SEPTEMBER 11 AND 12, 2018

NEWS AND VIEWS

FLORENCE IS A NAME THAT WILL BE REMEMBERED, I HAVE A FEELING. THIS STORM IS BEING COMPARED TO SEVERAL OF THE WORST IN THIS CENTURY, BY METEOROLOGISTS. I DO REMEMBER HURRICANE HAZEL. IT CAME ALL THE WAY INTO PIEDMONT NORTH CAROLINA. I WAS AROUND 10 YEARS OLD, I WOULD SAY. WE ALL HAD HURRICANE FEVER – A COMBINATION OF FEAR AND JOY, SUCH AS THE HUGE ROLLER COASTERS AROUND THE WORLD INSPIRE.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/hurricane-florence-latest-path-forecast-category-4-carolina-live-updates-2018-09-11/
CBS/AP September 11, 2018, 11:25 AM
Millions of Americans brace for impact as Hurricane Florence churns toward East Coast

VIDEO – BRACING FOR FLORENCE

Last Updated Sep 11, 2018 2:46 PM EDT

RALEIGH, N.C. -- With mandatory evacuations already issued for parts of three East Coast states, millions of Americans are preparing for what could become one of the most catastrophic hurricanes to hit the Eastern Seaboard in decades.

Hurricane Florence had maximum sustained winds near 130 mph Tuesday afternoon as it remained a Category 4 storm. It is expected to intensify to near Category 5 status as it slows over very warm ocean water near North and South Carolina.

Hurricane Florence: How to prepare for the "monster" storm

Hurricane Florence's size is "staggering," National Hurricane Center Director Ken Graham warned.

"We could cover several states easily with the cloud cover alone," Graham said. "This is not just a coastal event."


National Hurricane Center
✔
@NHC_Atlantic
Hurricane #Florence Advisory 49A: Florence Getting Better Organized and Increasing in Size. http://go.usa.gov/W3H

452
1:36 PM - Sep 11, 2018
480 people are talking about this
Twitter Ads info and privacy

The center of the massive storm is forecast to make landfall along a stretch of coastline already saturated by rising seas, and then meander Thursday, Friday and Saturday, inundating several states and triggering life-threatening floods. Seven-day rainfall totals are forecast to reach 10 to 20 inches over much of North Carolina and Virginia, and even 30 inches in some places. Combined with high tides, the storm surge could swell as high as 12 feet.

"The water could overtake some of these barrier islands and keep on going. With time, the wind pushes the water into every nook and cranny you can think of," Graham said. "All you have to do is look up at your ceiling, and think about 12 feet (of water). That, folks, is extremely life-threatening."

Hurricane Florence will be "devastating," FEMA chief says

Florence could hit North Carolina with same punch as Hurricane Hazel in 1954

The storm's first effects were already apparent on barrier islands as dangerous rip currents hit beaches and seawater flowed over a state highway -- the harbinger of a storm surge that could wipe out dunes and submerge entire communities.

Watches were in effect Tuesday for a storm surge that could reach up to 12 feet at high tide on a stretch from Cape Fear to Cape Lookout in North Carolina, forecasters said. A hurricane watch was in effect for Edisto Beach, South Carolina, to Virginia's southern border, and the first hurricane-force winds arriving late Thursday.

"Please be prepared, be careful and be SAFE!" President Trump tweeted Monday evening. He has declared states of emergency for North and South Carolina ahead of the storm, which frees up help from federal agencies.

South Carolina's governor ordered the state's entire coastline to be evacuated starting at noon Tuesday and predicted that 1 million people would flee. CBS News correspondent David Begnaud reported that lanes, at noon, would be reversed on four of the largest roads leading to the South Carolina coast, so cars would only be able to drive inland.

Similar evacuations are happening all the way up to Virginia, where the governor has ordered a mandatory evacuation for residents of some low-lying coastal areas.

For many people, the challenge could be finding a safe refuge: If Florence slows to a crawl just off the coast, it could bring torrential rains to the Appalachian mountains and as far away as West Virginia, causing flash floods, mudslides and other dangerous conditions.

On Tuesday, Washington D.C.'s mayor, Muriel Bowser, declared a state of emergency in the District ahead of the hurricane, effective immediately. On Monday, Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan declared a state of emergency for the state.

View image on TwitterView image on Twitter


Mayor Muriel Bowser
✔
@MayorBowser
This morning, I signed a Mayor’s Order declaring a state of emergency ahead of Hurricane Florence.

Join us now as we provide updates on the District’s preparations https://www.facebook.com/MayorMurielBowser/videos/282814912538173/ …

117
11:05 AM - Sep 11, 2018
237 people are talking about this
Twitter Ads info and privacy


North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper called the hurricane a "monster" that residents should not try to ride out in their homes. At a news conference Tuesday, he had a stern warning for coastal residents who have stayed in their homes during previous hurricanes including Fran in 1996, Floyd in 1999 and Matthew in 2016: This one is different.

Cooper told residents not to "bet your life on riding out a monster."

To reinforce this, Cooper announced he had issued what he called the first-of-its-kind mandatory evacuation order for North Carolina's fragile barrier islands from one end of the coast to the other. Typically local governments in North Carolina make the call on evacuations. Some, including those at the Outer Banks, have already issued orders for the island residents to leave.

Earlier, he said his state was "in the bullseye" of the storm and urged people to "get ready now." The very center of that bullseye may be Camp Lejeune, the sprawling Marine Corps training base, where authorities were opening emergency operation centers, staging equipment and urging families on the base to build survival kits with food and equipment needed to sustain themselves for 72 hours.

Mandatory coastal evacuations were in effect for civilians in South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia, but the military base posted on Facebook that different chains-of-command would decide whether to release non-essential personnel, and some relatives vented fears that they wouldn't be able to evacuate in time.

Hurricane Florence path projections

The storm's potential path also includes half a dozen nuclear power plants, pits holding coal-ash and other industrial waste, and numerous hog farms that store animal waste in massive open-air lagoons.

