Ethereum Classic Attacker Double-Spends $1.68M: Report – CoinDesk – CoinDesk

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  1. Ethereum Classic Attacker Double-Spends $1.68M: Report - CoinDesk  CoinDesk
  2. Ethereum Classic Suffers Another 51% Attack  Finance Magnates
  3. Ethereum Classic Price Analysis - A second 51% attack Brave New Coin  Brave New Coin
  4. Hacker swiped $1.7 million in second Ethereum Classic attack  Decrypt
  5. Why isnt Ethereum Classic worth $0? Macro investor asks after 51% attacks  CryptoSlate
  6. View Full Coverage on Google News

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Ethereum Classic Attacker Double-Spends $1.68M: Report - CoinDesk - CoinDesk

The Ethereum Foundation Is Building a Dedicated Eth 2.0 Security Team – Cointelegraph

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The Ethereum Foundation will be building a dedicated security team for Ethereum 2.0 to study any potential cybersecurity and crypto-economic issues in the next generation of the Ethereum network.

Justin Drake, an Eth 2.0 researcher at the foundation, announced the start of the recruitment process on his Twitter feed.

The foundation is looking to hire a variety of security and auditing professionals, both for the software and the general model of the upcoming upgrade.

Among the potential teams tasks will be fuzzing, bounty hunting, pager duty, which directly relates to software security management.

Ethereum client developers have already engaged in fuzzing for the upcoming Eth 2.0 clients. The efforts were spearheaded by Sigma Prime, the developers of the Rust-based Lighthouse client.

Fuzzing is a bug searching technique that involves feeding garbage data to software in order to trigger a non-standard response. Many of the bugs found today in the web are due to improper input sanitation, where special types of inputs may be interpreted as machine code or simply produce undesired behavior. Fuzzing helps find these critical points and update the code to prevent potentially catastrophic bugs.

The security team will also be doing more theoretical work on formal verification of cryptographic algorithms. This process will seek to mathematically prove that a certain algorithm is secure. Economic modeling experts are also sought by the foundation.

With the final stages of preparation forEthereum 2.0 Phase 0 underway, heavy emphasis is now being placed on the networks security.

Recently, the foundation launched specialized attack networks for bounty hunters to break. By finding issues before the mainnet launch, developers are looking to ensure a smooth transition.

This approach has proven to be successful, with several confirmed exploits being patched. A multi-client attack net has been launched today following the programs success.

The Ethereum Medalla testnet, the first to be fully maintained by the community, is due for launch on Tuesday after locking in the required number of validators ahead of deadline.

Mainnet launch will follow at an unspecified date when developers feel confident with the networks stability.

Drake anticipated earlier that this may only happen in 2021, though some, like Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin, are more optimistic for a launch this year.

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The Ethereum Foundation Is Building a Dedicated Eth 2.0 Security Team - Cointelegraph

Crypto WarGames: Ethereum Cypherpunk Virgil Griffith Vs. Bitcoin Twitter Thief Graham Clark – Forbes

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WarGames, a movie from 1983, stars a young Matthew Broderick as a computer whiz kid who accidentally connects into a top secret super-computer which has complete control over the U.S. nuclear arsenal. After his exploits result in triggering a countdown that almost leads to World War III between America and Russia, a Hollywood ending allows Brodericks character to save the day.

Actor Matthew Broderick plays the role of David Lightman in the movie WarGames (1983) as his ... [+] computer hacking almost starts World War III between the U.S. and Russia.

Only more absurd than this story would be if Hollywood created a tale where a 17-year old manages to bypass security at Twitter, take control of several popular accounts including Elon Musk and Joe Biden, and then solicits Bitcoin with an anonymous online address. Of course, for the year 2020 where the unexpected continues, a Mr. Graham Ivan Clark is accused of doing this very thing. His Crypto War Games scenario has landed him in court in Florida facingcharges of communications fraud, and fraudulent use of personal information, as well as accessing computers or electronic devices without authority.

Graham Clark, Twitter Hacker, Bitcoin Thief

Clark has been profiled in the New York Times as a troubled youth, who had a history back to stealing from others with respect to the video game Minecraft. Ultimately, the idea of a hacker simply disrupting a major social media channel with the sole purpose of stealing Bitcoin leaves Mr. Clarks story more as one of a common criminal than the innocent hacking of a computer system.

Luckily for the world, Clarks actions were not at the level of a terrorist or evildoer that could have potentially caused much more harm, particularly with President Trumps use of Twitter as a regular form of communication with the public. If anything was provided of value from this mans exploits, it is likely the post-mortem on how to protect social media platforms in the future as they have become a common and popular medium of communication.

Meanwhile, although there is the tale of another youthful whiz kid named Virgil Griffith, who was arrested for teaching cryptocurrency and blockchain in North Korea. For Griffith, 37 years old, his history with hacking and coding on computer systems goes all the way back to 2008, where he was described in a New York Times magazine article as an Internet Man of Mystery.

Over 12 years ago, it was a program called WikiScanner that Griffith developed as a way of determining if corporations were updating stories in Wikipedia to their advantage. His solution was to determine if the IP addresses of the uploads were traceable back to the corporate buildings of the companies. Indeed, Griffith certainly fulfilled his most famous quote where he explained his purpose was to, tocreateminorpublic-relations disasters forcompaniesandorganizationsI dislike".

Picture of Virgil Griffith aka 'RomanPoet', or 'Internet Man of Mystery'

As opposed to the common Bitcoin thief, Griffith plays the role much closer to our protagonist in WarGames, as a modern day Renaissance Man, or an Ethereum cypherpunk. Griffith is credited by Vitalik Buterin, the co-founder of Ethereum, for the role he played as a leading scientist and researcher for Ethereum. Ethereum, often considered the next advanced development in blockchain after Bitcoin, envisions a new form of an Internet that is not dominated by the largess of profits going to Big Tech corporations.

Regarding the moniker cypherpunk, this person is an activist advocating widespread use of strong cryptography a route to social and political change aimed at maintaining privacy in a modern world. However, for the visionary Griffith, he took this concept to new levels where he graduated from simply developing programs or platforms - whether WikiScanner or Ethereum - and decided to travel to the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (DPRK) and offer a presentation on Blockchain and Peace.

Griffith, who faces chargesfor traveling toNorth Koreato teach cryptocurrency and blockchain technology to evade economic sanctions, currently awaits trial at home with his parents in Alabama. Represented by the famous high-stakes trial attorney Brian Klein of Baker Marquat who often helps in defense cases regarding crypto matters, Griffiths trial may result in a Hollywood ending and find him back at work with Buterin at the Ethereum Foundation.

Ultimately, Griffith is the Ethereum cypherpunk, an activist on a mission where getting arrested is more of an incidental byproduct to his hopes for achieving world peace through crypto. Meanwhile, the world watches with interest at Clark, who as a Bitcoin Twitter thief, does not have the promise of a young Griffith. It is likely that for Clark, justice will be firm and swift and likely one that is to provide a lesson to other young teenagers in the U.S. about the dire consequences of breaking into large social media platforms. For Griffith, it may be more about the book deal or movie actor that will play his story - the story of the purposeful activist of cypherpunks, from which Bitcoin was born in 2008 and around which the fast-growing crypto and blockchain industry continues to grow.

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Crypto WarGames: Ethereum Cypherpunk Virgil Griffith Vs. Bitcoin Twitter Thief Graham Clark - Forbes

Ethereum (ETH) Down $0.53 Over Past 4 Hours, Tops All Top Cryptos to Start the Day; in an Uptrend Over Past 14 Days – CFDTrading

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Ethereum 4 Hour Price Update

Updated August 10, 2020 07:24 AM GMT (03:24 AM EST)

Ethereums 3 four-hour candle positive streak has officially concluded, as the candle from the previous 4 hours closed down 0.41% ($1.65). Those trading within the Top Cryptos asset class should know that Ethereum was the worst performer in the class during the previous 4 hours.

