AUGUST 3, 2018


NEWS AND VIEWS


https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2018/08/03/paul-manafort-trial-tax-preparer/898006002/?csp=chromepush
Paul Manafort trial: Accountant helped falsify tax returns for former Trump campaign manager
Kevin Johnson, USA TODAY Published 11:55 a.m. ET Aug. 3, 2018 | Updated 6:09 p.m. ET Aug. 3, 2018

14 PHOTOGRAPHS – PAUL MANAFORT

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – One of Paul Manafort’s accountants told a federal court jury Friday that she knowingly helped prepare false tax returns for the former Trump campaign chairman and supplied a bank with phony documents to obtain a loan on Manafort’s behalf.

Cynthia LaPorta, who oversaw the preparations of some of Manafort’s business and personal tax returns, testified that she filed returns in 2014 despite her complete lack of confidence in her client’s support for more than $2 million in reported loans.

LaPorta admitted to reclassifying some $900,000 in income as a loan to her client’s consulting firm to reduce Manafort’s tax liability at the urging of his partner, Rick Gates.

The accountant, who testified under a grant of immunity from prosecution, conceded that she knew the action to be “wrong” but feared labeling longtime clients as “liars” while exposing her accounting firm to possible litigation.

“I very much regret it,” LaPorta said.

In her separate involvement in a 2015 loan application for Manafort, she told the court that she forwarded information to Citizens Bank supporting the classification of one of Manafort’s New York homes as a “second residence,” knowing that it had been used a rental property. She said the move was an attempt to get a more favorable mortgage rate.

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Among the other materials she forwarded to the bank was a falsified document showing that a $1.5 million loan had been forgiven and re-categorized as income to boost Manafort’s eligibility for the mortgage loan.

From the witness stand located just a few feet from Manafort’s seat at the defense table, LaPorta told the jury that she forwarded the falsified materials to the bank because she believed the bank would have to ultimately vet the information, which had been prepared by her clients, Gates and Manafort.

The prosecution in the Paul Manafort trial focused on personal finances Wednesday, sometimes in painstaking detail. Associated Press Eric Tucker says the judge repeatedly scolded the government's attorneys about relevancy . (Aug. 1) AP

Although the government has presented evidence that Manafort allegedly stashed tens of millions of dollars in secret foreign accounts, LaPorta, who took over Manafort’s accounting duties in 2014, testified that Manafort repeatedly denied controlling any foreign interests when she directly inquired about any such holdings and when he was required to disclose them on his tax returns.

Virginia accountant James Ayliff, who for years supervised the preparation of Manafort’s business and personal tax returns, told the jury his client repeatedly denied any international financial interests.

During Ayliff’s lengthy testimony, Manafort sat a few feet away at the defense table where he appeared to be closely tracking the government’s exhibits, many of them copies of his own tax returns and ledger sheets.

When Ayliff flagged suspicious payments flowing from unfamiliar entities, the accountant said he was assured by Manafort or Manafort’s partner, Rick Gates, that they had no control over accounts abroad.

Earlier this week, prosecutors presented evidence that Manafort tapped multiple accounts in Cyprus, the Grenadines and Ukraine to funnel millions of dollars to support an extravagant lifestyle in the U.S.

Ayliff’s testimony is key to the government’s contention that Manafort also falsified his tax returns during the five-year period between 2010 and 2014.

“Did you ask Mr. Manafort whether he had foreign bank accounts each year?” prosecutor Uzo Asonye asked Ayliff.

“Yes,” the accountant said.

“What did he report?”

“None.”

The accountant’s testimony comes a day after Manafort’s longtime bookkeeper said that she also had no knowledge of Manafort’s foreign interests or the dozens of wire transfers he approved from those accounts to pay for homes, cars and custom clothes.

Paul Manafort trial: Evidence turns to lavish lifestyle
Fullscreen
A pin-striped suit owned by Paul Manafort from the House of Bijan. The expensive suit is one of many that is being used as evidence in the case against him. U.S. Department of Justice
A pin-striped suit owned by Paul Manafort from the House of Bijan. The expensive suit is one of many that is being used as evidence in the case against him. U.S. Department of Justice
His attorneys are expected to argue that Manafort did not intend to hide accounts or mislead bookkeepers, as some evidence of Manafort’s international holdings was contained in the ledgers.

Manafort also is accused of falsifying loan applications to obtain millions of dollars. But while Ayliff testified he was aware that Manafort had sought loans against his various properties, the accountant said he was never provided the underlying documents supporting those loan applications.

He did, however, recall that Manafort once instructed him to provide inaccurate information to UBS Bank related to a 2015 loan involving the Manaforts’ Trump Tower apartment on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan.

Reading aloud from an email, Ayliff said Manafort told him to classify the apartment as a personal residence in any conversation with the bank.

Ayliff responded, stating that the apartment had always been regarded as a rental property.

The case against Manafort is the first to be tried by special counsel Robert Mueller and focuses on Manafort's business dealings. It doesn't directly have to do with Manafort's work for President Donald Trump.

More: Mueller seeks immunity, secrecy for up to 5 witnesses in Paul Manafort trial

More: Paul Manafort trial: Prosecutors accuse ex-Trump campaign chief of amassing fortune on foundation of 'lies'

More: Paul Manafort trial: Judge T.S. Ellis III known as taskmaster, unafraid to speak his mind

More: As Rick Gates pleads guilty, Mueller secures cooperation of third Trump campaign aide for Russia probe



MAKE THE ACLU PRIMARILY (OR EVEN PARTIALLY) RESPONSIBLE FOR LOCATING DEPORTED PARENTS -- WHY DID THEY THINK THAT MADE ANY SENSE? IT’S YOUR BABY, PRESIDENT TRUMP. HAVE AT IT!

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2018/08/03/judge-says-trump-administration-100-responsible-finding-deported-migrant-parents/901050002/?csp=chromepush
Judge says Trump team '100 percent' responsible for finding deported immigrant parents
Alan Gomez, USA TODAY Published 4:48 p.m. ET Aug. 3, 2018 | Updated 5:09 p.m. ET Aug. 3, 2018

A federal judge on Friday rejected a Trump administration request to make the ACLU primarily responsible for locating migrant parents who were deported after they were separated from their children, making clear that the government bears "100 percent" of the burden.

U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw said the ACLU and a team of non-governmental organizations, volunteers, and pro-bono attorneys can help locate about 400 parents who were deported and have not yet been located by the government. But Sabraw said that ACLU lawyers, who are representing plaintiffs in the class-action lawsuit, are not the ones who separated the families in the first place.

"The reality is that for every parent who is not located, there will be a permanently orphaned child, and that is 100 percent the responsibility of the administration," Sabraw said. "The government has the sole burden and responsibility and obligation to make (reunifications) happen."

The judge also scolded administration officials for moving so slowly to track down the deported parents. He cited an estimate that only about a dozen of the parents have been found in Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, asking, "Is that true?"

The judge said the government needs to appoint an official or a leadership team from the State Department or the Department of Health and Human Services to step in and take charge. He said the process should be similar to that used last month when HHS appointed Jonathan White to reunite the first group of separated families, which led to more than 1,400 reunifications within the judge's 30-day deadline.

"What is absolutely essential ... is that the government identify a single person of the same talent and energy and enthusiasm and can-do spirit as Commander White to head up the reunification process of the remaining parents," Sabraw said. "There has to be someone to hold to account and to supervise the entire process."

RELATED ARTICLES
More: Trump administration says ACLU – not government – should find deported parents
More: Ivanka Trump calls father's immigrant family separation policy 'low point' for administration
More: Top HHS official warned Trump administration against separating immigrant families

Friday's hearing marked the latest step following the decision by President Donald Trump to implement a "zero tolerance" immigration enforcement policy that resulted in the separation of more than 2,500 children from their parents.

The policy required that most people apprehended trying to illegally cross the U.S.-Mexico border were to be charged with a criminal violation and sent to immigration detention centers or federal prisons to await deportation hearings. That prompted the government to keep them apart from their children, due to a U.S. law and a 1997 court settlement, known as the Flores Settlement, that limits the detention of children to no more than 20 days.