Airlines, including American and Southwest, have started letting passengers change travel plans that take them into the hurricane's possible path.

All signs pointed to a stronger, slower, wider and wetter hurricane in the days ahead, forecasters said.

A warm ocean gives hurricanes their fuel, and Florence is moving over an area with water temperatures nearing 85 degrees (30 Celsius), hurricane specialist Eric Blake wrote. With little wind shear to pull the storm apart, hurricane-strength winds have been expanding to 40 miles (64 kilometers) from the eye of the storm, and tropical-storm-force winds 150 miles from the center.

"Unfortunately, the models were right. Florence has rapidly intensified into an extremely dangerous hurricane," Blake wrote Monday evening that top sustained winds would approach the 157 mph (253 kph) threshold for a worst-case Category 5 scenario. Tuesday morning's data from hurricane-hunting aircraft supports this forecast, the center said.

Florence could hit the Carolinas harder than any hurricane since Hazel packed 130 mph -- 209 kph -- winds in 1954. That Category 4 storm destroyed 15,000 buildings and killed 19 people in North Carolina. In the six decades since then, many thousands of people have moved to the coast.

Preparations for Florence were intensifying up and down the densely populated coast. The parking lot has been full for three days at the Ace Hardware store in coastal Calabash, North Carolina, where manager Tom Roberts said he sold 150 gas cans in two hours Monday, along with generators, plywood, rope, manual can openers, sand bags and a plethora of other items.

"I've been doing this since 1983," Roberts said as he completed an order for another 18-wheeler full of supplies. "This is the craziest one."

Many newcomers have moved to the coast in the nearly 19 years since the last strong hurricane -- Floyd -- threatened the area. Roberts said he's telling them to get out of town.

"I'm telling them to go inland, but I'm worried about the rain and tornadoes too," Roberts said.

On North Carolina's Outer Banks, Dawn Farrow Taylor, 50, was gathering photos and important documents and filling prescriptions Monday before heading inland. She grew up on the island chain, and says this will be only the second time she's evacuated.

"I don't think many of us have ever been through a Category 4. And out here we're so fragile. We're just a strip of land -- we're a barrier island," she said.

Two other storms were spinning in the Atlantic. Hurricane Isaac was expected to lose strength as it reaches the Caribbean, and Helene, much farther out to sea, turned away from land as it moved over cooler ocean waters.

In the Pacific, Hurricane Olivia triggered warnings for multiple Hawaiian islands as it blew west toward an arrival over the state as soon as late Tuesday or early Wednesday.

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


THIS DOESN'T SURPRISE ME. THIS IS THEIR KIND OF BEHAVIOR.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latin-america/u-s-officials-suspect-russia-mystery-attacks-diplomats-cuba-china-n908141
U.S. officials suspect Russia in mystery 'attacks' on diplomats in Cuba, China
The strong suspicion that Russia was behind the alleged attacks is backed by signals intelligence, meaning intercepted communications, say U.S. officials.
by Josh Lederman, Courtney Kube, Abigail Williams and Ken Dilanian / Sep.11.2018 / 4:42 AM ET

VIDEO – 02:37 RUSSIA BEHIND CUBA -- NBC NEWS EXCLUSIVE

WASHINGTON — Intelligence agencies investigating mysterious "attacks" that led to brain injuries in U.S. personnel in Cuba and China consider Russia to be the main suspect, three U.S. officials and two others briefed on the investigation tell NBC News.

The suspicion that Russia is likely behind the alleged attacks is backed up by evidence from communications intercepts, known in the spy world as signals intelligence, amassed during a lengthy and ongoing investigation involving the FBI, the CIA and other U.S. agencies. The officials declined to elaborate on the nature of the intelligence.

The evidence is not yet conclusive enough, however, for the U.S. to formally assign blame to Moscow for incidents that started in late 2016 and have continued in 2018, causing a major rupture in U.S.-Cuba relations.

Since last year, the U.S. military has been working to reverse-engineer the weapon or weapons used to harm the diplomats, according to Trump administration officials, congressional aides and others briefed on the investigation, including by testing various devices on animals. As part of that effort, the U.S. has turned to the Air Force and its directed energy research program at Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico, where the military has giant lasers and advanced laboratories to test high-power electromagnetic weapons, including microwaves.

Although the U.S. believes sophisticated microwaves or another type of electromagnetic weapon were likely used on the U.S. government workers, they are also exploring the possibility that one or more additional technologies were also used, possibly in conjunction with microwaves, officials and others involved in the government's investigation say.

The U.S. has said 26 government workers were injured in unexplained attacks at their homes and hotels in Havana starting in late 2016, causing brain injuries, hearing loss and problems with cognition, balance, vision and hearing problems. Strange sounds heard by the workers initially led investigators to suspect a sonic weapon, but the FBI later determined sound waves by themselves couldn't have caused the injuries.

This year, one U.S. worker in China was diagnosed with similar symptoms after hearing bizarre sounds in Guangzhou, and more from China are being tested.

'Microwave weapon' suspected in illness of US embassy workers
SEP.03.201801:36

The precise motive remains unclear, but the incidents have driven a wedge between the U.S. and Cuba that has led Washington to remove most of its diplomats and spies from the island. Early in the investigation, senior U.S. officials raised the possibility the illnesses were unintended consequences of some new spying technology. But the fact the incidents continued long after they became publicly known has cast doubt on the possibility that the damage was accidental.

In testimony before Congress last week, State Department officials were unanimous that the incidents should be considered "attacks."

"The State Department has come to the determination that they were attacks," Ambassador Peter Boode, who leads the task force responding to the incidents, told a House Foreign Affairs Committee panel.

A U.S. official separately tells NBC News that the U.S. has "no reason to believe this was anything but an intentional act."

