MAY 7, 2018


NEWS AND VIEWS


NOTE – JUST SECONDS AGO YAHOO NEWS ANNOUNCED THAT SCHNEIDERMAN HAS RESIGNED. I HATE TO SAY THIS, BUT HE IS A DEMOCRAT. NOT A “GOOD DEMOCRAT,” THOUGH.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2018/05/07/women-accuse-eric-schneiderman-violence/588786002/?csp=chromepush
N.Y. Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, #MeToo champion, accused of violence
Jon Campbell, Albany Bureau Published 7:56 p.m. ET May 7, 2018 | Updated 8:10 p.m. ET May 7, 2018

ALBANY, N.Y. — Four women have accused New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman of physical violence that was not consensual.

In an article posted Monday evening, The New Yorker detailed allegations from four women that had romantic relationships or encounters with the Democratic attorney general.

All four accused Schneiderman of striking them in various forms, including one woman who said he slapped her and choked her in bed without her consent, according to the article.

Two of the women — Michelle Manning Barish and Tanya Selvaratnam — told their stories on the record, while a third spoke under the condition of anonymity and a fourth told her story to Manning Barish and Selvaratnam.

Manning Barish told The New Yorker she and Schneiderman had been clothed and getting ready for bed after drinking one night when he backed her to the edge of the bed before abruptly slapping and choking her.

"All of a sudden, he just slapped me, open handed and with great force, across the face, landing the blow directly onto my ear,” Manning Barish says.


M Manning Barish
@MichelleBarish
After the most difficult month of my life-I spoke up. For my daughter and for all women. I could not remain silent and encourage other women to be brave for me. I could not... https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/four-women-accuse-new-yorks-attorney-general-of-physical-abuse …

7:14 PM - May 7, 2018

Four Women Accuse New York’s Attorney General of Physical Abuse

Eric Schneiderman has raised his profile as a voice against sexual misconduct. Now, after suing Harvey Weinstein, he faces a #MeToo reckoning of his own.

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In a statement, Schneiderman denied ever assaulting anyone.

"In the privacy of intimate relationships, I have engaged in role-playing and other consensual sexual activity," he said in the statement. "I have not assaulted anyone. I have never engaged in non-consensual sex, which is I line I would not cross."


Eric T. Schneiderman
✔
@Schneiderman
Statement from Eric T. Schneiderman:

"In the privacy of intimate relationships, I have engaged in role-playing and other consensual sexual activity. I have not assaulted anyone. I have never engaged in non-consensual sex, which is a line I would not cross."

7:21 PM - May 7, 2018
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More: The #MeToo survivors we forgot

More: A complete list of the 60 Bill Cosby accusers and their reactions to the guilty verdict

More: There won't be a 2018 Nobel prize for literature after sex scandal

Schneiderman has positioned himself as a champion of the #MeToo movement, suing Harvey Weinstein and The Weinstein Company in the wake of the sexual-harassment scandal that spurred a national reckoning over the way men treat women.

The attorney general is also in the midst of a review of Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance's handling of a sexual-assault complaint against Weinstein. Schneiderman received an official referral for the review from Gov. Andrew Cuomo late last month.

"Every New Yorker has a right to a workplace free of sexual harassment, intimidation, and fear," Schneiderman said when he filed the Weinstein lawsuit in February.

Manning Barish told The New Yorker she was "crying and in shock" after the alleged incident with Schneiderman.

When she confronted him, asking if he "crazy," Schneiderman accused Manning Barish of scratching him, she told the magazine.

“You know, hitting an officer of the law is a felony," he said, according to Manning Barish.

UltraViolet, a women's advocacy group, called on Schneiderman to resign immediately, calling his alleged actions "horrific."

"Schneiderman must resign. Immediately," Shaunna Thomas, a co-founder of the group, said in a statement. "If he fails to do so, Governor Cuomo and the New York State Legislature must take immediate action to remove him from office."

Follow Jon Campbell on Twitter: @JonCampbellGAN




BERNIE SANDERS HAS A GREAT START THIS YEAR. HE HAS HIT THREE OR FOUR PLACES IN PENNSYLVANIA THIS WEEKEND, AND THE CROWDS ARE PREDICTABLY LARGE. HE IS STUMPING FOR OTHER PROGRESSIVES, INCLUDING NEW CANDIDATES, AND SEVERAL PEOPLE EXPRESSED APPROVAL FOR THE NEW GUYS ALSO, EVEN WITHOUT SANDERS. TRUE, SANDERS IS AN ELOQUENT AND OFTEN EXCITING SPEAKER, BUT IT ISN’T JUST THAT BERNIE SANDERS’ TIME HAS COME. PROGRESSIVISM IS POPULAR IN ITS’ OWN RIGHT. THE PEOPLE IN OUR COUNTRY WHO ARE WORKERS ARE “BETWEEN A ROCK AND A HARD PLACE,” AND A GREAT MANY OF US ARE READY FOR A NEW FDR. I COULD BE WRONG, BUT I BELIEVE THIS IS THE TIME. THERE IS AN ELECTRICITY IN THE AIR. I DIDN’T FEEL THIS GOOD ABOUT AN ELECTION SINCE EUGENE MCCARTHY RAN ON AN ANTI-WAR TICKET. MAYBE I’LL GET A CHANCE HERE NEAR THE END OF MY LIFE TO BE YOUNG AGAIN!

http://www.mcall.com/news/elections/mc-nws-pa-7-bernie-sanders-visits-allentown-20180503-story.html
Nicole Radzievich Contact Reporter
Of The Morning Call
MAY 5, 2018 BETHLEHEM

PHOTO GALLERY: U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders spoke at a rally for Greg Edwards, one of six Democrats running for the nomination in Pennsylvania's 7th District. Edwards has cast himself as the progressive candidate and is trooping in Sanders to stump for him. (RICK KINTZEL/ THE MORING CALL)

Espousing themes of economic equality and social justice, U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders brought his “political revolution” to Allentown Saturday to rally Democrats behind community organizer Greg Edwards in the Lehigh Valley’s high-profile congressional race.

Sanders, who shared the stage at a packed Miller Symphony Hall with Edwards, vouched for the congressional hopeful’s commitment to “progressive” policies such as universal health care, debt-free education and a higher minimum wage.

Sanders urged the audience to vote in the May 15 primary and reach across the aisle to those who supported Republican President Donald Trump. He said many Trump voters are hurting, too, because they cannot afford health care and are having a tough time making ends meet.

“When ordinary people stand up and fight back, there is nothing that will stop us,” Sanders yelled to an applauding crowd, raising his fist into the air.

Sanders, an Independent senator from Vermont and one-time presidential hopeful, spoke about 35 minutes in support of Edwards, a left-leaning pastor competing against five others for the Democratic nomination in the 7th Congressional District, which covers Lehigh, Northampton and southern Monroe counties.

The stop was the last in a two-day tour through Pennsylvania, a battleground state Trump won in 2016. Sanders joined Braddock Mayor John Fetterman, who is running for lieutenant governor, at a rally Friday in Philadelphia, and attended another rally Saturday morning in Lancaster with Jess King, a Democrat running in Pennsylvania’s 11th District.

Sanders said his “political revolution” includes getting strong candidates to run for all levels of government to support policies that take on corporations and benefit working families.

Democrats hope to flip the newly redrawn 7th District, much of which is now represented by outgoing Rep. Charlie Dent, a Republican. Also in the Democratic primary race are Northampton County District Attorney John Morganelli, attorney Susan Wild, social worker Rick Daugherty, engineering professor Roger Ruggles and retired youth case worker David Clark.

Some Democrats have largely embraced parts of Sanders’ agenda, such as universal health care, and some have tried to claim the “progressive” label. Last week, Wild received an endorsement for Lehigh Valley for All, a local group organized to “to connect, organize and mobilize progressives across the Valley,” according to the organization’s website.

Sanders told the crowd that Edwards was the right person to fight side by side with him in Washington.

“We can do it. We can rebuild our infrastructure. We can raise the minimum wage. We can guarantee health care to all people. We can end sexism and racism and homophobia and xenophobia,” he said. “We are a great people. We are a great people who have done so many things throughout our history. And now is the time for us to stand up fight back and elect representatives like Greg Edwards.”

Edwards, who spoke immediately before Sanders, championed the same agenda with a populist tone.

“When the people in power meet the power of the people, that’s the nexus of change,” Edwards told the cheering crowd, some of whom held up his campaign signs.

The crowd began gathering outside Miller Symphony Hall before noon, more than two hours before the program began.

“I would have voted for Bernie in the last election if I was old enough,” said Charlotte Bloys, 18, of Bethlehem. “I would have voted for him 1,000 times. He is truly progressive, supporting universal health care and education.”

His endorsement of Edwards helped her quickly weed through the field of candidates as she plans her first vote.

Kevin Horn, 51, of Easton, brought his 15-year-old son Elijah to hear Sanders speak.

“It’s historic,” said Horn, who voted for Sanders and supports Edwards. “He was very close to becoming president of the United States.”

Issues such as affordable education hit home with him as his son aspires to study computer science at Stanford.