The policy was widely condemned, and the president signed an executive order June 20 ending the practice to help mitigate the problem. A week later, Sabraw ruled that the practice may have violated the due process rights of the families and ordered the administration to reunite them within 30 days.

Lawyers on both sides are now at odds over whether the government has met the judge's deadlines and whether the government is doing enough to reunite parents who have been deported.

On Tuesday, a bipartisan group of senators grilled administration officials over the family separation crisis. During the hearing, a senior Department of Health and Human Services official said he repeatedly warned the Trump administration that the separation policy would not be in "the best interest of the child."

On Wednesday, a group of 14 bipartisan senators sent a letter to the heads of the departments of Justice, Homeland Security, and Health and Human Services, demanding information on the status of separated families, including those where the parents have been deported.

And on Thursday, Ivanka Trump, the president's daughter and senior adviser, weighed in, calling the family separation practice a "low point" in her father's presidency.

Sabraw is scheduled to hold another court hearing next week to get a status update from both sides on the reunification efforts.


MORE GLOBAL WARMING, PERHAPS? I HOPE THERE WILL BE NO LOSS OF LIFE, AND THAT THE DAM WILL HOLD THE WATER BACK.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/lynchburg-virginia-college-lake-dam-flooding-imminent-failure-breach-va-2018-08-03/
CBS NEWS August 3, 2018, 10:09 AM
Lynchburg, Virginia could be under 17 feet of water in 7 minutes if dam fails

Lynchburg, Virginia, officials ordered evacuations Thursday in the area of Black Creek Trail over fears that the College Lake Dam could fail in heavy flooding. Officials later said that an engineering firm assessing the dam found no seepage as of Friday afternoon and that the dam was therefore "considered stable."

The city of Lynchburg, which is the nearest downstream city from the dam, also said, however, that evacuation orders would not be lifted "until the dam is stabilized and the current rain event has passed." Speaking at a press conference Friday aftenroon, officials said the all clear had not yet been given.

"The City is developing a plan to stabilize the dam which may include opening the sluice gate at the dam to reduce the water levels," the city said in a statement. "Residents downstream may see slightly increased stream levels on Blackwater Creek, but no significant flooding will result if this action is taken."


The dam is considered a "high hazard" dam -- a classification that means failure of the dam would be catastrophic to the major roads, railway crossing and homes located downstream.

About 150 homes were evacuated in three hours in the area Black Creek Trail over fears the College Lake Dam could fail. About 100 people remained at a shelter overnight, and about 10-15 remained displaced as of Friday afternoon, officials said.

According to the National Weather Service, the Lynchburg Water Resources Department reported that 4 to 6 inches of rain on Thursday evening caused the College Lake Dam to fill beyond its capacity. Twelve to 18 inches of water were flowing over Lakeside Drive into Blackwater Creek.

The National Weather Service had said if complete failure of the dam occurs, "the water depth in Lynchburg could exceed 17 feet in seven minutes."

County officials reported the dam's "imminent failure" at around 9:30 p.m. Thursday. They looked for signs of structural failure early Friday as water was spilling over the dam, threatening about 124 houses in the city of 80,000.

CBS Roanoke affiliate WDBJ reported that more rain was expected Friday.

On Thursday night, the dam's emergency floodgates were clogged by debris. Officials were working to clear the debris by Saturday morning.

Officials said Friday some of the long-term solutions they are considering include fortifying the dam, or draining the lake and building a bridge.

Lynchburg, Virginia, is located in the Blue Ridge Mountains, about 50 miles from Roanoke.

© 2018 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.


ANOTHER COVERUP SCANDAL AGAINST YOUNG WOMEN

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/air-force-academy-new-sexual-assault-reporting-policy-after-cbs-news-investigation/
CBS NEWS August 3, 2018, 7:36 AM
Air Force Academy adopts policy encouraging cadets to report sexual assaults

The U.S. Air Force Academy has a new policy to encourage cadets to report sexual assaults. The new guidelines follow a CBS News investigation that revealed troubling patterns on how those reports were handled.

CBS News obtained a memo outlining the academy's new "Safe to Report" policy. It says victims should not be punished for what's known as "collateral misconduct" violations, such as underage drinking or sneaking off-base. Some victims said they were afraid to come forward for fear of facing penalties. In CBS News' investigation, a cadet said she was blamed for her assault, because she was underage and drinking alcohol.

In an effort to "encourage reporting, avoid unnecessary additional trauma, and maintain good order and discipline," the memo said, commanders have been given more authority to decide whether corrective actions should be taken regarding collateral misconduct and when.


More than a dozen current and former cadets told CBS News they reported their sexual assaults to the Air Force Academy only to experience retaliation by their peers and their commanders. In the May 8 memo signed by Commandant of Cadets Brig. Gen. Kristin Goodwin, the academy says it prohibits "retaliation and ostracism" against sexual assault victims.

The academy's former top official on sexual assault prevention and response, Teresa Beasley, told CBS News the academy often downplayed or ignored allegations. When CBS This Morning" co-host Norah O'Donnell asked Beasley how cadets are treated when they go public with sexual assault, she said, "It's typically negative."

"There are usually negative things said on anonymous social media... They're ostracized frequently by their squad mates… and usually word spreads pretty fast. And word gets out who is the victim. … They'll have their name plates taken off the room and thrown on the ground. People won't sit with them at lunch," Beasley said.

CBS News is nominated for two Emmys for the reporting.

© 2018 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.


THIS KIND OF THING IS WHY I TOTALLY IGNORE THE FAR RIGHT. THEY AREN’T STUPID, THEY ARE JUST MALICIOUS AND CHILDISHLY AGGRESSIVE. IF YOU GIVE THEM A “GOOD EDUCATION,” THEY’LL WASTE IT ON CONSPIRACY THEORIES LIKE THIS ONE, EVER NEW AND BETTER. WHEN THE INTELLIGENT AND HONEST REPUBLICANS ALLOWED THESE PEOPLE TO TAKE CONTROL, THEY LOST ALL CREDIBILITY AND DECENCY. THESE DAYS ARE, AS RACHEL MADDOW CALLED IT RECENTLY, “THE SILLY SEASON.”

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/what-is-the-qanon-conspiracy-theory/
CBS NEWS August 2, 2018, 6:00 AM
What is the QAnon conspiracy theory?

A number of attendees at President Trump's rally in Florida on Tuesday were decked out in homemade apparel celebrating QAnon, a convoluted conspiracy theory that's taken off among a segment of Mr. Trump's base. So what is QAnon, and why are we talking about something this ridiculous?

The story of Q
Those who subscribe to the QAnon conspiracy theory believe that a person who posts messages on the 4Chan and 8Chan internet message boards under the name "Q" is a high-ranking government official. And according to Q, Mr. Trump is on the verge of exposing a cabal of pedophiles, globalists, and celebrities who secretly control America.

President Trump rally -- Tampa, Florida
Supporters of President Trump shout down a CNN news crew before a rally Tuesday, July 31, 2018, in Tampa, Fla. AP

That's the central gist of the theory, anyway. The rest is open to some degree of interpretation, which is necessary because Q's posts tend to read like riddles. But YouTube videos created by QAnon believers help fill in the gaps and create a storyline that's more-or-less comprehensible.

QAnon exists as a kind of parallel history which a "deep state" took over decades ago. An all-encompassing theory of the world, it's able to tie together and explain everything from "Pizzagate" to ISIS to the prevalence of mass shootings and the JFK assassination.

Many Q fans believe that President Kennedy was set to reveal the existence of the secret government when he was assassinated. They also believe President Reagan was shot on the deep state's orders, and that all the presidents since he left office -- with the exception of Mr. Trump -- have been deep state agents.

The military, eager to see the deep state overthrown, recruited Mr. Trump to run for president. But the deep state, which controls the media, quickly tried to smear him through "fake news" and unfounded allegations of collusion with Russia.

Despite the deep state's best efforts, however, Mr. Trump is winning. Q is releasing sanctioned leaks to the public in order to galvanize them ahead of "The Storm," which is the moment when the deep state's leaders are arrested and sent to Guantanamo Bay. Q's adherents have called this process "the great awakening."

