OCTOBER 12 TO 15, 2018
NEWS AND VIEWS
I WONDER IF THE PRESIDENT IS GETTING MONEY RIGHT INTO HIS PERSONAL POCKET IN SHELTERING THE SAUDIS. IF THAT IS PROVEN TRUE, WILL THE “HIGH CRIMES AND MISDEMEANORS” STANDARD BE MET, TRIGGERING SENATE ACTION? PROBABLY NOT, UNLESS THE DEMS WIN LOTS OF SEATS IN THIS COMING NOVEMBER. I CAN’T WAIT TO VOTE AND TACKLE THAT ISSUE.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/pentagons-former-top-intelligence-official-on-jamal-khashoggi-there-has-to-be-consequences/
By OLIVIA GAZIS CBS NEWS October 12, 2018, 7:25 PM
Pentagon's former top intelligence official on Khashoggi: “There has to be consequences”
The Pentagon's former top intelligence official said the Trump administration must send a clear message about its position – and potentially take more "tangible" steps – as more facts are revealed in the case of missing Washington Post contributor Jamal Khashoggi. The Saudi journalist disappeared after walking into the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, earlier this month.
"Saudi Arabia is a very important partner of ours. And we shouldn't forget that," said former Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence Michael Vickers. "But there has to be consequences."
Amid reports that Turkish officials have audio and video tapes showing Saudi agents are responsible for the detention, interrogation and murder of Khashoggi, Vickers said there was a growing need for more forceful public diplomacy from U.S. leadership.
"This is an American legal resident and journalist," said Vickers, who was one of few holdover officials from the George W. Bush administration to continue serving under former President Barack Obama. "If he turned out to be murdered in a gruesome way then there has to be some consequences for that. And the administration has to put itself on the right side of that issue."
Listen to this episode on Stitcher
Earlier this week, Turkish officials released the names of 15 Saudi suspects they say were involved in the alleged murder of Khashoggi, a U.S. resident who had written critically of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and his regime. The officials officials say never left the Saudi consulate after entering it on October 2.
Saudi officials have called allegations of their involvement in Khashoggi's disappearance "baseless" and maintained he departed the consulate alone. On Friday, the Saudi government released a two-sentence statement announcing a "bilateral expert-level Joint Action Team" with Turkey that it said would investigate the matter.
An official Saudi source, the statement said, "concluded with emphasizing the Kingdom's priority to sustain the security and safety of its citizens wherever they might be."
President Trump said this week he was "concerned" about Khashoggi's disappearance and that he had spoken with unnamed members of Saudi Arabia's leadership about it, but that he remained reluctant to stop sales of military equipment to the kingdom.
"We don't like it. And we don't like [it] even a little bit," Mr. Trump said to reporters in the Oval Office Thursday. "But as to whether or not we should stop $110 billion from being spent in this country, knowing they have four or five alternatives, two very good alternatives – that would not be acceptable to me."
Vickers, a former Green Beret and CIA operative who played an integral role in the agency's paramilitary operations against the Soviets in Afghanistan in the 1980s – and who also helped oversee the 2011 raid that killed Osama bin Laden – told Intelligence Matters host and CBS News senior national security contributor Michael Morell that a delay in defense sales are among several options the president has, though other measures, including sanctions, should also be on the table.
"There has to be tangible consequences as well as verbal consequences," he said. "If you have a U.S. ally that is murdering a legal U.S. resident you got a big foreign policy program that you have to take some form of tangible action."
On Wednesday, a bipartisan group of senators sent a letter to Mr. Trump triggering the 2016 Global Magnitsky Act, which compels the president to decide, within 120 days, whether to impose sanctions on officials deemed to have committed human rights violations. "Our expectation is that in making your determination you will consider any relevant information, including with respect to the highest ranking officials in the Government of Saudi Arabia," the senators wrote.
Vickers said the relationship between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia was likely to withstand most resulting repercussions, given the alliance's longstanding strategic value in the region. "Given their importance of an ally, over time one would expect – once there has been some consequence – that we wouldn't sever the relationship over this," he told Morell.
Still, Vickers said, domestic opponents of the Crown Prince in particular could seek to exploit new vulnerabilities the incident may have exposed in his grip on power.
"The risk that any young leader takes," Vickers said, is "the old guys basically saying, 'We told you so. And you went too far.'"
For much more from Michael Morell's conversation with Michael Vickers, you can listen to the new bonus episode and subscribe to Intelligence Matters here.
© 2018 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.
THE MAINSTREAM DEMOCRATS SHOULD JUST DO THEIR BEST AND LET BERNIE DO THE SAME. BETTER STILL, MOVE OVER TO HIS VIEWPOINT AND JOIN THE FIGHT AGAINST REPUBLICANISM. INSTEAD, THEY WANT TO IMPLY THAT HE HAS NO RIGHT TO GO ON THE LEFT LANE ON THE HIGHWAY. THAT WAS WHAT HILLARY CLINTON AND SO MANY OTHER DEMOCRATS DID IN 2016, NOT UNDERSTANDING THAT SUCH A PATH OFFERS VERY LITTLE TO MOST OF US THESE DAYS. I WANT PROGRESS, AND SO DO MANY OTHER ELDERLY DEMOCRATS. WE WERE THE BABY BOOMERS, AND MANY OF US DIDN’T BECOME CONSERVATIVE IN OUR MIDDLE YEARS. OF COURSE, EVERY YEAR IS DIFFERENT TO SOME DEGREE, AND SANDERS MAY NOT DO AS WELL WITH THE AVERAGE WORKING CLASS VOTERS THIS YEAR. HIS GOALS ARE GOOD, ETHICAL GOALS, ARE SOMETHING THAT I WANT TO SEE COME TRUE.
https://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/election/midterms/article219865215.html
South Carolina Democrats are worried about Bernie Sanders’ visit. Sanders isn’t.
BY EMMA DUMAIN
edumain@mcclatchydc.com
October 11, 2018 04:50 PM
Updated October 11, 2018 06:28 PM
Photograph -- Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders Sean Rayford Special to the State
WASHINGTON
Bernie Sanders is eager to come to South Carolina — and unapologetic about his plans, even as some Democrats worry about the timing of his visit to their state.
“Wherever I go, I get controversy,” the Vermont senator told McClatchy in a Capitol Hill interview on Thursday, responding to fears that his upcoming rally will unfairly tie more moderate Democratic candidates to the prominent liberal’s politically polarizing agenda.
Sanders was invited to the state by the South Carolina chapter of Our Revolution, a group born out of Sanders’ 2016 presidential bid. The organization is holding its annual issues conference in Columbia on Oct. 20. Sanders, who is said to be mulling a 2020 bid, will headline a rally focused on “health care inequality in the United States.”
It’s his only scheduled appearance in South Carolina, but Republicans are overjoyed he will be participating in an event designed to energize voters ahead of the November elections.
Gov. Henry McMaster’s chief of staff, Trey Walker, tweeted that Sanders’ upcoming visit was tantamount to “Electoral Christmas in October,” adding that the South Carolina Democratic Party was “re-gifting an unwanted seasonal fruitcake to South Carolina voters right before Election Day.”
Sanders won 26 percent in the South Carolina Democratic presidential primary two years ago.
Soon after Sanders’ visit to South Carolina was announced, McMaster’s reelection campaign released a new digital ad linking Democratic gubernatorial candidate James Smith to Sanders’ “Medicare for all” platform.
“James Smith said he supports Bernie Sanders’ $32 TRILLION government-run health care plan, but refuses to say how we’d pay for it,” said McMaster in a tweet accompanying the ad. “Now, Bernie is coming to South Carolina to help James’ campaign. South Carolinians can’t afford James Smith’s costly liberal agenda.”
According to the Associated Press, Smith said he did not support the “Medicare for All” proposal and would not be appearing with Sanders at the Columbia rally. McMaster’s campaign said that Smith said during the primary he did support Sanders’ platform.
Sanders shrugged at the furor. “Republicans lie all the time,” he said. “Believe me, I’m being linked to candidates in states where I’m not going. They can say anything — look, Republicans can say anything they want to say.”
He didn’t, however, have a response for Democrats like former South Carolina Democratic Party Executive Director Amanda Loveday, who believe Sanders’ appearance in the state will be “immensely unhelpful” as the party takes pains to appeal to more moderate voters.
Sanders said he had not spoken to Democratic candidates in South Carolina, and emphasized he was not coordinating with other campaigns in the state. His South Carolina trip, he said, was one of nine states he planned to visit in the weeks before the midterms.
Play Video
Duration 3:07 -- Why presidential candidates need South Carolina
Every four years, presidential candidates descend upon South Carolina in hopes of securing the state’s favor. For the right, winning the Palmetto state is almost a sure indicator of the party’s nomination. For the left, it signals the support of a
“Our Revolution is an extraordinary group rallying young people. They invited me there,” said Sanders. “My job is to mobilize working people and young people to stand up and fight back against the reactionary Trump agenda, and that’s what I’m going to do.”
Saloni Sharma, the South Carolina Democratic Party’s communications director, underscored that Sanders would be participating in his own event.
But, she added, “We think his visit will draw attention to how tens of thousands of South Carolinians don’t have health care because Governor McMaster and Republicans refuse to expand Medicaid for political gain.”
The South Carolina Democratic Party has not shied away from associating itself with other high-profile Democrats who are swinging through the state to help boost Democratic voter turnout — Democrats who, like Sanders, are likely looking to make connections in the early 2020 primary state in case they decide to run for president.
The state party sent out an email press release on Thursday announcing upcoming rallies and fundraisers to be headlined by former Vice President Joe Biden and Montana Gov. Steve Bullock. Democratic Sens. Kamala Harris of California and Cory Booker of New Jersey will be participating in official party events as well.
The South Carolina Democratic Party has also not hesitated to send out special “messages,” or fundraising appeals, to supporters ostensibly written by prominent Democrats with progressive pedigrees. One email was recently sent out from possible 2020 presidential contender and Massachusetts Democrat Elizabeth Warren. A more recent plea came from Alyssa Milano, an actress and liberal activist, to donate to the party to defeat Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham in 2020.
Asked what he thought of Sanders coming to South Carolina, Graham smiled.
“We like Bernie.”
The state party did not send out an official email announcing the Sanders visit.
Bristow Marchant of The State and Kellen Browning of the McClatchy Washington bureau contributed to this report.