If Russia did use a futuristic weapon to damage the brains of U.S. personnel, it would mark a stunning escalation in Russian aggression toward Western nations, compounded recently by the use of a military-grade nerve agent to poison an ex-spy and his daughter in Britain. Although the full extent of the resulting diplomatic fallout is difficult to predict, a determination that Russia was behind the Cuba attacks would trigger outrage in Congress and foreign capitals and calls for an immediate, concerted response, especially as President Donald Trump faces continued questions about his willingness to challenge Russia and President Vladimir Putin.

Russian government officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

A Russian-made Lada car passes by the Russian Embassy in HavanaA Russian-made Lada car passes by the Russian Embassy in Havana on Dec. 12, 2017.Alexandre Meneghini / Reuters file

In a statement, State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said, “The investigation is ongoing. We have made no determination on who or what is responsible for the health attacks.”

The strong U.S. suspicion that Russia is behind the incidents means that Cuba's government is no longer considered the likely culprit. Still, officials did not rule out the possibility that the Cuban intelligence services may have offered the Russians some level of cooperation or tacit consent. Russian intelligence agencies operate in force in Cuba, as do Chinese spies, officials say.

Cuba's government has repeatedly denied any knowledge of or involvement in attacks on Americans in Cuba, and has argued there is no evidence the attacks even took place. The U.S. maintains that whoever perpetrated the attacks, Cuba bears responsibility for failing to protect U.S. diplomats on Cuban soil.

Although the U.S. has never disclosed their identities, officials tell NBC News that in addition to State Department diplomats, the victims include multiple CIA officers, at least one member of the U.S. military, and representatives of other agencies.

The exact medical syndrome remains a mystery even to the University of Pennsylvania physicians treating the patients.

In the search for answers, on Aug. 14 the U.S. convened officials from the Energy Department, the National Institutes of Health, the State Department and the Canadian government at the Sandia National Laboratories in Livermore, California, according to State Department medical officials. U.S. experts attending a neurotrauma conference in Toronto were linked in by videoconference as Penn physicians presented their most recent technical findings. But the summit ended with no new medical revelations.

Staff stand within the United States embassy facility in Havana, Cuba on Sept. 29, 2017.Staff stand within the United States embassy facility in Havana, Cuba on Sept. 29, 2017.Desmond Boylan / AP file

In response to the incidents, the Trump administration last year issued a travel notice urging all Americans to stay away from Cuba and sharply reduced the number of U.S. diplomats posted to its embassy in Havana.

By September 2017, it appeared the attacks had stopped. But then new incidents were reported in April and May of 2018, leading to two new confirmed cases.

One of the new cases, a worker sent to Havana on temporary assignment to fill a vacancy, was hit within just a few hours of arriving in the country, two individuals briefed on the incident told NBC News.

Around the same time, in May, the State Department disclosed that a worker posted to the U.S. Consulate in Guangzhou, China, had also reported unexplained sounds and then been diagnosed with brain injury and symptoms consistent with the Cuba cases. It's unclear how firmly U.S. evidence indicating Russia was behind the Cuba cases extends to China, where the investigation is still in the early stages.

In the meantime, the United States still has found no way to mitigate the risk for diplomats posted to Cuba or China. State Department officials tell NBC News that in the last few weeks, the State Department started granting additional "incentive pay" to entice diplomats to serve in Havana despite the risk and the fact that because of the danger, they cannot bring their families.

Contributors Julia Ainsley


SEPTEMBER 12, 2018

I’M GLAD BLUMENTHAL IS SUING OVER THE DOCUMENTS, WHICH THE REPUBLICANS SHOULD HAVE PRESENTED ALREADY. THERE ARE SO MANY THINGS I DON’T LIKE ABOUT THE AVERAGE REPUBLICAN POLITICIAN THAT I AM SURPRISED THAT PEOPLE ACTUALLY CONSIDER THEM TO BE UPSTANDING CITIZENS. OR COULD IT BE THAT WE NO LONGER BELIEVE IN FAIR PLAY AT ALL? I THINK THAT IS VERY LIKELY THE TRUTH. TO PLAY FAIR IS TO BE A FOOL.

http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/406148-blumenthal-democrats-going-to-court-this-week-over-kavanaugh-documents
Democrats going to court this week over Kavanaugh documents
BY JORDAIN CARNEY - 09/11/18 05:17 PM EDT

PHOTOGRAPH – SENATOR BLUMENTHAL

Senate Democrats will move forward this week with suing to get access to documents tied to Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) told reporters that Democrats would file a “legal action” later this week to try to force the Trump administration to comply with a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request that senators filed last month for Kavanaugh's records.

"We are going to be going to court sometime this week to compel compliance with our FOIA request. ... We intend to do whatever is necessary to enforce this action in court,” Blumenthal told reporters at a press conference in Connecticut.

Blumenthal added that he will be "leading that effort in filing legal action later this week."

The action comes after Democrats sent FOIA requests to multiple departments and agencies last month, including the National Archives and Department of Justice, requesting paperwork from Kavanaugh's decades of work in Washington, including his time as a White House lawyer and staff secretary for President George W. Bush.

Though Republicans have requested paperwork from his time as an associate counsel, they've refused to ask for documents from his three-year tenure as staff secretary.

Democrats argue that the time period is crucial for understanding Kavanaugh's thinking on controversial issues including torture and surveillance.

"I’ll be joined by other colleagues because the process of screening and cherry-picking and sanitizing the documents that have been submitted so far really is a disservice to the American people as well as the United States Senate, and even to Brett Kavanaugh himself," Blumenthal added on Tuesday.

The court battle would be the latest escalation of a weeks-long firefight over Kavanaugh's nomination.

Blumenthal and other Democrats on the Judiciary Committee tried, unsuccessfully, to postpone Kavanaugh's hearing before the panel last week arguing they needed more time to collect and review documents from his White House tenure.

Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), a member of the committee, also rankled Republicans when he released emails from Kavanaugh's time as a White House lawyer that had been marked "committee confidential," meaning they hadn't been cleared for public release.