Zinnia Santiago, 23, of Allentown supported Edwards long before Sanders’ endorsement came along, but Sanders’ presence just underscores the importance of the race, she said.

Getting the right politician elected, she said, can “transform a community from the inside out.”

“I’m vested in my community,” she said.

The winner of the Democratic primary will face either Marty Nothstein or Dean Browning, who are competing for the Republican nomination. Tim Silfies has said he is running as a Libertarian.

nicole.mertz@mcall.com
Twitter @McallBethlehem
610-778-2253

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Bernie Sanders Donald Trump Charlie Dent Democratic Party



FROM NOW ON, READ ALL CANDIDATES’ WEBSITES. THIS IS THE FIRST TIME I’VE HEARD THIS KIND OF THING, BUT IT’S NO SURPRISE, GIVEN OUR CURRENT POLITICAL ENVIRONMENT.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/patrick-little-neo-nazi-senate-candidate-california-republican-convention/
AP May 5, 2018, 10:05 PM
Neo-Nazi Senate candidate kicked out of California GOP convention

PHOTOGRAPH -- Patrick Little. YOUTUBE / PAT2018

SAN DIEGO -- An anti-Semitic Senate candidate who praised Adolf Hitler has been kicked out of the California Republican Party's convention in San Diego. State GOP spokesman Matt Fleming says Patrick Little was ejected from the gathering Saturday.

Little is running against Democrat Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who's seeking a fifth full term. He made headlines when a recent poll put him in second place with 18 percent of the vote.

Little's campaign website advocates for "limiting representation of Jews in the government."

Fleming says Little has never been an active member of the party. Fleming says the GOP condemns "anti-Semitism and any other form of religious bigotry."

© 2018 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.



SOME NEW STATISTICS ON BAD DUDES – IT’S THE SAME OLD SAD STORIES. WE NEED TO CATCH THEM WHEN THEY KILL OR TORTURE THE CAT AND PUT THEM IN PSYCHIATRIC TREATMENT, OR EVEN LONGTERM CONFINEMENT. ONE OF MY MANY ARTICLES I READ GAVE A LIST OF 4 CHARACTERISTICS OF PSYCHOPATHS, AND KILLING ANIMALS IS ONE OF THOSE. NO. THAT KIND OF BEHAVIOR ISN’T NORMAL, EVEN IN CHILDREN.

“IT'S A VICIOUS CIRCLE AND FOR THE MOST PART AFTER THESE INCIDENTS, NOTHING CHANGES. WE ALL RETREAT TO OUR CORNERS AND BICKER."

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/fbi-report-active-shootings-2017-more-than-any-other-year-on-record-2018-05-05/
CBS NEWS May 5, 2018, 1:05 PM
More active shooter situations in 2017 than any other year: FBI

PHOTOGRAPH -- This Oct. 9, 2017, image shows a makeshift memorial for victims of a mass shooting in Las Vegas. JOHN LOCHER / AP

A new report released by the FBI says there were 30 active shooter situations in 2017, which is more than any year previously recorded. The bureau defines an active shooter situation as one or more individuals "actively engaged in killing or attempting to kill people in a populated area" with the use of one or more firearms.

The report said there were 50 active shooter incidents in 2016 and 2017. They left 221 people killed and 722 people wounded. All of the shooters were male and each incident was a "single-shooter event." Three events made those numbers skyrocket: the 2017 Las Vegas strip shooting (58 killed, 489 wounded), the 2016 Orlando nightclub shooting (49 killed, 53 wounded), and the 2017 church shooting in Sutherland, Texas (26 killed, 20 wounded).

The FBI said the report was undertaken "to provide clarity" to federal, state and campus law enforcement, educators and the general public as they "seek to neutralize threats" and save lives during active shooter incidents.

The report said officers exchanged gunfire with shooters in 14 incidents. Thirteen officers were killed in six incidents and 20 were injured in eight events. It said the most came from the 2016 shooting at a protest in Dallas, Texas, in which five officers were killed and nine were injured.

There were 10 incidents where citizens confronted the shooter. In eight of those incidents, one or more citizens successfully ended the shooting. In four of the incidents, citizens possessed valid firearms permits and successfully ended the incident.

"Their selfless actions likely saved many lives," the report said.

Former FBI Agent James Gagliano told USA Today he wasn't surprised by the report's findings. He said the rise of violence could be blamed on a number of factors, including video games, copycats and accessibility to guns.

"Part of it is these individuals who see one gunman on the news and the think, 'Wow, if they did this, I can do it, too,'" Gagliano told USA Today. "It's a vicious circle and for the most part after these incidents, nothing changes. We all retreat to our corners and bicker."

© 2018 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.



IF THESE NEW LAVA-SPEWING CRACKS KEEP OPENING UP AT KILAUEA, WILL WE BE THINKING IN TERMS OF MOUNT VESUVIUS SOON? PERSONALLY, I WOULDN’T LIVE ON A VOLCANIC ISLAND LIKE THAT. I’D MOVE TO KANSAS OR SOMETHING. ON THE OTHER HAND, IN KANSAS, THERE ARE MEGA-TORNADOES. A LADY I KNEW WHO WAS FROM CALIFORNIA SAID, WHEN I ASKED HER HOW SHE MANAGED TO LIVE ON THE SAN ANDREAS FAULT, “HOW CAN YOU STAND ALL THE LIGHTNING STORMS?” I PREFER LIGHTNING, BECAUSE IT’S REALLY BEAUTIFUL, BUT THE KEY IS TO KEEP A HEALTHY RESPECT FOR STORMS. DON’T GO OUTDOORS UNLESS YOU REALLY NEED TO, AND ESPECIALLY DON’T SIT UNDER A TREE OR DANGLE YOUR FEET IN THE SWIMMING POOL.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2018/05/06/a-very-fast-moving-situation-lava-shoots-through-hawaii-neighborhood-as-new-fissures-form/
Post Nation
‘A very fast-moving situation’: Lava shoots through Hawaii neighborhood as new fissures form
BY AMY B WANG
MAY 6 AT 12:12 PM

Less than a week ago, Leilani Estates was the picture of serenity on Hawaii’s Big Island, a subdivision in the island’s eastern Puna district filled with wooden homes nestled into tropical plant-filled lots.

The eruption of the island’s most active volcano changed everything.

Shortly after Kilauea erupted Thursday, the ground split open on the east side of Leilani Estates, exposing an angry red beneath the lush landscape. From the gash, molten rock burbled and splashed, then shot as high as 80 to 100 feet in the air.

The Hawaii County Civil Defense Agency called it “active volcanic fountaining.” Some residents insisted it was Pele, the Hawaiian volcano goddess, come to reclaim her land. Residents there were ordered to flee amid threats of fires and “extremely high levels of dangerous” sulfur dioxide gas.

Soon, another such fissure had formed less than three streets to the west. Then another, and another. From the vents, hot steam — and noxious gases — rose, before magma broke through and splattered into the air.

As of Sunday morning local time, at least 10 such fissure vents were reported in the neighborhood, including two that had opened anew late Saturday night local time. More outbreaks are likely to occur along the rift zone, officials said.

A new fissure erupted near fissures 2 and 7, beginning with small lava spattering at about 8:44 p.m. By 9 p.m., lava fountains as high as about 230 feet were erupting from the fissure. (U.S. Geological Survey)

Drone footage showed lava spouting along the fissures that had formed, creeping toward Leilani Estates homes and leaving lines of smoldering trees in their wake. The flows destroyed or cut off several streets in the neighborhood, typically home to about 1,700 people — before most of them evacuated last week.

At least five homes in the subdivision have been destroyed by fire, according to Hawaii County Mayor Harry Kim, who warned residents to heed evacuation notices. On Friday, Kim had said there might be a small window of time residents could return home to rescue pets or important items left behind, but he said it remained too dangerous Saturday, Hawaii News Now reported.

“This is a very fast-moving situation,” Kim told the news site. “This is unfortunately not the end.”

Another structure!!!

A post shared by John Kapono Carter (@johnkaponocarter) on May 5, 2018 at 10:52am PDT

The road ends here... This mornings eruption crossed Leilani Boulevard !! . . #lava #leilani #ig_oahu #ig_worldphoto #hnnsunrise

A post shared by D B (@dbphotogallery) on May 5, 2018 at 4:13pm PDT

Kilauea first erupted Thursday, sending fountains of lava gushing out of the ground and billowing clouds of steam and volcanic ash into the sky on the eastern side of the island.

Three days later, some residents there continue to suffer through a triple whammy of threats. From below, lava has spewed forth out of an increasing number of fissures that have opened up in the ground, oozing toward homes.

Several earthquakes — including the strongest to hit Hawaii in more than four decades — have jolted the island’s residents, some as they were in the midst of evacuating.

And in the air, noxious fumes from the volcano are what some officials say could be the greatest threat to public health in the wake of its eruption.

After the eruption Thursday, the island shook at regular intervals, but especially around midday Friday: A 5.6-magnitude quake hit south of the volcano around 11:30 a.m., followed about an hour later by a 6.9-magnitude temblor, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

The latter was felt as far away as Oahu and struck in nearly the exact same place as a deadly 7.4-magnitude earthquake in 1975, according to the Geological Survey.