The choppiness in the recent daily price action of Ethereum continues; to start today, it came in at a price of 390.28 US dollars, down 1.83% ($7.28) since the previous day. The price move occurred on volume that was up 12.22% from the day prior, but down 72.95% from the same day the week before. Relative to other instruments in the Top Cryptos asset class, Ethereum ranked 3rd since the previous day in terms of percentage price change. The daily price chart of Ethereum below illustrates.

Volatility for Ethereum has been contracting over the past two weeks relative to volatility over the past month. Whether volatility reverts will be something to watch. Trend traders will want to observe that the strongest trend appears on the 30 day horizon; over that time period, price has been moving up. For additional context, note that price has gone up 6 out of the past 10 days.

Behold! Here are the top tweets related to Ethereum:

Nobody wants DeFi to run on shitty consensus systems that are prone to all kinds of abuse, $EOS cartels are a good example, $TRX is a joke and $ADA is still far far awayEthereum still wins in that regard which is why DeFi is built on EthereumTo win, governance will be key

The creator of Ethereum cant confidently tell you what the total supply of ETH is, what it will be in the near or medium term, nor what it will be in the long term.Only that there will be more created based on his & his cronies subjectivity. This isnt crypto, its fiat.

One good thing that came out of this, imo, is that it helps shed light on the differences between the two communities.Hardliner bitcoiners dont understand Ethereum people at all, and vice versa. Its really quite amusing, given how obsessed the 2 camps are with each other /12

For a longer news piece related to ETH thats been generating discussion, check out:

Vitalik Buterin highlights the importance of EIP-1559 to Ethereums supply | CryptoSlate

If youve been following Ethereum over recent months, the term EIP-1559 has likely come up many times.CryptoSlate does not endorse any project or asset that may be mentioned or linked to in this article.None of the information you read on CryptoSlate should be taken as investment advice, nor does CryptoSlate endorse any project that may be mentioned or linked to in this article. 2020 CryptoSlate.

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Ethereum (ETH) Down $0.53 Over Past 4 Hours, Tops All Top Cryptos to Start the Day; in an Uptrend Over Past 14 Days - CFDTrading

IOTA 2.0 Will Usher in a Fully Decentralized and Scalable DLT – Ethereum World News

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In summary:

Back in mid-2019, the team at IOTA launched the Coordicide Website. The aim of the website is to track and update on the processes of removing the networks Coordinator in an upgrade dubbed IOTA 2.0. This move will allow IOTA to migrate to a fully decentralized and scalable DLT.

The IOTA coordinator is the centerpiece of the network and performs the task of signing transactions on the network. By doing so, the Coordinator provides reference points (milestones) to avoid instances of double-spending. Basically, the IOTA coordinator provides security given the risk of dishonest actors whose main aim is to attack DLT networks.

Given the enormity of the task to remove the Coordinator which is the centerpiece of the IOTA network, the team at IOTA has broken down the process into three phases. These three phases will mark significant milestones and testnet releases leading up to the completion of IOTA 2.0.

The team at IOTA decided to name these three stages after the three major steps in the creation of honey: Pollen, Nector and Honey.

Each step of the process to migrate to IOTA 2.0 has been defined as follows.

Pollen: The first official testnet of the IOTA 2.0 networkThe Pollen network will primarily be a research testbed for the Foundation, community, and external researchers to validate concepts from the Coordicide white papers and simulate certain attack vectors. During this active research phase, much of the Coordicide specifications will be fully finalized, giving us the final blueprint of IOTA 2.0.

Nectar:Expected in the second half of 2020, Nectar will be a full implementation of our Coordicide modules on an incentivized testnet. The goal of this network is to test for any bugs or issues that need to be fixed before the final release of the mainnet. As the name already mentions, participants in this network will be incentivized with progressively increasing rewards to find bugs or attack vectors.

Honey:The final release candidate for IOTA 2.0, Honey, will include all of the modules according to the full and final specification of Coordicide.At this point, the network will have been battle-tested and secured through many hundreds of hours of testing with full audits of our node software. Honey can be considered the first version of IOTA 2.0, our fully decentralized IOTA mainnet.

At the time of writing, the team at IOTA has recently published an update on the progress of Pollen in which they stated the following.

With this new release, IOTA has introduced a new architecture made up of three separate layers (Application layer, Communication Layer and Network Layer). This new architecture will provide support for upcoming features like Tokenization, Scalable Smart Contracts, Feeless dApps and Sharding.

All in all, IOTA 2.0 is on track to attain its mission of a truly decentralized and scalable DLT.

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IOTA 2.0 Will Usher in a Fully Decentralized and Scalable DLT - Ethereum World News

Ethereum (ETH) Down $2.67 On 4 Hour Chart, Outperforms All Top Cryptos to Start the Day; 2 Day Down Streak Ended – CFDTrading

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Ethereum 4 Hour Price Update

Updated August 09, 2020 11:18 AM GMT (07:18 AM EST)

Ethereum entered the current 4 hour candle at $392.81, down 0.68% ($2.67) from the previous 4 hours. Relative to other instruments in the Top Cryptos asset class, Ethereum ranked 4th since the previous 4 hours in terms of percentage price change.

397.56 (USD) was the opening price of the day for Ethereum, resulting in yesterday being one in which price moved up 4.74% ($17.99) from yesterday. This move happened on lower volume, as yesterdays volume was down 51.14% from the day before and down 64.66% from the same day the week before. On a relative basis, yesterday was pretty good: Ethereum bested all 5 of the assets in the Top Cryptos class The daily price chart of Ethereum below illustrates.

The clearest trend exists on the 30 day timeframe, which shows price moving up over that time. For additional context, note that price has gone up 10 out of the past 14 days.

For laughs, fights, or genuinely useful information, lets see what the most popular tweets pertaining to Ethereum for the past day were:

@WhalePanda @wullon @LucLammers @adam3us @Excellion @VitalikButerin I wrote this book and continue to study Ethereum because I think it is interesting, from a technical perspective. This interest has cost me money and some goodwill from BTC maxis, but I continue despite these costs. I am motivated by intellectual curiosity.

Ethereum is *5 years old*For that whole time everyone was so busy trying to get rich by creating new ways to dump on dumb money that no-one bothered to make a way to easily verify the total supply of $ETH and that is why many have ethical issues with $ETH (and others)

@WhalePanda @wullon @LucLammers @adam3us @Excellion @VitalikButerin I wont get into this debate, but your assertion that Im motivated by book sales and conferences is easily disproved. The income from Mastering Ethereum is tiny and well below minimum wage considering the effort. Ive spoken at 2 conferences for Ethereum, both free.

In terms of news links for Ethereum heres one to try:

$MTXLT on Ethereum: Roadmap. We are constantly looking for ways to | by Christian Eichinger | tixlcurrency | Aug, 2020 | Medium

As an ERC-20 token, MTXLT can also take advantage of the benefits of Uniswap.ERC-20 tokens provide more opportunities to be included in staking programs and thus achieve added visibility for the project.Smart contracts for MTXLT are also made possible with an ERC-20 token.In addition to our own MTXLT token and ETH, other ERC-20 tokens can be sent on the Autobahn Network.

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Ethereum (ETH) Down $2.67 On 4 Hour Chart, Outperforms All Top Cryptos to Start the Day; 2 Day Down Streak Ended - CFDTrading

Top Trader Names Five Altcoins Set to Rally, When to Buy Ethereum and XRP, and Whats Next for Bitcoin – The Daily Hodl

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Full-time crypto trader and strategist Michal van de Poppe says hes keeping close tabs on five low-cap altcoins that are showing strong bullish signals.