Enter "the storm"
The storm takes its name from Mr. Trump enigmatic comment last October about "the calm before the storm." Q began posting soon after, and said that the storm Mr. Trump referenced are a coming series of mass arrests that would end the deep state forever.

In QAnon lore, Mr. Trump is secretly working with special counsel Robert Mueller to bring the deep state down, and the storm is a kind of Judgment Day to in which the evildoers are punished and the faithful are redeemed. Q has repeatedly suggested that the storm would hit in the very near future, and has even said certain people would be arrested at certain dates. When those dates come and go without any arrests, Q says that they needed to be delayed for one reason or another, but that Mr. Trump still has the situation well in hand.

Bakers and breadcrumbs
Q's posts tend to be either vague or totally incomprehensible, but QAnon fans are more than happy to try and decipher them. Last year, for example, Q posted a photo of an unnamed island chain. Eager to divine the reasoning behind the post, QAnon adherents tried to prove that the photo must have been taken on Air Force One, which in turn meant that Q was traveling with the president.

The Q posts are known to the faithful as "breadcrumbs." The people who then try to figure out what they mean are called "bakers." According to The Daily Beast's Will Sommer, QAnon adherents also spend a lot of time trying to figure out who in the government is a "white hat" Trump supporter and who is a "black hat" in league with the deep state. Their rallying cry is "where we go one, we go all," a line from the 1996 Jeff Bridges sailing adventure "White Squall" that they misattribute to President Kennedy.

The phrase is frequently abbreviated to "WWG1WGA," which Roseanne Barr -- one of several celebrity QAnon promoters -- tweeted in June. Former Red Sox pitcher and current right-wing radio host Curt Schilling has also promoted QAnon online.


Roseanne Barr
✔
@therealroseanne
we r the army of truth-wwg1wga

3:03 AM - Jun 20, 2018
2,481
856 people are talking about this
Twitter Ads info and privacy

Q's identity
The name refers to Q-level clearance at the Energy Department. But who's behind the posts is anybody's guess. According to Sommer, the QAnon faithful sometimes point to former national security adviser Michael Flynn and White House aide Dan Scavino as possibilities. Others believe it's Mr. Trump himself. Another theory is that John F. Kennedy Jr. faked his death and now posts on 8Chan as QAnon.

© 2018 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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NEW YORK POST RICH LOWRY SAYS THAT BERNIE SANDERS IS NOW THE TOP DEMOCRAT, IN A PARTY THAT REFUSED IN THE RECENT PAST TO EVEN CLAIM HIM. THIS IS A RIGHT LEANING PAPER, BUT I’D LIKE TO SEE OTHER SOURCES FOR THE SAME INFORMATION. LOWRY GETS IN A PUNCH AT BERNIE IN HIS COMMENTS, AMONG COMMENTS THAT SOUND LIKE COMPLIMENTS.

https://nypost.com/2018/08/02/the-democratic-party-now-belongs-to-bernie-sanders/
The Democratic Party now belongs to Bernie Sanders
OPINION By Rich Lowry August 2, 2018 | 7:20pm

PHOTOGRAPH -- Bernie Sanders Getty Images

A voice crying in the wilderness is supposed to be ignored, not rewarded with accolades and growing influence.

Bernie Sanders is the prophet with honor in the Democratic Party. The former socialist gadfly is now the socialist trendsetter.

This doesn’t mean he’ll be the next Democratic nominee for president, or even run. It doesn’t mean that his ideas are good (I consider them godawful), or that they’ll make for a salable platform for the Democratic Party (which I very much doubt).

It does mean that when it comes to domestic policy on the left, it’s Bernie’s world and the Democrats live in it.

Sanders was an irrelevance for a couple of decades in Congress. The Vermont independent ran in 2016 to get a higher profile, and succeeded not merely in that, but also in seriously challenging Hillary Clinton. He’s now a pacesetter in the party while she rues what might have been.

To be sure, much of this was inevitable. Whatever brake on the left Barack Obama represented was going to be released once he went home, especially if Democrats couldn’t hold the White House.

The advent of President Trump pressed the accelerator on the party’s radicalization.

In 2016, though, Sanders embodied the first real political expression of a post-Obama left, disappointed by his alleged incrementalism and determined to move beyond it.

His success represents a version of what has happened to center-left parties around the West, as they’ve collapsed or been eclipsed by new forces. The two-party system is a durable feature of American politics, so the Democrats aren’t going anywhere, but Sanders is an interloper. As Hillary complains, he’s “not even a Democrat.”

This isn’t a cutting attack. It doesn’t matter in the least to the Democrats in good standing who are vacuuming up Bernie’s ideas. You can hardly be a US senator who hopes to run for president if you aren’t co-sponsoring pillars of the Sanders agenda such as Medicare for All, free college and the $15 minimum wage.

“Just a few short years ago,” Sanders crowed last year, “we were told that raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour was ‘radical.’ ” Indeed, he was told that, and for good reason. But he had five co-sponsors for a $15 bill in 2015 and has a majority of Senate Democrats now.

The Sanders policies are tangible and substantive (if misbegotten). Compare the period of Republican ferment when the party was out of power under Obama.

The Tea Party, for better or worse, didn’t have big, signature policy initiatives. It wanted to eliminate earmarks, a relatively trifling matter. It opposed amnesty, although the base always had this position. It hated the debt, which led to some serious proposals for entitlement reform but also much posturing to little effect.

MORE ON:
BERNIE SANDERS
The real cost of Medicare for All and other comments
Like it or not, America is now seriously debating socialism
Ocasio-Cortez teams up with Sanders to campaign in Kansas
Evidence against Manafort includes emails to Bernie's top strategist

Tea Party candidates usually defined themselves by their tactical maximalism and their style, especially a contemptuous attitude toward the establishment. This is why it slid so easily into Trumpism.

In contrast, it’s difficult to see how serious Democratic candidates for president are going to avoid endorsing Bernie’s ideas.

This will be good for Bernie’s project, but his own future is cloudy. If he runs again, he’ll get more scrutiny as a plausible contender rather than a guerrilla candidate. He won’t have Clinton as a foil, but numerous contenders who want to ape his substance as younger, less quirky, more polished candidates.

Significantly, Sanders is a laggard when it comes to identity politics, which is becoming even more important to Democrats in reaction to Trump. A 76-year-old male from the whitest state in the union, who has devoted his life to a rigorously class-based politics, can do his best to play along but will never be a natural.

The voters, in the Democratic primaries and the next presidential election, will obviously have a say, and they can upset expectations.

A few years ago, Rand Paul was having a moment in the Republican Party before the influence of libertarianism was obliterated in the GOP by the rise of Trumpism. Paul Ryan developed a thorough, coherent approach to the debt that seemed to define the future of Republican policy, before Trump blew right through that, too. Few would’ve guessed it at the time, but events were about to make Pat Buchanan and Jeff Sessions look like the GOP prophets.

Who knows how it shakes out for Bernie Sanders two or three years from now? What we do know is that he’s out of the wilderness.

FILED UNDER BERNIE SANDERS , DEMOCRATS , SOCIALISM


A NEW HISPANIC CANDIDATE, DAVID GARCIA

https://freebeacon.com/politics/democrats-embrace-identity-politics-roadmap-victory-arizona-gov-race/
Democrats Embrace Identity Politics Roadmap for Victory in Arizona Gov Race
Longtime Dem operative says David Garcia's strategy is 'insulting' to Latinos
David GarciaDavid Garcia / Facebook
BY: Brent Scher
August 3, 2018 5:00 am

A longtime Democratic operative in Arizona says he is disappointed that David Garcia, the frontrunner in his party's gubernatorial primary, has embraced a strategy of using his race to court Latino voters in the state.

Mario E. Diaz, who led Democrat Janet Napolitano's successful campaign to be Arizona's governor in 2002 and remains a prominent political strategist in the state, says he's not aligned with any candidate for governor, but thinks Garcia's aim of using his last name to win over Latino voters is both "insulting" and a "losing strategy." He says the strategy has been overtly clear.

