RadioRob

Published by Reuters By Brendan Pierson (Reuters) – A Georgia law banning abortion when a fetal heartbeat is detected, typically around six weeks, will take effect after a federal appeals court on Wednesday rejected a challenge to it by abortion providers. Chief Judge William Pryor of the Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals wrote for a unanimous three-judge panel that the state had a “rational basis” for the law, given its interest in “providing full legal recognition to an unborn child.” Georgia passed the law, which also defines “person” to include an “unborn child,” in 2019. A federal judge blocked it that October before it could take effect, finding it violated the right to abortion established by the U.S. Supreme Court in its 1973 landmark Roe v. Wade ruling. However, the Supreme Court last month overturned that ruling, clearing the way for Wednesday’s decision. The law will now take effect when the 11th Circuit issues its official mandate, typically 28 days after the decision, according to Planned Parenthood, one of the providers in the lawsuit. “This is a grave human rights violation, and Planned Parenthood, along with its partners, will do everything in our power to fight back and ensure all people can get the health care they need, regardless of where they live,” Planned Parenthood President Alexis McGill Johnson said in a statement. The office of Georgia Attorney General Christopher Carr did not immediately respond to a request for comment. About half of U.S. states have or are expected to seek to ban or curtail abortions following the Supreme Court’s June 24 ruling. Judges have largely upheld the laws against legal challenges, though some, including in Utah and Kentucky, have been blocked for now. The Georgia law includes exceptions for medical emergencies, and for cases of rape or incest where a police report was filed. (Reporting By Brendan Pierson in New York, Editing by Alexia Garamfalvi and Jonathan Oatis) View the full article

Published by Reuters By Alexandra Ulmer and Jason Lange (Reuters) – A big Democratic Party fundraising group on Wednesday filed a complaint against the Federal Election Commission, accusing it of allowing Donald Trump to break campaign finance law by spending political donations on a 2024 presidential bid he has yet to launch. The group, American Bridge, complained in March to the FEC about Trump’s Save America fund. Under U.S. law, the fund can pay for political activities such as Trump’s travel, hotel stays and contributions to political allies, but it cannot be used to fund the former Republican president’s own election campaign. American Bridge says Trump is flouting campaign finance laws by dropping frequent hints that he is planning to seek the White House again while having Save America pay for rallies nationwide and digital advertising promoting him. Wednesday’s suit, filed in the U.S. Court for the District of Columbia, alleges the FEC has failed to act on the March complaint, effectively allowing Trump to raise money for a presidential run without declaring himself candidate. “The Commission’s inaction has allowed Mr. Trump to continue violating the law,” American Bridge said in the suit. “As each day passes that Mr. Trump is accepting excessive contributions, he sets himself up to have an unlawful head start against his opponents.” Trump has repeatedly hinted at another White House run but has not officially declared himself a candidate. Trump spokesperson Taylor Budowich did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Budowich has previously described American Bridge’s complaint as “frivolous” and with “zero merit.” The FEC declined comment. When American Bridge filed the complaint in March, the FEC said it could not comment until the matter was resolved or closed. The FEC’s leadership includes three Republicans, two Democrats and an independent. It often deadlocks on contentious issues. Trump launched his Save America fund days after losing the 2020 presidential election to Democrat Joe Biden. The group has more than $100 million in the bank, a formidable war chest. Campaign finance analysts have speculated about the ways Trump could try to use the money should he run in 2024. To date, it has been used to pay for rallies where Trump has appeared with Republican candidates for November’s midterm congressional election and talked about another presidential bid. Trump continues to top national polls among his party’s possible 2024 presidential candidates, although other potential contenders have raised their profiles in recent weeks. (Reporting by Alexandra Ulmer and Jason Lange, editing by Ross Colvin and Cynthia Osterman) View the full article

Published by AlterNet By Meaghan Ellis Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) recently launched an attack against his Democratic opponent Val Demings, who appears to be using TikTok as a driving force for campaign fundraising. On Wednesday, July 20, Rubio released a new online ad for his re-election campaign. According to NBC News, Rubio focused on highlighting the contrast between “his anti-communist bonafides with the Demings campaign’s prolific use of the wildly popular social media app, which is owned by a Chinese company.” The lawmaker shared his perspective amid the rise in concerns about possible private user data mining… Read More View the full article

Published by Raw Story By Sarah K. Burris The co-hosts of “The View” unleashed on Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) who spoke out on the floor of the House that the bill codifying marriage equality was unnecessary. Jordan spoke out against the bill saying that Democrats were trying to distract from inflation with issues like gay marriage. Rep. Mark Pocan (D-WI) shot back that the reason laws like that are necessary is that same-sex married couples need the same rights as straight couples. He specifically cited the problem that an LGBTQ spouse can’t make decisions for their partner when they’re in the hospital without being mar… Read More View the full article