Democrats had hoped the Trump administration would comply with their FOIA request but Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Blumenthal warned late last month that they were willing to sue if necessary.

“We stand ready to sue the National Archives for Judge Kavanaugh's full records if necessary. ... With this suit we could finally shine some sunlight on Kavanaugh’s records,” Schumer told reporters last month.

TAGS CHARLES SCHUMER CORY BOOKER KAVANAUGH CONFIRMATION SUPREME COURT TRUMP NOMINEE SENATE FOIA


ARCANE DESCRIBES MANY OF THE THINGS THAT POLITICOS DO. WHAT’S NEW? OF COURSE, I TEND TO CONSIDER THOSE THINGS JUST ANOTHER SNEAKY, UNDERHANDED MOVE BY THE PARTY WHICH HAPPENS TO BE ON TOP AT THE MOMENT.

http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/405417-mcconnell-recesses-senate-amid-kavanaugh-hearings
McConnell recesses Senate amid Kavanaugh hearings
BY JORDAIN CARNEY - 09/06/18 03:27 PM EDT

VIDEO – SCHUMER CALLS FOR PROCEDURE TO HALT KAVANAUGH HEARING

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) recessed the Senate on Thursday after Republicans warned that Democrats could try to use arcane procedure to stop Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court hearing.

McConnell asked that the Senate be recessed “subject to the call of the chair”—meaning they will come back into session later Thursday, if only to formally adjourn for the day.

McConnell didn’t give any guidance when he made the move about why he was making the request or when the Senate would come back into session.

“I ask that the Senate stand in recess subject to the call of the chairman,” McConnell said from the Senate floor.

But a spokesman for McConnell said the GOP leader did not recess the Senate to avoid Democrats’ procedural maneuvering.

“There was (is) a consent agreement to keep the hearing going, so no,” said David Popp, a spokesman for McConnell, asked if they were trying to avoid the so-called two-hour rule.

He didn’t immediately respond to a follow-up question about why, then, McConnell recessed the Senate.

A Democratic aide confirmed that there was an agreement to allow the hearing to go forward.

"We are happy with how the hearing is going from our perspective so decided to keep it going and not invoke two hour rule," the aide said.

There had been intense speculation among senators that Democrats would invoke the two-hour rule on Thursday, forcing McConnell to either adjourn the Senate or let the Kavanaugh hearing be shut down.

"I've been told that the Senate minority leader or someone on the Democratic Party has invoked the two-hour rule. So, if the two-hour rule is invoked nobody on this committee is going to have an opportunity to do what they want to do today," Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) said earlier Thursday.

Under Senate rules, senators have to seek permission for committees to meet after the Senate has been in session for two hours. The request is routinely granted.

But Democrats refused the request on Wednesday as they upped their opposition to Kavanaugh, forcing Republicans to adjourn early.

Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) at the time said Democrats were protesting Republicans’ handling of Kavanaugh’s nomination, which Democrats argue is being rushed through.

He said Democrats would not allow for “business as usual.”

Asked earlier Thursday if Democrats would try to invoke the two-hour rule, a spokesman for Schumer said “stay tuned.”


TWO HOUR RULE* -- NOTHING COULD BE MORE ARCANE THAN THE REPUBLICAN BEHAVIOR IN CREATIVELY DENYING A HEARING FOR EVERY ONE OF PRESIDENT OBAMA’S FEDERAL JUDGE NOMINEES. THAT WAS AN ANCIENT RULE – “THEM THAT HAS GETS!” IF CHOOSING HIS PERSONAL PICK IS TRUMP’S RIGHT, IT WAS OBAMA’S TOO.

https://www.brennancenter.org/blog/its-not-only-rules-holding-judicial-nominees
It’s Not Only the Rules Holding Up Judicial Nominees
Common-sense rule reform can help put judges on empty benches. However, in a climate of hyper-partisanship, it may not be enough.
Katherine Munyan
April 22, 2014

Last November, Senate Democrats reformed filibuster rules to end the stalemate over judicial and executive nominations. However, the number of vacant judgeships and “judicial emergencies” remains high. Senators continue to slow-walk judicial nominees down new paths of delay by failing to recommend nominees to the White House, using blue slips to block nominees, and refusing unanimous consent to hasten votes.

Additional common-sense Senate reforms, like proposed blue slip changes, can help put judges on empty benches. Rule reform is crucial — but the players need to cooperate too. The Senate’s willingness to exploit any opportunity for obstruction, even in a state of judicial crisis, reveals a deeper breakdown in Senate function.

Case-in-point: the two-hour rule.

One of the Senate’s standing rules, the two-hour rule requires the consent of both the majority and minority party leaders to continue committee meetings more than two hours after the Senate convenes. In practice, the rule is almost always waived – except just after the filibuster was no longer on the table. As Roll Call and the American Bar Association Journal reveal, the month after filibuster reform saw the hearings of more than 20 nominees stalled by repeated invocations of the little-known rule.

For most of us, statutory approval to call off meetings after 2 p.m. seems like a pipe dream. Commentators described the rule as a useless tool of dysfunction, calling it “arcane,” “payback,” and “a mini-filibuster.” But the fact is the rule, which emerged just decades ago, was initially intended “to lift a bogged-down Congress up by its bootstraps.”

Reformers proposed the two-hour rule to lengthen committee working hours. Since the 1946 Legislative Reorganization Act, no committee could meet while the Senate was in session — cutting meetings off at noon. Why the restriction to the morning? Before the 1946 Act, no rules governed what committee did what, how many committees a Senator could serve on, or when committees could meet. The result was what one senator called an “overlapping, duplicating, crazy-quilt system” of committees with intersecting jurisdictions — and meeting times. The 1946 Act was intended to reduce scheduling conflicts for senators, and, by standardizing and publicizing meeting times, make them more accessible to the public.