The analyst, also known as Crypto Michal, says he is watching Celer Network, as he believes the CELR/BTC pair indicates a significant rally is coming.

Celer Network is showing a clear volume accumulation, which is showing that people are interested in this asset We see that we are above the 100-day and 200-day [moving average] for the first time since the listing. So were getting into the bull territory for the first time since it has been listed.

Van de Poppe sees Celer Network possibly climbing as high as 200 satoshis, which is a 140% increase from its current level.

The crypto trader is also looking at Harmony (ONE/BTC), which he says has a similar market structure to the CELR/BTC pair. Van de Poppe says that as long as it holds 73 satoshis, he expects ONE/BTC to launch a parabolic move en route to 180 satoshis representing an increase of nearly 110% from its current value of 83 satoshis.

Another coin on Crypto Michals list is TROY (TROY/BTC). He says that while it is still consolidating, a breakout can take the pair to 100 satoshis, which is a surge of over 70% from its current price of 58 satoshis.

In addition, the trader is waiting for a pullback on Decentraland (MANA/BTC). He says the coin broke out of a year-long accumulation. Should it hold 680 satoshis, he believes the crypto can soar to 2,000 satoshis.

The last coin on the traders list is Algorand (ALGO/BTC). Van de Poppe is looking to buy on dips as he sees ALGO going as high 5,500 satoshis should it hold 3,000 satoshis.

Meanwhile, Michal van de Poppe is keeping a close eye on Ethereum (ETH) after going vertical over the last few weeks. He says hes waiting for the second-largest cryptocurrency to significantly correct down to $320 and then $280 before placing long positions.

Its the same for XRP. The analyst says the third-largest crypto is now ripe for a retracement after a strong push above $0.32. Van de Poppe is eyeing $0.28 and $0.24 as possible levels to take longs.

As for Bitcoin, Crypto Michal says BTC is now trading around the resistance level between $11,600 and $12,000. He suggests waiting to see if the king crypto converts resistance at $12,000 into support. Otherwise, he is expecting BTC to drop to strong support at around $9,800.

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Top Trader Names Five Altcoins Set to Rally, When to Buy Ethereum and XRP, and Whats Next for Bitcoin - The Daily Hodl

Kashmiris Lament the Loss of Their Youth – Foreign Policy

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In the early days of August 2019, Kashmiris knew that something strange was afoot: TV channels went off the air, the internet was cut off, tourists were asked to leave, and a strict curfew was imposed. Then, on Aug. 5, New Delhi announced it was revoking the semiautonomous status of Jammu and Kashmir, bringing it under the central governments direct control.

At the time, in a speech announcing the move, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi explained that the decision would better integrate Kashmir into the national market and improve its economy. But one year later, there are few signs of progress. According to a report published last month by a civil rights group, the region has incurred nearly $5.3 billion in economic losses since New Delhis move to downgrade its status.

While much of the country has struggled under pandemic-induced lockdowns, Kashmiris have in effect lived with those conditions for a full year. But for most Kashmiris, the stripping of their political autonomy is not a real shock. It is frustrating but not surprising. And that is because most of them were born in a land where young men commonly picked up guns to fight for independence from the Indian state, and they grew up in a region where curfews, military operations, and extrajudicial killings were the order of the day.

About 69 percent of the around 12 million people living in Jammu and Kashmir are under the age of 35. For them, the state has been in quasi-lockdown for most of their lives. A Kashmiri politician once joked to me that local children learned the word azaadi, or freedom, before they learned to call out their mothers name.

The state of Jammu and Kashmir used to include the Hindu-majority Jammu, the Muslim-majority Kashmir Valley, and the largely Buddhist Ladakh. While no region was spared the unrest, it is the Kashmir Valley that has suffered the most in economic terms.

After a rigged election in 1987, Kashmiri resentment toward India increased exponentially. And with the help of Pakistan, there was a full-blown insurgency in the Kashmir Valley in 1989, which pushed separatist leaders toward militancy. Many Kashmiri Hindus were expelled from the state. The region never recovered from that conflict.

Since 2016, when I first started reporting from Kashmir, I have met many Kashmiris who were born after 1989 and for whom the very definition of a normal life is different than that of most Indians. Truck and bus drivers overwork when they can, because they might be grounded anytime due to curfews. Doctors are used to looking at bullet wounds. Mental health professionals deal with post-traumatic stress disorder patients like doctors elsewhere treat the flu. Lawyers regularly defend young boys charged with sedition or terrorist activities.

The state is the biggest employer in Kashmir, and private sector investment is negligible due to the constant violence between security forces and militants. As a result, young Kashmiris see state government jobs as their route to stability. But a small subset of Kashmiri youth who were educated in larger Indian cities and in countries abroad harbor dreams of entrepreneurship even amid the turmoil.

Consider the story of Mir Saqib, a 34-year-old entrepreneur who is considering filing for bankruptcy. Most of Saqibs primary education in Srinagar took place at home, because schools remained shut for about eight months a year in the 1990s. Every time there was militant-related violence, educational institutions were closed.

Around the time Saqib should have been in school, his peers in other Indian cities were having a very different experience. In 1991, in the face of an economic crisis, New Delhi took the difficult medicine of opening up its economy to the world, putting in place fiscal reforms that would set it on the path to rapid growth for the next two decades. While young Indians began to dream of lives on par with those of their global peers, Kashmiri youth would often harbor hopes of joining their regions separatist movement.

Kashmiris expected the economy to bounce back in 1996 when a local party, the National Conference, was elected to the state government and New Delhi promised increased autonomy for Jammu and Kashmir.

Things turned out differently. In 1999, after the Kargil War between India and Pakistan, militant attacks on Indian paramilitary forces stationed in Kashmir sharply increased. These suicide attacks ushered in further militarization to the valley. Today, there is one armed personnel for every seven civilians in the region.

In 2007, when Saqib enrolled in an engineering college, little did he know that the valley would come to a complete standstill the following year. In 2008, the Indian National Congress-led government in New Delhi decided to transfer 99 acres of forest land to Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board, a trust that governs the famous Hindu pilgrimage to the Amarnath temple. More than 500,000 Kashmiris marched in protest, rejecting what they felt was an Indian takeover of Kashmiri land. Kashmir remained shut for most of that year.

While Saqibs national peers were dreaming of packing their bags for coveted jobs in Silicon Valley, Kashmiri students were struggling to get to class.

In 2010, Saqibs studies were disrupted once again when Kashmiris took to the streets to protest extrajudicial killings of Kashmiri youth. The protests left around 120 people dead.

Finally, in 2011, Saqib graduated as an engineer from Kashmir University. He decided to set up a bottled water plant and called his product Kolahai, which is the name of the glacier where the Jhelum, Kashmirs major river, originates. His business began to pick up when he started receiving contracts to supply water at weddings across the valley. Saqib expanded his business by introducing bottled juices and teas.

A new twist emerged in 2014. A pro-Hindu government led by the Bharatiya Janata Partys Narendra Modi was elected in New Delhi. The party joined hands with a Kashmiri group called the Peoples Democratic Party and formed a government in the state. Since their visions for the state were different, the government was unstable and insecure.

The arrival of smartphones and high-speed internet further shook the regions tenuous social contract. Messages from separatist leaders reached the phones of Kashmiris directly, without censorship. People hungrily consumed video messages from young militants such as BurhanMuzaffarWani, a charismatic commander of the militant organization Hizbul Mujahideen, making the case for Kashmiri independence.