Videos posted to social media showed homes visibly shaking, items clattering to the floor at supermarkets and waves forming in swimming pools as the 6.9-magnitude quake rattled the Big Island on Friday afternoon.

“I think the whole island felt it,” said Cori Chong, who was in her bedroom with her foster dog, Monty, when the 6.9-magnitude quake struck, frightening both of them. Even though Chong lives on the Hamakua coast, about an hour north of the earthquake’s epicenter, the shaking in her home was so violent that it caused furniture to move and glass to shatter.

David Burlingame, who lives about two miles west of Leilani Estates, told The Washington Post that he and a friend ran outside when the earthquake hit “and watched my house just shake back and forth.”

“Everybody is kind of on edge,” Burlingame said Saturday of both the potential for additional earthquakes and the unpredictability of the lava flows. “The worst part is kind of waiting to see, because you really never can tell what can happen.”

#earthquake #hawaii video my boyfriend took in our house in Papaikou during the 6.9 earthquake 😳 pic.twitter.com/xAAjeN1zFO

— Allison (@Allieb1792) May 5, 2018
The earthquakes also prompted the rare closure of Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park after they damaged some of the park’s trails, craters and roads. The first earthquake triggered a cliff to collapse into the ocean, and fissures began to appear in the ground at a popular overlook near the Jaggar Museum.

Park officials said they canceled hikes Friday and evacuated about 2,600 visitors, along with all nonemergency employees.

“Safety is our main priority at Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park, and it is currently not safe to be here,” park superintendent Cindy Orlando said in a statement. “We will monitor the situation closely, and reopen when it is safe to do so.”

The county civil defense agency reported that the threat of a tsunami was low after the earthquakes, though officials warned that residents were not in the clear yet.

“Everything is still elevated,” agency administrator Talmadge Magno said, according to Hawaii News Now. “It kind of gets you nervous.”

Thursday’s eruption prompted the County of Hawaii’s managing director, Wil Okabe, to issue a state of emergency declaration. Gov. David Ige (D) also issued an emergency proclamation and activated Hawaii’s National Guard to help with evacuations.

“Please be safe,” Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) wrote on Twitter.

Lava from a fissure slowly advances to the northeast on Hookapu Street after the eruption of Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano on Saturday in the Leilani Estates subdivision near Pahoa, Hawaii. (U.S. Geological Survey via Getty Images)
Jordan Sonner, a Big Island Realtor, was on another part of the island taking pictures for an upcoming listing Thursday when she “got the call that there was lava in Leilani” and rushed back to her home, just outside Leilani Estates.

“To describe it in a single word: chaos,” Sonner said of the evacuation in an interview with The Post on Saturday. “My immediate threat was not the lava. It was the sulfur dioxide gas.”

It took Sonner about an hour and a half to reach her home, grab important documents and her pets — four dogs and a chinchilla — and scramble back out of there, she said. She’s now staying with a friend in Mountain View, about 20 miles northwest of Leilani Estates, and expects it could be a long while before it’s safe for residents to return.

“It’s so hard to tell what is going to happen because it’s just so early. This volcano being a shield volcano, the way that it erupts, it just erupts slowly,” Sonner said. “We kind of just have to sit and wait to see what direction the lava is going to flow in and what other fissures are going to open up. This is far from over.”

When asked whether she was afraid she would lose her home, Sonner paused, before describing the uniqueness of the community there.

“The way I kind of look at it is, the land doesn’t really belong to us. It belongs to Pele,” Sonner said, referring to the Hawaiian volcano goddess. “We get to live on it while we can, and if she wants it back, she’ll take it. I have good insurance.”

What an erupting volcano looks like in Hawaii
View Photos -- The Big Island’s Kilauea explodes, prompting evacuations as lava threatens communities.

As of Friday afternoon, at least a few hundred people had evacuated their homes in Leilani Estates and nearby Lanipuna Gardens, taking refuge at local churches, Red Cross shelters, and with family and friends in other parts of Hawaii, Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) told CNN’s Jake Tapper.

Gabbard warned that, in some ways, the threat from the sulfur dioxide gas could be more dangerous than the lava flows, which had stopped in places after the eruption. If conditions worsened, even first responders would not be able to go into the affected neighborhoods to help trapped residents, she added.

“Sulfur dioxide gas can be so toxic and thick in some areas that it can be fatal, especially to those who have respiratory illnesses,” Gabbard said. “The wind can push [the gas] in different directions, so that’s a very serious concern given the high levels, and, you know, people don’t necessarily have the kinds of protective gas masks that they would need if they were right in the thick of this gas.”

A fissure produces steam from a street after the eruption of Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano Friday. (U.S. Geological Survey/Getty Images)
Kilauea is the youngest and most active volcano on Hawaii Island, according to the USGS. The eruption from the volcano came hours after a 5.0-magnitude earthquake jolted the island Thursday morning. As The Post’s Sarah Kaplan reported, Kilauea is made of basalt, a fluid lava that makes for effusive — rather than explosive — eruptions:

Rather than building up into a steep, towering peak like Krakatau in Indonesia or Mount St. Helens in Washington state, the fluid rock at Kilauea creates a broad, shallow dome known as a shield volcano.

Shield volcanoes “are really voluminous, the largest volcanoes on Earth, but because they have those long, low-angle slopes, they’re not very dramatic,” said Tari Mattox, a geologist who worked at the Hawaii Volcano Observatory for six years. “People are surprised when they go to Hawaii and they say, ‘Where’s the volcano?’ And I tell them, ‘You’re standing on it!’ ”

… Rocks moving upward through the mantle beneath Hawaii begin to melt about 50 miles beneath the surface. That magma is less dense than the surrounding rock, so it continues to rise until it “ponds” in a reservoir that’s roughly three miles wide and one to four miles beneath the summit. As pressure builds in the magma chamber, the magma seeks out weak spots in the surrounding rock, squeezing through the earth until it reaches a vent to the surface.

Geologists said the current seismic activities around Puna most closely resemble the events that precipitated a 1955 eruption, according to Hawaii News Now. That eruption lasted about three months and left almost 4,000 acres of land covered in lava, the news site reported.

More recently in 2014, lava again threatened the Puna district, specifically the town of Pahoa and its surrounding area, The Post reported. During that event, lava flowed as quickly as 20 yards per hour, and up to 60 structures were at risk.

Lindsey Bever and Allyson Chiu contributed to this report.

Read more:
What’s happening inside Hawaii’s Kilauea, the world’s longest-erupting volcano
Hawaii might be about to ban your favorite sunscreen to protect its coral reefs
Hawaii missile alert: How one employee ‘pushed the wrong button’ and caused a wave of panic

Amy B Wang is a general assignment reporter covering national and breaking news for The Washington Post. She joined The Post in 2016 after seven years with the Arizona Republic. Follow @amybwang



JOHNNY CASH WAS ONE OF “MY MAIN MEN.” HANDSOME, BUT NOT PRETTY, AND TOUGH BUT NOT VICIOUS. HE DID DRUGS AND ENDED UP SPENDING TIME IN PRISON. HIS SINGING INCORPORATED THE SOUND OF THE HUMAN SOUL, AS IS TRUE WITH THE BEST OF THEM. UP THERE WITH HIM ARE KRIS KRISTOFFERSON, JUDY COLLINS, LEONARD COHEN, AND QUITE A FEW OTHERS. THAT WAS A GREAT PERIOD TO BE YOUNG.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/johnny-cashs-dyess-arkansas-house-historic-register/
CBS/AP May 5, 2018, 10:49 PM
Johnny Cash's boyhood home added to national historic register

PHOTOGRAPH -- In this Friday, Aug. 8, 2014 file photo, rain clouds gather over the childhood home, dating to the mid 1930s, of singer Johnny Cash, in Dyess, Ark. DANNY JOHNSTON / AP

DYESS, Ark. --The Man in Black's boyhood home has been added to the National Register of Historic Places. The Arkansas Historic Preservation Program announced Friday that the home in Dyess where country music icon Johnny Cash lived from age 3 through high school has been added to the register.

Dyess is a small Arkansas town close to the Tennessee border. Cash's daughter, Rosanne Cash, said town was "just empty land" before President Roosevelt.

The five-room farmhouse was built in 1934 as part of the Dyess Resettlement Colony by the Federal Emergency Relief Administration.

Anthony Mason Rosanne Cash Dyess house2.jpg
Roseanne Cash showed CBS News' Anthony Mason on "Sunday Morning" in 2014 what would have been Johnny Cash's bedroom, which he shared with his brother, Jack, and sisters, Louise and Reba: "Four children in this room."

Rosanne had first seen the house as a child in 1968, when the Man in Black returned to Dyess -- what he described as "a beautiful little place."

"I sensed this kind of a weight about it, a sadness," she recalled. "And at 12 I didn't really assimilate what that was about.

"I think it took me until now to understand," she said -- to understand how Johnny Cash's strength grew out of the "gumbo soil" of Dyess, and how his sadness took root there, too.