Passed in 1977, the two-hour rule stemmed from a study on how to streamline Senate procedure and increase legislative output. According to its contemporary supporters, extending the ordinary meeting times for committees would “provide additional time for the committees to accomplish their business while authorizing joint leadership to permit committees to meet after 2 p.m. when circumstances warrant” (emphasis added). The two-hour rule sponsors wanted to make schedules more flexible — allowing the “circumstances” of that day’s business, rather than abstract hourly guidelines, to shape meeting lengths. In fact, the debating senators mainly worried that committee members would be so committed to their work that meetings would be extended too often, making senators miss floor sessions.

Today, the current backlog of committee work has prompted a long, hard look at Senate procedure — and that’s a good thing. We should learn from delays how to increase efficiency; we should be willing to discard remnants of a prior political era that no longer work for today. But we have to recognize that it may not be enough.

As long as there aren’t broader political incentives to move judges from the waiting room to the court room, as long as special interests muffle the voice of constituents whose timely “day in court” is endangered by Senate political brinkmanship, as long as the pile up of pending cases and increasing vacancy rate does not push the Senate into action, obstruction and delay will continue. The problem is not in one rule alone — although rule-by-rule reform is essential. The problem is in a broader climate of hyper-partisanship that places political interests above the committee responsibilities that reformers 30 years ago hoped to advance.

(Photo: Flickr/SGale39)

Government & Court ReformFair CourtsGovernment Dysfunction


A NEW MEMBER TO THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY? THAT WOULD BE NICE. THE REPUBLICANS HAVE BEEN VERGING TOO FAR OVER TO THE RIGHT FOR A DECADE OR MORE, AND THIS CHANGE IN THE WIND COULD SAVE THE PEOPLE, AS OPPOSED TO THE “CORPORATE PERSONS,” IN THIS COUNTRY.

http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/404962-dems-push-for-mccain-friend-to-replace-him-in-senate-report
Dems push for McCain friend to run for Senate: report
BY TAL AXELROD - 09/04/18 01:40 PM EDT

National Democrats have begun lobbying Grant Woods, a former Arizona attorney general and former chief of staff to John McCain, to run for McCain’s seat as a Democrat, according to The New York Times.

Arizona Governor Doug Ducey appointed former Sen. Jon Kyl to replace McCain until 2020, when there will be a special election to serve the remaining two years of McCain’s term.

Democrats have already started discussions with Woods about challenging Kyl as a Democrat, the Times reported, citing party officials familiar with the discussion.

Grant, a close friend of the McCain family, has been critical of President Trump.

McCain “would not stand by as people try to trample the Constitution or the Bill of Rights, including the First Amendment,” he said in his eulogy for his former boss, who died earlier this month.

Grant, who is considered a moderate Republican, endorsed Hillary Clinton in 2016.

“Hillary Clinton is one of the most qualified nominees to ever run for president. Donald Trump is the least qualified ever. The stakes are too high to stand on the sideline. I stand with Hillary Clinton for president," he said at the time.

METHANE DEPLETES ATMOSPHERIC OZONE (REMEMBER THE “OZONE HOLE?”), WHICH PROTECTS THE EARTH FROM ULTRAVIOLET SOLAR RADIATION AND US FROM SKIN CANCER. IT ALSO INCREASES GLOBAL WARMING. RULES AREN’T “MADE TO BE BROKEN.” THEY ARE MADE TO PREVENT DAMAGE TO LIFE FORMS, SUCH AS YOU AND ME.

http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/406300-california-governor-blasts-methane-rule-change-as-most-dangerous
Calif. governor blasts methane rule change as most 'dangerous action' by Trump
BY JUSTIN WISE - 09/12/18 01:25 PM EDT

PHOTOGRAPH – CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR JERRY BROWN

California Gov. Jerry Brown on Tuesday said that the Trump administration’s plan to roll back Obama-era methane rules was the most dangerous action President Trump since taking office, calling the move “insane.”

“This is insane — it borders on criminality,” Brown tweeted.

“It perhaps is the most obvious and dangerous and irresponsible action by Mr. Trump. And that’s saying quite a lot, because he has a whole list of them.”

His comments came just hours after the Trump administration announced that it would roll back a major Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rule related to methane gas emissions.

The new regulations replace a rule instituted in 2016 under former President Obama which had aimed to eliminate methane leaks at well sites and other oil and gas facilities.

The EPA said that the rollback of Obama-era regulations for oil and natural gas drillers would reduce unnecessary and duplicative burdens. It also said that the rule change would give the industry $484 million over six years.

The announcement represented the third time this year the EPA has changed the way air pollutants are regulated.

“These common-sense reforms will alleviate unnecessary and duplicative red tape and give the energy sector the regulatory certainty it needs to continue providing affordable and reliable energy to the American people,” acting EPA head Andrew Wheeler said in a statement.

Brown has taken a fiercely critical stance against the Trump administration's environmental policies. In August, the California governor called Trump's plan to roll back Obama-era regulations for coal power plants a "declaration of war against America and all of humanity."

"Truth and common sense will triumph over Trump's insanity," he added.

TAGS DONALD TRUMP CALIFORNIA METHANE GAS RULES EPA


POLLUTION REALLY DOES MATTER, AND IT DOESN’T TAKE THE LEVEL OF POLLUTION FOUND IN THIS CASE, EITHER. THIS CASE, OF COURSE, IS EXTREME, AND THE SITUATION WASN’T CAUSED BY UNSCRUPULOUS BUSINESS PRACTICES, BUT IT DOES PROVE THAT EXPOSURE TO UNHEALTHY THINGS IS BETWEEN DANGEROUS AND DEADLY. A TRUE HOBSON’S CHOICE. WE SHOULD STOP PASSIVELY STANDING BY WHEN MANUFACTURERS POOH-POOH THE DANGERS. TAKE THE GOVERNMENT IN FLINT MICHIGAN, FOR INSTANCE, WHEN IT SAID THAT THE WATER IS SAFE TO DRINK. OH, REALLY?