"This is not a dog whistle, this has been a dog howl," Diaz said. "They are making the Latino community feel compelled to vote for somebody with the last name Garcia, which to me is an insult to the Latino voter."

Democrats have long fantasized about the idea of harnessing the rapidly growing minority populations to flip the balance of power in traditionally red states like Arizona, characterizing it as a "demographic revolution."

Liberal financier Steve Phillips responded to the party's 2016 loss by founding Democracy in Color, "a political organization focused on race, politics and the multiracial, progressive New American Majority." The strategy is outlined in his book, Brown Is the New White, which argues the Democratic Party's future relies on harnessing "progressive people of color."

Phillips wrote in The Nation earlier this summer that Garcia's bid in Arizona offers a roadmap for his national plan, but his reasoning never goes beyond Garcia's identity.

"With Garcia, a Mexican-American who comes from and resonates with the Latino community, at the head of the ticket, the potential to bring more Latinos to the polls is immense," he wrote.

He argued promoting Garcia should be prioritized above promoting white Arizona Democrat Kyrsten Sinema, solely because he's Mexican-American.

"The way to win seats in Arizona—for the Senate, House and other races—is to inspire core Democrats, Latinos in particular," he wrote. "And the way to do that is by lifting up David Garcia’s campaign and unleashing a brown wave of voters that will lift all boats and turn that formerly red state blue."

Garcia has embraced this mindset, appearing on Phillips's Democracy in Color podcast and saying, "I believe a Garcia needs to win in Arizona."

"For this state to really reach its promise, for this state to be fully represented by the people of Arizona, somebody with my last name needs to win," Garcia said.

Diaz says it's "insulting" that Garcia holds this view of Latino voters, who have the same priorities as everyone else in the state.

"The Latino voter, just like any other voter, wants to know what you're doing to move the state forward," Diaz said. "It diminishes the value and the intelligence of the voter, in terms of voting for somebody because of qualifications as opposed to one's ethnicity."

"I don't see anything wrong with announcing your background when you're speaking to the community," he explained, "but as a strategy to win Arizona's governor's race, not only is it insulting to Latinos, it really is a losing strategy in a state where independence is valued at a higher level than any other characteristic."

Garcia disagrees, telling the Arizona Republic he is better able to court Latino voters in a general election than his two opponents, who are both white. The gubernatorial primary takes place on August 28.

"We need to change the electorate," he said. "I believe my campaign, and me as a person, are best suited to making sure we increase voter turnout."

"I believe we’re going to hear the true voice of Arizona," he said.

Phillips views politics through a racial lens, arguing that the foundation of President Donald Trump's 2016 win was "hostility to Latinos." He believes Garcia winning a race-focused election in Arizona will send a message that could catapult the country closer to the one he envisions.

"Electing David Garcia—a person who comes from the very community Trump demonizes and who is unapologetically committed to building an inclusive, multiracial democracy—will represent a resounding rejection of the nativist, nationalist, and racist impulses lifted up by this president," he wrote.

Phillips is similarly attempting to harness the power of Stacey Abrams, a black gubernatorial candidate in Georgia. He wrote in June that the country was six months from "having a Governor Abrams in Georgia and a Governor Garcia in Arizona serving as the cornerstone of a new multiracial progressive political order in America."

Abrams headlined an event attended by major liberal donors earlier this year where reparations were discussed as a possible Democratic policy proposal in the future, the Washington Free Beacon reported.

Diaz said he is a "true Democrat" but thinks his party wins by presenting qualifications.

"I am a true Democrat, I have been and always will be a Democrat," he said. "But as I've become older and more mature, what I want to see from a candidate is qualifications."

"In between when Garcia ran for superintendent of public instruction in 2014 and now, what has he done to put a plan together for the voter? I have a difficult time understanding what his vision is for Arizona."

This entry was posted in Politics and tagged 2018 Election. Bookmark the permalink.


THIS IS ANOTHER CASE WHEN THE INTERNET IS BRINGING IN HELP FROM THE PUBLIC. GREAT STORY!

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/more-perfect-union-strangers-rally-around-stranded-family-with-baby-nicu-new-york-city/
CBS NEWS August 2, 2018, 11:28 AM
Strangers rally around family stranded with baby in NICU

Our continuing series, A More Perfect Union, aims to show that what unites us as Americans is far greater than what divides us. When Shelcie Holbert came to New York on a business trip, she expected to stay three days, but the 22-year-old, who was six months pregnant, suddenly went into labor 16 weeks early. That was in June, and over a month later she's still in New York.

One pound, nine ounces. That's all baby Rosalie weighed at birth. Though tiny, she managed to stir up trouble for her parents Shelcie Holbert and Jacob Wallace.

"It's been a roller coaster," Holbert told CBS News' Jericka Duncan. "I mean it's a beautiful thing, right, but it's not how we imagined it."

ctm-clean-8am-cr470c-20180802-frame-39028.jpg
Rosalie Wallace CBS NEWS

How they imagined it was full-term in North Carolina, where they'd just moved from Alaska specifically to raise a family.

"We wanted to be in the South and have, like, Southern hospitality and raise her and have her in a place where we knew everybody was nice," Holbert said. New York City was not part of the plan.

But doctors have told the couple Rosalie needs to stay in the neonatal intensive care unit at New York's Mount Sinai hospital until October, leaving the couple stranded with no friends, no family, and no place to stay. Their initial thoughts on New York? "A lot of people, dirty… people are kind of rude," Jacob Wallace said. That opinion has quickly changed.

After new mom Kim Kaplan met the couple in the hospital, she set out to help them. She posted a message on Facebook in a group for mothers in Manhattan's Upper West Side hoping others would want to help. Offers came quickly. Jenna Cognetti let Shelcie and Jacob stay in her vacant three-bedroom apartment rent-free.

"It was a no-brainer. I was gonna sort of do whatever I could to make sure that she had a safe place to stay and she could focus on her daughter," Cognetti said.

ctm-clean-8am-cr470c-20180802-frame-42427.jpg
Shelcie and Jacob visit baby Rosalie in the hospital. CBS NEWS
The help didn't stop there. Toby Baldinger reached out to Jenna and offered to provide meals for the couple for the first two weeks.

"She'll come back from the hospital and there'll be a hot meal waiting for her every single day from a diner in the neighborhood," Toby Baldinger said.

A GoFundMe site was set up and has so far raised more than $20,000 for the couple. And the women who've pitched in for Shelcie say she's helped them too – by showing strength.

"Do I think I would be able to exude the enthusiasm and, like, zest for life that she does? I do not think so. I think she is just really an inspiration for us all," said Julia, another woman who pitched in.

ctm-clean-8am-cr470c-20180802-frame-41682.jpg
Shelcie Holbert (center) along with some of the New York City women who have offered her support. CBS NEWS
"I can't even imagine. I mean, I'm probably gonna start to cry. I had a hard time with my boys in the NICU for nine weeks and to hear what you were going through, it really put me in my place, in a sense. I have family, I have friends, I have a home here that I can go to every night," Kaplan said.

And Shelcie hopes that one day, when Rosalie is old enough, the story of her birth will be an inspiration.

"She's gonna feel invincible, and she's going to do good to the world because of the way she came into it," Shelcie said.

A little girl, bringing love into the world where some might least expect it.

Shelcie and Jacob chose Jenna Cognetti to be Rosalie's godmother, though they've known her just a few weeks. Their doctor told CBS News that the baby is thriving.

© 2018 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.


THE NEXT THREE ARTICLES ARE ABOUT INTELLIGENT AND SELF-LEARNING COMPUTERS AND ROBOTS, CARS THAT DRIVE THEMSELVES, ROBOTS IN CHARGE OF HUMANS, ROBOTS THAT REPLACE WORKERS, AND, IN FACT, OUR IMMINENT FUTURE. SADLY, THAT FUTURE IS MOST LIKELY GOING TO BE A JOBLESS ONE, COMPLETE WITH THE EVILS OF LIFE WITH NOTHING TO DO. “IDLE HANDS ARE THE DEVIL’S WORKSHOP.” THIS IS LIKE GLOBAL WARMING, IT’S HERE ALREADY.