In 2016, when Wani was killed by Indian forces, tens of thousands of Kashmiris attended his funeral. The state essentially ground to a halt for almost five months. And the authorities, realizing the revolutionary power of social media and the internet, began to respond for the first time by shutting down certain apps and restricting internet speeds in the region.

Unlike the previous generation, which had access to arms, the Kashmiris who came of age in the 2000s had to resort to stones as their weapons of choice. Every Friday, after the afternoon prayers at Srinagars main mosque, young men flooded the streets to throw stones at the security forces. Over a period of time this type of protest became merely symbolic.

Saqib shuttered his factory for long periods in 2016. There arent many weddings in a society that grieves the loss of its freedom, so demand for his product dried up.

Saqib had borrowed money from banks, which he somehow managed to repay by the end of 2018. Hoping the economy would look up in 2019, Saqib began to once again dream of restoring his business to its former glory.

But then, exactly one year ago, the Bharatiya Janata Party fulfilled its campaign promise and downgraded the status of Kashmir to a union territory, bringing it under New Delhis control. And it did so while once again imposing strict curfews and shutting down the internet for the longest period in history for a democracy. This time, Saqib would finally give up dreaming: Now, I know nothing will ever go back to how it was again, he said.

In the past 12 months, New Delhi has passed successive laws that Kashmiris fear will open up their lands and ecology for exploitation, while stripping them of their unique identity. For instance, New Delhi can now decide who gets to live in Kashmir, a legal change that could end up transforming the regions demographics.

Every time I talk to a young Kashmiri, I sense fatigue and a sense of hopelessness about their future. However, most conversations end with them suggesting that they will fight to reclaim their freedom. The Indian government seems to understand this sentiment well, which perhaps explains why it continues to curtail the speed of the internet there. When the internet comes back, the possibility of large protests is ever-present. But without the internet, real investment and growth in the region is impossible to imagine.

Jammu and Kashmir had a monthly average unemployment rate of 15 percent between January 2016 and July 2019, according to the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy. This is more than double the national average of 6.4 percent during the same period.

But Saqib says his generation doesnt see unemployment as its greatest burden. We have lost our youth, our dreams, and our future, he said. That is what wed want back.

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Kashmiris Lament the Loss of Their Youth - Foreign Policy

SLPP has creatively disrupted politics; now it has to do the same to the economy – ft.lk

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Disrupt the economy creatively or perish should be the slogan to be followed by the new Government Pic by Shehan Gunasekara

For good results, disrupt the existing systems

It was a cakewalk for Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna or SLPP, headed by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, to seize power in Parliament. Within a matter of a few months of its formation as a political force, it has kept a record by rising to the pinnacle of the countrys power cathedral. In the process, it has disrupted the two oldest political powers in Sri Lanka, namely, the United National Party or UNP and the Sri Lanka Freedom Party or SLFP. The emergence of a disruptor, though the name sounds something frightening, is a welcome development in any society. This is because it is disruptors, and not conventionalists, who have created a new world for the betterment of humankind.

Relating to economics, this was first presented by the 19th century French economist and statesman, Frdric Bastiat when he said that breaking of windows even in acts of vandalism was to be welcome. That was because it enabled the world to go for new generation windows sustaining the window industry, on one side, and creating a new output for society, on the other.

In the early part of the 20th century, Bastiats views were more formally and cogently presented in a positive way by two economists. One was the Russian economist Nikolai Kondratieff. The other was the Austrian-American economist, Joseph Schumpeter. I have covered their views in a previous article in this series that can be accessed at http://www.ft.lk/columns/Long-waves-in-global-business-cycles-versus-Sri-Lanka-s-disastrous-short-waves/4-701288.

Kondratieff: Inventions should be commercially produced

Kondratieff had discovered through empirical research that capitalist societies had repeatedly undergone ups and downs in their economies known as business cycles but had managed to recover to a new position every time they had suffered from an economic downturn. Such business cycles had typically been experienced by Western economies for long periods of about 50 to 60 years which he designated long-waves of business cycles.

The reason for the recovery of a dying economy was the commercial adoption of scientific and engineering inventions by businessmen thereby taking an economy to a higher wave. Schumpeter, quite independently of Kondratieff, said that any new technology that was to replace the old ones, though feared by people, was a creative destruction.

Joseph Schumpeter: Generate creative destructions

Countering the Marxian view of the self-destruction of capitalist societies from internal conflicts, Schumpeter presented the contrarian view that capitalist societies continued to sustain and prosper through the introduction of a series of new technologies to replace the worn-out old ones. Expanding his conception of creative destruction, he identified four basic developments that should take place in an economic system enabling it to rise to a new height in development. His concept agrees with the Kondratieff long-wave formation in an economic system through scientific and engineering inventions that are commercially adopted by businessmen. But this commercial adoption was called innovation by Schumpeter. Taking it forward, he identified two further developments that should be followed for an economy to sustain its prosperity. One was the diffusion of knowledge among as many businessmen as possible. The other was the imitation of new technologies by prospective entrepreneurs.

Inheriting a sick economy by SLPP

Why should SLPP be a creative disruptor of Sri Lankas economy? That is because it has inherited an economy sick with a multitude of ailments. Sri Lankas economy had infected itself with some of these ailments right from the independence of the country. Some are later infections by governments that had introduced disastrous viruses to its body from time to time. However, with no proper medication administered at the appropriate time, these ailments have grown within the body of the economy like a silent cancer that grows without demonstrating any symptoms.

As I have indicated in a previous article (available at: http://www.ft.lk/columns/C-19-economic-recovery-Most-probably-it-will-be-a-flattened-U-shaped-one/4-703372), political leaders have been playing a blame game accusing each other for the maladies from which the economy has been suffering. That was an exhibition of complacence on the part of politicians coupled with the desire to evade responsibility.

The behaviour so demonstrated by them was similar to the man falling from the 20th floor of a building shouting at a man at the window of the 10th floor that he was alright so far and there was nothing to be worried. It was simply acting on self-delusion quite oblivious of the empty space below him through which he was falling to a fatal end. In Sri Lanka, this has been repeated ad infinitum at every general election. The one that was concluded last week is not an exception.

Sri Lankas manifesting sickness from all sides

Sri Lankas economy began to demonstrate signs of serious sickness from around 2013 when the growth rate began to decelerate. Immediately after the end of the war in 2009, the economy showed all signs of recovery to a high growth path recording growth rates of above 8% in the three succeeding years. These growth rates were attained basically by investing in capital infrastructure which could sustain the growth rate only for a limited number of years. That was because in the absence of the needed reforms in the capital markets, labour markets and the public sector, the rigidity of the economy could not be softened. Such growth has been designated by Nobel Laureate Paul Krugman as ones that are attained through perspiration and not inspiration. Hence, as expected, growth rate began to fizzle out as from 2013. Along with the falling growth rates, the symptoms of other ailments from which the economy was suffering also became manifest.

Such ailments had taken the form of rising budget deficits, unmanageable public debt, rising inflation, deficits in the trade, services and the current accounts of the balance of payments or BOP. Since adequate capital flows could not be harnessed to meet the deficit in the current account, there were deficits in the overall balance of BOP too. It led to the peculiar situation in which foreign reserves had to be built only by making further borrowings. It led to two other basic ailments. One was the pressure for the exchange rate to depreciate in the market in the absence of adequate foreign exchange flows to the country. The other, arising from the inadequate foreign reserves, was the accumulation of debt by the government beyond manageable levels. As a result, repaying the maturing public debt has become a serious challenge for the new government.