Emma Dumain: 202-383-6126, @Emma_Dumain
I THINK THIS COUNTRY SIMPLY WILL NOT REMAIN A FAIR AND DEMOCRATIC SOCIETY IF WE DON’T HAVE LAWS ABOUT THINGS LIKE RACIAL BALANCE AND GOOD BEHAVIOR, AND IT SHOULD BE AT LEAST A FEW DEGREES ABOVE THE LEVEL OF HARDCORE CRIME. LAWSUITS ARE AT THAT IN BETWEEN LEVEL, AND THE PUNISHMENT IS PAYING MONEY; BUT WHEN IT IS A LARGE INSTITUTION THAT IS THE GUILTY PARTY, IT NEEDS TO BE A GREAT DEAL OF MONEY, OR EVEN A STRIKE AT THEIR CORPORATE STRUCTURE.
THE BEST OF US ARE RIGHTEOUS TO THE DEGREE THAT WE CAN BE, BUT OUR MODERN IDEA OF WHAT THAT WORD MEANS IS DIFFERENT. IN SOME WAYS IT IS A HIGHER STANDARD, AND IN OTHERS IT IS WORSE THAN WHEN I WAS YOUNG, SAY 1955. ON RACIAL AND OTHER CULTURAL ISSUES, WE ARE CONSTANTLY IN FLUX, AND WILL NEVER BE TRUSTWORTHY AGAIN, UNLESS WE GO BACK TO BASIC ETHICS AND SCRAP THE FOCUS ON SPECIFIC RELIGIOUS DOCTRINES INSTEAD.
NOT BEHAVING IN FOUL WAYS TO THOSE WHO ARE LESS POWERFUL THAN WE ARE IS WHAT WE NEED, ALONG WITH HONESTY AND RESPECT TO ALL. WE ALSO NEED TO ADD SOMETHING THAT IS BASIC, BUT HAS NEVER BEEN KEPT TO A HIGH STANDARD IN MY LIFETIME, AND THAT IS CLEAN AND NEAT CARE OF THE ENVIRONMENTS WHICH ARE NOT IN OUR OWN HOME. I OCCASIONALLY HEAR PEOPLE SAY, “IF HE THROWS HIS TRASH DOWN ON THE STREET, WHAT WILL HE DO AT HOME? THAT’S LOOKING AT IT FROM THE WRONG DIRECTION. IF WE WANT TO BE MESSY AT HOME, THAT’S OUR BUSINESS, BUT IF WE LITTER AND TEAR UP THE PUBLIC AREAS, THAT IS GROUNDS FOR A FINE OR OTHER PUNISHMENT, IN MY OPINION.
IF THERE IS ONE THING THAT WE AREN’T AS A PEOPLE, IT IS FAIR, HONEST, CONCERNED ABOUT OTHERS, ETC. SO, I HOPE THAT NOTHING KNOCKS DOWN OUR QUOTAS AND OTHER GUIDELINES. IF YOU HAVE A TEENAGER, A 5TH GRADER, A SECOND GRADER AND A TODDLER, DO THEY ALL HAVE TO BE SUPERVISED ABOUT HOW THEY TREAT EACH OTHER? OF COURSE. JUST BECAUSE A MIND GROWS UP DOESN’T MEAN THE CONSCIENCE WILL MATURE AT THE SAME PACE.
https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2018/10/13/unease-sweeping-hallsof-harvard/7spR4BivYyOPLh9kVpBqNP/story.html?p1=Article_Recommended_ReadMore_Pos1
Unease sweeping the halls of Harvard on eve of race-based admissions suit
By Deirdre Fernandes GLOBE STAFF OCTOBER 13, 2018
Photograph -- Harvard students gathered in Phillip Brooks House to make signs for a march planned for Sunday in support of affirmative action.
“It’s forcing me to talk about race in a way that I’ve not done,” said Priyanka Kaura, 27, an Indian-American graduate student from Pennsylvania at Harvard’s Kennedy School. Kaura said she supports affirmative action, and is careful about acknowledging there may be concerns about bias against Asian applicants, especially when discussing the issue with other Asian-Americans. “I haven’t lost any close relationships yet.”
“It’s on everybody’s mind,” added Victor Agbafe, 22, a senior whose parents emigrated from Nigeria, and who grew up in Dallas and Wilmington, N.C. “I think the case has the potential to be huge.”
In animated — sometimes fraught — conversations among friends in dining halls and dorm rooms, in Facebook groups and private texts, in classroom discussions and group gatherings, Harvard’s students are grappling with the issues raised by the lawsuit.
Read Story
Editorial: To be race-blind is to be simply blind
A ruling against Harvard would forever alter admissions, especially at elite colleges — for the worse.
Unlike previous affirmative action lawsuits that primarily hinged on if race-conscious admissions practices benefited black and Hispanic students while hurting white students, this case pivots on Asian-American applicants.
The lawsuit was filed by Students for Fair Admissions, a group representing Asian-Americans who allege Harvard’s admissions policy discriminates against them. As proof, the organization points to six years of Harvard admissions data that its experts argue indicates Asian-Americans were rated lower on personal qualities, such as courage and kindness, which hurt their chances of gaining admission. The group also alleges Harvard limits the number of Asian-American students it admits every year, a practice called racial-balancing, which is unlawful.
Harvard denies any discrimination and insists its admissions practices are legal and ensure that all students learn on a diverse campus and are exposed to different ideas and classmates from various backgrounds.
At Harvard, 21 percent of students are Asian, nearly 12 percent are Hispanic, 8 percent are black; the majority of the campus is white.
The university is also quick to point out that Students for Fair Admissions is led by Edward Blum. He is a conservative white scholar who unsuccessfully challenged the University of Texas admissions process and led an effort that unraveled parts of the Voting Rights Act.
Yet Harvard administrators worry the trial could open up fault lines among students and alumni at the country’s oldest and most prestigious institution of higher education. The trial is likely to raise questions about who is deemed worthy and special enough for one of the few slots at a university heralded for educating future presidents, corporate titans, poets, and prizewinners. Of some 42,000 applicants, Harvard enrolls just 1,600 or so freshmen every year. Entry itself is a privilege and viewed as a ticket to future success.
Students for Fair Admissions “is likely to make provocative assertions that will receive public attention and cause some to question our academic practices,” Harvard president Lawrence Bacow wrote in an e-mail to the Harvard community last week. “I would hope all of us recognize, however, that we are members of one community — and will continue to be so long after this trial is in the rearview mirror. What kind of community we will be, however, will be determined by how we treat each other the next few weeks.”
Some Asian-American students say they already feel conflicted about the lawsuit. They support diversity on campus, but some say the case has reinforced warnings they received from parents and counselors in high school that they had to get far better grades than their peers, jump into leadership roles, and appear less stereotypically Asian in their applications to earn a spot in the most elite colleges.
Rainbow Yeung said she worries Asians have been neglected in US history and American media.
MICHAEL SWENSEN FOR THE BOSTON GLOBE
Rainbow Yeung, a senior majoring in molecular and cellular biology at Harvard who rushes between post-graduate job hunting and her leadership responsibilities at her house, said she worries Asians have been neglected in US history and American media. And she doesn’t want their concerns about potential bias in admissions to also be silenced.
‘It’s forcing me to talk about race in a way that I’ve not done.’
— Priyanka Kaura, a graduate student at Harvard’s Kennedy School
“I am scared of what the results of the suit might mean for affirmative action,” Yeung said. “However, I just don’t want Asian students to be suffering from negative consequences due to our race.”
Ivy Yan, who earned a bachelor’s degree from Harvard in 2015 and is now a graduate student there, has found herself at odds with Harvard administrators. She fought Harvard’s efforts to squash a union for graduate students and as an undergraduate rallied alumni and other student groups after she felt the university’s response to e-mail threats received by many Asian-American female students was inadequate.
But now, Yan is helping organize a rally Sunday in favor of affirmative action and is bringing together many of Harvard’s supporters.
“I am firmly anti-Blum, but not pro-Harvard,” she said.
Still, she understands why many Chinese-Americans, especially those who immigrated more recently, are backing this lawsuit. Even her younger sister questioned the need for affirmative action until recently, Yan said.
“The people on the anti-side are my people,” she said. “This is the American dream for many immigrants and the admissions process — it takes into account something you don’t really understand, and it can be alienating.”
The case against Harvard’s affirmative action policy is generally seen as a conservative cause and even gained support from the Justice Department under the Trump administration. Yet some conservative students acknowledge that admission to the elite school is based on a complicated formula, with race just one factor among many. Star athletes, children of financial donors, students whose parents attended Harvard, and applicants from under-represented states all get special consideration.
“Who got here and how they got here — everybody has things that got them here,” said Conor Healy, a senior from Canada who last year invited controversial sociologist Charles Murray* to speak at Harvard amid protests from minority students. “It’s personal. . . . I knew that when I applied, nobody was entitled to a spot . . . and they paid a lot of attention to personal details of individuals. It’s just not straightforward.”
Healy said private institutions should be able to dictate their admissions standards.
Some students, though, feel Harvard does too little to encourage diversity and that if it loses the case, there will be even fewer black and Hispanic students on campus.
As Paola Martinez waited last week for a movie screening at Harvard’s newly renovated Smith Campus Center, where red and orange modern couches are surrounded by ceiling-to-floor glass windows, she scoffed at the implication in the lawsuit that Harvard has too few Asian-American students.
Martinez, 37, grew up in the Dominican Republic and takes classes and works at the Harvard Extension School, a program for adult learners. She said black and Latino students and faculty are rarer than white and Asian-Americans.
This lawsuit is an effort to “keep students of color out of environments where they can succeed,” Martinez said. “At least give us a chance to prove that we’re smart enough and that we could do something.”
Andrea Loera, 23, a Latina who grew up in Texas and is a graduate student at Havard Law School, said she worries that many on-campus discussions about the lawsuit are being held among students of color, instead of the broader community.
A teach-in she attended on a rainy evening last week drew more than 50 Harvard students; most were Asian and other minorities, with just a handful of white students.
Loera said she understands that some students of color are concerned about drawing too much attention to themselves, especially around a case that questions whether they belong at Harvard.
“You already feel like an outsider here,” Loera said. “It becomes a personal topic so fast. And it’s so hard to talk about it as a minority, especially in a school that is so white.”