Published by DPA Ryan Gosling stars as former CIA agent Court Gentry aka Sierra Six in Netflix’s “The Gray Man”. Courtesy Of Netflix © 2022/dpa Exotic settings like in James Bond, thrilling car chases á la Fast & Furious, brutal contract killings like in the Bourne series, mixed with a bit of Mission Impossible: The new Netflix action thriller “The Gray Man” wants to do it all – and has the budget to achieve it. Directed by Anthony and Joe Russo, best known for their work in the Marvel universe, have pulled out all the action stops and paired them with no other than the fair Ryan Gosling, starring as CIA mercenary Court Gentry, recruited directly from jail. The world is no La La Land in “The Gray Man.” Working under the name of Sierra Six, Gentry travels around the world to carry out gruesome missions for the agency. When he accidentally uncovers incriminating secrets about the CIA, he is forced to go on the run and soon becomes a primary target, hunted around the world by psychopathic former colleague Lloyd Hansen, played by Chris Evans. That this pretty much summarises the plot is telling – but action fans might not be looking for the most profound of narratives. The Russo brothers’ unapologetic mix of cartoonesque humour, cheeky dialogue and brutal torture scenes makes up for a lack of plausibility and profundity, as do spectacular stunts, sophisticated fight scenes and a high-profile cast, including Billy Bob Thornton, Alfre Woodard and Ana de Armas. A former Bond girl in “No Time to Die,” Armas plays CIA agent Dani Miranda who saves Gentry’s neck a couple of times. “The Gray Man,” which is based on the 2009 novel of the same name by Mark Greaney, proceeds at high speed, as a good action movie á la James Bond should, taking us across the world in 129 minutes, from Bangkok to Azerbaijan, Croatia, Berlin and Vienna to Prague. Netflix is said to have spent some $200 million on the film – the streaming service’s most expensive in-house production to date. Whether or not it was worth it remains to be seen. “The Gray Man” will be available to stream on Netflix from July 22, and has already been released in cinemas in several countries. Ryan Gosling stars as former CIA agent Court Gentry aka Sierra Six alongside Chris Evans as Lloyd Hansen in Netflix’s “The Gray Man”. Netflix/dpa View the full article

Published by Reuters By Gloria Dickie LONDON (Reuters) – Hungry polar bears are turning to garbage dumps to fill their stomachs as their icy habitat disappears. On Wednesday, a team of Canadian and U.S. scientists warned that trash poses an emerging threat to already-vulnerable polar bear populations as the animals become more reliant on landfills near northern communities. This is leading to deadly conflicts with people, the report published in the journal Oryx said. “Bears and garbage are a bad association,” said co-author Andrew Derocher, a biologist at the University of Alberta. “We know that very well from a brown bear and black bear perspective, and now it’s an issue developing with polar bears.” Polar bears rely on sea ice to hunt seals. But with the Arctic warming four times faster than the rest of the world, sea ice is melting out earlier in the summer and freezing up later in the fall. This forces bears to spend more time ashore, away from their natural prey. To fatten up, the report said polar bears are now gathering en masse around open dumps in places in the Arctic and sub-Arctic such as Russia’s Belushya Guba, and whale bone piles left over from Inuit hunts near Kaktovik, Alaska. Such behaviour is risky. Local wildlife managers may kill bears out of concern for public safety. And consuming garbage can make bears sick. Wrappers are often frozen into food scraps so polar bears end up eating plastic and other non-edible materials. This can cause fatal blockages. “Bears don’t know all the negatives that come with plastic ingestion and the diseases and toxins they’re likely exposed to in a (landfill) setting,” said co-author Geoff York, senior director of conservation at Polar Bears International, an advocacy group. The situation, scientists said, is likely to get worse. Human populations are increasing in the Arctic. Nunavut, Canada, — where thousands of polar bears live — is projected to grow nearly 40% by 2043. Improving waste management remains a challenge for remote communities. The ground is often frozen, making it hard to bury garbage. And trucking it out is expensive. Federal funding will be required to fix the problem, scientists said. “Already we’ve had a couple human fatalities in the eastern Canadian Arctic,” said Derocher. “It’s surprising just how many places that never had polar bear problems are now having emerging issues.” (Reporting by Gloria Dickie; Editing by Alison Williams) View the full article

Published by Reuters LONDON (Reuters) – The United States decision to end the constitutional right to abortion domestically will have no impact on how the country funds family planning services overseas, according to its global health lead. The U.S. Supreme Court in June overturned the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that recognized the right of women nationally to terminate pregnancies. Calling the decision “sobering” domestically, Loyce Pace, Assistant Secretary for Global Affairs at the U.S Department of Health, said it would not affect the country’s position as the largest bilateral donor to family planning services globally. “Those investments and those commitments remain the same in the wake of this decision,” she told a media briefing in Geneva. The U.S. has long-standing legislation which prevents the funding of abortion overseas directly, but it does fund post-abortion care and abortion counselling. Pace also said the U.S was ready to learn from other countries that have “managed their own challenges with regards to access to essential health care and services”. (Reporting by Jennifer Rigby; Editing by Nick Macfie) View the full article

Published by AlterNet By Alex Henderson During the Bill Clinton years, the term “originalism” was primarily used in connection with two far-right U.S. Supreme Court justices: Clarence Thomas and the late Antonin Scalia. Others on the High Court, from the late liberal Clinton appointee Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg to Justice Sandra Day O’Connor to Justice Anthony Kennedy — a right-wing libertarian and Ronald Reagan appointee who was fiscally conservative yet protective of gay rights and abortion rights — rejected originalism, which is often synonymous with far-right social conservatism. The Clinton years are long gon… Read More View the full article

Published by Reuters WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The top U.S. Senate Democrat wants to bring a bill protecting same-sex marriage to a vote on the Senate floor and is working to get Republican support necessary to pass it, Senator Chuck Schumer said on Wednesday. (Reporting by Moira Warburton in Washington) View the full article