No rosy picture about the economy in the next few years

Certainly, the new government has to worry about the frightening economic conditions in 2020 and in the next few years. It is facing an economy that has been virtually incapacitated by the disastrous economic fallout of COVID-19 pandemic towards the end of the first quarter of 2020. As a result, the first quarter of 2020, the size of the real economy, pulled down by a negative growth in agriculture and industry and a slow growth in services, became smaller by 1.6% in rupee terms. Its contraction was sharper in dollar terms at 5% because of the fall in the value of the rupee against the dollar from Rs. 176 to Rs. 190 per dollar in the period.

In the next three quarters, the decline in the economy would be sharper due to a completely underperforming services sector. Unless an effective vaccine against the coronavirus is found soon, this negative economic performance is to linger into the next few years too. Such an adverse development would make Sri Lankans poorer and poorer year after year. This is what the new government should avoid and for that purpose, it has to creatively disrupt the economy too.

Dont fear disruptions

A disruption is simply a forced change of how people think, act, produce, distribute and consume. Taken together, they can be called the behavioural pattern of human beings. These behavioural patterns are represented by culture and culture is subject to a natural evolution over the time. Such cultural evolutions take their own pace to complete a full cycle but when they are shocked by an external agent an opinion maker, new technology or new product the evolutionary process is quickened.

A good example is the smart mobile phone. Five years ago, except those in young age categories, no one knew how to use the data processing power of a smart mobile phone. But today, hit by the social and economic restrictions of COVID-19 pandemic, everyone has trained himself to using smart phones and their versatile applications. As a result, practically everyone today is conversant with using popular Apps like WhatsApp or Zoom to communicate with others or disseminate information. This they do on a real time basis building networks of people and assembling them together. Thus, the smart mobile phone was a shock-agent and that agent has disrupted the traditional communicating agents like newspapers, radios, TVs or even land-based telephones. This was evident when people used smart mobile phones to learn of results, quick and fast, of the general election held last week.

An aggravated fiscal crisis by a generous tax offer

Sri Lankas present economic crisis has been aggravated by a fiscal crisis, debt crisis and a foreign exchange crisis. In the case of the fiscal sector, the crisis took the form of an unwieldy budget. The government revenue in relation to GDP was falling, consumption expenditure rising, savings of the government becoming negative, having to borrow to finance both the consumption and capital expenditures on one side and pay interest and repay the maturing debt on the other. This resulted in an unwarranted rise in the public debt stock and by the time the new government came to power at end-2019, it was as high as 87% of GDP, up from 72% five years ago.

This frightening fiscal scenario was worsened by a generous tax cut offered by the new government to income tax and VAT payers. It resulted an estimated revenue loss of some Rs. 600 billion per annum. This was an unaffordable and unwarranted comfort which the new government had given to some section of the people in the country. The consequential rise in the gap in the government budget had to be financed by the government by borrowing from both the central bank and commercial banks. During the first six months of 2020, the government had borrowed, on a net basis, a staggering Rs. 1.22 trillion from this source.

This is money printing which people in the street often talk about. Its inflationary pressure will have to be borne especially the low-income people. Hence, it is an iniquitous public policy since it favours the middle class and the high-income people, while passing the burden called incidence of tax-financing versus inflation-financing on to low-income groups. Hence, it is of utmost importance that the government revert to the tax system that prevailed prior to 2020 and save its budget. But it will be a shock-agent disrupting the comfortable life which the countrys taxpayers have been enjoying ever since the new President was voted to power. But that disruption is a sine qua non today.

To resolve the debt crisis, resolve the fiscal crisis first

Sri Lankas debt crisis is an off-shoot of its fiscal crisis. Hence, the way to resolve that crisis is to resolve the fiscal crisis first. Sri Lankas government has to borrow and raise the debt levels because its revenue is inadequate relative to expenditure programs. One reform it can do in this context is to generate savings in the budget by placing the governments consumption expenditure those expenses involving the day to day running of the government below its revenue levels. To attain this target, another shock-agent of disruption has to be employed by the new government. While going back to the old tax regime, the government should economise its expenses from top to the bottom.

The curtailment of the benefits which many are enjoying today is a real disruption. This applies at the top to the Cabinet ministers who enjoy an array of benefits not counted in the budget as direct payments to them. Like in Singapore, the number of ministerial posts should be restricted, while paying them a decent salary and getting them to meet all their requirements out of those emoluments. In todays context, the direct salary of a Cabinet Minister is less than Rs. 100,000, a salary lower than the total pay package of a minor employee of a state bank. But cost to the taxpayers by way of providing houses and their maintenance, vehicles and all associated costs, security officers, etc. which are recorded in different heads in the budget is enormous.

Taking into account the current economic crisis in the country, they should go for a voluntary disruption. All other unnecessary expenses of the government should be cut, savings in the revenue account generated and those savings used for vital capital programs. In selecting those programs, those that would help the government to get more taxes in the future should receive priority. In this way, borrowings are directly linked to extension of welfare to people and gaining capacity to repay them on time.

External sector crisis needs reforms in all sectors

The crisis in Sri Lankas external sector has been manifested by a need for borrowing for repaying the external debt and meeting the stubbornly high deficit in the current account of the balance of payments. The cause of the current account deficit has been the inadequate foreign exchange earnings by way of export of goods and services and remittances by Sri Lankans working abroad relative to the high import bill of goods and services and interest payments.

The government has recently clamped import controls on what it has termed inessential imports but the savings it could make through this measure is insignificant since the total such expenses are also a small fraction of the total bill. Sri Lanka spends massive amounts import crude oil, raw materials for industries, medicines and capital equipment. Any growing economy cannot curtail these items without compromising growth rates.

Hence, the way forward for the new government is to earn more foreign exchange in the medium to long run by increasing exports and attracting non-debt sources of foreign exchange such as foreign direct investments. To boost both these sources of earning, an essential requirement will be to introduce reforms to enable exporters to export more and attract more foreign direct investments into priority areas. Already, some of the reforms have been introduced to the goods market. But the labour, capital and land markets still remain untouched. It is necessary to shock these three markets through disruptive changes. Sri Lankas archaic labour laws dating back to the colonial times need be revised protecting both the workers and producers.

Singapores experience in reforming the labour sector

This was what Singapore did as a priority in 1960s because the growing trade union militancy supported by Chinese communists kept the foreign investors away from the country. As S R Nathan, an Ex-President of Singapore, has narrated in his autobiography, An Unexpected Journey, a special Labour Research Unit or LRU was set up at the instance of Singapores first Finance Minister, Goh Keng Swee, with the responsibility for ensuring a fair deal for workers through training, empowerment and recognition of workers rights.

Nathan who joined LRU as a researcher initially became its head later. His reading of the behaviour of trade union leaders in 1960s perfectly matches those in Sri Lanka today. Nathan has observed that those trade union leaders were full of hate, delusion and bias and poor of facts and understanding. LRU therefore initiated programs to help them overcome those deficiencies. Sri Lankas trade union leaders who shout at the microphones posed to them by media display that they still live in the world in which Singapores trade unionists lived in 1960s. The new government should as a priority engage trade union leaders in productive negotiations and for that purpose, as a herald, should serve them with a shock-agent of disruption first.

Hence, disrupt the economy creatively or perish should be the slogan to be followed by the new government.

(The writer, a former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, can be reached at waw1949@gmail.com.)

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SLPP has creatively disrupted politics; now it has to do the same to the economy - ft.lk

Protesters exchange tense words with counterprotesters in Cottonwood Heights, but officers don’t get involved – Salt Lake Tribune

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Cottonwood Heights A day after nine protesters were arrested during a rally in memory of their son, Zane James family angrily denounced the police action and argued that officers incited the violence.