Deirdre Fernandes can be reached at deirdre.fernandes@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @fernandesglobe.
https://college.harvard.edu/admissions/admissions-statistics
A Brief Profile of the Admitted Class of 2022
Ethnicity
African American 15.2%
Asian American 22.9%
Hispanic or Latino 12.3%
Native American 1.9%
Native Hawaiian 0.4%
Intended field of concentration
Humanities 14.5%
Social Sciences 23.8%
Biological Sciences 20.5%
Physical Sciences 7.6%
Engineering 11.7%
Computer Science 8.4%
Math 7.7%
Undecided 5.9
Unweighted GPA
Traditionally, GPA is calculated on an unweighted scale. Unweighted GPA is measured on a scale of 0 to 4.0. It doesn’t take the difficulty of a student’s coursework into account. An unweighted GPA represents an A as a 4.0 whether it was earned in an honors class, AP class, or lower-level class.
Weighted GPA
Weighted GPA is often used by high schools to better represent students’ academic accomplishments. Weighted GPA takes into account course difficulty rather than providing the same letter grade to GPA conversion for every student. Usually, weighted GPA is measured on a scale of 0 to 5.0, although some scales go higher. An A in an AP class may translate into a 5.0 weighted GPA, while an A in a regular-level class will give you a 4.0 weighted GPA. Many schools also have mid-level classes (such as honors classes) where the highest weighted GPA you can earn is a 4.5.
SO, WHO “BELONGS AT HARVARD?” THERE HAVE BEEN A LARGISH HANDFUL OF RIGHT-LEANING RACIST SPEAKERS AND THINKERS BEING INVITED TO SPEAK ON COLLEGE CAMPUSES JUST IN THE LAST SEVERAL YEARS THAT I HAVE BEEN WRITING THIS NEWS BLOG. THAT STARTLES AND UNNERVES ME. I FEEL LIKE ITS’ THE 1960S AGAIN. SOMETIMES THEIR PRESENCE CAUSES RIOTS, AND THEY ALWAYS STIR UP THE RADICAL WHITE SUPREMACISTS.
WE NEED TO REMEMBER THAT ALL GROUPS ARE FORMED FROM INDIVIDUALS, AND THAT IF SOCIAL PRESSURE IS PUT ON THE GROUP AS THE PRIMARY UNIT RATHER THAN THE INDIVIDUAL, MANY OF THE POPULACE WILL BE TOO DELICATE EMOTIONALLY TO BUCK THE TIDE OF ENVY AND TO “SUCCEED.” THERE ARE DRAWBACKS TO SUCCESS. WE ALSO NEED TO REEVALUATE WHAT SUCCESS IS. THOSE OF US WHO JUDGE PEOPLE AS INDIVIDUALS ARE MUCH LESS LIKELY TO SHAME AND OPPRESS A GROUP; AND THOSE WHO DO VALUE BEING HELPFUL TO HUMANITY ON THE PERSONAL LEVEL MAY CHOOSE TO GO INTO SOCIAL WORK OR SIMPLY START A HAPPY FAMILY. WE WHITE PEOPLE SHOULD NOTICE THE FACT THAT IN SOME COLLEGES, ASIAN STUDENTS ARE ACTUALLY LESS LIKELY TO BE ADMITTED THAT MIDDLE CLASS WHITES, PARTLY BECAUSE THEIR IQ OR ACHIEVEMENT LEVEL IS TOO HIGH; AND AS A RESULT THEY TEND TO OUTSHINE THE WEALTHIER WHITE STUDENTS, WHOSE PARENTS ARE FINANCING THE SCHOOL. MONEY TALKS.
MORE IMPORTANTLY, THOUGH, THE TRUTH IS THAT INDIVIDUALS AND NOT GROUPS SUCCEED OR DON’T SUCCEED, AND WHOEVER IS DISCOURAGED AT EVERY TURN AS THEY TRY TO SUCCEED WILL TEND TO DO LESS WELL OR GIVE UP ENTIRELY. IN THE 1950S WHEN I WAS GROWING UP, THERE WAS A SAYING, “MEN SELDOM MAKE PASSES AT GIRLS WHO WEAR GLASSES.” WOMEN WERE ENCOURAGED TO MAKE THEMSELVES SEEM SMALLER SO MEN COULD FEEL THAT THEY ARE LARGER, AND THAT IS KEY IN A CONSERVATIVE SOCIETY. IN OTHER WORDS, THOSE WHO DON’T REQUIRE OF THEMSELVES THAT THEY ABSOLUTELY MUST CLIMB TO THE TOP ON A HIGHLY COMPETITIVE SOCIAL AND POLITICAL LADDER TOWARD STATUS AND WEALTH, ARE MORE LIKELY TO HAVE PERSONAL ENCOURAGEMENT AND LOVE, WHICH PRODUCE ENOUGH HOPE TO TRY HARDER. I WOULD RATHER SEE MORE FEMALE LAWYERS, THOUGH.
INTELLIGENCE IS ONE FACTOR IN SUCCESS, BUT A HOPEFUL PERSISTENCE IS ALWAYS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING. IF HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS WEREN’T SO HIGHLY PUSHED TOWARD “POPULARITY” OVER GOOD GRADES, MORE OF US WOULD ACTUALLY DO WELL, AND THEREFORE THE WHOLE SOCIETY WOULD SCORE BETTER ON THOSE EMBARRASSING INTERNATIONAL MATH AND READING SCORES. I HAVE ALSO SEEN A STUDY OF WHAT PERCENTAGE OF THE POPULATION AS A WHOLE HAVE AN EDUCATION ABOVE THE MOST BASIC LEVEL, AND AGAIN PEOPLE IN PLACES LIKE INDONESIA AND NIGERIA MAY SCORE AT THE TOP. THE USA HAD ONLY ABOUT 40% WITH A 4 YEAR COLLEGE DEGREE. A GOOD BIT OF THAT IS BECAUSE ABOVE THE HIGH SCHOOL LEVEL, COLLEGES ARE NOT SUPPORTED BY THE GOVERNMENT, AND SCHOLARSHIPS ARE RARE. CONSERVATIVES WILL LAUGH OR SHOUT IN RAGE AT BERNIE SANDERS’ GOAL OF A FREE FOUR-YEAR COLLEGE. THERE ARE SOME, OF COURSE, WHO REALLY CAN’T UNDERSTAND COLLEGE LEVEL COURSES, BUT I DON’T THINK THAT IS THE MAJORITY OF PEOPLE.
WE ALSO HAVE TO AIM TOWARD OUR BEST PERSONAL GOALS. AN INTEREST IN LAW IS A GOOD PERSONAL GOAL, FOR INSTANCE, AND GIRLS SHOULD NOT BE TOLD TO PICK HOME ECONOMICS INSTEAD. THAT’S A FORM OF MURDER, IN MY VIEW. IF WE WANT TO BE A WRITER, BUT DON’T HAVE GOOD LANGUAGE ABILITY, THAT’S A PROBLEM. IF IT IS SCIENCE AND MATH, GIRLS WHO LEAN IN THAT DIRECTION WILL FACE THE LOSS OF SEXUAL AND LOVE RELATIONSHIPS AT LEAST TO SOME DEGREE, WHICH ARE TERRIBLY IMPORTANT TO THE FEMALE PSYCHE. THE COMMENT IN THE ARTICLE BELOW ABOUT MORE GIRLS IN BLACK AND HISPANIC COMMUNITIES GETTING PREGNANT OUT OF WEDLOCK IS LARGELY, I THINK, BECAUSE THEIR PRESSURES TOWARD SUCCESS WILL TOO LIKELY HAVE A DIFFERENT GOAL FROM EDUCATION. HAVING BABIES IS MORE IMPORTANT AMONG BLACK GIRLS THAN WHITES, WHICH SHOWS ME THAT A CULTURAL TREND WILL STRONGLY AFFECT HOW AN INDIVIDUAL CHOOSES TO LEAD HIS OR HER LIFE.
PEOPLE WHO ARE NOT GENIUSES SUCCEED ALL THE TIME IF THEY HAVE THE POSITIVENESS IN THEIR OUTLOOK TO KEEP TRYING RATHER THAN DROPPING OUT OF SCHOOL DUE TO NEGATIVE SOCIAL PRESSURES FROM PEERS, AND IF THEY ARE ENCOURAGED TO BE CURIOUS AND LOGICAL RATHER THAN ALWAYS OBEDIENT, BY THEIR FAMILY AND TEACHERS. THAT’S ONE OF THE MAIN REASONS FOR A SOCIETY LIKE THE USA TO WORK TO ELIMINATE ETHNICITY AND RACE-BASED JUDGMENTALISM; IT IS GROSSLY UNFAIR AND IT ACTUALLY WORKS TOWARD KEEPING THE WHOLE CULTURE DOWN.
SOMETIMES A STUDY COMES OUT WHICH MEASURES THE COMPARATIVE EDUCATIONAL ACHIEVEMENTS WORLDWIDE, AND THE USA IS USUALLY NEARER THE BOTTOM THAN THE TOP; ON ONE SUCH LIST WHICH I FOUND TODAY, THE HIGHEST IS NOT CHINA NOR JAPAN, BUT INDONESIA AND SEVERAL OTHER SOUTH ASIAN NATIONS. THAT ISN’T BECAUSE WE HAVE TOO MANY NON-WHITE PEOPLE HERE, AS THE CURRENT WHITE SUPREMACIST RADICALS ARE CLAIMING, BUT BECAUSE WE STRESS GROUP IDENTITY AND COMPETITIVENESS OVER THAT OF INDIVIDUALS ACHIEVING AS THEY CAN, SO THE KIDS DON’T APPLY THEMSELVES IN SCHOOL; AND WE DO THAT NOT BASED ON INTELLECT, BUT ON SKIN COLOR AND MINORITY STATUS. IT’S AS THOUGH OUR DEGREE AND TYPE OF AMERICAN COMPETITIVENESS DISCOURAGES INDIVIDUAL SUCCESS BY THE DOWNWARD PRESSURE OF SOCIETY ON THEM, AND THE LACK OF A COOPERATIVE SPIRIT. THAT MUST FORCE DOWN THE AMERICAN SCORES AS WELL. THAT’S BECAUSE SUCCESSFUL INDIVIDUALS ARE CRITICAL FOR GROUP SUCCESS. MAKING FUN OF THE SMART KID IS NOT A WINNING STRATEGY. WE HAVE NOT ENCOURAGED INTELLECTUAL COMPETENCE OVER WEALTH OR FAME – BUT THAT OF FOOTBALL PLAYERS, SHOW BUSINESS PERSONALITIES, ETC. I WISH MORE AMERICANS WOULD PATRONIZE ART MUSEUMS AND GOOD DRAMA OVER “REALITY SHOWS,” BUT THAT IS NOT IN THE CARDS. IT IS BECAUSE OF OUR CHOICES THAT WE HAVE COME TO A POSITION OF MEDIOCRITY AS COMPARED TO OTHER NATIONS.