Published by Reuters By Sarah N. Lynch WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Justice Department unveiled a $1.2 billion healthcare fraud crackdown on Wednesday, revealing criminal charges against 36 defendants for alleged fraudulent billing schemes tied to telemedicine, genetic and cardiovascular testing, and equipment. The criminal charges, which were unsealed across 13 federal districts between July 11 through July 20, target clinical laboratory owners, marketers, medical professionals and telemedicine executives. Prosecutors said the schemes intended to bilk Medicare out of $1.2 billion, though the actual losses are closer to $440 million. “The cases announced today include charges against people who brazenly used Medicare funds to purchase luxury items, medical professionals who corruptly approved testing and equipment, and business owners who submitted false and fraudulent claims for services patients did not need,” Kenneth Polite, the head of the department’s criminal division, told Reuters in a statement. Separately, the Center for Medicare Services, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, took parallel administrative action against 52 companies involved in similar schemes. The alleged fraud schemes relate to both older and well-known billing and kick-back practices that target the Medicare program, as well as a burgeoning new fraudulent practice which involves “preying on patients’ fear of cardiovascular disease” by duping them into submitting to medically unnecessary cardiovascular disease screening tests, a Justice Department official told Reuters in an interview on Tuesday. Billing for such cardiovascular genetic tests has spiked in the past year, Justice Department officials added, noting that some of these tests get billed for as high as $10,000 each, with claims sometimes paying out as much as $8,000. The official said the total amount billed in the cases involving cardiovascular genetic testing fraud was $748 million, of which $223 million was paid. However, those figures also include billings for genetic cancer screenings that were tacked on as well. Prior to the pandemic, investigators were focused on schemes related to the billing of unnecessary purchases of durable medical equipment such as crutches and walkers, as well as genetic testing screenings to determine risks for developing inherited cancers. In a 2019 special report https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-fraud-genetics-specialreport/special-report-new-frontier-in-health-fraud-genetic-tests-of-the-elderly-idUSKBN1WA2H1, Reuters reported that the U.S. was probing more than 300 matters involving genetic test schemes, in which seniors were tricked into providing a cheek swab to determine their risk for developing cancer. The tests were ordered by doctors who in many cases had no medical relationship to the patients and sent to labs. The tests were then billed to Medicare. One of the labs featured in the report was later raided https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-fraud-genetics/u-s-agents-raid-genetic-testing-labs-charge-35-in-medicare-fraud-probe-idUSKBN1WC1PH by federal agents, as part of the government’s crackdown on genetic testing fraud in a takedown dubbed Operation Double Helix. Although telemedicine played a role in prior fraud schemes, its use has greatly expanded since the pandemic, as U.S. regulators relaxed certain rules to make telemedicine more accessible to patients. Since 2019, the department charged more than 200 defendants with telemedicine fraud and kickback schemes, representing a combined alleged total of $10 billion in intended losses. (Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch; Editing by Scott Malone, Richard Pullin and Diane Craft) View the full article

Published by Reuters By Nia Williams (Reuters) – Pope Francis arrives in Canada on Sunday to apologize for the wrongs done to indigenous people by Roman Catholic priests and nuns who ran abusive residential schools. Here are key things to know about the Pope’s week-long visit. WHAT HAPPENED IN CANADA’S RESIDENTIAL SCHOOLS? Between 1831 and 1996, more than 150,000 indigenous children were taken from their homes and put into residential schools run primarily by Christian churches, predominantly the Catholic church, on behalf of the government. The stated aim of the schools was to assimilate indigenous children. Many children were subjected to rape, abuse and malnutrition in what Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission in 2015 called “cultural genocide”. HOW DID THE POPE’S TRIP COME ABOUT? In May 2021, the Tk̓emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation, near Kamloops, British Columbia, said they had found the suspected remains of 215 people, some as young as three years old, on the grounds of the Kamloops Indian Residential School, which closed in 1978. The discoveries caused outrage, reopening old wounds over Canada’s residential school legacy and leading to fresh demands for accountability from the Catholic Church. The suspected remains of more than 1,000 people have since been found buried on or near the sites of former residential schools around the country. Francis issued an apology after meetings with delegates from various indigenous nations at the Vatican in April. However, calls grew for an apology on Canadian soil, including from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. WHERE WILL THE POPE GO? The July 24-30 trip will include at least five meetings with indigenous people. He is also scheduled to deliver nine homilies and addresses and say two Masses. Francis will start his visit in Edmonton, Alberta, then travel to Quebec and finish in Iqaluit, capital of the territory of Nunavut in Canada’s far north, where he is due to have a private meeting with residential school survivors. WHAT HAS BEEN THE REACTION TO THE POPE’S VISIT RoseAnne Archibald, National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations, said in May she was “deeply disappointed” by the Pope’s itinerary, which does not include the First Nation territory in Kamloops where the first remains were found. After the Kamloops discovery and before his trip was proposed, the Pope said he was “pained” by news of the remains, a response that was dismissed by some survivors and indigenous leaders. The discoveries also added pressure on Canadian governments to pursue reconciliation in other ways – for example in a pair of C$20 billion ($15.5 billion) settlements to compensate indigenous children taken from their families and put in foster care, and to reform the system that took them. ($1 = 1.2870 Canadian dollars) (Reporting by Nia Williams; Additional reporting by Anna Mehler Paperny in Toronto; Editing by Richard Pullin) View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English A new patent appears to suggest new iPhone and Apple Watches could come with lasers. As reported by Pocket-lint, Horizontal Cavity Surface-Emitting Lasers (or HCSEL) under the display The outlet suggests lasers could be used to improve Face ID and Touch ID or analyse air quality. However, the patent points to using lasers for AR features, noting they can “gather performance metrics for the user’s interaction with an augmented or virtual world.” The patent also mentions them being “used to provide insights into a user’s general wellness, or may be used as positive feedback to individuals using technology to pursue wellness goals.” Elsewhere, HCSELs could be used to take the camera to new levels. As always, just because it’s in the patent, does not necessarily mean it will come to fruition. View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Priscilla Presley has rejected the idea Elvis was “racist”. The 77-year-old businesswoman – who was married to the King of Rock and Roll for six years until their divorce in 1973 – has defended her late husband against the idea he was “prejudiced in any way”. Appearing on TalkTV’s ‘Piers Morgan Uncensored’ on Tuesday night (19.07.22), she said: “He was not a racist. He’s never been a racist. “Elvis had friends, Black friends, friends from all over. He loved their music. He loved their style. “He loved being around, you know, black musicians. I mean, Fats Domino, when he was in Vegas, he was in the lounge playing and he would always, we would always, go and hang out with him. “Sammy Davis Jr, the same thing, he would always come into the dressing room. He loved, loved being around blacks and being around anyone actually.” Priscilla – who has daughter Lisa Marie with the ‘Jailhouse Rock’ legend – described the current climate as “frightening”, claiming people are “looking” for ways to “somehow dispose” anyone they can. She added: “He was just not prejudiced in any way. And not racist in any way. “You know, this is a very frightening time… it’s almost like, you know, we’re looking for something from everyone that we can somehow dispose them in some way. And that’s why it’s so frightening, right now.” Despite some accusations of racism due to the influence he took from African-American musicians, Elvis had always voiced his admiration for Black performers, as well as pushing back against segregation and racial prejudice which was seen in the southern states at the time. Meanwhile, Priscilla – who met Elvis when she was 14 in Germany, 10 years his junior – previously revealed she “knew” what she was getting into with the attention he had from the media. She said: “The beginning [of the marriage] was very difficult, but I knew what I was in for because I saw it at a very young age.” View the full article