James was killed two years ago by Cottonwood Heights officers. The rally Sunday was supposed to be a way to remember their 19-year-old son, his parents said Monday, and to continue a string of protests against police violence.

Those who attended brought pinwheels and squirt guns and a DJ to dance in the street in memory of James. But it ended with a clash that led to the arrest of James father and brother, calls for an investigation, a closed-door City Council meeting and opposing protests Monday.

Police Chief Robby Russo said Sunday evening that the police response was needed because protesters had been blocking the street.

The James family said protesters tried to stay on the sidewalks after police instructed them to but at a certain point, they were blocked in with nowhere to go.

Its pretty intimidating, said Aaron James, whose son, Zane, was shot and killed by Cottonwood Heights officers on May 29, 2018, after police said Zane James robbed a store in Sandy with an airsoft gun.

Monday evening began with a gathering to support the Cottonwood Heights police. The rally outside the police department drew Utah Citizens Alarm members many outfitted with rifles and bulletproof vests and demonstrators waving flags emblazoned with the thin blue line symbol or President Donald Trumps name.

Black Lives Matter activist Jacarri Kelley, who walked with a few companions through the heavily armed group, called it a display of white supremacy. She was speaking with reporters when one man wearing a Confederate flag face covering passed by.

Do you know how many of my ancestors died in the name of the Confederate flag? said Kelley, the president of Northern Utah Black Lives Matter.

Utah Citizens Alarm founder Casey Robertson said his group brought weapons as a deterrent to violence.

I think this show that we have here tonight, if you drove by, youd probably be like, Oh, I dont really want to come there and cause trouble, he said. And thats kind of the point.

The pro-police group also included several members of the far-right Proud Boys, which is designated as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. Militia members at one point surrounded a handful of demonstrators against police violence and mocked them as they chanted for reform.

Hands up, dont shoot! chanted the group against police violence.

White people rule, one of the militiamen shot back.

A larger group of protesters against police violence gathered later in the evening near Butler Middle School, a few blocks away from the militia. Friends of Zane James spoke to the group, and Josianne Petit, leader of Mama and Papa Panthers, encouraged them to file complaints against police chief Russo.

You make sure you sign your name so they know that these are individuals, hundreds of individuals, saying enough with chief Russo, she said to applause.

The demonstrations continued later in the evening as Lex Scott, leader of Black Lives Matter Utah, led chants across the street from the pro-police and militia groups gathered in front of the Cottonwood Heights police station.

Black lives matter, one side shouted, while the other responded, All lives matter.

Trucks bearing Trump flags and the Nyberg flag, used by far-right militia movements, sped past blaring their horns to drown out the Black Lives Matter group.

However, unlike Sunday, police largely remained on the fringes of the demonstrations.

Protesters on Sunday were hit with wooden clubs, young women were pepper sprayed and James brother and father were both tased and arrested by the officers.

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They attacked us, said Tiffany James, Zanes mother. This was a peaceful protest, no matter how it was characterized. This is exactly why we marched. This is exactly why we came together with this group of people. Exactly why our son was shot. Its a culture of police power that is not community friendly and needs to be addressed.

Russo said nine people were arrested Sunday evening. Among those were Aaron James, Zanes father, and Gabriel Pecoraro, his brother.

Police wrote in a probable cause statement that the father and son threw punches at officers as they tried to arrest them.

Video footage shared with The Salt Lake Tribune shows an officer pepper-spray Pecoraro as he tried to dart around them in the street. Then police tackled him. An officer eventually brought Pecoraro down to the ground in a chokehold, and Aaron James tried to intervene as an officer hit him with a club.

The footage further shows Russo, the police chief, pull Aaron James by his neck in an attempt to get him away from the officers arresting Pecoraro. Aaron James is then pushed to the ground, and both men are tased.

Pecoraro was stunned in the side by one officer, as another lay on top of him, trying to arrest him.

The 26-year-old man on Monday had burn marks on his side from the stun gun, and cuts and scrapes on his body.

I was ecstatic to be able to go to my little brothers 22nd birthday and celebrate him, he said. He was taken from us. All I wanted to do was celebrate his life, you know? Dance a little bit. That kid was a dancer. He loved to dance. What I saw was cops box us in both front and back and then attack us. Flat-out attack us.

Other protesters were arrested for swarming officers as they tried to arrest others, jail records show, and for failing to leave the roadway. Some allegedly knocked officers equipment, like extra ammo and their bodycams, off their bodies, according to arrest records.

Utahs racial and ethnic minority legislators Sen. Luz Escamilla and Jani Iwamoto and Reps. Angela Romero, Karen Kwan, Mark Wheatley and Sandra Hollins called for an investigation Monday. They said in a statement that the police reaction affirms our calls for comprehensive, immediate, and statewide policies for police reform and de-escalation training.

What happened yesterday in Cottonwood Heights was a shocking display of police overreaction to an otherwise peaceful protest, the Democratic lawmakers said. The group of protesters, which included some city and state officials, were there to express concerns about law enforcement reacting too quickly with violence and that is exactly what we all saw. There is no excuse for the CHPD using such a heavy-handed approach, with some officers dressed in full military combat gear, for what would have otherwise been a nonviolent Sunday protest.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Utah said a statement they were alarmed and dismayed by the incident.

Rather than de-escalate or seek solutions, police appear to have needlessly provoked a small, peaceful gathering to prove the point that the police were in control, the statement reads.

A closed-door emergency meeting of the Cottonwood Heights City Council took place Monday to address Deployment of Security Personnel, Devices, or Systems.

Cottonwood Heights Mayor Mike Peterson called the situation regrettable.

We never want to see things escalate as the one did Sunday evening, Peterson said in a statement. We will investigate this situation, both the protest event which elicited neighbors concerns and the response of our police force.

City officials said in a Monday statement that while they support peaceful protests, police responded to "concerned citizens" and found protesters blocking the roadways.

As the police response occurred, the situation unfortunately grew tense and violent, a statement from the city reads. Force and restraint were used to quell violent protesters. Multiple officers and civilians suffered minor to moderate injuries, and one officer was hospitalized.

A nearly 40-minute video broadcast live on Facebook by Tali Bruce, a Cottonwood Heights city councilwoman, shows the situation turn violent. One officer in the video picks up a young woman and slams her onto the lawn in front of a home. The woman says, I cant see, three times as officers are detaining her.

In a subsequent Facebook video, Bruce alleges that an officer punched her hard and also shoved her to the ground so forcefully that an accessory to my hair came out.

I saw countless people spray gassed, beaten, bloodied including Zane [James'] father, Bruce said in the video as she begins to cry while driving in a vehicle. I cant even believe this is Cottonwood Heights.

Russo said Bruce had exchanges with more than one officer, including himself. He said that Bruces allegation that an officer hit her in the throat and threw her to the ground is not representative of what had occurred. Russo declined to elaborate because, he said, there is more coming.

The police chief said the officers on Sunday were responding to the actions of protesters, who he described as rioters.

When you take to the streets, stop the flow of traffic, intimidate people, scare people in their homes, Russo said, youre no longer a protester to me.

The James family said Monday that they were not there to riot, only dancing and marching in a family-friendly event organized with the group Our Streets Salt Lake City that had similarly been held in more than a half-dozen other cities in Salt Lake County. Organizer Parker Yates said Monday that police usually block streets for their protests but this time, in Cottonwood Heights, it was different.

"This was dreadful," he said. "It was egregious. It was awful."

Justin Nelson, a 21-year-old from Wisconsin, said he came to Utah to honor his friend, Zane James. A memorial on Saturday was beautiful, he said, and he couldnt imagine that another celebration a day later would end in violence and arrests.

Its not the community stuff I was expecting, he said. It kind of put a damper on everything.