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/at-least-15-men-near-ground-zero-after-911-have-breast-cancer-law-firm-says/
By ASHLEY WELCH CBS NEWS September 11, 2018, 2:17 PM
At least 15 men near Ground Zero after 9/11 have breast cancer, law firm says

As the nation remembers the lives lost during the terrorist attack on September 11, 2001, some are working to bring awareness to first responders and others still suffering from 9/11-related illnesses.

"We're only now beginning to understand and witness the long-term effects of that work and the full extent of the sacrifices of all of our first responders," FBI Director Christopher Wray said at the 9/11 Memorial & Museum in New York City last week.

This comes at the same time a New York City law firm claims to have around 15 male clients who are suffering from breast cancer believed to be linked to the toxins from Ground Zero.

Jeff Flynn is one of those clients. He worked for a data storage company near the World Trade Center site and helped many financial firms get back on their feet. A decade later, he was diagnosed with stage III breast cancer.

"I thought it was a cyst or a gland and I ignored it for a while," he told CBS News. "And that was the wrong thing to do because it spread to my lymph nodes."

Flynn's doctors excised 35 lymph nodes during surgery. Thirty-four of them were cancerous. "The diagnosis was pretty bleak at the time," he said, but after receiving treatment and then going through a relapse, he is currently cancer-free.

John Mormando worked as a commodities broker in the World Trade Center area until 2007. He was preparing to compete an Iron Man race when he noticed a lump on his chest.

He went in for testing soon after and learned he had breast cancer.

"I was totally floored," Mormando said. "We know breast cancer is a popular disease, unfortunately, but for men, it's very rare. And I had it in both breasts, believe it or not."

Breast cancer is, indeed, very rare in men. According to the American Cancer Society, men have a 1 in 833 risk of developing breast cancer in their lifetime — compared to about a 1 in 8 lifetime risk for women. It is 100 times less common among white men than white women and 70 times less common among black men than black women.

Several studies have brought attention to the health risks of 9/11-related exposures.

A study published in The Lancet in 2011 found that New York City firefighters exposed to the 9/11 World Trade Center disaster site were 19 percent more likely to develop cancer in the seven years following the attacks as their non-exposed colleagues and up to 10 percent more likely to develop cancer than a similar sample from the general population.

Another study published earlier this year in JAMA Oncology concluded that those exposed to the World Trade Center site, including firefighters and recovery workers "will experience a greater cancer burden than would be expected from a demographically similar population."

"This underscores the importance of cancer prevention efforts and routine screening in WTC-exposed rescue and recovery workers," the authors wrote.

However, the potential link to cancer is not without some debate.

In a JAMA Oncology editorial also published this year, Dr. Otis Brawley, the American Cancer Society's Chief Medical and Scientific Officer, brought attention to concerns around relatively small sample sizes and the fact that other research has shown that firefighters nationwide are at a higher risk of many diseases, including cancer.

But Flynn and Mormando's attorney, Michael Barash, argues that the link is undeniable.

"They'd never seen jet fuel – for 99 days it was cooking all the phones the computers, the concrete dust. They measured the pH level of the concrete dust. It was the same as Drano," Barash said.

Mormando described what it was like to work in the area at the time.

"The smell was horrific but we were told that the air quality was OK," he said. "Politicians said go back to work, you're doing fine. They called us heroes and we all ate it up and said we're doing the right thing getting back to work."

Former head of the Environmental Protection Agency Christine Todd Whitman later admitted she was wrong to call Ground Zero air quality safe after 9/11.

The World Trade Center Health Program, established by Congress, provides treatment for a specific list of physical and mental health conditions that have been determined to be caused by exposure to the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The program covers 68 cancers, including breast cancer.

For their part, Flynn and Mormando want to raise awareness about male breast cancer.

"We want to get the word out to other men because it is very rare and men tend to ignore it and don't see a physician," Flynn said.

Mormando recommends men talk to their doctor about breast cancer risk. "When you go in for your yearly physical, most men are programmed to get certain tests like prostate exam. … Just get a breast exam, too, especially if you were in the 9/11 area because you're at such a higher risk," he said.

Flynn works with support groups to provide resources and counsel to other men who have been diagnosed with breast cancer.

"I swore that if I survived this disease I would help other men," he said. "Once you're diagnosed, it's very lonely. There's not a lot of [resources] for men. Somebody helped me and I believe that the people I've tried to coach through this appreciate the support."

More information on the World Trade Center Health Program and the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund is available online.

© 2018 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.


“NOW HE NEEDS TO SHOW HOW HE’LL GOVERN.” I PERSONALLY WILL BE GLAD TO SEE HOW HE WANTS THINGS TO GO, AND HOW HE WILL DEAL WITH PEOPLE TO ACHIEVE IT. SO FAR, HE’S THE BEST I’VE SEEN IN YEARS, SO I HAVE CONFIDENCE IN HIM. I ALSO SIMPLY LIKE HIM. HE’S A CUTE GUY FOR ANY AGE, AND I’LL NEVER FORGET THE SPARROW MOMENT. HIS FACIAL EXPRESSION WAS PRICELESS. https://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/article68682992.html

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/9/12/17847314/bernie-sanders-2020-bezos
This is Bernie Sanders’s biggest challenge for 2020
He’s shown he can build a movement. Now he needs to show he can govern.
By Ezra Klein@ezraklein Sep 12, 2018, 11:00am EDT

PHOTOGRAPH -- Bernie Sanders built a movement. Now he needs to show how he’ll govern. Alex Wong/Getty Images

If Bernie Sanders runs in 2020, as looks likely, he’ll enter the race as the frontrunner. The upside of that is he won’t have to fight for coverage; every utterance, every proposal, will be a story. He’ll set the terms of the debate. The downside, at least if he lets it be a downside, is he’ll be evaluated as a potential president. He won’t be graded on the insurgent’s curve.

How he negotiates that new reality will be central to whether he actually becomes the Democratic nominee. To succeed, he needs to merge what he did so well in 2016 with an understanding of what he didn’t do so well.