Published by Reuters By Tim Reid LAS VEGAS (Reuters) – Susie Lee, one of the U.S. Congress’s most endangered Democrats, has spent this year fighting a tough re-election campaign in the face of soaring inflation and weighed down by President Joe Biden’s dismal approval numbers. Then on June 24, the U.S. Supreme Court threw a potential lifeline to the Nevada congresswoman as she seeks a third term in this November’s midterm elections: the justices ended federal abortion rights by overturning the landmark 1973 Roe-v-Wade decision. Within 24 hours, armed with an issue she hopes will galvanize voters and reverse a disastrous-looking election year for Democrats, Lee launched the first ad of her campaign – a $500,000 TV and digital attack on her pro-life Republican opponent on the issue of abortion rights. “We have a stark choice in the race for Congress,” the ad declares. Lee, like dozens of fellow endangered Democratic incumbents across the United States, is refocusing much of her campaign on abortion rights, hoping the Supreme Court’s decision can help win back suburban voters who have soured on her party because of high food and gas prices and an unpopular president. Frustrated with what they see as weak messaging by national party leaders on Biden’s policy achievements, some Democratic foot soldiers say the overturning of Roe-v-Wade has thrown them a political lifeline, a foot in the door of voters otherwise disinclined to listen to them because of high inflation. Party strategists and analysts warn, however, that the issue of abortion rights will likely not be enough to save Democrats from losing control of the U.S. House of Representatives, and possibly the Senate too. Brian Stryker, a Democratic pollster, said that while there has been a shift of about three percentage points in national opinion surveys toward Democrats since the court’s ruling, “inflation is still far and away voters’ top concern.” Kyle Kondik, a non-partisan political analyst at the University of Virginia Center for Politics, said he understood why Democrats had moved quickly to focus on abortion rights, “but it’s not clear to me it’s moving the needle a ton.” Lee’s district encompasses parts of suburban Las Vegas, in a state with one of the highest inflation rates in the country at 14.9 percent. Lee has spent months confronting the issue in her swing district, frequently urging her party’s leaders in Congress to do more to ease supply chain problems and lower food and gas prices. But, now she is focusing on abortion as much as the economy because “as a woman I believe this an issue that will galvanize women,” she told Reuters. April Becker, Lee’s Republican opponent, said in an interview that Democrats like Lee were using abortion as a way to “distract” voters from their most pressing concerns: the cost of food and gas. “I don’t blame her for trying to change the subject,” said Becker, who opposes abortion except in the cases of rape, incest and if the mother’s life is in danger. She said she has no plans to try to overturn abortion rights enshrined in Nevada under a 1990 referendum, and said she does not support a federal abortion ban, which many Republicans in Congress support. PHONE BANKS, TEXT CAMPAIGNS Democratic volunteers, activists and women’s rights groups in Lee’s district say the Supreme Court’s decision has energized them as they try to stop a Republican blowout this November. Local Democratic clubs in the Las Vegas area have seen a surge in membership, club leaders told Reuters. Deidre Radford, co-president of the Red Rock Democratic Club, said friends normally uninterested in politics have contacted her asking to work on phone banks and text campaigns for Lee and other Democrats. Radford is holding a “Roe, Roe, Roe Your Vote” event on July 27, and membership of her club has increased from about 150 to nearly 190 because of the abortion issue, she said. A rally to protest the ruling on the day it was announced was organized in just three hours, rather than the weeks it usually takes such protests, said Sue Burtch, co-executive director of the Nevada National Organization for Women. “The Supreme Court did us a favor and gave us a talking point,” Burtch said. Often voters are so allergic to partisan politics they don’t want to engage, but the ending of federal abortion rights cuts through that. It gave volunteers on the ground an opening to approach voters with a real-world event that could impact their families, Burtch said. Some activists interviewed expressed frustration with Democratic leaders over the Supreme Court ruling, saying they have been too timid on the issue in the face of Republican assaults on abortion rights. “Democratic messaging has been all over the place. It’s been soft. Republicans are really good at messaging,” Burtch said. Lee bristled when asked about the frustration expressed by Burtch and other activists. “They should be pissed off at Republicans,” she said. Some of the eight on-the-ground Democrat workers and abortion activists who talked to Reuters conceded that surging inflation is still a big problem for Democrats, and that the abortion issue may not be enough keep Congress in Democrats’ hands. “Everyone feels the pinch at the gas pump, the bite every time you go to the grocery store,” said Lani Paz, head of the Southwest Democratic Club. (Reporting by Tim Reid, Editing by Ross Colvin and Alistair Bell) View the full article