ON THE REALITIES OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, IF WE DO NOT MAKE LAWS TO PROHIBIT AND EFFECTIVELY PREVENT DANGEROUS SITUATIONS WITH OUR ROBOTS, WE WILL BE AS STUPID AS I SOMETIMES THINK WE ARE. AS POVERTY CONTINUES TO DEEPEN WITHOUT WORK, WE WILL CERTAINLY NEED THE GUARANTEED MINIMUM INCOME FOR ALL PEOPLE. CONSERVATIVES WILL CRY WOE, BUT LIBERALS WILL MARCH IN THE STREETS UNTIL WE GET WHAT WE NEED.

HOW WILL WE COPE WITH OUR UNWANTED “LEISURE SOCIETY?” IDEALLY, OF COURSE, INDIVIDUALS WILL INVENT SOMETHING OR CREATE ART IN SOME FORM, LEARN TO PLAY MUSIC OR TEACH, HELP TO GIVE GREATER COMFORT TO THE LONELY, THE ILL AND THE AGED, ETC. INSTEAD OF FORMING A FRIENDSHIP TO HELP YOURSELF, DO IT TO HELP SOMEONE ELSE AS WELL. THAT CAN KEEP EVERYONE BUSY, WHICH IS A VERY IMPORTANT THING FOR PROMOTING GOOD MENTAL HEALTH AND MOREOVER, A CIVILIZED SOCIETY. IN THE DAYS OF YORE, BEFORE 1900, PEOPLE IN THE LOCAL COMMUNITIES VOLUNTEERED THEIR ASSISTANCE TO OTHERS AND TO THE WELFARE OF THE COMMUNITY. INSTEAD OF ALWAYS GOING TO THE LOCAL BAR, THEY VISITED THEIR NEIGHBORS. IN RURAL SMALL TOWNS, THERE PROBABLY WASN’T A BAR. I WANT TO SEE THAT SORT OF INTERACTION REVIVED AND ENLARGED TODAY.

MANY OF YOU WILL HAVE HEARD OF THE CHAUTAUQUA MOVEMENT AND THE LYCEUM MOVEMENT OF THE 1800S AND EARLY 1900S. I WOULD LIKE TO SEE SOMETHING LIKE THAT EMERGE AGAIN. I THINK THE KEY WILL BE A CONSISTENTLY GREATER LEVEL OF KNOWLEDGE. PEOPLE WILL STOP THINKING THAT THEY NEED “AN EDUCATION,” AND WORK TOWARD VOLUNTARY LIFE-LONG LEARNING INSTEAD. WE WILL NEED STRUCTURED AND UNSTRUCTURED HELPFUL ACTIVITIES EVEN MORE THAN NOW, WHICH WILL PRODUCE AN IMPROVED CIVIC LIFE AND BETTER MENTAL HEALTH FOR ALL. I BELIEVE ACTIVE PARTICIPATION IN POLITICS SHOULD BE A PART OF THAT.

POLITICS, CREATIVE ARTISTIC WORK, PHILOSOPHICAL AND DISCUSSION GROUPS, SPORTS FOR THE PHYSICALLY INCLINED, VOLUNTEERISM IN WAYS SUCH AS THE CARE OF ILL AND DISABLED PEOPLE, WORKING WITH ANIMALS, NATURAL SCIENCE, EXPLORATION; THE PURSUIT OF HISTORICAL KNOWLEDGE AND OTHER INFORMATION AS WELL AS OUR OWN VIEWS AND FEELINGS, PUTTING THEM INTO BOTH ONLINE AND PAPER STORAGE. JUST BECAUSE WE HAVE THE INTERNET, THAT SHOULDN’T MEAN THAT WE WOULD STOP STORING AND USING BOOKS. THERE WAS A FRIGHTENING NEWS ARTICLE ABOUT A YEAR AGO IN WHICH THE LIBRARIAN OF A TOTALLY MODERNIZED COLLECTION WAS INTERVIEWED. SHE SAID THAT THE USAGE OF BOOKS IS DECREASED HIGHLY IN RECENTLY YEARS DUE TO COMPUTERS AND ELECTRONIC BOOKS, OR “E-BOOKS,” AND THAT HER LIBRARY NO LONGER HAS BOOKS IN IT.

THAT IS NOT ONLY A CRYING SHAME, IT IS DANGEROUS. WE SHOULD REMEMBER THAT IF THE WORLD DOES BECOME DAMAGED TO THE POINT THAT OUR INFRASTRUCTURE CEASES TO EXIST, THERE WILL BE SOME USEFUL INFORMATION SOURCES BESIDES COMPUTERS IF THERE ARE BOOKS. IF ELECTRICITY FAILS TO FUNCTION, COMPUTERS WON’T WORK EITHER. OF COURSE, BATTERIES COULD BE USED, IF THERE ARE ANY FOR THAT PURPOSE. THE GOOD NEWS ABOUT HUMANITY IS THAT WE USUALLY FIND A WORK-AROUND FOR OUR PROBLEMS, THOUGH IT MAY TAKE A COUPLE OF THOUSAND YEARS. IN THAT LINE OF THINKING, GO TO YOUR LOCAL LIBRARY AND CHECK OUT THE MAGNIFICENT BOOK “A CANTICLE FOR LEIBOWITZ” BY WALTER MILLER, JR. IT’S 500 OR MORE PAGES LONG, BUT THE STORY DOESN’T LAG AT ANY POINT, AND THERE IS A HUGE AMOUNT OF WISDOM STORED IN IT.

MY LAST WORD -- WHY DID OUR LEADERS FAIL TO SEE THE PROBLEMS WITH THE ATOMIC BOMB FOR INSTANCE? BECAUSE WE AREN’T AS SMART AS WE TEND TO THINK WE ARE. SOMETIMES I FEEL THAT WE NEED TO BE REMINDED THAT JUST BECAUSE WE ARE ABLE TO DO SOMETHING, DOESN’T MEAN THAT WE SHOULD.

https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg23931892-400-robot-laws-why-we-need-a-code-of-conduct-for-ai-and-fast/?cmpid=ILC|NSNS|2018_webpush&utm_medium=ILC&utm_source=NSNS&utm_campaign=webpush-Roost-robotlaws
Robot laws: Why we need a code of conduct for AI – and fast
By Douglas Heaven
1 August 2018

PHOTOGRAPH -- SM/AIUEO/Getty

THE car’s computer saw Elaine Herzberg pushing her bicycle across the highway a full six seconds before it struck her. Travelling at just under 70 kilometres per hour, it had more than enough time to stop or swerve. But it did neither, hitting her head on. Herzberg died in hospital, the first pedestrian to be killed by an autonomous vehicle.

A preliminary investigation by the US National Transport Safety Board into the collision, which happened in Tempe, Arizona, in March, found that the emergency brakes of the Uber-operated car were designed to be disabled when driving autonomously to ensure a smoother ride. It was also not designed to alert the human operator of danger.

We are a far cry from Isaac Asimov’s First Law of Robotics: a robot may not injure a human or, through inaction, allow a human to come to harm. Of course, Asimov’s laws are fictional. They are also 75 years old. But the idea of rigid rules that keep wayward robots in check has stuck around in the popular imagination.

Today, we find ourselves in a world fast filling with robots. They are driving our cars, performing our medical procedures, influencing our elections and threatening to take our jobs. It is obvious we can’t live without them, but the deeper question of how we live with them remains unanswered.

The past couple of years has seen a slew of reports from governments and think tanks offering policy recommendations, but so far Asimov’s model of neat self-contained commandments remains a fantasy. How do we change that?

