have since expanded early voting hours in the hopes of reducing long lines on Election Day.

Meanwhile, legal battles continue over voter registration. After Hurricane Matthew raked Florida’s eastern coastline, Democrats sued to extend the deadline for voters to register. After a court order, about 107,000 people registered during the extension, but there was a concern that not all those applications would be processed before early voting began. A federal judge declined a request by Democrats to force election officials to allow those affected to vote even if their registration had yet to be verified, saying those affected could cast a provisional ballot that may be counted once their eligibility is confirmed.

GEORGIA

The state’s process for handling voter registrations and maintaining its voter lists has been the subject of lawsuits this year. One pending lawsuit was filed against Secretary of State Brian Kemp over a policy allowing for people to be removed from state voter rolls for failing to vote in recent elections. Lawyers in the Georgia case said roughly 372,000 voters were purged between 2012 and 2014.

Civil rights groups also sued Kemp’s office over a policy they said had prevented tens of thousands of residents from registering to vote and violated the federal Voting Rights Act. The policy rejected applicants whose identifying information did not exactly match state or federal databases. Kemp’s office informed the court in September that it had changed the policy. Meanwhile, long lines have been reported in some places since early voting began Oct. 17, including a four-hour wait in one metro Atlanta county on the first day.

INDIANA

Indiana State Police have said they are investigating some voter registration applications submitted by Patriot Majority USA, a Washington, D.C.-based voter mobilization group with ties to the Democratic Party. The probe is examining whether some applications contained forged signatures or other possible elements of fraud. Attorneys for Patriot Majority have asked Justice Department’s Civil Rights division to look into whether the investigation is an attempt to suppress the votes of black residents. The group has run voter registration drives in 11 states in previous years.

Separately, Secretary of State Connie Lawson, a Republican, warned recently of widespread voter registration fraud after her office found a heavier than usual number of changes to voter registration records. She later tempered those remarks to say that many of the thousands of changes simply could be residents rushing to correct their names or birth dates online ahead of the election.

KANSAS

A Kansas court fight focused on whether a group of as many as 50,000 residents could vote because they did not submit citizenship documents, as required under state law, when registering at motor vehicle offices or with a federal form. Federal courts had previously ordered the state to count their votes in federal elections. The secretary of state’s office had sought to toss out their votes in state and local races, something a state judge has since blocked.

NEW YORK

The state’s 2016 primary was marred by widespread reports of people in Brooklyn saying they were unable to vote. This happened after about 126,000 Brooklyn voters were removed from voter registration lists or deemed inactive between November 2015 and April of this year. Just days before the presidential election, a lawsuit was filed claiming the New York City Board of Elections had improperly removed voters from the rolls.

NORTH CAROLINA

In 2013, Republican lawmakers in North Carolina passed a package of measures that required voters to show photo ID, reduced early voting and eliminated same-day registration during the early voting period. In July, a federal appeals court struck down several parts of the law, saying they “target African Americans with almost surgical precision.” Republican officials have said discrimination was not their intent. A divided U.S. Supreme Court declined in August to take up the case.

After the ruling, Democrats raised alarm when the executive director of the state Republican Party emailed GOP activists suggesting each county election board’s Republicans work to limit early voting hours, curtail Sunday voting and avoid placing voting sites on college campuses. This set up a battle over early voting plans in a third of the state’s counties.

The dispute ultimately was resolved by the state Board of Elections, which restored Sunday voting in a few counties where local officials had sought to eliminate it and expanded hours in counties where the proposals seemed too limiting. But civil rights groups remained concerned that reductions in some places along with confusion over the photo ID law could affect turnout among black voters.

A week before Tuesday’s election, the state chapter of the NAACP filed a lawsuit alleging thousands of people, many of them black, had been removed improperly from voter rolls after being challenged by private citizens.

OHIO


A federal judge ruled in October that voters who were wrongfully removed from Ohio’s registration lists can cast ballots in Tuesday’s election. The number of voters covered by the ruling is not known, although some have estimated it to be in the tens of thousands. That decision follows an earlier ruling that found Ohio’s process for maintaining its voter rolls wrongfully removes eligible people based on their failure to vote in recent elections.

After state Democrats filed a lawsuit alleging GOP plans to intimidate voters, a judge issued a temporary restraining order against the Trump campaign and a Republican political operative aimed at preventing harassment at the polls. A separate effort by Democrats in Ohio to restore “golden week,” when people could register and cast ballots at the same time, failed after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to intervene.

Democrats had claimed the reduction, along with other voting changes, disproportionately burdened black voters and those who lean Democratic. But the state’s attorneys argued the reduction alleviates administrative burdens for local election officials while reducing costs and the potential for fraud.

PENNSYLVANIA

Trump has warned for weeks of a “rigged” election, asking supporters to head to the polls to watch for voter fraud and mentions Philadelphia as a place that could have problems on Election Day.

Days before Tuesday’s election, state Democrats filed a lawsuit alleging some Republicans were planning to intimidate voters at the polls. Meanwhile, a judge rejected a lawsuit by Republicans challenging a state law that requires poll watchers to be registered in the county where they want to monitor the vote.

TEXAS

A federal appeals court ruled this summer that the state’s 2011 voter ID law discriminated against minorities and the poor, ordering officials to relax the ID requirements for the November election. Experts had said the law was among the toughest in the nation, requiring voters to show one of seven acceptable forms of photo identification that included a concealed handgun license but not a college student ID.