Published by Reuters By Richard Cowan WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A Democratic-controlled U.S. House of Representatives panel on Wednesday was set to advance a bill banning assault-style rifles such as those used in recent mass shootings, and another bill that would allow lawsuits against firearms manufacturers. The bill faces slim odds in the Senate, where it would need at least 10 Republicans allowing the measure to be brought up for debate. Republicans in the past have rejected similar bills, citing the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution dealing with the right to bear arms. The House Judiciary Committee, emboldened by growing public outrage over the criminal use of the rapid-fire weapons and approval last month of a limited gun control bill, has scheduled a 10 a.m. ET (1400 GMT) work session to approve the twin measures. On May 14, 10 people were killed and three wounded when an avowed white supremacist allegedly opened fire at a Buffalo, New York, supermarket, using an AR-15 assault-style weapon. Ten days later, 19 children and two teachers killed at a Uvalde, Texas elementary school with the same kind of weapon, according to police. Seven people celebrating the July 4 holiday in Highland Park, Illinois, were killed, with dozens wounded at a parade. These were only the latest in a long string of mass shootings that have killed hundreds of Americans. The second House Judiciary Committee bill would remove current federal prohibitions against gun and ammunition makers being sued for damages resulting from the unlawful misuse of firearms. Vigorous gun industry lobbying has blocked such a move in the past. If the panel approves the bills, the full House is likely to pass them. But that could be as far as the legislative effort goes in the months leading up to the Nov. 8 midterm elections, when Republicans are favored to win back a majority in at least one chamber of Congress. “I’m sorry to say that unless they (Senate Republicans) are keeping their feelings confidential, it does not appear encouraging,” Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin told reporters on Tuesday when asked about prospects in that chamber. A 10-year ban on assault weapons expired in 2004 and several attempts to bring it back have so far failed. A 2021 study conducted by Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine found that the 1994 assault weapons ban resulted in a significant decrease in mass shootings. The Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday will also zero in on civilians’ access to military-style assault weapons. Highland Park Mayor Nancy Rotering will be among those testifying at its hearing. Last month, Republicans objected even to raising the minimum age for buying semi-automatic assault weapons to 21 from 18. (Reporting by Richard Cowan; Editing by Scott Malone and David Gregorio) View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Linda Evangelista has returned to fashion by shooting her first campaign in six years. The supermodel took a long break from the industry after undergoing a cosmetic procedure which she claimed left her looking ‘deformed’ – but she has now made a comeback in a new photoshoot for Fendi. She shared a picture of herself starring in the fashion brands new adverts on Instagram, and wrote: “On September 9 2022 @Fendi will host a special fashion show in New York City to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the #FendiBaguette, designed by @silviaventurinifendi, and two years since @mrkimjones joined the Maison as Artistic Director of Couture and Womenswear.” The picture shows her holding two of the brand’s bags with pink sunglasses perched on her nose and three silk baseball caps stacked on her head. She disappeared from the spotlight after undergoing a CoolSculpting procedure – which uses cold temperatures to reduce fat deposits and is also known as body contouring – and she took legal action over the op. The 56-year-old star returned to social media this week to confirm the case has been settled and she’s keen to move on with her life. She wrote: “I’m pleased to have settled the CoolSculpting case. “I look forward to the next chapter of my life with friends and family, and am happy to put this matter behind me. I am truly grateful for the support I have received from those who have reached out.” Linda previously opened up about the procedure and her disappearance from the modelling industry, telling PEOPLE.com: “I loved being up on the catwalk. Now I dread running into someone I know. I can’t live like this anymore, in hiding and shame. I just couldn’t live in this pain any longer. I’m willing to finally speak. “Why do we feel the need to do these things [to our bodies]? I always knew I would age. And I know that there are things a body goes through. But I just didn’t think I would look like this. “I don’t recognise myself physically, but I don’t recognise me as a person any longer either. She (the supermodel) is sort of gone. I hope I can shed myself of some of the shame and help other people who are in the same situation as me. That’s my goal.” View the full article