"He lost his brother here, who was his best friend and his hero," she said. "But even more than that, understanding of what it meant to my dad now, I understand what it means to me."

The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports that the house is owned by Arkansas State University, which spent $575,000 to buy, restore, furnish and landscape the property.

Cash died in 2003 at age 71 after an incredibly successful musical career. Among his many hit songs were "I Walk the Line" and "Ring of Fire."

© 2018 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.


HOW DID THIS 16 YEAR-OLD GIRL “ASK FOR IT?” THIS ARTICLE STATES THAT IN SOME PARTS OF INDIA RAPING A CHILD BRINGS THE DEATH PENALTY. APPARENTLY RAPING ADULTS IS OKAY, THOUGH. THE PENALTY ON THAT HAS ONLY RECENTLY BEEN RAISED TO TWENTY YEARS IMPRISONMENT. THIS IS THE THIRD OR FOURTH SUCH CASE I’VE SEEN IN THE LAST FEW YEARS. “... WIDESPREAD VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN HAD LONG BEEN QUIETLY ACCEPTED.” TO A LESSER DEGREE, THAT IS TRUE OF THE USA ALSO, AT LEAST IN THE SOUTH, OR WAS WHEN I WAS YOUNG.

WOMEN WHO DON’T SIT WITH THEIR LEGS TIGHTLY TOGETHER USED TO BE CONSIDERED TO BE “ASKING FOR IT.” ALTERNATIVELY, IF THAT IS TOO UNCOMFORTABLE FOR THEM, THEY MAY CROSS THEIR LEGS – BUT ONLY AT THE ANKLES. NOT TOO MANY YEARS AGO THINGS OF THAT SORT COULD BE USED AS AN ACCEPTABLE DEFENSE OF A RAPE CHARGE, AND WOMEN WHEN THEY DARED TO DECLARE A RAPE WERE “RAPED AGAIN” IN THE COURTROOM BY THE DEFENSE LAWYER’S CROSS-EXAMINATION.

THAT COMES IN CONTRAST TO “MANSPREADING,” WHICH WAS DISCUSSED TODAY IN A BBC ARTICLE. THIS OCCURS FREQUENTLY NOT JUST IN THE US BUT “EVERYWHERE AROUND THE WORLD.” A FEMALE PSYCHOLOGIST CALLED IT A PRODUCT OF MALE PRIVILEGE AND “TOXIC MASCULINITY,” WHICH IT OBVIOUSLY IS. ALSO, IF A WOMAN’S LEGS BEING SOMEWHAT OPEN IS “ASKING FOR IT,” THEN A MAN’S LEGS SPREAD (TO A RIDICULOUS DEGREE) CAN AS LOGICALLY BE CONSIDERED A THREAT OF RAPE. RIGHT? WHATEVER OTHER PURPOSE COULD THERE BE FOR THAT? IT’S REALLY TOTALLY DISGUSTING.

WOMEN FIGHT BACK AGAINST MANSPREADING: SEE THE FOLLOWING -- https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p05p46lw.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/16-year-old-girl-india-burned-to-death-after-rape/
CBS/AP May 5, 2018, 12:03 PM
16-year-old girl burned to death after rape in India

PHOTOGRAPH -- In this April 15, 2018 file photo, an Indian protestor stands with a placard during a protest against two recently reported rape cases as they gather near the Indian parliament in New Delhi, India. OINAM ANAND/AP

PATNA, India -- Indian police on Saturday arrested 14 people suspected of kidnapping, raping and burning to death a teenage girl, the latest in rising crimes against women in India despite toughening of laws. District Magistrate Jitendera Singh said the accused abducted the girl from Chatra, a village in eastern Jharkhand state, while she was attending a wedding ceremony on Thursday. Some of them allegedly raped her before letting her go home.

The village council leaders imposed a fine of 50,000 rupees -- about $770 -- on the accused the next day. Singh said the suspects beat up the girl's family members for complaining against them and burned her to death after finding her at home alone on Friday.

"The two accused thrashed the parents and rushed to the house where they set the girl ablaze with the help of their accomplices," Ashok Ram, the officer in charge of the local police station, told the AFP news agency.

Singh said police were searching for the main suspect in the case. The BBC reports the girl was 16.

8-year-old girl's rape, murder causes outrage across India
India has been shaken by a series of sexual assaults since 2012, when a student was gang-raped and murdered on a moving New Delhi bus. That attack galvanized a country where widespread violence against women had long been quietly accepted.

While the government has passed a series of laws increasing punishment for rape of an adult to 20 years in prison, it's rare for more than a few weeks to pass without another brutal sexual assault being reported.

Responding to widespread outrage over the recent rape and killings of young girls and other attacks on children, India's government last month approved the death penalty for people convicted of raping children under age 12.

© 2018 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.



MAKE WORK? THAT’S WHAT WAS SAID BY REPUBLICANS ABOUT FDR’S NEW DEAL. SOME OF HIS WORK WAS UNUSUAL, ESPECIALLY THE ARTISTS PROJECT; BUT, RATHER THAN “A HANDOUT,” PEOPLE WANTED WORK; SO, FDR PUT THEM TO WORK. HE DEVELOPED A MODERN INFRASTRUCTURE FROM SCRATCH IN MANY PLACES. WHEN I WAS REALLY YOUNG THERE WERE QUITE A FEW UNPAVED ROADS, EVEN IN MY TOWN, AND AREAS SUCH AS THE APPALACHIAN MOUNTAIN AREA HAD NARROW, TIGHTLY CURVING UNPAVED ROADS GOING ALONG THE EDGE OF A CLIFF, TOO OFTEN. NEEDLESS TO SAY, THAT INVITES DEADLY ACCIDENTS.

EVEN IF IT WAS “MAKE WORK” THAT FDR INTRODUCED, MY GRANDFATHER GOT A JOB AT ONE OF FDR’S SAW MILLS, MY FATHER GOT WORK AT ARLINGTON CEMETERY FOR A SHORT TIME AND FROM THERE TO A NEW SKILL INSPECTING AND BUYING LUMBER, WHICH HE STAYED WITH UNTIL HE RETIRED. NEITHER OF THOSE MEN HAD ANY COLLEGE TRAINING, SO THEY WERE CONTENT WITH THAT, AT LEAST FOR SOME YEARS. BESIDES, THE IDEA OF PEOPLE IN THE WORKING CLASS ACTUALLY BEING ABLE TO PAY FOR COLLEGE WAS RIDICULOUS IN MY FATHER’S YOUNG YEARS.

FREE TUITION IS ONE OF SANDERS’ PRIMARY GOALS, AND IT WOULD TRANSFORM THE POPULACE IN THE USA, IF EACH AND EVERY CITIZEN OF THE USA WHO IS MENTALLY ABLE TO DO COLLEGE WORK WERE TO GO FOR AT LEAST A TWO-YEAR COURSE BEYOND HIGH SCHOOL THAT WOULD BE PRACTICAL ENOUGH TO PREPARE THEM FOR A JOB – ONE THAT IS BETTER THAN BEING A CARPENTER’S HELPER OR A GARBAGE WORKER – AND HOPEFULLY ONE THAT WILL SATISFY THEIR PSYCHE AS WELL AS THEIR POCKETBOOK. IF THEY NEED MORE SCHOOLING TO EVEN ATTEMPT COLLEGE WORK, THEN THE GOVERNMENT COULD PAY EVERYONE TO DO REMEDIAL WORK IN HIGH SCHOOL AS NEEDED BEFORE COLLEGE.

I CAN WAIT UNTIL 2020 FOR THAT TO HAPPEN, BUT NOW WOULD BE JUST WONDERFUL. EVEN THOUGH JOBS ARE STILL TOO RARE, I HAVE SOME HOPE, ESPECIALLY IF SANDERS IS ELECTED FOR PRESIDENT IN 2020, FOR AN INCOME FOR ALL THAT WOULD ALLOW THEM THE LEISURE TO PURSUE SOMETHING THAT IS INTELLECTUAL IN NATURE. THAT USUALLY INCLUDES AT THE VERY LEAST, A CARD AT THE LOCAL PUBLIC LIBRARY. IT ISN’T THE LACK OF COLLEGE TRAINING IN THE AVERAGE POPULATION THAT BOTHERS ME SO MUCH AS THE TOTAL LACK OF INTEREST IN SUCH THINGS. THERE ARE TOO MANY PEOPLE WHO WANT NOTHING BEYOND DIAMOND RINGS FOR EACH FINGER AND A BIG FAST CAR. THAT IS VERY DISHEARTENING TO ME.