It was estimated that more than 600,000 registered voters in Texas lacked an acceptable ID under the law. And there were early signs that confusion surrounding the law has persisted, with reports during early voting of at least seven counties with outdated posters and poll workers saying photo IDs were required to vote.

A federal judge in September had said Texas officials must change its voter outreach efforts after the Justice Department accused the state of still giving the impression that some voters cannot cast a ballot.

WISCONSIN

This is the first presidential election in Wisconsin in which voters will be asked for photo identification. The voter ID law was initially blocked by the courts, and then went into effect for the presidential primary in April. In July, a federal judge left the voter ID requirement in place but struck down more than a dozen other election changes, including limits on early voting hours and locations.

As many as 300,000 Wisconsin voters may not have the required photo ID. In recent weeks, recordings by voter advocacy groups have shown state DMV workers giving people inaccurate information about what they can do to obtain alternative voting credentials if they lack a photo ID. A federal judge in October ordered the state to clarify the process and produce a simple, one-page handout that can be distributed in person and online.

OTHER STATES

Civil rights groups are also monitoring a group of other states with new voting restrictions or requirements in place for the first time. Those states are Mississippi, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia.



It’s funny -- but not "funny haha" -- that only Republicans try to disenfranchise those who aren’t likely to vote for them. Richard Nixon was heard, when the White House Tapes recorded him in so many damaging ways, as referring to “dirty tricks” as their PLAN OF ACTION. I just can’t help being totally repulsed by that turn of mind. Republicans tend to think of it as “hard ball” and playing fair as “soft ball.” To me it just “sucks!”

For some good news on Trump’s lawsuit of this morning to disallow the votes of those who, after standing in line for hours, were allowed to vote. It took until 10:00 PM, but their votes were taken. See the articles above on widespread Republican voter suppression, and Trump’s suit, and then this newly received story below. The judge refused to hear Trump’s case. Thank goodness!



http://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-campaign-files-lawsuit-in-nevada-over-early-voting/

Nevada judge denies Trump campaign lawsuit over early voting
CBS NEWS
November 8, 2016, 1:55 PM

Photograph -- People enter a polling staton to cast their ballot during the 2016 presidential election in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S November 8, 2016. REUTERS


A Nevada judge denied the Trump campaign’s request for an order to isolate ballots in Clark County that were allegedly cast after polls closed.

At an emergency hearing Tuesday afternoon, Judge Gloria Sturman said the Trump campaign’s lawsuit raises privacy concerns for the poll workers whose identities the campaign was requesting, saying she feared they would be the subject of “harassment.” Sturman also said Clark County officials are already required to preserve the records the Trump campaign was asking to preserve.

“I am not going to issue any order,” Sturman said.

The Trump campaign filed suit against the Clark County registrar, accusing him of intentionally coordinating with Democratic activists “in order to skew the vote unlawfully in favor of Democratic candidates.”

The suit alleges that the registrar instructed the head of the polling station to keep the location open two hours after its original closing time of 8 p.m., until 10 p.m. The head of the polling location allegedly told a poll watcher that he believed the station was being kept open to “help Hillary Clinton.”

Someone identified in the Trump filing as a “poll watcher” estimated that 150-300 people entered the line after 8 p.m., when the polling station was supposed to close, and suggested the number could have been higher.

Trump asked the court to intervene and make sure that the ballots and voting machines involved in the Nov. 4th voting events not be commingled with ballots and voting machines that were not involved in the alleged illegal voting.

Clark County had a record-breaking number of early voters, exceeding 57,000 by 10 p.m. local time Friday, according to the Las Vegas Review Journal. And the lawsuit points to a location that remained open beyond closing time -- at Cardenas Market. The head of the polling location, according to the lawsuit, was “instructed by the Registrar to keep this polling location open until the market closed at 10 p.m.” The Review Journal had noted that this location, which had been slated to close at 9 p.m., “remained open long after that time to accommodate the many voters still waiting to cast their ballots.”

On CNN’s “State of the Union” Sunday, Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway said the campaign didn’t object if polls were kept open to accommodate voters who were already in line, but, she said, “we don’t know that that’s true.”

On Saturday, Nevada GOP chairman Michael McDonald complained at a Trump rally that Clark County had “kept a poll open ‘til 10 o’clock at night so a certain group could vote.”

CBS News’ Paula Reid contributed to this story.



Somehow I just don’t trust Trump’s “poll watchers” to tell the truth on the issue that those voters had joined the line after the closing time of 9:00 PM. There should be staff on hand to see that such things don’t happen. Usually a barrier will be put between the groups, or a worker will be stationed to turn new voters away. That’s one of the main reasons to have extra poll workers on hand.

The news article mentions also that the Judge fears harassment of poll workers if their names were given, and that the Registrar intentionally cooperated with Democratic elements to “skew” the election. Unless you have a tape recording of an illicit conversation, that’d hard to prove. The fact that there were 57,000 voters over the early voting period indicates some excuse for holding the polls open for them. I waited between one and two hours, standing up part of the time and sitting on a curb the other part, to vote for Obama in 2008.

I have waiting in lines for as much as an hour more than once to vote, especially before early voting was allowed. Whenever I go to any place that I’m likely to have to wait I always carry a book. It is especially galling, after waiting like that, to be turned away at the door.

There is another article tonight, but I just can’t face it yet. It’s about the two sides already “girding their loins,” to use the old Biblical phrase, for a recount fight. That’s trouble enough for tomorrow.