Published by Reuters By Peter Eisler and Nathan Layne (Reuters) – A coalition of rightwing “constitutional sheriffs,” who claim legal power in their jurisdictions that exceeds U.S. federal and state authorities, has a new calling: investigating conspiracy theories that the 2020 election was rigged against former President Donald Trump. The Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association has teamed with True the Vote, a Texas nonprofit and purveyor of debunked voter-fraud claims, to recruit like-minded sheriffs nationwide to investigate 2020 stolen-election allegations and to more aggressively police future voting. The partnership, detailed last week at the association’s annual gathering in Las Vegas, aims to intensify a movement already underway. At least four ideologically aligned county sheriffs in Michigan, Wisconsin, Kansas and Arizona have launched election-fraud probes since the 2020 vote. None has established evidence of systemic fraud. “This is our top priority. It’s our duty,” Richard Mack, founder of the constitutional sheriffs organization, told Reuters in an interview at the Las Vegas meeting. Mack also touted the True the Vote partnership later in the week at FreedomFest, a national gathering of libertarian-leaning thinkers and political figures, where he urged that sheriffs “join us in this holy cause.” Election officials are raising concerns that partisan investigations by sheriffs into baseless voter-fraud claims could undermine public confidence in elections. In an interview, Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, a Democrat, called such probes part of a “nationally coordinated effort to dismantle democracy through lies and misinformation, and through people misusing or abusing their authority.” False fraud claims have also sparked a wave of threats against election administrators, including more than 900 hostile messages documented by Reuters https://www.reuters.com/investigates/section/campaign-of-fear, along with at least 17 attempts to illegally access voting equipment https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/usa-election-breaches in search of evidence to prove election-rigging. Officials with True the Vote said at the constitutional sheriffs’ meeting that they plan to raise money to provide grants and equipment to help sheriffs investigate 2020 voter-fraud claims and expand surveillance of ballot drop boxes in future elections. Trump supporters have alleged, without evidence, that drop boxes enabled the mass collection of fraudulent votes in the presidential election. While election fraud is exceedingly rare, some states with Republican-controlled legislatures have passed new laws in response to the false rigged-election claims. Nine states have banned drop boxes or restricted their distribution since the 2020 vote, according to a recent report by the Voting Rights Lab, which monitors state election policies. Other states have enacted more stringent voter-registration requirements. In Florida and Georgia, lawmakers expanded the powers of law enforcement to police election-law violations. The constitutional sheriffs’ new focus on probing elections illustrates how Trump’s voter-fraud falsehoods have found a receptive audience in some corners of law enforcement. Leaders of the movement touted the recent documentary “2000 Mules” as they gathered in Las Vegas. The movie, based on cell-phone tracking data and surveillance video obtained by True the Vote, alleges that Democratic operatives stuffed drop boxes with fraudulent ballots in key counties to deliver the presidency to Democrat Joe Biden. “2000 Mules has presented overwhelming evidence,” said Mack, urging sheriffs to investigate its fraud claims. “It cannot not be dismissed.” Many Democratic and Republican officials, along with independent fact-checkers, have in fact dismissed the movie as misleading and its evidence as flimsy. POWER PLAY The constitutional sheriffs’ association promotes an extreme view of sheriffs’ legal authority, asserting on its website that their power in their jurisdictions exceeds that of any other official and “even supersedes the powers of the President.” It’s rare for sheriffs to investigate voting irregularities, especially without a request from election officials. They generally handle criminal law enforcement in jurisdictions that lack a police force and manage local jails, among other duties. True the Vote founder Catherine Engelbrecht said at the Las Vegas meeting that sheriffs are the best hope for pursuing rigged-election claims because other agencies, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), have dismissed its allegations. “It’s like the lights went on,” she said. “It’s the sheriffs: that’s who can do these investigations; that’s who we can trust; that’s who we can turn over information to.” The FBI did not respond to a request for comment. Mack, who founded the constitutional sheriffs association in 2011, is a former county sheriff in Arizona. He served until 2016 as a board member of the Oath Keepers, an anti-government militia that includes several members charged with helping to organize the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol attack. Mack told Reuters that he left the Oath Keepers when the organization became too militant, but extremism researchers have documented ongoing ties https://www.irehr.org/2022/07/15/shoulder-to-shoulder-cspoa-and-the-oath-keepers between his association and the militia group. True the Vote’s coalition also includes another right-leaning sheriffs’ group, Protect America Now, led by Sheriff Mark Lamb of Pinal County, Arizona. That group describes its mission as “standing for our constitution” by guarding against government overreach, protecting gun-owner rights and stopping illegal immigration. True the Vote officials described the coalition as a multi-faceted effort to encourage sheriffs to pursue election-fraud claims. In addition to grants meant to help sheriffs conduct surveillance of drop boxes, the group said it aims to provide sheriffs with “artificial intelligence” software to assist in analyzing the video they collect. True the Vote also plans to set up hotlines to alert sheriffs to suspicious activity at polling stations and ballot drop boxes. It’s unclear how many of the nation’s sheriffs will join the effort. The constitutional sheriffs association does not disclose membership numbers; Protect America Now says it includes about 70 sheriffs from more than 30 states. Political Research Associates, a left-leaning think tank that studies political extremism, has identified 136 sheriffs who align with the so-called patriot movement, which includes constitutional sheriffs and others embracing anti-government or far-right conspiracy theories. The National Sheriffs Association, the nation’s leading professional organization for sheriffs, did not respond to requests for comment on the effort to pursue election-fraud allegations. Calvin Hayden, sheriff of Johnson County, Kansas, told the Las Vegas gathering that he plans to employ technology to expand his investigation. “We’re going to start doing our geodata,” Hayden said. “I have no question that we’re going to get to the bottom of this.” Hayden launched the probe last year despite repeated assurances from county and state election officials that the vote had been conducted fairly. Asked what evidence justified the probe, a spokesperson for Hayden’s office, Shelby Colburn, said the investigation was based on more than 200 tips from voters and that the sheriff would soon provide more details. Hayden’s efforts were praised by Mack, who told meeting attendees that election fraud had become the constitutional sheriff’s association’s “biggest concern.” He said his members are uniquely positioned to pursue the matter because sheriffs “don’t have to ask permission from anybody to start an investigation.” (Reporting by Peter Eisler and Nathan Layne. Editing by Jason Szep and Brian Thevenot.) View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Real-life Quidditch leagues have changed the name of the ‘Harry Potter’ sport to distance the competition from J.K. Rowling in response to her views on trans people. The fictional sports game was invented by the best-selling author as part of her ‘Harry Potter’ book series – which began in 1997 with the release of first novel ‘Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone’ in June 1997 – and sees the pupils of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry compete in two teams flying on broomsticks and scoring points with four types of balls. The game – which is ultimately won if the player known as the Seeker captures the Golden Snitch – has thousands of real-life players who simulate the matches without the ability to fly on magical broomsticks. Following a survey at the end of 2021, the US Quidditch and Major League Quidditch have decided to rename the sport as quadball. They explained that the change had come about because the name “quidditch” had been trademarked by American film company Warner Bros. – who own the movie rights to ‘Harry Potter’ – and because Rowling “has increasingly come under scrutiny for her anti-trans positions in recent years”. In a statement, Major League Quidditch said on Tuesday (19.07.22): “[The new name] opens unprecedented opportunities for growth, exposure and partnerships. It is a game changer and we are looking to make the most of it.” Meanwhile, Mary Kimball, executive director of US Quadball, explained that the game was first played by students at Middlebury College in Vermont back in 2005 but has grown exponentially since and the organisations will continue to “push” with the new name. She said: “In less than 20 years, our sport has grown from a few dozen college students in rural Vermont to a global phenomenon with thousands of players, semi-pro leagues and international championships. Our organisations are committed to continuing to push quadball forward.” The governing body for US Quidditch changed its name with immediate effect, while Major League Quidditch said that the new name would come into effect after the 2022 MLQ Championship in August Rowling – whose real name is Joanne Rowling – has sold more than 500 million copies of the seven-book series since it was first published in 1997 and is thought to be the world’s richest living author with a reported net worth of $1 billion. She first came under fire for her trans views back in June 2020 for rebuking the idea that the act of menstruation should be regarded as gender neutral. She tweeted: “‘People who menstruate.’ I’m sure there used to be a word for those people. Someone help me out. Wumben? Wimpund? Woomud?” Rowling has since continued to back women’s rights over the call for inclusion of self-identifying women, attracting much criticism from the trans community, whilst simultaneously being backed by many feminist campaigners. View the full article