WHAT THE FDR “MAKE WORK” PROJECTS DID WAS TO SAVE FAMILIES, AND THE RESULT WAS MORE THAN USEFUL. IT WAS A LIFE RAFT TO A DROWNING MAN. THE NEW GOOD ROADS AND BRIDGES AND COURTHOUSES WERE A GENUINE IMPROVEMENT THAT EVEN THE REPUBLICANS COULDN’T DENY, AND THE WHOLE COUNTRY WAS PUT ON A MUCH MORE POSITIVE TRACK. COMMERCE WAS IMPROVED WHEN THERE WERE FEWER LOGISTICAL OBSTACLES TO ACHIEVING TRADE. THE ECONOMIC DEPRESSION WAS ALSO A PSYCHOLOGICAL DEPRESSION WHICH MOST AMERICANS FELT, THOUGH NOT EVERYONE WAS DESPERATELY POOR EVEN THEN. STILL, THERE ARE THOSE STORIES OF THE UBERWEALTHY MAN JUMPING OUT THE WINDOW WHEN HIS FORTUNE RAN OUT. WHEN THE ECONOMIC RECOVERY WAS EMERGING AFTER WWII, THE MOOD OF THE COUNTRY CHANGED.

THE POPULATION PUT ROOSEVELT UP ON A HERO’S PEDESTAL, WHICH CAN BE NEGATIVE IN THE FINAL RESULT WHEN A TIME FOR CHANGE COMES AGAIN. ROOSEVELT WAS ELECTED AND SERVED A THIRD TERM AND WON A FOURTH. HE DIED WITHIN A VERY SHORT TIME AFTER THAT. WITHIN A FEW YEARS CONGRESS PASSED LEGISLATION AGAINST ANY PRESIDENTIAL TERMS EXTENDING BEYOND THE SECOND. FDR DIED IN APRIL OF 1945 JUST A SHORT TIME INTO THE FOURTH. NOT SURPRISINGLY, THERE WERE PEOPLE, ESPECIALLY REPUBLICANS, WHO FELT THAT ROOSEVELT WAS TRYING TO BECOME EMPEROR. THAT WAS INEVITABLE. ANYTHING WHICH IS TOO FIXED IN NATIONAL LIFE BECOMES A THREAT. IN PRINCIPLE, I AGREE THAT TWO TERMS SHOULD PROBABLY BE THE END, BUT I DON’T BELIEVE THAT HE WAS INTO THE PRESIDENCY FOR HIS OWN POWER.

AS FOR SANDERS’ FULL EMPLOYMENT PLANS, SAMUELSON’S CALLING IT “A BOONDOGGLE” MAY BE NO MORE APPROPRIATE THAN WOULD REFERRING TO FDR’S NEW DEAL IN THAT SAME WAY WOULD BE. SOME NEW MODELS OF ECONOMICS WERE USED; AND, OVERALL, THEY SUCCEEDED. THERE MAY BE NO WAY TO GUARANTEE NO CHANGES IN THE ECONOMIC LIFE OF A COUNTRY, NOR WOULD I WANT A STATIC CONDITION. PEOPLE GET SO SELF-SATISFIED THAT THEY ARE INSUFFERABLE, AND LIFE IS A BORE. ONE OF THE PRIMARY CHARACTERISTICS OF A HUMAN BEING IS THE NEED TO KEEP UP OUR EFFORTS AND MAINTAIN A GOOD BALANCE BETWEEN FEAR AND JOY. WE ARE LIKE SURFERS, OR PERHAPS LIKE RIDERS ON A ROLLER COASTER. IT’S A GREAT THRILL, BUT FALLING OFF WILL VERY LIKELY MEAN DEATH. I THINK, JUST AS IN THE USA OF THE 1920S AND 30S, WE ARE AT A POINT OF AN IMPENDING ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL CRASH; CLOSELY FOLLOWED BY THE CYNICAL VIEWS OF A NEO-FASCISM. WE DRASTICALLY NEED ANOTHER GREAT LEADER WITH VISION, HUMANITY AND PRACTICALITY TO PULL US THROUGH. ROOSEVELT’S METHOD WAS THE MANY HELPFUL CHANGES OF THE NEW DEAL, AND HIS USE OF “THE BULLY PULPIT,” IN THE FORM OF HIS WEEKLY “FIRESIDE CHATS.” HIS REASONED VOICE SERVED TO CALM PEOPLE IN A TIME OF GREAT FEAR.

HOW FAR INTO THE FUTURE SANDERS MAY BE ABLE TO STEER OUR ECONOMY, I DON’T KNOW, BUT I LIKE AND TRUST HIM ENOUGH TO BELIEVE HE CAN THINK CLEARLY AND THOROUGHLY ENOUGH TO COME UP WITH A GOOD BASIC PLAN. THE LEGISLATORS WOULD CERTAINLY TINKER WITH IT, ALSO. THIS IS HOW LAWS ARE MADE.

IF WE COULD JUST GET MANY, MANY MORE JOBS FOR PEOPLE RIGHT NOW, THOUGH, I WOULD FEEL BETTER AND I WOULDN’T CONSIDER IT TO BE A “BOONDOGGLE” AT ALL. WIKIPEDIA DEFINES THAT WORD AS A HIGHLY EXPENSIVE BUT USELESS PROJECT OF LARGE PROPORTIONS WHICH IS USUALLY PAID FOR BY THE GOVERNMENT. IN OTHER WORDS, IT IS THE OPPOSITE OF A TOTALLY FREE MARKET AUSTERITY. I PERSONALLY SUSPECT THAT THE WHOLE CONCEPT IS ONE BUILT ON CLASSIC REPUBLICAN FEARS AT A TIME LIKE THIS WHEN PEOPLE ARE ON FOOD AID BY THE BILLIONS. I THINK WE HAVE A LONG WAY TO GO BEFORE WE RUN INTO THAT PROBLEM. AS FOR A TOTAL CONDITION OF “A JOB FOR EVERYONE WHO WANTS ONE AND WHO CAN WORK, THAT IS ANOTHER FORM OF PERFECTION WHICH IS BY NATURE NEVER TOTALLY POSSIBLE. AS MANY JOBS AS POSSIBLE WITH GOVERNMENT INTERVENTION AS NECESSARY, WOULD BE A HUGE IMPROVEMENT, HOWEVER, AND IT IS POSSIBLE WITH THE WELL TO DO KICKING IN A GOODLY PART OF THE COST. THAT, OF COURSE, IS THE PART THAT THE BILLIONAIRES’ CLUB HATE WORST OF ALL.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/bernie-sanderss-job-guarantee-is-it-a-boondoggle/2018/05/06/29b28f7c-4fcf-11e8-84a0-458a1aa9ac0a_story.html
Bernie Sanders’s job guarantee: Is it a boondoggle*?
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) in Las Vegas in 2015. (John Locher/AP)
By Robert J. Samuelson Columnist May 6 at 7:08 PM

PHOTOGRAPH -- Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) in Las Vegas in 2015. (John Locher/AP)

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) wants the federal government to guarantee a job for every American willing and able to work. The proposal sounds compassionate and enlightened, but in practice, it would almost certainly be a disaster. The fact that it’s taken seriously is evidence that many Democrats, like Republicans before them, embrace loony economic agendas that are more public-relations gestures than sensible policy.

Just precisely how Sanders’s scheme would work is unclear, because he hasn’t yet submitted detailed legislation. However, the website of the Sanders Institute endorses a job-guarantee plan devised by economists at Bard College’s Levy Economics Institute. This suggests how a job guarantee might function.

Under their plan, anyone needing a job could get one at a uniform wage of $15 an hour, plus health insurance (probably Medicare) and other benefits (importantly: child care). When fully deployed, the program would create 15 million public-service jobs, estimate the economists. This would be huge: about five times the number of existing federal jobs (2.8 million) and triple the number of state government jobs (5 million).

Although the federal government would pay the costs, the program would be administered by states, localities and nonprofit organizations, which would design jobs and enroll beneficiaries. Some jobs mentioned by the economists: cleaning up vacant properties; overseeing programs for new mothers and at-risk youths; tree planting; and weatherizing homes.

To be sure, there is a real problem here. Even when reported unemployment is low — as now, at 3.9 percent — “millions of Americans remain unemployed or underemployed.” They often have poor skills, wrestle with drug or alcohol problems, or are so discouraged that they’ve dropped out of the labor force. The job guarantee’s appeal is obvious. A recent Civis Analytics* poll for the Nation magazine found 52 percent of respondents in favor.

The trouble is that there is a vast gap between rhetoric and reality. Indeed, some leftish commentators recognize this. Here’s Kevin Drum, a blogger for Mother Jones:

“Even our lefty comrades in social democratic Europe don’t guarantee jobs for everyone. It would cost a fortune; it would massively disrupt the private labor market; it would almost certainly tank productivity; and it’s unlikely in the extreme that the millions of workers in this program could ever be made fully competent at their jobs.”

Many problems are unavoidable. The proposal would add to already swollen federal budget deficits. The Bard economists put the annual cost at about $400 billion. Although some of this might be recaptured from savings from food stamps and other welfare programs, overall spending is likely underestimated.

The reason is Medicare. If it’s provided for those making $15 an hour, there will be pressures to provide it for most workers. Otherwise, uncovered workers might stage a political rebellion or switch from today’s low-paying private-sector jobs to the better-paid public-service jobs, as the Wall Street Journal’s Greg Ip notes. The same logic applies to child-care subsidies.

Then there’s inflation. The extra spending and higher wages might push prices upward. The Bard economists profess to be unworried — mainly because their economic “model” predicts a negligible inflation effect. But models are often unreliable, and the Federal Reserve is unlikely to be so complacent.