ONE OF THOSE OLD CHINESE SAYINGS, GOES “THE NAIL THAT STICKS UP WILL BE HAMMERED DOWN.” EVERY TIME A SUCCESSFUL AND INDIVIDUALISTIC PERSON COMES ALONG, HE WILL BE MET WITH A WALL OF JEALOUSY. YOU CAN SAY, WELL, THAT PROVES HUMAN NATURE. ON THE OTHER HAND, LOOK AT THE POLITICALLY REPRESSIVE GOVERNMENTS IN CHINA AND SO MANY OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD. IN THIS COUNTRY WE TOUT THE INDIVIDUAL RIGHT TO THINK, SAY, AND DO WHATEVER WE FEEL LIKE DOING -- AS LONG AS IT IS CONFORMATIVE RATHER THAN INDIVIDUALISTIC. WE NEED FOR OUR AMERICAN NORM TO BE MORE OPEN AND INCLUSIVE RATHER THAN CONSERVATIVE. IN A RIGID SOCIETY, THOSE WHO DO NOT CONFORM TEND TO “MAKE WAVES.” THAT’S WHY REPUBLICANS BELIEVE AND DO AS THEY TEND TO, AND DEMOCRATS ARE MORE OPEN. OF COURSE, THE SPECIFIC VALUES OF THE SOCIETY ARE KEY – RIGIDITY EQUALS CONSERVATISM AND CONSERVATISM EQUALS EXCLUSIVITY RATHER THAN INCLUSIVENESS. THAT PRODUCES THE OPPOSITE OF A “FREE” SOCIETY, AND DISADVANTAGES THE INDIVIDUAL.
MURRAY’S THE BELL CURVE IS ABOUT EVALUATING PEOPLE BY WHAT IS PRESENTED IN THE BOOK AS THE NORM, AND THE NORM IS ALWAYS RIGHT. VARIATION FROM THAT STANDARD IS WRONG, AND WILL BE PUNISHED. IN AN ARTICLE I READ A YEAR OR SO AGO ABOUT COLLEGE ADMITTANCE STANDARDS, SOME AND PROBABLY MOST COLLEGES ADMIT STUDENTS PARTLY ON RACIAL GROUNDS TO ENGINEER A HOMOGENEOUS AND CONSERVATIVE STUDENT BODY. TWO GROUPS WERE STATISTICALLY EXCLUDED TO A GREATER DEGREE ON THE BASIS OF THEIR RACE – BLACK AND HISPANIC STUDENTS BECAUSE OF THEIR RELATIVELY LOWER ACHIEVEMENT ON EDUCATIONAL AND IQ SCORES, AND JEWISH AND ASIAN APPLICANTS BECAUSE OF THEIR OVERLY HIGH ACHIEVEMENT. ANGLO-SAXON PROTESTANT CAUCASIANS ARE IN THE MIDDLE RATHER THAN AT THE TOP, AS THEY TEND TO CLAIM, AND THEY DON’T LIKE FOR ANYONE TO SUCCESSFULLY COMPETE AGAINST THEM. THAT MAY BE HUMAN NATURE, BUT IT’S A SHAME, AND WE CAN DO BETTER.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Murray_(political_scientist)
Charles Murray (political scientist)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Charles Alan Murray (/ˈmɜːri/; born January 8, 1943) is an American political scientist, author, and columnist. His book Losing Ground: American Social Policy 1950–1980 (1984), which discussed the American welfare system, was widely read and discussed, and influenced subsequent government policy.[3] He became well known for his controversial book The Bell Curve (1994), written with Richard Herrnstein, in which he argues that intelligence is a better predictor than parental socio-economic status or education level of many individual outcomes including income, job performance, pregnancy out of wedlock, and crime, and that social welfare programs and education efforts to improve social outcomes for the disadvantaged are largely wasted.
Murray's most successful subsequent books have been Human Accomplishment: The Pursuit of Excellence in the Arts and Sciences, 800 B.C. to 1950 (2003) and Coming Apart: The State of White America, 1960–2010 (2012).[3] Over his career he has published dozens of books and articles. His work has drawn accusations of scientific racism.
Murray is a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank in Washington, D.C.[3]
PRESS CENSORSHIP -- IKIRIHO, BURUNDI’S PRO-GOVERNMENT NEWS SITE IS BEING PUNISHED FOR SAYING THE WRONG THING, APPARENTLY. ANOTHER PROTO-DICTATOR IS ESTABLISHING HIS CONTROL. THIS IS SAD, BUT NOT UNCOMMON.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/key-burundi-news-suspended-over-defamation-probe-182544479.html
Key Burundi news site suspended over defamation probe
AFP • October 13, 2018
Photograph -- The pro-government news website Ikiriho, which is one of the only sources of news in Burundi, has been forced to shut down temporarily due to its being investigated for defamation (AFP Photo/Greg Wood)
Nairobi (AFP) - Burundi's main, pro-government news website has been suspended over a defamation probe, a judicial source said Saturday.
The website Ikiriho -- which has some 350,000 visitors daily and is one of the only sources of news on the troubled east African country -- has been forced to shut temporarily due to its being investigated for defamation over an article accusing a local bank of money laundering, the source told AFP.
A letter from state prosecutor Sylvestre Nyandwi to Ikiriho's director on Friday, seen by AFP, confirmed the site's suspension. "In the context of the investigation... Ikiriho is suspended," it said.
The website was created by Donatien Ndayishimiye, a former secret service official, and is seen as close to government.
A high-ranking Burundi official, however, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the site's closure was in reality due to a "clan war" within government.
Burundi's independent media houses were largely shut down by government in 2015 as President Pierre Nkurunziza ran for a controversial third term in office, sparking civil unrest. Scores of journalists later fled the country due to the crackdown on the media.
LEPRECHAUNS, OR PYGMIES?
One of the smallest countries in Africa, Burundi has an equatorial climate. Burundi is a part of the Albertine Rift, the western extension of the East African Rift. The country lies on a rolling plateau in the centre of Africa. The highest peak, Mount Heha at 2,685 m (8,810 ft),[24] lies to the southeast of the capital, Bujumbura. The most distant source of the River Nile is the Ruvyironza River in the Bururi Province of Burundi, the Nile is linked from Lake Victoria to its headwaters via the Kagera River to the Ruvyironza River.[25][26] Another major lake is Lake Tanganyika, located in much of Burundi's southwestern corner.[27] There are two national parks, Kibira National Park to the northwest (a small region of rain forest, adjacent to Nyungwe Forest National Park in Rwanda), and Ruvubu National Park to the northeast (along the Rurubu River, also known as Ruvubu or Ruvuvu). Both were established in 1982 to conserve wildlife populations.[28] Burundi's lands are mostly agricultural or pasture.
Settlement by rural populations has led to deforestation, soil erosion and habitat loss.[29] Deforestation of the entire country is almost completely due to overpopulation, with a mere 600 km2 (230 sq mi) remaining and an ongoing loss of about 9% per annum.[30] In addition to poverty, Burundians often have to deal with corruption, weak infrastructure, poor access to health and education services, and hunger.[31] Burundi is densely populated and has had substantial emigration as young people seek opportunities elsewhere. The World Happiness Report 2018 ranked Burundi as the world's least happy nation with a rank of 156.[32]
Kingdom of Burundi
Main article: Kingdom of Burundi
The first evidence of the Burundian state dates back to the late 16th century where it emerged on the eastern foothills. Over the following centuries it expanded, annexing smaller neighbours. The Kingdom of Burundi, or Urundi, in the Great Lakes region was a polity ruled by a traditional monarch with several princes beneath him; succession struggles were common.[34] The king, known as the mwami (translated as ruler) headed a princely aristocracy (ganwa) which owned most of the land and required a tribute, or tax, from local farmers (mainly Hutu) and herders (mainly Tutsi). The Kingdom of Burundi was characterized by a hierarchical political authority and tributary economic exchange.[35]
In the mid-18th century, the Tutsi royalty consolidated authority over land, production, and distribution with the development of the ubugabire—a patron-client relationship in which the populace received royal protection in exchange for tribute and land tenure. By this time, the royal court was made up of the Tutsi-Banyaruguru, they had higher social status than other pastoralists such as the Tutsi-Hima. In the lower levels of this society were generally Hutu people, and at the very bottom of the pyramid were the Twa. The system had some fluidity however, some Hutu people belonged to the nobility and in this way also had a say in the functioning of the state.[36]
The classification of Hutu or Tutsi was not merely based on ethnic criteria alone. Hutu farmers that managed to acquire wealth and livestock were regularly granted the higher social status of Tutsi, some even made it to become close advisors of the Ganwa. On the other hand, there are also reports of Tutsi that lost all their cattle and subsequently lost their higher status and were called Hutu. Thus, the distinction between Hutu and Tutsi was also a socio-cultural concept, instead of a purely ethnic one.[37][38] There were also many reports of marriages between Hutu and Tutsi people.[39] In general, regional ties and tribal power struggles played a far more determining role in Burundi's politics than ethnicity.[38]
Burundi ceased to be a monarchy when king Ntare V Ndizeye was deposed by his Prime Minister and Chief of Staff, Capt. Michel Micombero, who abolished the monarchy and declared a republic following the November 1966 coup d'état.
... . . .
Civil war and genocide against Hutu
Further information: Burundian genocides
In late April 1972, two events led to the outbreak of the First Burundian Genocide. On 27 April 1972, a rebellion led by Hutu members of the gendarmerie broke out in the lakeside towns of Rumonge and Nyanza-Lac and the rebels declared the short-lived Martyazo Republic.[54][55] The rebels attacked both Tutsi and any Hutu who refused to join their rebellion.[56][57] During this initial Hutu outbreak, anywhere from 800 to 1200 people were killed.[58] At the same time, King Ntare V of Burundi returned from exile, heightening political tension in the country. On 29 April 1972, the 24-year-old Ntare V was murdered. In subsequent months, the Tutsi-dominated government of Micombero used the army to combat Hutu rebels and commit genocide, murdering targeted members of the Hutu majority. The total number of casualties was never established, but contemporary estimates put the number of people killed between 80,000 and 210,000.[59][60] In addition, several hundred thousand Hutu were estimated to have fled the killings into Zaïre, Rwanda and Tanzania.[60][61]
Following the civil war and genocide, Micombero became mentally distraught and withdrawn. In 1976, Colonel Jean-Baptiste Bagaza, a Tutsi, led a bloodless coup to toppled Micombero and set about promoting reform. His administration drafted a new constitution in 1981, which maintained Burundi's status as a one-party state.[52] In August 1984, Bagaza was elected head of state. During his tenure, Bagaza suppressed political opponents and religious freedoms.