Published by California Healthline Robert Suttle has seen firsthand the legal risks of having HIV. In 2008, Suttle said, a former partner accused him of not disclosing he was HIV-positive. He was charged under Louisiana law with “intentional exposure to AIDS virus.” Rather than fight the charge and risk a longer sentence, Suttle pleaded guilty, received a sentence of six months in state prison, and was required to register as a sex offender. “You can be criminalized, certainly, for existing as a person living with HIV,” he said. Suttle, who now lives in New York, said his experience has him worried about a new tool being promot… Read More View the full article

Published by Raw Story By Bob Brigham The GOP governor of Florida was criticized for a long list of his choices in a brutal new editorial examining his potential 2024 presidential campaign. “Ron DeSantis was Ron who? — a back-bencher in Congress with little hope of political stardom — when Donald Trump enthusiastically endorsed him more than four years ago. One Trump tweet changed Florida history,” the Sun Sentinel editorial board wrote. “Now, as the ex-president sees DeSantis emerge as his biggest rival, Trump must have buyer’s remorse. You can practically hear the dishware breaking at Mar-a-Lago.” The newspaper sa… Read More View the full article

Happy to Live In New World Where Sportscasters Care We Know They Are Not Homophobic; That Said, Barkley Recently Joked (we think) He’d ‘Kill a Relative’ for $150 Million. Published by The Spun By Andrew Gould Charles Barkley may pursue a business arrangement with LIV Golf, even at the cost of his TNT position. According to Dan Patrick, Barkley knows he “might have to leave TNT” if he joins the controversial new golf league. It’s unclear how seriously the Pro Basketball Hall of Famer is considering vacating his long-running role on Inside The NBA. In an appearance on The Next Roundlast week, Barkley confirmed that he has a meeting lined up with the new golf league about an unspecified media role. “Nothing is imminent, I actually don’t know everything they want from me, or what they t… Read More View the full article