Other practical problems loom. On his always useful and strictly nonpartisan blog, Conversable Economist, Timothy Taylor* poses difficult questions.

Does the federal government have the managerial competence to oversee the creation of so many jobs? Taylor is skeptical. (The 15 million added jobs would equal about 1 in 10 existing jobs.*)

Is there a skills mismatch between what the jobless can do and what actually needs doing? Probably. (Remember: The candidates for the public-sector jobs are among the least-skilled workers.)

Is there a similar geographic mismatch — say, the jobless are in Michigan and the jobs are in Arizona? This, too, seems probable.

Can the new workers be disciplined? Good question. “The problem with a job ‘guarantee’ is that you can’t fire people,” notes Taylor.

Finally, would state and local governments substitute federally funded jobs for existing jobs that are supported by local taxes? This seems inevitable. It, too, would limit the overall effect on employment.

Americans are suckers for great crusades that make the world safe for the pursuit of happiness. In this context, Sanders’s job guarantee seems a masterstroke. The chronically unemployed need jobs; and states and localities have large unmet needs for public and quasi-public services. It’s a bargain made in heaven.

Back here on Earth, the collaboration looks less noble. The object is to appear good and buy political support. Many of the suggested jobs seem best described as make-work. The irony is that, by assigning government tasks likely to fail, the advocates of activist government bring government into disrepute.


Read more from Robert Samuelson’s archive.
Read more about this topic:
Katrina vanden Heuvel: Why Democrats should fight for the right to a good job
Megan McArdle: Bernie Sanders wants you to have a good job. But there’s a catch.

Paul Waldman: Democrats are swinging for the fences

Elizabeth Bruenig: America is obsessed with the virtue of work. What about the virtue of rest?

Paul Waldman: No, the Democratic Party isn’t ‘divided’ or in ‘disarray’

Robert J. Samuelson writes a twice-weekly column on economics.


THE WASHINGTON POST ARTICLE ABOVE QUOTES A GOOD BIT OF THIS, BUT THERE IS MORE – AND BETTER -- WHERE THIS CAME FROM. ALSO, THE WAPO ARTICLE IS MAINLY NEGATIVE TOWARD A MANAGED JOBS PROGRAM. LET’S FACE IT, THE REAL “PROBLEM” IS THAT IT ISN’T “FREE MARKET,” AND TENDS MORE TO HELP THE WORKERS THAN JUST THE BUSINESS OWNERS WHO ARE VIRTUOUSLY MAXIMIZING THEIR PROFITS -- OR SO IT SEEMS TO ME.

THAT’S WHAT I LIKE ABOUT IT A JOB GUARANTEE. PEOPLE IN THIS COUNTRY DO HAVE A LEGITIMATE PROBLEM. THE GOOD PARTS OF JOB-RELATED HELP VS A DOLE – A HANDOUT -- TO ME IS THAT GAINING EXPERIENCE THROUGH WORK IS EDUCATIONAL FOR THE EMPLOYEE, AND THERE IS [I ASSUME] NO PENALTY FOR A WORKER QUITTING THE FEDERAL PROGRAM FOR A FREE MARKET SECTOR JOB ONCE HE IS REALLY PREPARED TO THAT.

WHETHER IT’S BUFFING UP HIS READING AND MATH SKILLS, GOING TO TRADE SCHOOL, GETTING COMPUTER OR MEDICAL EXPERTISE, GOING BACK TO HIGH SCHOOL TO ACHIEVE A BETTER GRADUATION AVERAGE AND PASS STANDARDIZED TESTS FOR COLLEGE AT A HIGHER LEVEL. IT WOULD ALSO BE A BOOST IF THE WORKER, AFTER A REASONABLE PERIOD LIKE TWO YEARS IN THE GOVERNMENT WORK COURSE, WOULD HAVE A STEP UP AVAILABLE TO HIM TO A CIVIL SERVICE JOB IN THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.

JUST AS NEW PEOPLE ENTERING THE JOB MARKET, FROM EXITING THE MILITARY TO JUST LEAVING SCHOOL, WILL ALL NEED A FINANCIAL SOURCE FOR CONTINUING THEIR EDUCATION WHILE WORKING. STARVATION OR SLEEPING ON THE STREET AREN’T VIABLE OPTIONS. RIGHT? THAT’S THE OLD PHRASE “I WORKED MY WAY THROUGH COLLEGE,” WHICH MILLIONS OF PEOPLE STILL DO, AND IT HAS A RING OF HONOR TO IT, WHILE “I JUST TAKE A GOVERNMENT DOLE” DEFINITELY LACKS THAT IN THE EYES OF THE GENERAL PUBLIC. PERSONAL PRIDE, FEELING THAT WE HAVE SOME CONTROL OVER OUR DESTINY, AND SIMPLE HOPE ARE REALLY WORTH A LOT. IT WOULD ALSO BE NIFTY IF THE JOBS PROGRAM HAS A BUILT-IN SOCIAL INTERACTION THING, SUCH AS A MENTORING AND DISCUSSION GROUP. ANY OF YOU WHO HAVE EVER FACED DIFFICULT THINGS IN LIFE WITH SUCH A GROUP WILL KNOW HOW HELPFUL IT IS. JOB-HUNTING IS A FEAR-INDUCING SITUATION. DOING IT WITH A FRIEND IS HOPEFUL AND HELPFUL.

ONE OF THE MAIN PROBLEMS IN THIS COUNTRY IS THAT WE TEND TO FORGET THE INNER PORTION OF HUMANS, WHILE FOCUSED ON THE OUTER. THE GREAT DIFFERENCE WITH SUCH A PLAN IS THAT THE WORKERS WILL HAVE A JOB WHILE PROFESSIONALIZING HIMSELF. CHILD CARE WOULD COME WITH IT, AND THAT’S VITALLY IMPORTANT ALSO. WHEN PEOPLE NEED HELP FINANCIALLY, THEY DON’T NEED SMALL HANDOUTS, BUT SOMETHING SUBSTANTIAL AND RELIABLE, AND IN MY OPINION IT’S BETTER FOR IT TO COME IN A STRUCTURED FORM LIKE A JOB THAN AS MONEY INTO A CHECKING ACCOUNT. LET’S FACE IT, IF SOMEONE HAS AN EXPENSIVE HABIT OR JUST A STRONG DESIRE FOR ANYTHING, HE OR SHE MAY DIP INTO THAT MONEY SOURCE FOR THE MARIJUANA, BOOZE, NEW SHOES OR WHATEVER IT MAY BE. IF IT’S IN THE FORM OF A JOB, THEY HAVE TO PERFORM THE WORK TO GET THE MONEY. THAT CAN BE GUARANTEED BY SIMPLY REQUIRING FROM THE WORKER A TIMESHEET FOR EACH WEEK TO BE HANDED TO THE MANAGERS, OR A PUNCH CLOCK IF THAT’S PREFERRED. IT ISN’T THAT ALL THOSE PEOPLE “ON WELFARE” JUST DON’T WANT TO WORK. IT’S THAT GETTING A JOB WITH A LIVING WAGE IS NOT EASY.

http://conversableeconomist.blogspot.com/ MONDAY, APRIL 30, 2018
The Job Guarantee Controversy
Timothy Taylor


“.... The government has several important roles to play in this vision of a labor market. At the big-picture macroeconomic level it has some responsibility for using fiscal policy, monetary policy, and financial regulation to reduce the risk of recessions and to soften the blow of recessions when they arise. At a smaller-picture level, it has an important roles to play in providing support for education, worker training, as well as in providing safety net

I think the US government should do considerably more in the US labor market than it does. The US tends to focus on "passive labor market policies," like paying unemployment benefits, while doing much less than it should on "active labor market" policies with a combination of job search assistance training, and subsidized public sector employment. For prior discussions of some of these topics, see these posts (and the reports and articles mentioned in them):

"Improving How Job Markets Function: Active Labor Market Policies" (December 30, 2016)
"Rebalancing the Economy Toward Workers and Wages" (March 5, 2018)
"Why More Americans Seem Stuck in Place" (December 7, 2017)
"Active Labor Market Policies: Time for Aggressive Experimentation" (November 15, 2016)
"Expanding Apprenticeships" (July 7, 2014)
"What Do We Know about Subsidized Employment Programs?" (April 26, 2016)

Ultimately, it feels to me as if proposals for a federal job guarantee proposal are a cry of despair, erupting from an exhausted patience. To me, the underlying message is: "Stop being distracted by small-scale arguments and day-to-day political compromises, drop the cautious incrementalism, and pay the money to help those who want to work. Stop quibbling, and just make it happen!" Righteous exasperation always has a rhetorical appeal. But the real world is full of costs and tradeoffs, and if the US political system wants to make some dramatic moves to help US workers, considerably better options than a federal job guarantee are available.