Which brings us to his Stop BEZOS Act. Sanders wanted to dramatize the unfairness of rich corporations with mega-rich CEOs paying their workers so little that they have to use public benefits. So he released a bill taxing such companies a dollar for every dollar in benefits their workers used. It’s classic Sanders: a powerfully populist message built around a specific billionaire enemy.

But the bill is disastrously constructed. In practice, it penalizes states with generous public benefits, penalizes employers for hiring in states with generous public benefits or hiring people who use public benefits, and penalizes workers for having kids and being married.

When policy experts who’ve devoted their lives to improving the lot of the poor — so Sanders’s allies in theory, and usually his allies in practice — made these criticisms, Sanders’s operation reacted furiously and counterproductively, accusing the excellent Center on Budget and Policy Priorities* of corruption.

This, too, is classic Sanders. As my colleague Matt Yglesias writes, “Sanders and his camp, on a fundamental level, don’t trust the leaders of the Democratic Party or their aligned institutions. They instinctively see criticism as an effort by insiders to freeze him out, rather than a good-faith debate about priorities and proposals.”

That didn’t matter so much when Sanders was an insurgent critic of the Democratic Party; it matters a lot more now that he is one of the leading Democrats for 2020. A president who can’t hear reasonable criticism of his plans as information that can help him improve them is a president whose agenda will quickly collapse beneath its own contradictions and errors.

And that’s what Sanders is now: a potential president.

Bernie Sanders’s 2020 test: showing how he’ll govern

One lesson Democrats learned from Hillary Clinton’s failed campaign is that the party worried too much about policy and not enough about symbolism. As my old editor Mark Schmitt used to say, it’s not what you say about the issues; it’s what the issues say about you.

Sanders gets this. He’s always gotten this. And he proved the power of it when he came from nowhere to almost beat Clinton for the Democratic nomination.

But if one of the lessons Democrats needed to learn from 2016 was to listen to Sanders and care more for symbolism, one of the lessons Sanders needed to learn was to care more about the workability of policy.

His campaign thrived as an insurgency, when the story was overflowing rallies and inspired crowds; it struggled as his poll numbers rose and his plans came under more scrutiny. His campaign reacted to normal policy scrutiny with outrage. They weren’t ready for their proposals to be looked at closely, and they hadn’t prepared their candidate for it, either. This hurt Sanders tangibly and often. It led to more negative press coverage, disastrous interviews, and debate openings for his opponents.

In 2016, Sanders’s team complained that these criticisms held them to an unfair, even impossible, standard; Clinton had locked up the Democratic policy community, and most of it was too neoliberal to give them useful advice anyway. But in large part due to Sanders’s success, that’s no longer true. The party has moved substantially to the left, Sanders is a big enough name to attract excellent staff and advisers, and there’s a much broader network of lefty policy thinkers working out ideas Sanders could draw on.

A key question Sanders’s next act will answer is whether the weaknesses of his 2016 campaign reflected Clinton’s control of the party or whether they were rooted in Sanders’s personality and governing style. How he develops policy, and responds to criticism of it, will be a crucial test.

As the frontrunner, if Sanders can’t absorb critiques and use them to improve his ideas, it will deepen fears about the kind of president he’d be. Conversely, if Sanders builds a policy process (and policy staff) that designs tighter policy and is able to absorb and persuasively respond to critiques of that policy, he’ll put a lot of those concerns to rest. The choice is his.


CBPP
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Center_on_Budget_and_Policy_Priorities

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) is a progressive American think tank that analyzes the impact of federal and state government budget policies. A 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, the Center's stated mission is to "conduct research and analysis to help shape public debates over proposed budget and tax policies and to help ensure that policymakers consider the needs of low-income families and individuals in these debates."[2]

CBPP was founded in 1981 by Robert Greenstein, a former political appointee in the Jimmy Carter administration. Greenstein founded the organization, which is based in Washington, D.C., to provide an alternative perspective on the social policy initiatives of the Ronald Reagan administration.[3]



HERE WE GO AGAIN ABOUT BERNIE AND HIS SON. WHY SHOULD HE HAVE TO ENDORSE HIM? IT IS GENERALLY AGREED THAT NEPOTISM IS VERY DANGEROUS AND USUALLY UNFAIR TO OTHER CANDIDATES. I DON’T KNOW MUCH ABOUT LEVI (LAY-VEE), INCLUDING WHETHER TO ACCENT THE FIRST SYLLABLE IN THAT NAME OR THE LAST, BUT I DO BELIEVE THAT PEOPLE SIMPLY AREN’T IDENTICAL NO MATTER THEIR GENETIC MAKEUP. BERNIE DIDN’T WIN UNTIL THE SECOND OR THIRD TRY, EITHER. IT’S HARD FOR A NEWCOMER TO GET THE PUBLIC INTEREST, MUCH LESS THEIR TRUST; AND LEVI WILL EITHER DROP OUT OR HE WILL PERSIST AND IMPROVE WITH TIME. I KNEW OF BERNIE BEFORE I BEGAN TO READ HIS DAILY BITS OF WISDOM, BUT ONLY ON THE SURFACE. HIS WRITING BROUGHT OUT THE INNER PERSON AND HIS IDEAS OF GOOD GOVERNMENT. I THINK ALMOST ALL POLITICIANS HAVE TO GO THROUGH THAT PROCESS. GIVE THE LITTLE (6’3”) GUY A CHANCE!!

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2018/09/bernie-sanders-son-loses-campaign-for-congress
2018 Midterm Elections
BERNIE SANDERS’S SON GETS OBLITERATED IN NEW HAMPSHIRE PRIMARY
It seems the Vermont senator made the right choice by refusing to endorse Levi Sanders.
BY TINA NGUYEN
SEPTEMBER 12, 2018 12:45 PM

PHOTOGRAPH -- By Mary Altaffer/AP Photo.