Major Pierre Buyoya (Tutsi) overthrew Bagaza in 1987, suspended the constitution and dissolved political parties. He reinstated military rule by a Military Committee for National Salvation (CSMN).[52] Anti-Tutsi ethnic propaganda disseminated by the remnants of the 1972 UBU, which had re-organized as PALIPEHUTU in 1981, led to killings of Tutsi peasants in the northern communes of Ntega and Marangara in August 1988. The government put the death toll at 5,000[citation needed]; some international NGOs believed this understated the deaths.
The new regime did not unleash the harsh reprisals of 1972. Its effort to gain public trust was eroded when it decreed an amnesty for those who had called for, carried out, and taken credit for the killings. Analysts have called this period the beginning of the "culture of impunity." Other analysts put the origins of the "culture of impunity" earlier, in 1965 and 1972, when a small number of identifiable Hutus unleashed massive killings of Tutsis.[citation needed]
In the aftermath of the killings, a group of Hutu intellectuals wrote an open letter to Pierre Buyoya, asking for more representation of the Hutu in the administration. They were arrested and jailed. A few weeks later, Buyoya appointed a new government, with an equal number of Hutu and Tutsi ministers. He appointed Adrien Sibomana (Hutu) as Prime Minister. Buyoya also created a commission to address issues of national unity.[52] In 1992, the government created a new constitution that provided for a multi-party system,[52] but a civil war broke out.
An estimated total of 250,000 people died in Burundi from the various conflicts between 1962 and 1993.[62] Since Burundi's independence in 1962, two genocides have taken place in the country: the 1972 mass killings of Hutus by the Tutsi-dominated army,[63] and the mass killings of Tutsis in 1993 by the Hutu majority. Both were described as genocides in the final report of the International Commission of Inquiry for Burundi presented in 2002 to the United Nations Security Council.[64]
... . . .
In 1996, Pierre Buyoya (Tutsi) again took power through a coup d'état. He suspended the constitution and was sworn in as president in 1998, this was the start of his second term as president, after his first term from 1987 to 1993. In response to rebel attacks, the government forced much of the population to move to refugee camps.[66] Under Buyoya's rule, long peace talks started, mediated by South Africa. Both parties signed agreements in Arusha, Tanzania and Pretoria, South Africa, to share power in Burundi. The agreements took four years to plan.
color map of African countries showing Uganda Rwanda and Burundi backing rebels against Kabila
Belligerents of the Second Congo War. Burundi backed the rebels.
On 28 August 2000, a transitional government for Burundi was planned as a part of the Arusha Peace and Reconciliation Agreement. The transitional government was placed on a trial basis for five years. After several aborted cease-fires, a 2001 peace plan and power-sharing agreement has been relatively successful. A cease-fire was signed in 2003 between the Tutsi-controlled Burundian government and the largest Hutu rebel group, CNDD-FDD (National Council for the Defense of Democracy-Forces for the Defense of Democracy).[67]
In 2003, FRODEBU leader Domitien Ndayizeye (Hutu) was elected president.[68] In early 2005, ethnic quotas were formed for determining positions in Burundi's government. Throughout the year, elections for parliament and president occurred.[69]
Pierre Nkurunziza (Hutu), once a leader of a rebel group, was elected president in 2005. As of 2008, the Burundian government was talking with the Hutu-led Palipehutu-National Liberation Forces (NLF)[70] to bring peace to the country.[71]
COULD THE DEATH PENALTY ACTUALLY BE BROUGHT TO AN END? I WON’T HOLD MY BREATH. MAYBE IF THIS SPREADS LIKE A GOOD VIRUS, WE’LL GET SOME REAL CHANGE. WHAT ARE GOOD VIRUSES? GENTLENESS, COMPASSION, INDIVIDUAL THOUGHT OVER GROUP THOUGHT, ARTISTIC EXPRESSION AND THE VALUING OF THOSE THINGS OVER WEALTH.
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/10/11/citing-arbitrary-use-and-racial-bias-washington-supreme-court-abolishes-states-death
Published on
Thursday, October 11, 2018
byCommon Dreams
Citing Arbitrary Use and Racial Bias, Washington Supreme Court Abolishes State's Death Penalty
"This is a hugely important moment in our pursuit for equal and fair application of justice."
byJon Queally, staff writer
PHOTOGRAPH -- Scott Langley of Boston, Massachusetts, holds a banner during a vigil against the death penalty in front of the U.S. Supreme Court July 1, 2008 in Washington, DC. The Abolitionist Action Committee and the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty held the vigil to abolish the death penalty to mark the 1972 and 1976 Supreme Court rulings suspending the death penalty and later allowing executions to resume. (Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Citing racial bias and arbitrary application, the Supreme Court of Washington on Thursday ruled that the use of capital punishment violates the state's Constitution, a decision that will ban the use of the death penalty going forward and immediately commuted the sentences of death-row inmates to life terms.
"Washington's Supreme Court showed courage in refusing to allow racism to infect life and death decisions. Let's hope that courage is contagious." —Jeff Robinson, ACLU"Today's decision by the state Supreme Court thankfully ends the death penalty in Washington," declared Washington's Democratic Governor Jay Inslee in response to the ruling.
"The court makes it perfectly clear that capital punishment in our state has been imposed in an 'arbitrary and racially biased manner,' is 'unequally applied' and serves no criminal justice goal," Inslee added. "This is a hugely important moment in our pursuit for equal and fair application of justice."
The ACLU noted the ruling makes Washington the 20th state in the U.S. to ban the death penalty, but the group said it "won't stop fighting until it's struck down everywhere in America."
As Slate reports:
the court held Thursday that capital punishment is imposed in "an arbitrary and racially biased manner" and "fails to serve any legitimate penological goals." The problems go beyond race: Most prosecutors in the state have stopped seeking the death penalty, so all current capital sentences arise from just six of Washington’s 39 counties. The location of your crime may therefore determine whether you live or die. This "random" and "capricious" application of the ultimate punishment, the court ruled, fatally undermines any state interest "retribution and deterrence of capital crimes by prospective offenders."
There are currently eight inmates on Washington's death row. The court converted their sentences to life imprisonment and forbade the state from conducting any further executions. Because its ruling is based entirely in the state constitution, the U.S. Supreme Court cannot overturn it. And the court left no room for future reconsideration of its unanimous decision. Capital punishment is over in Washington State.
Jeff Robinson, deputy legal director and director of the ACLU's Trone Center for Justice at the American Civil Liberties Union, said the court recognized clearly that racial bias remains at the heart of "who should and who should die" in the America's skewed justice system.
"There is nothing unique about the role racism played in Washington's death penalty," said Robinson. "What is rare is the Supreme Court’s willingness to call out the truth that has always been there."
Noting that both conscious and unconscious racial bias "plays a role in the death penalty decisions across America, influencing who faces this ultimate punishment, who sits on the jury, what kind of victim impact and mitigation evidence is used, and who is given life or death," Robinson said that this kind of "disparity can be described by many words — but justice is not one of them."
Human rights groups and other death penalty opponents said they hope that others states, and ultimately the U.S. federal government, will now follow the other twenty states and ban the death penalty nationwide:
"Washington's Supreme Court showed courage in refusing to allow racism to infect life and death decisions," said the ACLU's Robinson. "Let's hope that courage is contagious."
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License
SUPREME COURT APRIL 19, 1992/2003 AND 2006 ALSO. MOVED POLLING PLACE, ARRESTED FOR ILLEGAL VOTING. THESE ARE SOME OF THE DISHONORABLE ACTS OF "CONSERVATIVES" IN TEXAS AND OTHER PLACES WITH THE GOAL OF PREVENTING PEOPLE OF COLOR AND OTHER DIFFEREENCES FROM VOTING IN ACCORDANCE WITH THEIR CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS.
A PREDOMINANTLY BLACK COLLEGE IS HAVING A PROBLEM WITH VOTER REGISTRATIONS CAUSING THOUSANDS OF FAULTY APPLICATION CARDS, WHICH THE COUNTY CHOSE TO "PUT ON HOLD." THOUGH THIS CASE IS PROBABLY A TRUE MISTAKE, IF AN ODD ONE, WHY WERE TWO DIFFERENT ADDRESSES GIVEN TO THE STUDENTS IN THE FIRST PLACE, AND WHY ARREST THE POOR GUY FOR TAKING THE PHOTOGRAPH? THERE MUST BE MORE TO THIS STORY. THE SHERIFF ADMITTED THAT “THERE ARE NO VIABLE CRIMINAL CHARGES” TO PREFER AGAINST HIM. THIS SOUNDS LIKE THE OLD “STOP AND FRISK” METHOD, AND THEN MAKING AN ARREST OR WORSE FOR “NOT OBEYING ORDERS.”
THE BUSINESS OF A DEPUTY ASKING SOMEONE'S POLITICAL PARTY IS PRETTY WEIRD, OF COURSE, AND IT DOES APPEAR TO BE A POSSIBLE ATTEMPT AT BLOCKING SOME DEMOCRATIC VOTES FROM OCCURRING
FOR VIDEO AND INTERVIEW, SEE THE MSNBC RACHEL MADDOW ITEM BELOW. IT GIVES YEARS WORTH OF BACKGROUND ON THIS SAME SITUATION AND VARIATIONS ON IT FROM 2006 AND FOLLOWING.
https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Democrats-demand-Waller-County-fix-PVAMU-voter-13300986.php
Democrats demand Waller County fix PVAMU voter registrations
By Jasper Scherer Updated 9:11 am CDT, Friday, October 12, 2018
47 PHOTOGRAPHS -- Antonious Brown, a student at Prairie View A&M University, said at a press conference Thursday, Oct. 11, 2018, that Waller County’s requirement for some students to fill out change-of-address forms would be an “added hurdle” to voting. “When you have long lines at the polling station for students, it makes them less likely to want to go vote,” Brown said.
DATA AND MAPS: Texas' most gerrymandered districts Photo: Jasper Scherer, Houston Chronicle / Staff / Houston Chronicle
Photo: Jasper Scherer, Houston Chronicle / Staff
Democrats in Waller and Harris counties continued Thursday to push officials to update the status of Prairie View A&M students whose voter registrations were thrown into question over an address issue, but Waller County officials say they cannot do so at the instruction of the Texas Secretary of State’s office.