Posted by Timothy Taylor at 10:34 AM”


ABORTION IN IRELAND? I HOPE SO, BUT I DOUBT IT. WE’LL SEE.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-44029646
Irish actors call for abortion yes vote
By Ciarán Dunbar
BBC News NI
May 7, 2018

Actress Saoirse Ronan calls for a 'yes' vote in Ireland's abortion referendum, TOGETHER FOR YES

A group of leading Irish actors has come out in favour of a yes vote in the forthcoming referendum on abortion in the Republic of Ireland.

Saoirse Ronan, Jimmy Nesbitt, Cillian Murphy and Ciaran Hinds are among those featuring in a social media video from pro-choice group Together for Yes.

The vote will be held on Friday 25 May.

Voters will decide on whether or not to repeal the Eighth Amendment of the Irish constitution which upholds Ireland's strict abortion laws.

Tyrone's Mickey Harte fronts GAA anti-abortion group
Ireland's abortion referendum to be held on 25 May
Irish abortion referendum: Every vote counts in emotive poll
Debate rages after vote announced
The video is in the form of a letter with each line read by a different actor.

They call for a yes vote "for women's safety, for a just society, for a fairer Ireland," saying it would be a "a vote for compassion".

Ballymena-born actor Liam Neeson appeared in an Amnesty International social media video in 2015 calling for an end to the Eighth Amendment.

He said it was a "cruel ghost of the last century" and has reiterated his views in recent days.

Abortion in the Republic of Ireland
The Republic of Ireland currently has a near total ban on abortion.

Terminations are not permitted in cases of rape or incest, or when there is a foetal abnormality and thousands of women travel abroad for a termination every year.

The Eighth Amendment to the Republic's constitution, introduced in 1983, "acknowledges the right to life of the unborn".

However, there have been significant challenges and changes to the law in recent years.

A campaign to liberalise abortion gathered momentum in 2012, when Indian woman Savita Halappanavar died in a Galway hospital after she was refused an abortion during a miscarriage.

In response to the actors' intervention the Save the 8th campaign, which is campaigning for a no vote and the retention of the Eighth Amendment, said they were failing to take into account the rights of the unborn child.

Abortion in Ireland: The fight for choice
Varadkar will campaign for change
"Repeal the 8th" mural unveiled in Dublin

The groups communications director John McGuirk said: "Abortion does not become more cool, or more compassionate, because Liam Neeson supports it.

"Taking the life of a healthy baby is not suddenly healthcare because Saoirse Ronan appears in a video.

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"There were over a dozen actors in that video - not one of them mentioned the rights of the unborn child once.
"The more people learn about what repeal means, the less they support it, and a bunch of Hollywood actors do not change what a yes vote means," he added.


THIS HUFFPO ARTICLE ON INTELLIGENT GUN CONTROL IS THE MOST INTERESTING AND HOPEFUL THING I’VE EVER READ. THE STATE IN QUESTION, MASSACHUSETTS, ALSO HAS THE LOWEST LEVEL OF GUN VIOLENCE STATISTICALLY IN THE COUNTRY, AND HAS FOR 30 YEARS. WOW!!

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/toughest-gun-law-america_us_5aeb27a9e4b041fd2d23d3f7
This Is The Toughest Gun Law In America
Reformers love what Massachusetts is doing. The NRA? Not so much.
By Jonathan Cohn
05/06/2018 08:01 am ET

NEWTON, Mass. ― A thirtysomething man sought to buy a rifle here last September, and if he had been living in almost any other part of the country, he could have done so easily.

His record was free of arrests, involuntary psychiatric commitments or anything else that might automatically disqualify him from owning firearms under federal law. He could have walked into a gun store, filled out a form and walked out with a weapon in less than an hour.

But he couldn’t do that in Massachusetts because the state requires would-be buyers to get a permit first. That means going through a much longer process and undergoing a lot more scrutiny.

Each applicant must complete a four-hour gun safety course, get character references from two people, and show up at the local police department for fingerprinting and a one-on-one interview with a specially designated officer. Police must also do some work on their own, searching department records for information that wouldn’t show up on the official background check.

Deval Patrick, former governor of Massachusetts, signs a 2014 gun violence bill while Robert DeLeo, the House Speaker, looks
BOSTON GLOBE VIA GETTY IMAGES

Deval Patrick, former governor of Massachusetts, signs a 2014 gun violence bill while Robert DeLeo, the House Speaker, looks on. That measure made the state’s laws, already among nation’s strongest, even stronger.

If the police come to believe an applicant is a possible threat to public safety, they can refuse to grant the permit. And that is what happened in the case of this man from Newton.

Police records showed eight visits to his home from 2008 to 2012, each time in response to calls from family members concerned about his behavior. On one occasion, according to the police account, the man had punched a picture frame and lacerated his hand; another time, he had been wielding a knife and threatening to commit suicide. Officers took the man into protective custody after three of the visits, the reports said, and at nearly all of them he was intoxicated.

This December, following a procedure that Massachusetts law lays out, Newton’s chief filed a five-page memo with a state district court. It summarized the incident reports, one by one, and concluded that the man “had exhibited or engaged in behavior that could potentially create a risk to public safety.”

The man, who declined to comment for this article and whose name HuffPost is not publishing, challenged the police decision in court, as the law allows applicants to do. A written filing stated that he has completed treatment for alcohol addiction, as a physician independently confirmed. It also said that he has a steady job and noted that there have been no incidents since 2012.

It’s crazy that some states just give out these guns with very few requirements.
William Evans, Boston Police Commissioner

A district judge considered the argument and, a few weeks later, upheld the police department’s decision. The man from Newton is now appealing that decision. But whether or not he ultimately gets his permit, his story illustrates just how aggressively Massachusetts regulates gun ownership. No other state requires a permit for any kind of gun purchase while also giving police some discretion to deny those permits.

The combination could help explain why the state’s mortality rate from firearms incidents is relatively low, according to some experts who have studied these types of laws. That makes the Massachusetts permit system a potential model for legislation in other states, or even the country as a whole, at a time when the massacre at a high school in Parkland, Florida, has put gun violence back on the political agenda.

But replicating the Massachusetts program would require persuading or overcoming resistance from gun rights advocates, starting with the members of the National Rifle Association who are meeting in Dallas this weekend. They are convinced that permit systems like the one in Massachusetts do little to deter violence, while doing a lot to undermine the Second Amendment.

Tight Gun Regulations Are A Massachusetts Tradition
Massachusetts has required that gun owners get permits since 1968, although initially the state approved permits automatically for anybody without major crime convictions or other disqualifying factors. In the parlance of gun control, it was a “shall issue” system rather than a “may issue” system, in which officials or law enforcement would have had leeway to deny licenses in certain circumstances.

That changed in 1998, when state lawmakers gave police broad discretion to withhold handgun licenses for people who were, in the police department’s judgment, “unsuitable.” In 2014, following the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut, Massachusetts lawmakers, led by House Speaker Robert DeLeo, strengthened its gun laws yet again, expanding police discretion so that it applied to rifles and shotguns, too.

The permit process for rifles and shotguns is slightly different than the process for handguns, but they lead to the same basic result: Today, police can deny ownership of any kind of firearm, subject to court review. That made Massachusetts unique. The other two states with police discretion over ownership, New Jersey and New York, apply that method only to handguns.


ILLUSTRATION: DAMON DAHLEN/HUFFPOST; PHOTOS: GETTY IMAGES
The 2014 law also clarified, somewhat, when and how police in Massachusetts should use their discretion. By law, the police can restrict a license or deny one outright anytime they have credible evidence that somebody may pose a threat to public safety.

The “credible” part is supposed to keep the police from acting arbitrarily; police actually have to file papers with a local court justifying denials. The “may” part is supposed to make it clear that the police can limit or withhold a license anytime they believe a mere threat exists. They don’t have to wait until they are certain or even nearly certain an applicant would use a gun for crime or self-harm.

One way to think of the system is that it places the burden of proof for denying a license on the police while making it clear that the proof does not have to be overwhelming. And, although the state still does not specify exactly what constitutes a threat and what doesn’t, that’s precisely the sort of judgment call best left to city and town officials, supporters of the law say.

“Gun violence is usually local, among people who know each other,” John Rosenthal, co-founder of the organization Stop Handgun Violence and a longtime advocate for tighter gun laws, said in an interview with HuffPost. “Who better than the local police chief to issue renewable licenses and be able to have that discretion every six years?”

Many experts agree. “Local police chiefs typically know more about the people in their community than does a national computer,” David Hemenway, a well-respected gun violence researcher at Harvard, told The Trace.

In Small Towns And Big Cities, Police Look For The Same Things
Even with the new system in place, the vast majority of people who apply for licenses get them, according to a 2017 evaluation that a panel of experts conducted for the state’s Executive Office of Public Safety and Security. But 1 to 3 percent do not, depending on the year, the panel determined.

That number doesn’t account for the people who don’t even try to get licenses, because they know police would not grant them. And even among those residents who get licenses, many will have restrictions on how they may use their guns. They might not have freedom to carry a firearm outside the home, for example, except for transporting it to firing ranges or hunting grounds. (This is one way in the Massachusetts practice is more typical. Many states give the police discretion over who gets to carry a gun outside of the home.)