The James family also had a pending lawsuit against the city over Zanes death. Their attorney, Bob Sykes, said they might sue the city again for violating their rights during Sundays protests.

What we had yesterday was an organized attempt to intimidate free speech, Sykes said. An organized attempt to devalue free speech. An organized attempt to silence free speech.

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Protesters exchange tense words with counterprotesters in Cottonwood Heights, but officers don't get involved - Salt Lake Tribune

Cancel culture will not bring the left absolution – Mountain Democrat

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EDITOR:

As a proud American, Im beginning to think this cancel culture movement of destroying Confederate statues and erasing Confederate history might be good for America. Why? What was the Confederacy? The Confederacy represents the white Souths horrific sins of slavery, lynchings, Jim Crow laws and every other sin committed under the sun against the African-American community.

If the left erases Confederate history in the name of absolution, which is what this is, wouldnt that mean we as Americans are no longer obligated or need to feel guilty for these sins against the black community? In other words, there is no reason for the discussion of slave reparations, the need for social programs like Affirmative Action, quotas and the like. The erasure of Abraham Lincoln, abolitionists and the Union Army would complete the task, which why they are also being targeted. Cant have people asking what slavery was and why we fought over it with Lincolns abolishing it.

Think about it: If there is no evidence then there is no way to prove slavery ever existed the lefts true agenda. This applies to all targets of the cancel culture. Who would benefit the most? Leftists white society. Who would suffer the most? The minority, mainly, but ordinary Americans as well.

Monumental exploits like the Civil War Buffalo soldiers, World War IIs Tuskegee airman, 761st Tank Battalion and 92nd Infantry Division as well as the personal accomplishments of Jesse Owens, Jackie Robinson, Hiram Rhodes Revels and Joseph Rainey would be trivialized mere ordinarily insignificant deeds lost to history. Even Obamas legacy would be relegated to just the 44th president.

Yes, Confederate history and all that it imbues is a truly tragic chapter of our history but without it we cant gauge our progression as a society or the African-American communitys advancement. This is why a society needs to add to its history rather than its removal.

RYAN FORDPlacerville

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Cancel culture will not bring the left absolution - Mountain Democrat

Nanotechnology-based antiviral therapeutics – DocWire News

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This article was originally published here

Drug Deliv Transl Res. 2020 Aug 3. doi: 10.1007/s13346-020-00818-0. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

The host immune system is highly compromised in case of viral infections and relapses are very common. The capacity of the virus to destroy the host cell by liberating its own DNA or RNA and replicating inside the host cell poses challenges in the development of antiviral therapeutics. In recent years, many new technologies have been explored for diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of viral infections. Nanotechnology has emerged as one of the most promising technologies on account of its ability to deal with viral diseases in an effective manner, addressing the limitations of traditional antiviral medicines. It has not only helped us to overcome problems related to solubility and toxicity of drugs, but also imparted unique properties to drugs, which in turn has increased their potency and selectivity toward viral cells against the host cells. The initial part of the paper focuses on some important proteins of influenza, Ebola, HIV, herpes, Zika, dengue, and corona virus and those of the host cells important for their entry and replication into the host cells. This is followed by different types of nanomaterials which have served as delivery vehicles for the antiviral drugs. It includes various lipid-based, polymer-based, lipid-polymer hybrid-based, carbon-based, inorganic metal-based, surface-modified, and stimuli-sensitive nanomaterials and their application in antiviral therapeutics. The authors also highlight newer promising treatment approaches like nanotraps, nanorobots, nanobubbles, nanofibers, nanodiamonds, nanovaccines, and mathematical modeling for the future. The paper has been updated with the recent developments in nanotechnology-based approaches in view of the ongoing pandemic of COVID-19.Graphical abstract.

PMID:32748035 | DOI:10.1007/s13346-020-00818-0

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Nanotechnology-based antiviral therapeutics - DocWire News

The Iron Man Defeat Too EMBARRASSING For The Movies | Screen Rant – Screen Rant

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Iron Mans armor is indestructible unless you have a special arsenal that can take it apart in the most embarrassing way possible.

When Tony Stark invented his Iron Man armor, he made sure to use only the most durable components. Despite his superhero name, Iron Mans suit isnt actually made of iron, but a much stronger form of titanium with some suits incorporating nanotechnology into the mix for a virtually indestructible suit. Nevertheless, there are certain things that can penetrate or even tear apart the Iron Man armor from powerful lasers, to Wolverines adamantium claws, to Magnetos mutant ability to manipulate metal.

Yet all of these weapons pale against one innovative device that an almost forgotten villain once used against the Armored Avenger to embarrassing effect.

Related: Marvels Weirdest Iron Man Was Technically A Squirrel?

In Marvel Adventures: The Avengers, the Avengers (this time with a lineup that included Spider-Man, Iron Man, Giant Girl, Storm, Captain America, and Wolverine) found themselves up against a New Masters of Evil team that broke into Stark Tower to steal some battle suits. Although Spider-Man and Iron Man manage to take on the teams muscle, the Man-Bull, they run into some problems when they find the Masters of Evil also includes a nearly forgotten villain the Melter.

An old Iron Man villain from the 1960s, the Melter had a particularly interesting ability. Although he had no innate superhuman powers, his gun could loosen the bonding forces between the molecules of any substance he fired upon, causing them to liquify or melt into useless slag. Since the Melters gun didnt use heat, the melting process wouldnt actually burn or injure anyone who touched the melted objects, but his gun was very useful for breaking into secure buildings, damaging vital equipment or melt Iron Mans gauntlets and disable his repulsor rays.

As the Melter warned he could adjust his guns settings to melt human flesh as well, he was stopped by the archer Hawkeye, who had broken into Stark Tower to see if he could join the Avengers. Leaving their teammate behind, the remaining Masters of Evil took off with the stolen battle suits. Unwilling to surrender, the Melter fired his gun one final time and ended up melting Iron Mans pants right off of his body, leaving Tony Stark standing in his boxers. Spider-Man broke into a laughing fit and Tony, annoyed at the embarrassing wardrobe malfunction, stalked off to the armor lab.

The Masters of Evil would go on to save the Melter from imprisonment and commit more crimes thanks to a bug they implanted on Captain Americas suit that gave them a way to track the Avengers movements. Once the Avengers discovered what they were doing, however, they disabled the bug and tracked the villains to their headquarters where Spider-Man quickly webbed up the Melter before he could liquify Iron Mans armor. Informing the team that Your only mistake was melting Iron Mans pants, Spider-Man and the rest of the Avengers made short work of the Masters of Evil.

Despite being used as a comedic villain, the Melter had a very effective power that could be quite devastating against armored heroes (as well as people in general if he was willing to use his gun for flesh-melting purposes). True, Tony Stark could probably design a suit of armor that immunized him against the Melters attack (likely with a nanotech design that constantly rearranged itself to compensate against the Melters gun) but any villain capable of taking out Iron Man so easily deserves to be given some notice. Especially after he melts Iron Mans pants.

Next: Iron Man Fan Art Showcases Armored Adult Morgan Stark

Star Wars: How Many Days Revenge Of The Sith Takes Place Over

Michael Jung is a mild-mannered freelance writer-for-hire, actor, and professional storyteller with a keen interest in pop culture, education, nonprofit organizations, and unusual side hustles. His work has been featured in Screen Rant, ASU Now, Sell Books Fast, Study.com, and Free Arts among others. A graduate of Arizona State University with a PhD in 20th Century American Literature, Michael has written novels, short stories, stage plays, screenplays, and how-to manuals.