Mady Delvaux, a member of … -- SEE BELOW FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE PROBLEMS OF ROBOTICS.


http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/headlines/economy/20170109STO57505/rise-of-the-robots-mady-delvaux-on-why-their-use-should-be-regulated
Rise of the robots: Mady Delvaux on why their use should be regulated
Economy 12-01-2017 - 13:32

VIDEO -- MEPs are looking into the ethical questions related to robots and artificial intelligence

From drones to medical equipment, robots are increasingly becoming a part of our everyday life. But although some 1.7 million robots already exist worldwide, their use is still not properly regulated. MEPs debate today a report calling for rules to regulate their use, including creating a separate legal status for robots. They will vote on the report tomorrow.

Follow the debate and the vote live online here.

In January we talked to report author Mady Delvaux, a Luxembourg member of the S&D group. She explained why the Parliament is looking into this issue and stressesed [sic] that robots will not totally replace humans in the workplace: "There will be a cooperation between both."

What kind of robots are we talking about here? Can you give us some examples?

We are not talking about weapons. We define robots as physical machines, equipped with sensors and interconnected so they can gather data. The next generation of robots will be more and more capable of learning by themselves. The most high-profile ones are self-driving cars, but they also include drones, industrial robots, care robots, entertainment robots, toys, robots in farming...

In your report you discuss whether robots should have a legal status. What would that mean in practice?

When self-learning robots arise, different solutions will become necessary and we are asking the Commission to study options. One could be to give robots a limited “e-personality” [comparable to "corporate personality", a legal status which enables firms to sue or be sued] at least where compensation is concerned. It is similar to what we now have for companies, but it is not for tomorrow. What we need now is to create a legal framework for the robots that are currently on the market or will become available over the next 10 to 15 years.

So in the meantime who should be responsible in case of damage? The owner, the manufacturer, the designer, or the programmer?

We have two options. According to the principle of strict liability it should be the manufacturer who is liable, because he is best placed to limit the damage and deal with providers. The other option is a risk assessment approach according to which tests have to be carried out beforehand [to assess the risks] and compensation has to be shared by all stakeholders. We also propose there should be compulsory insurance, at least for the big robots.

You also mention that some vulnerable people can become emotionally attached to their care robots. How can we prevent this happening?

We always have to remind people that robots are not human and will never be. Although they might appear to show empathy, they cannot feel it. We do not want robots like they have in Japan, which look like people. We proposed a charter setting out that robots should not make people emotionally dependent on them. You can be dependent on them for physical tasks, but you should never think that a robot loves you or feels your sadness.

Why is Parliament looking into this issue?

For once, we would like to set common European principles and a common legal framework before every member state has implemented its own and different law. Standardisation is also in the interest of the market as Europe is good in robotics, but if we want to remain leader, we need to have common European industry rules.

Regarding liability, customers need to be sure that they will be insured if damage occurs. The big issue is safety and data protection. Robots cannot function without an exchange of data so there is also a question of who will have access to this data.

People who fear they will lose their jobs are told that robots will actually create new jobs. However, they might only create jobs for highly-skilled people and replace low-skilled workers. How can this be solved?

I believe this is the biggest challenge to our society and to our educational systems. We do not know what will happen. I believe there will always be low skilled jobs. Robots will not replace humans; there will be a cooperation between both. We ask the Commission to look at the evolution, what kind of tasks will be taken over by robots. It can be a good thing it they are used for hard work. For example if you have to carry heavy goods of if the job is dangerous. We have to monitor what is happening and then we have to be prepared for every scenario.

The report also deals with the issue of whether we should change our social security systems and think about universal revenue, because if there are many unemployed people we have to assure they can have a decent life. It also calls on member states to reflect on it, because these competences are not within the EU.

This article was first published on 12 January 2017.


THERE IS A GREAT DEAL MORE OF THIS ARTICLE ON ASIMOV’S LAWS OF ROBOTICS, SO FOR YOUR OWN ENJOYMENT READ IT AT THIS WIKIPEDIA SITE. MY POINT IS THAT, LIKE FLYING MACHINES, WE HAVE BEEN INTERESTED IN THIS SUBJECT FOR A VERY LONG TIME, AND SAW IT AS HAVING BUILT-IN DANGERS. THESE SEVERAL NEWS ARTICLES ARE CONSIDERING
WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE AND WHEN.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Laws_of_Robotics
Listen to this article
Three Laws of Robotics
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Three Laws of Robotics (often shortened to The Three Laws or known as Asimov's Laws) are a set of rules devised by the science fiction author Isaac Asimov. The rules were introduced in his 1942 short story "Runaround" (included in the 1950 collection I, Robot), although they had been foreshadowed in a few earlier stories. The Three Laws, quoted as being from the "Handbook of Robotics, 56th Edition, 2058 A.D.", are:

A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.

A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.

A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Laws.[1]

These form an organizing principle and unifying theme for Asimov's robotic-based fiction, appearing in his Robot series, the stories linked to it, and his Lucky Starr series of young-adult fiction.



“... RESTORING OPPORTUNITY THAT’S BROADLY SHARED....” THIS STATEMENT BY, SADLY “FORMER” PRESIDENT OBAMA, IS WHAT I WANT TO SEE BELIEVED AND PRACTICED IN THE LAND OF THE FREE. IF IT ISN’T EQUAL, IT ISN’T FREE, EITHER. WHAT I LIKE ABOUT DEMOCRATS IS THAT MOST OF THEM THINK IN DEPTH AND ARE HIGHLY CONCERNED ABOUT PEOPLE, ALL OF THEM, AND WITHOUT THE INCLUSION OF CORPORATIONS. IN OTHER WORDS, DEMOCRATS HAVE GOOD COMMON SENSE. MOST OF US DO, ANYWAY.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2018/08/01/former-president-barack-obama-endorses-81-candidates-2018-midterms/879720002/?csp=chromepush
Former President Barack Obama endorses 81 candidates in U.S. midterms, says he's 'eager' get involved
USA TODAY Published 1:05 p.m. ET Aug. 1, 2018

WASHINGTON – Former President Barack Obama announced endorsements Wednesday of 81 Democratic candidates in the November midterm elections, and said he is "eager" to help his party gain seats in a contest widely seen as a referendum on President Donald Trump.

While Obama did not mention Trump by name, he said in the public statement outlining his plans that he wanted to lend his status to help candidates who would fight for shared opportunity, help repair alliances abroad and further a commitment to justice.

He described his picks as "diverse, patriotic, and big-hearted."

Obama weighed into races for governor, the House of Representatives, Senate and also for state legislative seats. He backed Georgia gubenatorial candidate Stacey Abrams, Nevada Senate candidate Jacky Rosen and Sean Casten, running in a tossup House district in Illinois.

Obama has kept a relatively low profile since leaving office last year, and many Democrats have been keen to get the president – still widely popular within the party – onto the campaign trail. Democrats are battling for control of the House, and need to flip a net 23 seats to take over that chamber. They face a more daunting challenge in the Senate, where Republicans hold a two-seat majority but where Democrats are struggling to defend seats in several states that Trump won in 2016.

“I’m confident that, together, they’ll strengthen this country we love by restoring opportunity that’s broadly shared, repairing our alliances and standing in the world, and upholding our fundamental commitment to justice, fairness, responsibility, and the rule of law," Obama said in a statement.

"But first, they need our votes – and I’m eager to make the case for why Democratic candidates deserve our votes this fall.”


WHEN ARE RIGHTS WRONGS? OH, YES, AND WHY THE HECK DID THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT GIVE HIM PERMISSION TO PROCEED WITH THIS? ONE ARTICLE YESTERDAY SAID THAT TRUMP WAS INVOLVED IN THE MATTER. REASON NUMBER 50 TO IMPEACH HIM IF THAT STATEMENT IS PROVEN TO BE TRUE. OUR COURTS ARE TOTALLY WRAPPED UP IN THE LETTER OF THE LAW, AND NOT NEARLY ENOUGH WITH THE DAMAGES DONE. NOT ONLY IS THAT NOT JUSTICE, IT ISN’T LOGIC EITHER.

REASON NUMBER 40 TO REVAMP THE CONSTITUTION IN CERTAIN WAYS, SOME LARGE AND SOME SMALL. I DON’T CONSIDER PUTTING UNREGISTERED GUNS ON THE STREET WITHOUT A LEGAL VETTING TO BE A SMALL PROBLEM OR ANYBODY’S RIGHT. HIS STATEMENT THAT THE RIGHT TO OWN OUR OWN GUNS IS A MATTER OF “DIGNITY.” NOW THAT’S CLASSIC TESTOSTERONE BASED LOGIC.