In general, police from rural parts of Massachusetts are a lot less likely to issue restrictions than the departments in cities and surrounding suburbs, according to a compilation of 2016 statistics by Commonwealth Second Amendment, which advocates for gun rights. Police say such differentials are largely a byproduct of the very different way departments operate depending on the size and closeness of their communities.

The ones who get our attention are the ones we’ve had to see before, to come to their houses, with incidents that don’t rise up to arrests but tell us, ‘Hey, something is not right here.’
Lu-Ann Czapala, Ware Police Department

“Most people we know one way or another ― it’s a neighbor, or a neighbor’s friend or co-worker, or somebody you deal with on the job,” Lu-Ann Czapala, the firearms officer in Ware, said during an interview at the city’s headquarters. Ware, a former mill town in the rural area between Worcester and Springfield, has a population just shy of 10,000. “Very few people who come in and apply have anything in their background that would cause a problem.”

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That’s not to say it never happens. “The ones who get our attention,” Czapala said, “are the ones we’ve had to see before, to come to their houses, with incidents that don’t rise up to arrests but tell us, ‘Hey, something is not right here. Gee, we’ve been to this house so many times.’”

And, in that respect, the process is quite similar to Newton’s. The big difference is that George McManus, the lieutenant who handles firearms permits there, may have to investigate applicants ― by, for example, calling neighbors or family. That’s because, in a city whose population is just under 90,000, McManus is less likely than Czapala to know the applicant personally.

McManus said investigating incident reports is especially important for revealing histories of domestic violence, because even repeated visits can result in no formal charges and, thus, no automatic disqualifications for gun ownership even under the unusually tight standards Massachusetts has in place.

It’s not surprising he would say that. In a 2013 survey, Massachusetts police departments said incidents of domestic violence were among the most likely reasons for them to restrict or deny a license, or to suspend one they had approved.

At the same time, McManus said, police officers work hard to distinguish between “somebody arrested for disorderly conduct when he was in college, on a Friday night, 15 years ago, versus somebody who has a record of being involved with domestic situations with his significant other.”

McManus, who has been handling Newton’s permits for two years, says that is one reason every license rejection during his tenure has held up in court. “That goes to show that the chief does put a lot of thought into his denials,” McManus said.

What The Evidence Shows ― And Doesn’t Show

Gun homicides and suicides still happen in Massachusetts, in part because people without licenses still manage to get guns. But gun violence happens a lot less frequently than it does in most states.

Adjusted for age and population, the gun fatality rate in Massachusetts for 2016 was the lowest in the U.S. And that’s how it’s been for most of the last 30 years, although sometimes another state, like Hawaii, ends up with a slightly lower rate.

Just how much that low rate has to do with the state’s gun laws is a matter of ongoing debate, even among experts. Pretty much any legitimate study is going to rely on assumptions that will be open to valid criticism; separating out cause and effect can be virtually impossible. But the available research provides a good reason to think Massachusetts laws in general and the permit system in particular have made violence less likely.

Police investigate a gun homicide in Kansas City, Missouri. A group of researchers said that violence in the state became more common after lawmakers repealed a permit system there.

Some of the most widely cited work, by Daniel Webster of Johns Hopkins University, has focused on two states that have had similar, albeit weaker, permit schemes: Missouri, which got rid of its license program a decade ago, and Connecticut, which added one in the 1990s. Using a variety of methods designed to estimate what might have happened if those states hadn’t changed their laws, Webster and his colleagues concluded that getting rid of gun licenses in Missouri led to more gun violence, while introducing licenses in Connecticut led to less.

Additional research, including a study the Journal of Urban Health published last month, has shown that gun crimes in states with permit schemes tend to involve guns that criminals obtained more easily elsewhere.

That suggests the laws are at the very least forcing would-be perpetrators to change their behavior. It also suggests permit systems could have a bigger effect on violence if more states had them.

Police officials in Massachusetts make that argument all the time. “It’s crazy that some states just give out these guns with very few requirements,” William Evans, commissioner of the Boston police and a champion of tighter gun laws, said in an interview.

“We have tough gun laws here, and to me it makes a difference,” Evans said. “But if we had them nationally, if other states had universal background checks and strong licensing like our state does, there would be less violence.”

It’s Not Clear How A Court Challenge Would Go

The other big question about the Massachusetts system is the constitutional one. The Supreme Court, in a controversial 2008 ruling known as D.C. v. Heller, upheld the government’s ability to regulate firearm possession and usage. But it also recognized, for the first time, a constitutional right to gun ownership.

To Jim Wallace, executive director of the Gun Owners Action League and outspoken critic of Massachusetts regulations, the state’s licensing system clearly infringes on that right. “We always have to be careful about how much authority we give to law enforcement,” Wallace said. “Their jobs ― God bless them ― is to enforce the law, not decide on somebody’s civil rights.”

Jason Guida, an attorney and former state firearms official who now represents people appealing license denials, has a similar view. “Once we go down the road of giving police discretion, we are not just stepping on the other side of that line, we are jumping over it and dancing.”

We always have to be careful about how much authority we give to law enforcement. Their jobs ― God bless them ― is to enforce the law, not decide on somebody’s civil rights.

Jim Wallace, executive director of the Gun Owners Action League in Massachusetts

Guida represents that man from Newton who is appealing his license denial, and he thinks the case is an example of how the law gives police too much authority. When the man wrote a letter requesting the gun permit, he addressed his history with police head-on, Guida noted. The incidents all occurred during a difficult period in his life, the man wrote, and since that time he has stayed dry, gotten a steady job and even done volunteer work at a local food bank. He also promised to use the gun lawfully, saying he wanted it only for bird hunting and target practice.

“Most of my clients have never been convicted, never even been charged with a crime, but a chief has decided that they are not safe with firearms,” Guida said. “That’s the rub right here, how Massachusetts may have gone beyond what the Second Amendment allows.”

Supporters of the Massachusetts law see things differently. Public safety is a constitutionally permissible reason for restricting gun ownership, they say, and local police are ideally situated to make that call, at least initially.

“In the context of gun rights, where the Supreme Court has said limitations based on public safety principles are appropriate, we want law enforcement to make those decisions, because they are the ones on the ground, who see the behavior,” Hannah Shearer, a staff attorney at the Giffords Law Center, said.

Most of my clients have never been convicted, never even been charged with a crime, but a chief has decided that they are not safe with firearms.”
Jason Guida, an attorney who represents applicants appealing license denials
There is also the appeals process, which can serve as a safeguard for constitutional rights. Although police discretion over gun ownership can be “constitutionally problematic,” says Adam Winkler, a UCLA constitutional law professor, “if more than 90 percent of applicants are getting permits, there is an appeals process in place and government has to provide actual evidence that’s reviewed by a neutral arbiter, that seems to me a system that the courts might uphold.”

“No right is absolute ― Heller makes that clear,” Winkler, who is the author of the book Gunfight: The Battle Over the Right to Bear Arms in America, added. “If the question is ‘Should there be enough discretion to target certain behaviors that fall short of criminal conviction but are highly probative of danger from firearms?’ a court is likely to say that kind of review is acceptable.”

What’s Coming Next In Washington ― And In Massachusetts

In Washington, a handful of lawmakers have held up the Massachusetts system as a prototype for the rest of the country. One of them is the state’s junior Democratic senator, Ed Markey, who has sponsored a bill that would give states strong financial incentives to introduce their own licensing programs.

“The involvement of police chiefs in the licensing process is key,” Markey said at a news conference in March, when he formally unveiled the proposal. “We can’t overstate that enough.” Democratic lawmakers from other states with their own variations on permit systems, including Connecticut, Maryland and New Jersey, have introduced similar measures.

Those lawmakers have a lot of work to do. Gun violence is getting more political attention than at any time since 2013, and the aftermath of the Sandy Hook shootings, which not coincidentally is the last time Congress came close to passing meaningful gun legislation. And if the odds of enacting significant new measures now are long, they will improve if supporters of tighter gun laws win more seats in Congress, starting with this year’s midterm elections.

We want law enforcement to make those decisions, because they are the ones on the ground, who see the behavior.

Hannah Shearer, staff attorney at the Giffords Law Center

But most of the focus so far has been on banning assault-style weapons or extending background checks to private sales, the two ideas that have gotten the most attention in the past. Although many experts believe these measures can also help, there’s reason to think that they would work best in combination with a full-fledged permit system that involved police discretion.

State lawmakers in Massachusetts appear to agree. The state already has a ban on many assault-style weapons, and it already applies its laws to all sales, not just those that licensed dealers make. That’s actually one reason advocates think a permit system could win over some gun rights advocates. It spares private dealers the administrative hassle of performing background checks; all they have to do is check for the state-issued permit.

Now many of the same lawmakers responsible for the 2014 law are looking to build on it. They are pushing for a “red flag” law in which family members could ask judges to issue emergency restraining orders when they fear a loved one is about to commit an act of violence. These orders would automatically suspend any existing gun licenses and allow police to seize weapons.

Although this would be a separate policy from the permitting system, the underlying impulse is the same: to identify people likely to hurt themselves or others and keep guns out of their hands before it happens.

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