The Democrats — including 10th Congressional District nominee Mike Siegel, whose field director was detained and arrested at the Waller County courthouse Wednesday — also say the county should not require Prairie View students to fill out change-of-address forms, saying it is the county’s fault they were registered incorrectly in the first place.
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The dispute comes amid disagreement from Siegel’s campaign and Waller County officials over Wednesday’s courthouse incident, in which Siegel’s field director, Jacob Aronowitz, was arrested after delivering a letter to County Judge Trey Duhon’s office regarding the registration issue.
Siegel said Aronowitz initially was charged with a misdemeanor for “failure to identify” himself. Waller County District Attorney Elton Mathis reviewed the incident and “determined that there are no viable criminal charges to be brought against Aronowitz for this incident,” according to a post on Mathis’s Facebook page.
On Wednesday, Siegel, who was offering Aronowitz guidance over the phone during the courthouse incident, said he heard an officer ask Aronowitz which party Siegel belonged to.
Duhon on Thursday said he had spoken to the sheriff, who told him “that absolutely did not happen.”
Aronowitz stood by his account, saying Thursday that two sheriff’s deputies inquired about Siegel’s party affiliation.
The original dispute began Tuesday, the final day to register to vote, when confusion arose on the campus of Prairie View A&M University after it was discovered that thousands of students could have registered under the wrong address, putting their voter registrations in jeopardy.
The mix-up stems partly from how students get their mail: Because the university does not have individual mailboxes for students on campus, it provides a single post office box for every student.
In 2016, a group of university officials, the county and the local political parties agreed to have students write down 700 University Drive or 100 University Drive as their residence when registering to vote. One of the addresses is for the university, the other for the campus bookstore.
In the March primary election, however, Waller County Elections Administrator Christy Eason noticed the 700 University Drive address puts students in the City Hall precinct, not the one on campus. Officials decided to let students vote at the wrong polling place — the one on campus — but required them to fill out a change in address form.
The letter Aronowitz delivered to Duhon’s office, which was signed by Siegel, two other local candidates and the county’s Democratic Party chair, demands the county “update its registrations of any student currently registered at 100 or 700 University to reflect that they are part of precinct 309. … And further, we demand that Waller County require no further documentation of affected students.”
Duhon said the county cannot honor that demand because the Secretary of State’s office instructed officials to have the students fill out the change-of-address forms.
Secretary of State spokesperson Sam Taylor confirmed in an email this week the office “advised Waller County to inform the university that their previous guidance may be affecting the students’ voter registration precinct, and that the students should provide their dorm name as the concise description of the location of their residence and provide their university-issued mailbox as their mailing address.”
“If I were to move everyone that is registered at 700/100 University into Pct 309 without having their current ‘on campus’ physical address, I would have all of those voters registered in Pct. 309 with an address that is clearly in Pct. 310,” Eason wrote in an email.
Duhon said officials from the county’s elections office would be on campus during the next couple weeks to perform “address correction drives” in which they would allow students to correct their addresses before election day. He also said the county has committed resources to put extra poll workers on election day.
At a Thursday press conference at Prairie View A&M, Rep. Al Green, D-Houston, appeared with Siegel and a group of students and said he was concerned about the county’s additional paperwork requirement. In a letter, Green asked Attorney General Jeff Session on Thursday to investigate the incident, citing previous incidents in which Waller County was accused of disenfranchising African-American residents and Prairie View students, including a 1979 case that reached the U.S. Supreme Court.
As for the courthouse incident, Duhon said Aronowitz delivered the letter to one of his assistants while he was away from the office. He said Aronowitz caught the assistant off guard.
“She’s looking down, and she looks up and he’s taking a photograph of her,” Duhon said. “She wasn’t sure why he was taking a photo of her. She put her hand up saying, ‘excuse me,’ because at this point she has no idea who he is or what he’s delivering.”
Duhon’s assistant requested that Aronowitz not use a photo that included her face, and offered “a number of alternatives,” Duhon said, including to take a photo of the letter in her hand, or to give Aronowitz a receipt proving the office had received it.
Aronowitz said he clearly identified himself to the assistant before the bailiff became involved.
Mathis appeared to support the decision to call sheriff’s deputies to the scene, writing on Facebook, “This, obviously in an era of doxing and high awareness of sex crimes being perpetrated against women resulted in sheriff’s deputies being called to assist.”
He commended the sheriff’s office “for their diligence in protecting county employees. Civility and good manners are not requirements of being a citizen of this great State of Texas, but they are certainly encouraged and appreciated.”
jasper.scherer@chron.com
Twitter.com/jaspscherer
Democratic aide arrested advocating for voting rights in Texas
https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow/watch/democratic-aide-arrested-advocating-for-voting-rights-in-texas-1342451779574?v=raila&
Rachel Maddow reviews the history of voting rights battles at Prairie View A&M University in Waller County, Texas, and talks with Mike Siegel, Texas Democratic congressional candidate, and Jacob Aronowitz, Siegel's campaign field director, about Aronowitz's arrest after delivering a letter of support for voting rights at the school on Siegel's behalf.
Oct. 11, 2018
PUT THAT IN YOUR PIPE AND SMOKE IT, MR. TRUMP! I HAVE A THEORY ABOUT BLACK AND NATIVE AMERICAN BLOOD LINES IN THIS COUNTRY. WE WHITE FOLKS ALL HAVE A LITTLE OF BOTH, AND THAT INCLUDES YOU, SIR. OUR RACIAL MIXING GOES BACK TO THE EARLIEST COLONIZATION BY WHITES ON A NON-WHITE NATIVE POPULATION, FOLLOWED BY THOUSANDS OF BLACK SLAVES BEING INTRODUCED. A WHITE MAN WHO OWNED A SLAVE WOMAN OWNED HER BODY AND SOUL. THE MOST FAMOUS CASE IS THAT OF THOMAS JEFFERSON WHO, WITHOUT MARRYING HER, HAD IN THE RANGE OF SIX OR EIGHT CHILDREN BY ONE OF HIS SLAVES NAMED SALLY HEMING. A DNA TEST WAS DONE IN THE LAST FEW YEARS ON BLACK PEOPLE NAMED JEFFERSON, WHICH PROVED THAT THE ASSERTION IS NOT A MYTH.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-45866168
Elizabeth Warren: DNA test finds 'strong evidence' of Native American blood
OCTOBER 15, 2018 3 hours ago
PHOTOGRAPH -- President Donald Trump and Republicans have taunted the Democrat over her reported Native American heritage
US Senator Elizabeth Warren has revealed that a DNA test shows "strong evidence" that she has distant Native American ancestry.
She took the test after President Donald Trump taunted her in speeches, calling her a "fake Pocahontas" and challenging her to take the test.
The DNA test suggests Ms Warren has a Native American ancestor dating back six to 10 generations.
Many believe the Democrat is preparing for a presidential bid in 2020.
Trump in Pocahontas jibe at Navajo event
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What exactly was revealed?
Ms Warren, who is up for re-election in Massachusetts, shared the report along with a video of family and colleagues discussing her heritage on Monday.
The DNA report was conducted by geneticist Carlos Bustamante of Stanford.
"The vast majority" of Ms Warren's ancestry is European, it concludes, but "the results strongly support" a Native American ancestor.
This puts Ms Warren as between 1/32 and 1/512 Native-American, according to the Boston Globe.
Ms Warren herself is not a part of any native tribe. While the results of the test do confirm there is native heritage in Ms Warren's family tree, critics could still point out how imprecise these DNA tests can be.
The senator's accompanying video begins with a clip of the president mocking her at a rally, saying: "She said she's Native-American and I said, Pocahontas!"
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Pocahontas was the daughter of a 17th Century indigenous chief.
The video shows Ms Warren's family - including brothers who say they are Republicans - criticising the president's taunts.
A cousin who is identified as being a member of the Cherokee Nation adds: "It's offensive to me, not just as Betsy's cousin, but as a Native-American."
Analysis: A clear move
By Anthony Zurcher, North America correspondent
Elizabeth Warren has been a star of the progressive left for years. Now - even before November mid-terms in which she's running for re-election to the Senate - she's making the clearest moves toward a bid for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020.
Part of that preparatory process is fortifying her defence against Donald Trump's repeated questions about her claims of Native American heritage, including his derisive references to her as "Pocahontas". With positive DNA test results in hand, she's pushing back - and reiterating that she did not use her ancestry to advance her academic career.
That probably won't stop Mr Trump's attacks, but it will allow her to deflect the barbs and move on to what could be the top issues of an increasingly less hypothetical run - income inequality and government ethics reform.
It's unusual to see a presidential primary field begin to take shape more than two years before election day. With so many potential candidates eyeing the race, however, there's an advantage to moving quickly. Ms Warren could face a fierce fight for the progressive vote against an electoral powerhouse such as Bernie Sanders.
If she's going to prevail, every moment counts.
How has Warren been taunted?
Ms Warren has denied benefitting from her background since 2012, when it emerged that she was listed as a minority in a Harvard Law School directory.
She has frequently faced attacks from the White House and Republicans over whether she used claims of native ancestry to advance her career.
At a rally in Montana this summer, the president said he would give $1m (£761,000) to charity if Ms Warren would prove her claims of Native-American heritage.
In 2012, two Republican aides were recorded making offensive gestures linked to Native Americans while poking fun at then-candidate Ms Warren.
Asked about the DNA test, Kellyanne Conway, White House counsellor, told reporters: "Everybody likes to pick their junk science and sound science depending on the conclusion."
Media captionPresident Trump goads Senator Elizabeth Warren with #MeToo jibe
One clip in the new video shows White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders saying: "What most people find offensive is Senator Warren lying about her heritage to advance her career."
In response, the video has a number of Ms Warren's colleagues and employers affirm that her background paid no role in her hiring.
Her campaign has also shared a number of documents and testimonials stating Ms Warren's ancestry did not impact upon her career.
In the video, Ms Warren says her critics attack her as an insult or "to distract from the kinds of changes I'm fighting for".
"Trump can say whatever he wants about me, but mocking Native Americans or any group in order to get at me?" she asks. "That's not what America stands for."
How does this echo Trump attacks on Obama?
The hubbub around Ms Warren's ancestry recalls the attacks President Barack Obama faced over his background.