Published by AFP Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York was one of 17 lawmakers detained by US Capitol Police Officers at a protest for abortion rights in front of the US Supreme Court Building on July 19, 2022 in Washington, DC Washington (AFP) – At least 17 Democratic lawmakers, including prominent progressives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ilhan Omar, were arrested at an abortion rights protest outside the Supreme Court in Washington on Tuesday, police said. The US Capitol police said on Twitter that the demonstrators had blocked traffic on a nearby road and were been given three warnings before officers made the arrests. “We made a total of 35 arrests for Crowding, Obstructing or Incommoding,” the police said. “That arrest number includes 17 Members of Congress.” The small demonstration came three weeks after a controversial ruling by the Supreme Court that overturned the 1973 landmark decision of Roe v. Wade, which had guaranteed women’s access to abortion. “Today I was arrested while participating in a civil disobedience action with my fellow Members of Congress outside the Supreme Court,” Omar, representative from Minnesota, said on Twitter. “I will continue to do everything in my power to raise the alarm about the assault on our reproductive rights!” she tweeted. Representative Carolyn Maloney of New York was also arrested, and issued a statement saying, “There is no democracy if women do not have control over their own bodies and decisions about their own health, including reproductive care.” “The Republican Party and the right-wing extremists behind this decision are not pro-life, but pro-controlling the bodies of women, girls, and any person who can become pregnant.” Footage from the protest showed Ocasio-Cortez, Omar and others being led away, not in handcuffs, and waving to supporters. View the full article

Published by Reuters By Humeyra Pamuk and Alexandra Alper WASHINGTON (Reuters) -President Joe Biden signed an executive order on Tuesday aimed at deterring and punishing wrongful detention of U.S. citizens abroad by authorizing government agencies to impose sanctions and other measures. The move came amid growing pressure on Biden from families of hostages and detainees, most recently on the case of WNBA star Brittney Griner, who has been held in Russia since February and is on trial on drug charges. But some families said the order achieved little in concrete terms. They lambasted the administration for not allowing them to ask questions during a Monday video call previewing the action while saying Washington still lacked a solid strategy on how to bring their loved ones home. The plight of American detainees has gained visibility after Griner’s arrest and the recent release of former U.S. Marine Trevor Reed in a prisoner swap with Russia at a time when U.S. relations with Moscow are at their worst in decades over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The United States does not provide an official figure for how many U.S. citizens are detained abroad, but the James W. Foley Legacy Foundation, named after an American journalist abducted and killed in Syria, says that more than 60 U.S. citizens are wrongfully detained in about 18 countries. Some are held by top U.S. adversaries such as Iran, Russia, Venezuela and China. Biden was “committed to getting all these cases resolved and … at the same time, start to bring up a deterrence strategy that can raise the cost of hostage-taking and wrongful detention,” a senior administration official said in a call with reporters on Monday. The executive order authorizes agencies to impose costs and consequences, including financial sanctions, on those involved in hostage-taking. “The sanctions authority included in this E.O. enables the United States to impose financial and travel sanctions on those who are responsible for unjustly holding U.S. nationals, whether their captor is a terrorist network or a state actor,” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement. The order directs government agencies to work more closely with detainees’ families and share information and possibly intelligence, U.S. officials said. State Department travel advisories will add warnings where there is elevated risk of wrongful detention. On Tuesday, six countries — Myanmar, China, Iran, North Korea, Russia and Venezuela — will receive the warning. ‘NOTHING CONSTRUCTIVE’ After the administration’s video call on Monday with family members, several participants voiced their disappointment over the content of the action and the way it was delivered. “We’ve gone on record and asked that the White House engages with families more directly, and, once again, we were given a group call … and we ended the call with nothing constructive on our hostages,” Neda Shargi, sister of Emad Shargi, an Iranian-American businessman detained in Tehran in 2018. Shargi and others said there was no function in the Zoom call that allowed them to ask questions or speak to the U.S. officials. Several participants also said the action focused on deterring further hostage-taking instead of laying out a strategy on how to bring home the existing detainees. “It was more of a lecture than it was a dialogue,” Everett Rutherford, the uncle of Matthew Heath, a U.S. Marine veteran imprisoned in Venezuela for nearly two years, said, adding that the content of the order was underwhelming. “This directive was basically telling the various parts of our government to do what they’re supposed to be doing,” he said. The Foley foundation says countries wrongfully holding Americans include Belarus, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, China, Cuba, Egypt, Iran, Mali, Myanmar, Nicaragua, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, Uganda, the United Arab Emirates, Venezuela and Yemen. The prisoner swap with Russia in April that brought Reed home in the middle of Ukraine war has intensified calls by relatives of others held overseas for Biden to act. Reed was freed after three years of detention as part of a prisoner swap with Russia. Biden commuted the U.S. prison sentence of Russian pilot Konstantin Yaroshenko. Several weeks before Reed’s release, his parents met with Biden after demonstrating outside the White House. Family members say they believe the path to securing release begins with meeting face-to-face with Biden, a view the administration has sought to discourage. (Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk; Editing by Mary Milliken, Cynthia Osterman and Jonathan Oatis) View the full article

Published by Raw Story By Brad Reed House Democrats are trying to pass a bill that would codify marriage equality for LGBTQ Americans, and Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) is not happy about it. Speaking on the House floor Tuesday, Jordan lambasted Democrats for trying to pass marriage equality via the legislative process, which he suggested was an attempt to somehow “intimidate” the United States Supreme Court from overturning its own past ruling that established marriage equality as the law of the land. “This bill is simply the latest installment of the Democrats’ campaign to delegitimize and attempt to intimidate the Unite… Read More View the full article

Published by The Spun By Andrew McCarty Nearly one year ago to the day, Las Vegas Raiders defensive lineman Carl Nassib announced on social media that he is gay. He became one of the first active NFL players to come out publicly. A year later, he’s opening up on why he decided to make the information public, rather than keeping it close. In an interview with Good Morning America, Nassib made it clear he wanted to create a positive narrative for young people in the conversation around sexual orientation. He spoke with former NFL star Michael Strahan about the decision. From GMA: “I stared at the phone for, like, an … Read More View the full article