WHY ARE A FULL LIST OF THE RESTRICTIONS NOT PUT INTO THE CONSTITUTION ALONGSIDE THE PERMISSIONS? OF COURSE, THIS IS JUST ONE MORE WAY THAT THE PUBLIC PROTECTION AGAINST GUN VIOLENCE NEEDS TO BE INCREASED, NOT DIMINISHED. THIS DISTURBS ME GREATLY.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/3d-printed-gun-cody-wilson-says-gun-access-fundamental-human-right/
CBS NEWS August 1, 2018, 7:45 AM
3D-printed gun blueprint maker Cody Wilson says "the debate is over"

A federal judge in Seattle is temporarily blocking the release of blueprints to make untraceable and undetectable 3D-printed guns. A group of eight attorneys general sued to stop a Texas-based company, Defense Distributed, from making the designs available online. The company reached a settlement with the U.S. government in June that allowed them to make the blueprints public.

Cody Wilson, the founder of Defense Distributed who has a tombstone outside his office that says "American Gun Control," believes that everyone in America has a right to build their own guns arsenal, reports CBS News correspondent Tony Dokoupil. In 2013, he built the world's first working plastic firearm. Now he's fighting to publish gun designs online – including AR-15 style rifles and handguns – so people can build them on their own.

Dokoupil spoke to Wilson hours before the judge's ruling came down, but he was clear with us: he believes he's already won.

"I believe that I am championing the Second Amendment in the 21st century," Wilson told "CBS This Morning."

"You think that's good for the safety of Americans. You think that's good for American families. You think that's good for American streets," Dokoupil said.

"Yeah, yeah," Wilson said, adding that he thinks it's "unquestionably" good for the future.

"I think access to the firearm is a fundamental human dignity. It's a fundamental human right," Wilson said.

Wilson's dream of a downloadable library of gun blueprints – and a world where anyone can easily manufacture a deadly weapon at home – stalled Tuesday. A Seattle judge blocked Wilson from publishing new gun files and questioned whether the Trump administration should have granted his company permission in the first place.

"It makes no damn sense. No damn sense at all to make those available," said Bob Ferguson, Washington state's attorney general.

Ferguson, who led the lawsuit by eight attorneys general, argued 3D-printed plastic weapons are dangerous because they're untraceable, often undetectable, and require no background check.

"What I'm doing is legally protected. ... I will go to the appellate level. I will go to the Supreme Court. I will waste all my time," Wilson said.

Wilson already published 10 blueprints as of last Friday, including files for AR-15 style rifles and handguns. The AR-15 schematics alone have been downloaded thousands of times.

"There is nothing good that can come with Defense Distributed uploading these files," said Po Murray, chairwoman of Newtown Action Alliance, a gun control group created after the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary in 2013.

"It's a dangerous slippery slope into our future and our laws and our policies have to keep up with the changing advancements in technology," Murray said.

Wilson argues that it's already impossible to police 3D gun technology and he believes he has a free speech right to publish the designs.

"I'm talking about files. I'm not talking about the guns. I'm not a licensed gun manufacturer. I don't make guns at this location. I have data, I can share the data," Wilson said.

"When somebody downloads a gun from your website with your blueprints and kills somebody with it, how are you going to feel personally?" Dokoupil asked.

"I don't believe that I provide you with anything other than the general knowledge of what an AR-15 is," Wilson said.

But to fund his legal fight, Wilson's company sells milling machines, which come pre-loaded with design files that allow anyone to make their own AR-15 or 1911 handgun in about two days – with no serial number and no screening. They retail for $2,000 and there's a three-month backlog.

"Defense Distributed is still winning this legal battle, to be clear," Wired senior writer Andy Greenberg said. He has followed Wilson since 2012. He said in the long run, Tuesday's ruling is insignificant compared to the agreement Wilson already reached with the federal government.

"Defense Distributed now has the ability to post whatever files they want and no one has successfully been able to stop them permanently from doing that," Greenberg said.

"What makes you comfortable with a world where people can pump out guns in their garage any time they want to?" Dokoupil asked Wilson.

"What's going to make me comfortable... is when people stop coming into this office and acting like there's a debate about it. The debate is over," Wilson said, adding, "The guns are downloadable. The files are in the public domain. You cannot take them back. You can adjust your politics to this reality. You will not ask me to adjust mine."

Wilson said he follows all required laws and regulations and even screens people who are looking to buy his milling machines. He also said he won't publish any new blueprints on his website until September while the case works its way through the courts.

© 2018 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.


I’VE HEARD THAT HUMAN BITES ARE ALSO PRONE TO PRODUCING SERIOUS INFECTIONS. IT ISN’T THAT DOGS AND CATS ARE DIRTIER THAN HUMANS, BUT THAT AN UNCLEANED OR UNTREATED WOUND IS DANGEROUS. IF AN ANIMAL LICKS ME, I WASH THE SITE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. I DON’T KNOW HOW THIS BACTERIA COULD GET INTO THE TISSUES OF THE AREA WITHOUT AN OPEN WOUND, THOUGH. PROBABLY THIS ARTICLE JUST DIDN’T GIVE ALL THE INFORMATION.

WHAT WE NEED TO BE AWARE OF IS THE FACT THAT THE WHOLE WORLD, EVEN INSIDE ROCK FORMATIONS, HAVE LIVING BACTERIA THERE. REALLY? YES, REALLY. THIS IS WHY I FEEL SURE THAT THERE IS LIFE ON MANY PLANETS IF THEY HAVE WATER. THEY DON’T EVEN HAVE TO HAVE OXYGEN, BECAUSE IN THE “BLACK SMOKERS” – OF UNDERSEA VOLCANIC VENTS – THERE ARE MANY KINDS OF LIFE, AND THEY LIVE ON HYDROGEN SULFIDE. SEE: https://serc.carleton.edu/microbelife/extreme/endoliths/index.html.
http://sciencenordic.com/live-bacteria-found-deep-below-seabed
http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2103587_2103586_2103579,00.html

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/mans-legs-amputated-after-dog-licks-lead-to-infection-family-says/
CBS NEWS August 1, 2018, 1:34 PM
Man's legs amputated after dog's licks lead to infection, family says

A Wisconsin man has lost both of his legs to a virulent infection after being licked by a dog, according to local reports. Earlier this summer, Greg Manteufel contracted Capnocytophaga canimorsus, a bacteria found in dog saliva that can cause sepsis, his family says.

In just a few days, the bacteria spread and Manteufel was fighting for his life.

"This bacteria caused the sepsis in Greg's body that has completely changed not only Greg's life but his entire family's as well," states a GoFundMe page set up by Manteufel's loved ones. "Within days of being admitted to the hospital while still fighting for his life, Greg first lost both feet, after a second surgery to remove more damage on legs, they amputated thru both Knee caps [sic]."

Doctors would eventually be forced to remove parts of Manteufel's lower legs and nose, as well.

The infection likely entered Manteufel's body from the lick of a dog, probably his own, WITI-TV reported. Dr. Silvia Munoz-Price, an infectious disease specialist with Froedtert Hospital and the Medical College of Wisconsin, told the station the infection got into his blood and "triggered a very severe response in his body." His blood pressure dropped and the circulation in his limbs declined.

"It hit him with a vengeance. Just bruising all over him. Looked like somebody beat him up with a baseball bat," the patient's wife, Dawn Manteufel, told the station.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, many Capnocytophaga species are considered normal bacteria commonly found in the mouths of humans, dogs, and cats. In fact, up to 74 percent of dogs and up to 57 percent of cats have Capnocytophaga detected in their mouths.

Capnocytophaga can cause opportunistic infections, meaning they have to have the right conditions to cause an infection, such as when a person has a weakened immune system. However, these infections in humans are extremely rare.