VIDEO -- Media caption'It's both hopeful and disturbing': How young activists feel about the future of progressive politics
The birth of the Obama 'birther' conspiracy
Watch: Barack Obama releases birth certificate
During Mr Obama's campaign, Mr Trump called repeatedly for him to release his birth certificate to prove he was born in America.
The rumours that Mr Obama was a foreigner persisted throughout his presidency and, in 2011, the White House released his birth certificate to quash the controversy.
WE SHOULD FIGHT BACK, BUT NOT DISRUPT ANY OTHER CANDIDATE’S PRESENTATION. FROM WHAT HE SAYS HERE, WE SHOULD BE DOING “GET OUT THE VOTE” EFFORTS, HELP RAISE ENTHUSIASM, ETC. DEMOCRATIC WINS ALWAYS HAVE TO DO WITH HIGH TURNOUTS. THAT'S WHY REPUBLICANS TRY SO HARD TO SUPPRESS DEMOCRATIC VOTER REGISTRATION. IF THERE IS ONE THING WHICH REPUBLICANS FEAR, IT IS THE COMMON MAN.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/bernie-sanders-not-fan-disruptive-rude-democratic-protesters-165956099.html
Bernie Sanders is not a fan of ‘disruptive and rude’ Democratic protesters
Michael WalshReporter,Yahoo News • October 14, 2018
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., said he’s not thrilled by liberal protesters disrupting conservative activities or being rude. He would much rather see progressives voice their outrage through the ballot box.
The former presidential candidate told Jake Tapper on CNN’s “State of the Union” that he strongly supports mobilizing the American people to stand up for economic, social, racial and environmental justice but that there are more and less effective ways to go about this.
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., at a campaign stop in August 2018. (Photo: Chris O’Meara/AP)
“I am not a great fan of being rude or disrupting activities,” Sanders said. “But this is what I will say. This entire … election campaign is going to come down to two words, and that is voter turnout.”
Sanders had a simple message: Anyone who is sick of seeing the “very rich getting richer” while “the middle class continues to struggle” needs to vote and encourage like-minded friends and families to do the same.
“Four years ago, when the Republicans did really, really well, we had the lowest voter turnout since World War II. And that’s got to change,” Sanders said. “So, my hope is that people stand up, fight back and get involved in this campaign.”
Black Lives Matter activists and animal rights protesters have interrupted Sanders campaign events by rushing the stage and taking his microphone.
This is not the first time Sanders has urged civility. He pleaded with his delegate whips not to protest during the Democratic National Convention in July 2016 after losing the Democratic primary race to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Nevertheless, Sanders did not wade into the public debate over civility voluntarily this time. Tapper had asked the self-identified democratic socialist for his take on the current disagreement among progressives over strategy.
Former First Lady Michele Obama famously said “when they go low, we go high” at a speech during the 2016 Democratic National Convention. Some prominent Democrats think a different approach is needed when dealing with the Trump administration and the current Republican-controlled Congress.
Clinton told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour on Tuesday that “you cannot be civil with a political party that wants to destroy what you stand for, what you care about.”
“That’s why I believe, if we are fortunate enough to win back the House and/or the Senate, that’s when civility can start again,” Clinton continued. “But until then, the only thing Republicans seem to recognize is strength.”
While campaigning in Georgia last weekend, former Attorney General Eric Holder appeared equally discouraged by appeals to civility in the current political climate.
“Michelle says, ‘When they go low, we go high.’ No, no. When they go low, we kick ’em,” Holder told his audience to applause. “That’s what this new Democratic Party is about. We’re proud as hell to be Democrats. We’re willing to fight for the ideals of the Democratic Party,” Holder said.
When asked about Holder’s comments, Obama stood by her popular motto on “The Today Show” Thursday.
“Fear is not a proper motivator. Hope wins out, and if you think about how you want your kids to be raised, how you want them to think about life and their opportunities, do you want them afraid of their neighbors? Do you want them angry? Do you want them vengeful?”
THIS IS A VERY INTERESTING STORY AND VIDEO, IF YOU DON’T MIND SNAKES. THIS PHOTOGRAPHER DOCUMENTS ENDANGERED ANIMALS, SOME OF WHICH ARE QUITE DANGEROUS. CHECK OUT THE SPITTING COBRA.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/snake-bites-cameraman-as-60-minutes-profiles-national-geographic-photographer-joel-sartore/
Snake bites cameraman as 60 Minutes profiles "National Geographic" photographer Joel Sartore
The snake wasn't poisonous and the cameraman was okay, but it was a stinging look at what goes into Sartore's work. See the full story Sunday at 7:30 p.m. ET and 7 p.m. PT on CBS.
Oct 11, 2018
At least it wasn't the poisonous spitting cobra. But toxic or not, 60 Minutes cameraman Mark LaGanga still had to endure the stinging bite of an angry red rat snake. Welcome to the world of nature photographer Joel Sartore. He's been attacked more times than he'd care to count on his mission to capture images of all the species kept in the world's zoos. 60 Minutes gets a taste of his pain as Bill Whitaker and crew profile the "National Geographic" photographer on a shoot in the Philippines on the next edition of 60 Minutes, Sunday, Oct. 14 at 7:30 p.m. ET and 7 p.m. PT on CBS.
Sartore had already had a warty hog with tusks like knives jump over his head and had to endure the sickening smell of a stink badger's nasty spray on this shoot when LaGanga got fanged. "I enjoy seeing a 60 Minutes cameraman get bit instead of me." He may not have been kidding. Whitaker and his crew watched him work 12-hour days and photograph up to 20 different species in the hot, humid conditions – typical for him, and that's not counting the bird pecks, snake bites and other affronts he endures.
Sartore may not always love his job but the project is certainly a labor of love for him, as he tries to photograph every mammal, bird, fish, reptile and insect in captivity in an effort to spur conservation efforts. Some of the species he captures scientists predict will become extinct in the wild before the end of this century. He's captured the images of over 8,000 so far, about halfway through his Noah-like mission. He even calls it the Photo Ark.
All are welcome on this ark, no matter if they snarl or smell. Noah had an important job. So does Sartore. "There's nobody else coming along to photograph a stink badger. I'm the only one. And that's the case for 90 percent of the species I photograph, maybe 95 percent, he tells Whitaker. "These are things that nobody will ever know existed if it weren't for the Photo Ark."
© 2018 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.
NOW, ONE MORE ABOUT AN ANIMAL, AND THIS IS ONE OF THE BEST I’VE EVER SEEN. WATCH THE VIDEO.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/cpr-to-a-squirrel-officers-witness-remarkable-rescue-2018-10-12/
By STEVE HARTMAN CBS NEWS October 12, 2018, 6:55 PM
"He's giving CPR to a squirrel": Officers witness remarkable rescue
BROOKLYN PARK, Minn. — Just outside Minneapolis, Brooklyn Park police officers Jeremy Halek and Tony Weeks were driving around town recently when they came across something remarkable.
"We just saw a car kind of pulled over. You could tell something was going on and then as we got closer, you could see that he was giving chest compressions," Tony said.
When the officers got out, they found 19-year-old Chris Felix, who cleans cars at the local Subaru dealership, attempting to revive a little one, who Chris says darted out in front of him and struck his vehicle.
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Brooklyn Park police officers Tony Weeks and Jeremy Halek. CBS NEWS
"It didn't look like he had any life, you know?" Chris said.
He learned CPR in high school, but never thought he'd use it. But he said you never know when you might be in just the right place at just the right time -- to save a rodent.
"I just couldn't believe it. He's giving CPR to a squirrel," Tony said.
"It doesn't matter if it's a little life or a big life," Chris said. "Life is life."
Because he believes life is life, Chris gave it a valiant effort.
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Body cam video shows Chris Felix trying to save a squirrel. BROOKLYN PARK PD
After a minute there was still no response. The officers said deep down they knew it was gone.
"Then that squirrel took off," Tony said.
"Just, wow. What did we just witness?" Tony said.
"Something I'll always remember," Jeremy said.
"Sometimes when nobody is looking and people do the right thing, it kind of shows who they really are," Tony said.
Not surprisingly, someday Chris would like to go into medicine. Let's hope he does, because if he can have this much compassion for roadkill, imagine what he could do for his fellow man.
To contact On the Road, or to send us a story idea, email us: OnTheRoad@cbsnews.com.
© 2018 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved
THIS 60- MINUTES INTERVIEW IS WITH THE CROWN PRINCE MOHAMMED BIN SALMAN, WHO IS THE PRIME SUSPECT IN THE RECENT DISAPPEARANCE AND PERHAPS MURDER OF THE SAUDI JOURNALIST KHASHOGGI, A WRITER FOR THE WASHINGTON POST. OF COURSE, HE WOULDN’T MURDER ANYONE HIMSELF. INSTEAD, HE SUPPOSEDLY SENT FIFTEEN OF HIS AGENTS OVER TO DISPATCH A VERY PLEASANT SEEMING MAN WHO, UNFORTUNATELY, HAS BEEN CRITICAL OF HIM. ONE ARTICLE SAID HE WAS CHARGED WITH LIBEL. THAT MAY INDICATE THAT KHASHOGGI IS NOT DEAD, BUT MERELY KIDNAPPED? CRUEL AND UNUSUAL PUNISHMENT, IN MY BOOK. I DO HOPE HE IS FOUND SAFE SOMEWHERE, THOUGH.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/saudi-women-unveiled/
Saudi Women, Unveiled
60 Minutes team returns from Saudi Arabia and talks about how the society is changing, especially for women
Mar 18, 2018
BY Brit McCandless Farmer
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has become the most influential Arab leader of a generation. His father, King Salman, named him heir to the throne just nine months ago, a move that could shape the direction of Saudi Arabia -- and the Middle East -- for decades to come. And as Norah O'Donnell reports this week on 60 Minutes, Crown Prince Mohammed is already enacting changes that are rippling throughout Saudi society.
"The decision is entirely left for women to decide what type of decent and respectful attire she chooses to wear" -Saudi Crown Prince
In a wide-ranging interview, O'Donnell asked the crown prince about the reforms he's bringing to Saudi society, including emancipating women. "Today, Saudi women still have not received their full rights," Crown Prince Mohammed said on the broadcast. "These are rights stipulated in Islam that they still don't have. We have come a very long way and have a short way to go."
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Norah O'Donnell interviews Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman
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Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman CBS NEWS
Crown Prince Mohammed has curbed the powers of the country's so-called "religious police," who until recently, were able to arrest women for not covering their heads and bodies. In the interview, he was specific about what is Islamic law -- and what isn't.