As Bernie Sanders crisscrossed the country this year doling out endorsements for Democratic candidates, observers inevitably noted that there was one candidate in particular that he declined to support: Levi Sanders, his only biological son, who launched a long-shot campaign for New Hampshire’s 1st Congressional District. Bernie, of course, framed his silence in moral terms. While the two boast virtually identical political beliefs, the elder Sanders repeatedly insisted that he would not dabble in “dynastic politics,” an all-American tradition responsible for generations of terrible politicians. “He’s on his own. He’s going to speak to the people of New Hampshire, and I’m sure he’s going to do very well,” Sanders predicted, optimistically. But Levi did not: In Tuesday’s Democratic primary, the son of Sanders placed seventh out of 11 candidates, taking less than 2 percent of the vote. (The victor, Chris Pappas, won roughly 42 percent.)

While some may wonder if his father’s political distance contributed to his loss, New Hampshire politicos argued that defeat was inevitable: Levi, after all, lived about an hour outside of the district, and has a history of losing local elections, once finishing in seventh place in his bid for the Claremont city council. As The Boston Globe reported in February, nearly all of Bernie’s campaign aides, advisers, and allies in New Hampshire warned Levi—whose title on his father’s campaign was senior policy analyst—not to run, and not to expect their endorsements if he did. Jeff Weaver, Bernie’s presidential campaign manager, could barely disguise his disdain: “[He] really doesn’t know much, to be honest with you.”

Levi, for his part, has tried his best to separate his own accomplishments from those of his father, repeatedly joking that he wasn’t Bernie’s son, but the “the son of Larry David’s fourth cousin.” (Please clap.) But his sheer lack of political acumen soon became apparent after he announced his candidacy in February, too late in the cycle to win endorsements from like-minded progressives, and his campaign subsequently hauled in less than $35,000 in fund-raising. (“I made a conscience [sic] decision that I’m not going to take money from corporations, from lobbyists,” he told the Daily Beast, which pointed out that his father raised prodigious millions through small donations.) Even worse, the younger Sanders failed to register among New Hampshire voters, who told the Beast that they would have preferred a candidate who actually lived in the district. A questionable performance in last month’s Democratic primary debate, per The New York Times, did little to improve his chances. He tended toward shouting, and interrupted other candidates so frequently that the moderator threatened to cut off his microphone. His interactions with voters outside the hall were no better:

As the night wore on, it became increasingly clear that Mr. Sanders was also prone to unusual turns of phrase.

When told that he seemed less than relaxed, he replied: “I’m not stiff. I do yoga.”

Asked to define himself, he offered, “I am not a Romulan. I am not a Vulcan.” (“Star Trek!” he cried, when his reference was met with a blank stare.)

He tried again. “I am a sentient being,” he said.

Levi may take some comfort in not being the only child Bernie has snubbed: earlier this year, the Vermont senator declined to endorse his stepdaughter, Carina Driscoll, during her campaign for his old job, mayor of Burlington. Sadly, the parallels end there. Driscoll had ample credentials in city government, won several local endorsements, and finished the race with a respectable 35 percent of the vote. New Hampshire politicos, meanwhile, are still unsure whether Bernie’s vote of confidence in his “sentient being” of a son would have done much. As Dean Spiliotes, a civic scholar at Southern New Hampshire University, told CBS News, “Levi’s candidacy has been a bit of curiosity.”

BERNIE SANDERS
FOLLOW
Follow to get the latest news and analysis about the players in your inbox.


DONALD TRUMP AND HIS “UNSUNG SUCCESS” IS PITIFUL. HE SHOULD KNOW THAT PEOPLE DO HAVE EYES TO SEE THE NATURE OF THAT SITUATION. HE CAN SAY THOSE THINGS ALL HE WANTS TO, BUT NO REASONABLY INTELLIGENT PEOPLE WILL BELIEVE HIM, AND HIS NATIONAL STANDING WILL CONTINUALLY DEGRADE AS A RESULT OF IT. THAT’S NOT HOW “GREAT” PRESIDENTS ACT.

http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/406251-sanders-slams-trump-for-touting-puerto-rico-response-what-a-disgrace
Sanders slams Trump for touting Puerto Rico response: 'What a disgrace'
BY BRETT SAMUELS - 09/12/18 10:41 AM EDT

PHOTOGRAPH – SANDERS SPEAKING

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on Wednesday bashed President Trump for repeatedly touting his administration's efforts in Puerto Rico dealing with Hurricane Maria, which led to the deaths of nearly 3,000 people on the island.

"Trump tweeted this morning he did a 'great job' handling the hurricane crisis in Puerto Rico," Sanders tweeted. "Meanwhile, new estimates put the Hurricane Maria death toll at nearly 3,000. What a disgrace."

Sanders shared an accompanying video that showed scenes from the aftermath of Hurricane Maria, as well as interviews from Trump and San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz, who has been an outspoken crtic of the administration’s disaster response.

The president on Tuesday and Wednesday extolled the work of his administration handling hurricanes in Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico last year as he sought to assure the public that the federal government was prepared for Hurricane Florence as it heads toward the Carolinas.

The president attracted criticism from Democrats and Puerto Rican officials on Tuesday after he said his administration did its "best job" in responding to the island last year.

"I think that Puerto Rico was an incredible, unsung success," Trump said.

Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) called Trump's remarks "offensive, hurtful and blatantly false."

Cruz also slammed Trump’s assessment of the response, tweeting "God help us all" if Trump viewed the Puerto Rico efforts as a success.

The president has continued to provide positive assessments of the administration's work in Puerto Rico, even after the island's government acknowledged that nearly 3,000 people died because of the storm.

Island officials increased the death toll late last month after a George Washington University study that assessed the aftermath of the storm found the number was significantly higher than the 64 deaths that had originally been reported.

Puerto Rico's government-owned utility announced last month that it had restored electricity to all of its customers, nearly 11 months after Hurricane Maria devastated the island.