In 2016, doctors in London documented the case of a 70-year-old woman who had been infected with Capnocytophaga. Writing in the medical journal BMJ Case Reports, they said she developed confusion, a headache, diarrhea, a high fever, and eventually sepsis and organ failure. While the infection had been seen before in people who'd been bitten by dogs, the doctors noted it was highly unusual that this woman apparently contracted it from her dog who had licked her. They said the woman recovered after two weeks of intensive care treatment and antibiotics.

Dr. Bruce Farber, chief of infectious diseases at North Shore University Hospital and Long Island Jewish Medical Center in New Hyde Park, New York, told CBS News at the time that physicians have known about this bacteria for decades.

"This is an organism carried in the mouths of dog and it causes a very bad sepsis infection. But it's usually in people who are immuno-compromised and usually follows a dog bite. But this is unusual because it was a lick," said Farber, who was not involved in the woman's case.

He said, either way, it's very uncommon. "I've probably seen two cases in 30 years of doing infectious disease."

The CDC says people with the following conditions are at a greater risk of Capnocytophaga infection:

Excessive alcohol use
Not having a spleen
Immuno-compromising conditions, including but not limited to:
Cancer
Diabetes
HIV infection
Taking drugs that are toxic to cells, such as chemotherapy

If you have one of these conditions and are bitten by a cat or dog, the CDC recommends calling your doctor immediately to describe your animal contact. Antibiotics are needed to treat a Capnocytophaga infection and should be started as soon as possible to prevent further complications.

© 2018 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.


https://www.cdc.gov/capnocytophaga/index.html

Many species of Capnocytophaga bacteria live in the mouths of dogs and cats. These bacteria do not make dogs or cats sick.

Rarely, Capnocytophaga species can spread to humans through bites, scratches, or close contact from a dog or cat and cause illness. Most people who have contact with a dog or cat do not become sick. People with a weakened immune systems [sic] who have difficulty fighting off infections (for example, people with cancer or those taking certain medications such as steroids) are at greater risk of becoming ill.
Page last updated: May 12, 2016
Content source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases (NCEZID)
Division of High-Consequence Pathogens and Pathology (DHCPP)


2018 DEMOCRATIC PRIMARIES -- “WIDE-OPEN BUT CROWDED” – YEAH. RIGHT. THIS IS EITHER A POETIC WAY OF SAYING SOMETHING IMPORTANT, OR A BOO-BOO. EITHER WAY, I DO LIKE THIS ARTICLE, AND I’M DELIGHTED TO SEE THAT THE CORPORATE DEMOCRATS DON’T HAVE THE SAME (UNFAIR) ADVANTAGE THAT THEY DID IN 2016. I’M SURE THIS WILL BE EXCITING.

http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/399795-sanders-warren-question-whether-dem-primary-is-big-enough-for-both-of-them
Sanders, Warren question whether Dem primary is big enough for both of them
BY AMIE PARNES - 08/01/18 06:00 AM EDT

When Bernie Sanders debated whether to enter the 2016 presidential race, one of the first people he consulted was Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.).

One of us has to run, Sanders (I-Vt.) told his Senate colleague at the time, according to a source familiar with the conversation.

Years later, with a new Democratic primary approaching, both senators are mulling whether to jump into the race.

And some Democrats say they don’t think there’s room for both progressives in what is expected to be a wide-open but crowded Democratic contest to take on President Trump.

“If a likely winning strategy is to reconstitute as much of the Obama and Clinton coalitions as possible, it’s unlikely they will be able to do so sharing the same ideological space,” said Democratic strategist Basil Smikle, name-dropping the last two Democratic presidential nominees.

Sanders, 76, and Warren, 69, have much in common.

Both are heroes to the left and represent the progressive side of Democratic politics that clearly has momentum within the party.

They have complimented one another and joined forces on common causes, most recently last week on legislation that would provide debt relief to storm-ravaged Puerto Rico.

“They align on almost every issue,” one Sanders ally said. “That's not an accident.”

Yet sources say tensions lie beneath the surface, including over Warren’s decision to remain neutral in the 2016 Democratic primary between Sanders and Hillary Clinton, a more centrist politician.

“There’s definitely a built-in rivalry there and there’s definitely some unspoken tension,” said one Sanders associate, who worked on the senator’s 2016 presidential bid.

If the two both make a charge for their party’s ring in 2020, it will be difficult to avoid raising tensions further.

“Bernie feels he did run and did enormously well and he's earned the right to run again,” said the Sanders associate, who put it on Warren to determine whether she wanted to take on Sanders.

“She's got to figure out if there's room for the two of them. He's the one who was there, has an organization, still has his following and he's still getting huge crowds wherever he goes,” the associate added.

Strategists say Sanders and Warren will be hard-pressed to share the same lane, leading to speculation that if both run for the White House, one will have to run to the center, however slightly.

“Someone, most likely Senator Warren, would have to move a little to the center to be successful in a primary and general,” said Smikle, who worked for Clinton and served as the executive director to the New York Democratic Party. “Otherwise you leave yourself vulnerable to the right in both elections.”

Publicly, Warren and Sanders aren’t doing anything that would make people see them as rivals — albeit friendly ones.

Both Warren's and Sanders's offices declined to comment for this story.

Democrats say Warren has gained favor within the ranks of the Democratic Party.

On July 12, she was the only senator to attend a Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee breakfast at the committee’s Capitol Hill headquarters.

At the breakfast, before a room of 100 people, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) sang Warren’s praises.

She said it was rare for a senator to join the fundraising effort for the House, but that Warren had been doing everything in her power to get Democrats elected in the midterms, according to sources in the room.

“This is not typical,” Pelosi said, according to a source in the room. “But that’s because she’s done more than anyone else. She’s dedicated to winning.”

Sanders, who put off some Democrats who thought he stayed in the 2016 primary too long against Clinton, also has spent considerable time since that election crisscrossing the country to campaign — and win loyalty — from fellow Democrats. Just last month, he appeared in Kansas alongside Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the 28-year-old democratic socialist who defeated incumbent Rep. Joseph Crowley in a primary for New York’s 14th Congressional District.

A few Democrats say they do think there’s room for both of the powerful progressives in a 2020 race.

“After the last election cycle, we need to have a vigorous debate, and they're two articulate leaders who deserve to fight it out in the primary,” said Democratic strategist Jim Manley, who added that he's “convinced both are going to run, and I don't see one bowing out for the other. They're going to have to battle it out over who is going to carry the [left] wing of the party and I can only assume both are eying each other warily.”

“We're heading for a big debate, and I for one have no problem with it," Manley said.

Another Sanders ally, requesting anonymity to speak candidly, said Sanders and Warren will figure it out as 2020 draws closer.

“The nature of presidential campaigns is that they’re very individualistic and they’ll decide on their own what they’ll each do at the end of the day,” the ally said. “On the plus side, they are two amazing candidates talking about a progressive future. But one big minus is that it could enable a third person to do much better.”


https://www.wxyz.com/news/bernie-sanders-to-campaign-in-michigan-with-abdul-el-sayed
Bernie Sanders to campaign in Michigan with Abdul El-Sayed
3:23 PM, Aug 1, 2018

DETROIT (WXYZ) - Bernie Sanders is expected to campaign in Michigan this weekend after endorsing Democratic gubernatorial candidate Abdul El-Sayed.

Senator Sanders will speak at two rallies -- one in Detroit and the other in Ypsilanti -- on Sunday, August 5.

The Detroit rally will take place in the Grand Riverview Ballroom at the Cobo Center on Washington Boulevard at 3 p.m. The time and location for the Ypsilanti rally have not yet been announced.

Senator Sanders released this statement in support of El-Sayed:

“I’m proud to endorse Dr. Abdul El-Sayed for Governor of Michigan. As governor, Dr. El-Sayed will fight for a government in Lansing that represents all the people, and not just wealthy special interests. Under Abdul’s leadership Michigan can help lead the nation in guaranteeing health care for all through a Medicare for All single-payer type system, tuition free public colleges and universities, a minimum wage of $15 per hour and strong environmental protections.”

RELATED: Bernie Sanders endorses Abdul El-Sayed for Michigan governor

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