"The laws are very clear and stipulated in the laws of Sharia: that women wear decent, respectful clothing, like men," Crown Prince Mohammed said. "This, however, does not particularly specify a black abaya or black head cover. The decision is entirely left for women to decide what type of decent and respectful attire she chooses to wear."
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While in Riyadh, O'Donnell didn't cover her hair, but she did wear the traditional abaya as a sign of respect.
While reporting in Riyadh for a week, a 60 Minutes team that includes producers Graham Messick and Vanessa Fica witnessed first-hand the impact the crown prince's reforms are having -- and some of the growing pains of a changing society.
In an interview with 60 Minutes Overtime's Ann Silvio, producer Fica explained that the broadcast team was outside on a sidewalk, waiting for a restaurant to open, when a car pulled up next to them. A man from the Saudi religious police began shouting in Arabic through a megaphone, imploring Fica to cover her hair. Fica replied that she didn't have a head covering, and after some negotiating, the man drove away.
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60 Minutes associate producer Vanessa Fica was stopped by the Saudi "religious police" for not wearing a headscarf. After some negotiation, they drove away without incident
"We were surprised, but we're pretty read-in here, and the religious police have lost their ability to make arrests," Messick explained.
When O'Donnell relayed this story to Mohammed al Sheikh, one of the crown prince's closest advisers, he suggested that the incident shows how much the crown prince's reforms are impacting society. "See?" al Sheikh said. "About three years ago, you probably would have been arrested."
While in Riyadh, O'Donnell also didn't cover her hair, but she wore a long black abaya as a sign of respect. She said the crown prince sees issues like women's dress as a difference between religious and cultural influences.
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The 60 Minutes team visited a driving school at Riyadh's Princess Nourah University, the largest all-women's university in the world. The school is preparing to teach more than 50,000 women how to drive ahead of June, when a new rule will allow women to drive in Saudi Arabia.
"I think he's trying to teach people about Islam, and that's why he talked about bringing back to a more moderate Islam," O'Donnell said.
To appreciate how different Saudi society looks today, Messick said, watch the stories 60 Minutes reported from the country in years past. When Ed Bradley traveled to Saudi Arabia in 2005, the broadcast had to blur the faces of some women who spoke to him on camera because the women feared retribution.
It's a different place today, Messick said. "You will see a trendy, hip Saudi woman with her cell phone on Snapchat in groups, socializing, out on their own."
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Cell phones play a large role in Saudi society, where 70 percent of the population is under the age of 35. Because the country hasn't had movie theaters in decades, smartphones have become a primary source of amusement -- and that entertainment is often American.
"They knew everything about American culture. I was shocked by that," Fica said. "They knew who Kim Kardashian's makeup artist was. They knew him by name. I don't even know that. They told me, 'We watch Seinfeld and we get all the references.'"
With a population of young people connected to the world through their cell phones and oil no longer a predictable source of revenue, Crown Prince Mohammed knows Saudi Arabia must change.
"The crown prince realizes you have to change the economy and diversify in Saudi Arabia," O'Donnell said. "In order to do that, you have to change the culture. And if you're going to change the culture, you have to start with women."
The video above was produced by Ann Silvio, Lisa Orlando, and Sarah Shafer Prediger. It was edited by Lisa Orlando and Sarah Shafer Prediger.
© 2018 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved
FOR ROYAL WATCHERS, HERE IS THE LATEST CHAPTER.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/prince-harry-meghan-markle-expecting-baby-in-spring-duke-and-duchess-of-sussex-announce-today-2018-10-15/
CBS/AP October 15, 2018, 3:46 AM
Prince Harry and Meghan, Duke and Duchess of Sussex, expecting their 1st baby
Last Updated Oct 15, 2018 10:15 AM EDT
SYDNEY, Australia -- The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Prince Harry and his wife Meghan, are expecting their first baby in the spring, Kensington Palace confirmed on Monday. Harry and Meghan married in May 2018 in a grand ceremony at Windsor Castle outside London.
No further details on their first expected child, or how Meghan is feeling after the first months of her pregnancy, were immediately provided by the royal family, but the palace said the couple had, "appreciated all of the support they have received from people around the world since their wedding in May and are delighted to be able to share this happy news with the public."
"My warmest congratulations to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex on the happy news they are expecting a baby in the spring. Wishing them all the best," Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May said on Monday.
View image on Twitter
View image on Twitter
Kensington Palace
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@KensingtonRoyal
Their Royal Highnesses The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are very pleased to announce that The Duchess of Sussex is expecting a baby in the Spring of 2019.
3:39 AM - Oct 15, 2018
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Royal expert Roya Nikkhah told CBS News correspondent Jonathan Vigliotti, who is travelling with the press entourage on a trip by Harry and Meghan to Australia and the South Pacific, that the announcement is an historic moment.
"Meghan is an American, she's the first mixed-race woman to marry into the royal family -- we're going to have the first mixed-race child in the royal family, and I think the queen is going to be absolutely thrilled," Nikkhah said.
Kensington Palace said the couple first told the queen and their extended royal family members at cousin Princess Eugenie's wedding on Friday.
The announcement came as a beaming Duchess Meghan, looking remarkably unfatigued by a 22-hour flight, walked out of Sydney's airport with Prince Harry for a rest day before they officially start their 16-day tour of Australia and the South Pacific. The trip is the first international tour for the Duke and Duchess since they were married, apart from a two-day visit to Ireland.
Vigliotti says that recent warnings of Zika virus in Fiji and Tonga prompted some health concerns ahead of the royals' visit, especially given Meghan's pregnancy.
"Harry and Meghan have taken medical advice from doctors back in the U.K. about the risk of Zika in Fiji and Tonga, and they have decided on that medical advice that they will carry on, and nothing will change," Nikkhah told CBS News.
Holding hands and casually dressed, the prince and the former American actress walked out an airport rear entrance and into a car. Meghan, wearing skinny black pants and a black, burgundy trimmed coat, was smiling and clutching folders, while Harry gave a thumbs up to bystanders. The couple touched down in Sydney on an overcast morning after a regular Qantas Airways flight from London with a brief stopover in Singapore.
In Australia, they will pet a koala in a Sydney zoo, visit the drought-stricken Outback town of Dubbo and meet indigenous leaders on Fraser Island, the world's largest sand island, in northeastern Queensland state.
The royal couple were driven from the airport to Admiralty House, the official Sydney residence of Governor General Peter Cosgrove, who represents Australia's head of state, Queen Elizabeth II, Harry's grandmother. The couple had no official functions on Monday following the 10,650-mile flight that Qantas says takes 22 hours and 20 minutes.
Hundreds of well-wishers gathered with umbrellas outside the airport and Admiralty House in the hope of catching a glimpse of Harry and Meghan. The crowd cheered as the waving couple was driven through the gates of the harbor-side mansion.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who plans to climb with Harry to the top of the Sydney Harbour Bridge during the visit, told Parliament on Monday that he commended the prince for coming to Sydney for the Invictus Games and welcomed the couple.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's royal wedding
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's royal wedding
"I want to ... commend Prince Harry for his tremendous initiative in lifting the spirits of every single service man and woman all around the globe," Morrison said.
Harry and Meghan said during a television interview in November that they wanted to promote humanitarian causes close to their hearts across Commonwealth-member countries, including Australia.
The visit comes six months after Harry's father, Prince Charles, made his 16th official visit to Australia, primarily to open the 21st Commonwealth Games at Gold Coast city in Queensland.
© 2018 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
MADDOW TIME
THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 10/11/18
Trump, Kushner money ties to Saudi Arabia taint US policy voice
Rachel Maddow describes Donald Trump's and Jared Kushner's financial ties to Saudi Arabia and how those ties and the opacity around whether more exist taint perceptions of U.S. policy toward Saudi Arabia, particularly amid controversy like the Jamal Khashoggi disappearance. Duration: 5:28
THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 10/11/18
Turkey claims of evidence of Khashoggi murder by Saudi Arabia
David Kirkpatrick, international correspondent for The New York Times, talks with Rachel Maddow about the latest developments in the disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi, and Turkish claims of audio and video proving Khashoggi's murder by Saudi Arabia. Duration: 5:12
THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 10/11/18
Trump Tower apartment, other Manafort properties seized by feds
Rachel Maddow reports on bad news for the former leaders of the Donald Trump campaign. Rick Gates is being sued by his former lawyers for not paying them, and Paul Manafort, still in jail, has had several luxury properties seized by the U.S. government. Duration: 4:36
THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 10/11/18
Judge could force Mueller to reveal nature of Manafort's flip
Rachel Maddow reports on the judge in the Paul Manafort case not wanting to wait for Manafort's cooperation deal to play out before sentencing him on the charges for which he was found guilty, which means Mueller could be forced to reveal what Manafort has offered in his cooperation with investigators at the sentencing hearing. Duration: 3:42
THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 10/10/18
Trump talked to Mueller critic about replacing Sessions: WaPo
Rachel Maddow shares reporting from The Washington Post that Donald Trump has talked with Matt Whitaker, Jeff Sessions's own chief of staff and cable news critic of the Mueller investigation to replace Sessions as attorney general. Duration: 3:35
THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 10/10/18
Kavanaugh ethics complaints referred to 10th Circuit court
Rachel Maddow reports that ethics complaints against Brett Kavanaugh for his conduct as a Supreme Court nominee, that were thought dead-on-arrival when they were referred to the Supreme Court, have now been referred to a separate district court for processing. Duration: 1:19
THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 10/10/18
Hurricane Michael's historic strength a case for climate study
Bill Karins, NBC News meteorologist, talks with Rachel Maddow about what questions will be asked as the role of climate change is examined in the rapid formation and unusual strength of Hurricane Michael. Duration: 3:27
SURELY, THIS IS OUTRIGHT VOTER FRAUD ON THE REPUBLICANS’ PART.
THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 10/10/18
Kemp holding up 53K voter registrations as he runs for governor
Rachel Maddow reports on Brian Kemp, secretary of state for Georgia, who has not stepped down from that job even though he is running for governor, putting over 53,000 new, disproportionately black voter registrations on hold just a month ahead of the election. Duration: 3:52
THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 10/9/18
New look at Trump Org server mystery suggests avenues of inquiry
Dexter Filkins, contributor to The New Yorker, talks with Rachel Maddow about what is known about unusual communication between a Trump Organization computer server and a server at Russia's Alfa Bank, and what more some well-placed subpoenas could find out. Duration: 7:27
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