Michaels background in storytelling draws him to find the most fascinating aspects of any topic and transform them into a narrative that informs and entertains the reader. Thanks to a life spent immersed in comic books and movies, Michael is always ready to infuse his articles with offbeat bits of trivia for an extra layer of fun. In his spare time, you can find him entertaining kids as Spider-Man or Darth Vader at birthday parties or scaring the heck out of them at haunted houses.

Visit Michael Jungs website for information on how to hire him, follow him on Twitter Michael50834213, or contact him directly: michael(at)michaeljungwriter(dot)com.

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The Iron Man Defeat Too EMBARRASSING For The Movies | Screen Rant - Screen Rant

How Trump erased the election-year line between politics and policy – NBC News

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WASHINGTON In the past few months, President Donald Trump has invited supporters wearing "Make America Great Again" campaign gear onstage with him during official presidential speeches. He has criticized Democratic rival Joe Biden in Rose Garden addresses. He has played campaign-style videos in the White House briefing room, and he has used his campaign playlist, typically reserved for rallies, at official presidential events.

Presidents running for re-election have traditionally worked to balance official government business with campaign activity. But government watchdogs and officials from past administrations warn that Trump has smashed that norm, showing an unusual willingness to use his presidential platform for political purposes.

Trump's penchant for blurring the lines between his campaign and his official duties came to a head last week when he confirmed that he was considering giving his acceptance speech for the Republican presidential nomination one of the most anticipated moments of the election season from the White House South Lawn.

"I'll probably do mine live from the White House," Trump said on Fox News. "The easiest, least expensive and, I think, very beautiful [location] would be live from the White House."

Presidential ethics veterans said the savings weren't his to take. "What Trump is doing is a form of stealing," said Norm Eisen, who was President Barack Obama's special counsel and special assistant for ethics and government reform.

"The taxpayer entrusts funds to the government to do the official business of the government. If they want to support a political candidate, they make a political contribution," he said. "For Trump to effectively be reaching into all of our pockets to subsidize his proposed activity on the South Lawn ... no, the taxpayer should not have to pay for that."

Trump's boundary stretching goes beyond the location of his acceptance speech, Eisen and others said.

The president has increasingly turned official White House events, both in Washington and on the road, into political events as the coronavirus pandemic has kept him off the usual campaign trail and unable to hold large in-person rallies.

Since March, Trump has taken official presidential trips to Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Georgia, North Carolina and Ohio. He has also made multiple visits to Arizona, Texas and Florida. All of those states are critical to Trump's re-election.

"It's always been a fine line that presidents ride with making sure that the official activity in an election year does not go too far into campaign activity," said Kedric Payne, general counsel and senior director of ethics at the Campaign Legal Center, a nonprofit advocacy group. Trump, Payne said, is "barely disguising it as official activity."

On an official government trip to Texas in July, for example, a senior administration official told NBC News that the visit was intended to highlight Trump's energy policy and contrast it with that of Biden's. On another official White House trip in June, to Arizona, the president headlined an event hosted by Students for Trump at a Phoenix church.

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On his most recent presidential trip last week, to Ohio, the White House said Trump was met on Air Force One by a campaign senior adviser in the state, Bob Paduchik. The president held a small campaign-style rally on the tarmac and then visited a Whirlpool factory, where he made fun of Biden ("Did you ever watch Biden, where he's always saying the wrong state?"). He rounded out the journey with a supporters roundtable and a campaign fundraiser.

The trips can become expensive when the airfare and the cost of federally mandated Secret Service protection are taken into consideration.

When a presidential trip involves both official and political events, the White House is supposed to use a formula to determine the amount of money that the campaign or the party should reimburse to the Treasury Department to protect taxpayers from paying for any political activities. The formula generally is not made public.

A spokesperson for the Federal Election Commission said that to distinguish political travel from official travel, the White House should consider the purposes and the natures of the events at each stop.

According to FEC data, the Trump campaign and the Republican National Committee have reimbursed more than $600,000 to the Treasury since May for airfare. Neither the Trump campaign nor the RNC provided NBC News with a breakdown of which trips taxpayers were reimbursed for.

Trump has also officially hosted a number of constituent-based events at the White House since the pandemic hit, involving truck drivers, farmers, veterans and seniors a key voting bloc whose support for the president has slipped amid the pandemic. Five of the nearly two dozen events have been with faith leaders, a demographic that propelled Trump to victory in 2016 but whose support this time around has softened.

The campaign has pushed back against criticism that the president is misusing White House events.

"Democrats and the media are desperate to muzzle President Trump. They don't want him tweeting, they don't want him holding rallies, they don't want him speaking at Mount Rushmore, and now they don't want him holding press conferences," said Tim Murtaugh, the campaign's communications director. "Every week, Joe Biden reads speeches off the teleprompter attacking the president and the media gleefully reports every word, and President Trump is entitled to fight back."

While there are some clear rules governing what sort of political activity the president can engage in on official trips and on the White House grounds (he cannot make fundraising calls from the Oval Office, for example), many of the president's political actions are guided by tradition and norms.

The Hatch Act, a law limiting the political activities that federal employees can engage in to ensure that federal policies are carried out in a nonpartisan fashion and to protect federal workers from political coercion, does not apply to the president.

Officials from previous administrations say decoupling the political from the policy can be difficult, and many relied on White House lawyers, advisers and watchdogs to avoid Hatch Act and ethics violations.

"They were afraid of losing Congress, so they pushed the envelope on a bunch of things," said Richard Painter, a Trump critic who was the chief White House ethics lawyer for President George W. Bush, recalling the 2006 midterm elections, when he frequently had to push back on some actions by administration officials.

Still, said Greg Jenkins, who was Bush's deputy assistant and director of White House advance, "we had a policy that drew a bright line between official and political events."

"All White Houses do events at the White House that advocate or oppose particular policies or proposals. While those are done for political purposes to persuade people to your side they weren't electioneering," Jenkins said.

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Johanna Maska, Obama's White House director of press advance from 2009 to 2015, said she and other officials would get regular Hatch Act and ethics training from the White House counsel.

Maska said she recalled discussions during the 2012 campaign about whether using Obama's official armored podium with the presidential seal at political events was an example of undue influence and a burden on taxpayers. Ultimately, the campaign decided to buy its own armored podium for Obama to use at events, which, Maska recalled, was expensive.

"Our typical default was we wanted to pay for everything to make sure we were following the law and weren't making any in-kind contributions," Maska said.

Eisen, the special counsel to Obama, said establishing a strict set of rules on the use of Air Force One and reimbursements, among other ethics issues, was a "huge priority" for the administration. "I personally trained everyone in the White House on these rules so they wouldn't break them," he said.

Eisen recalled telling Pete Rouse, a senior adviser to Obama who is an avid Grateful Dead fan, that he had to take down an Obama poster hanging in his office signed by the band because "there can be no taint of politics in this workplace, which is for policy."

Government watchdogs say Trump has strayed far from the ethics norms of past administrations. They say he sets a dangerous precedent that could erode public trust.

"There are all sorts of debates, and the thing I was proud about is that our counsel would challenge us to make sure we were making the best decision for the taxpayers," Maska said. "My question is: What is this counsel doing?"

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How Trump erased the election-year line between politics and policy - NBC News

Donald Trumps face on Mount Rushmore? Reports say White House inquired about the possibility – PennLive

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When President Donald Trump gave an Independence Day speech at Mount Rushmore in early July, South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem gifted him with a four-foot statue of the famous landmark with one notable addition.

Trumps face was added to it.

According to CNN, though, the President wants more.

It reported that a White House aide reached out to Noem last year to inquire about possibly adding Trumps face to the landmark.

Its not possible, according to Business Insider, because theres no stable surface left for carving a fifth face.

But, according to the reports, its a dream of Trumps and its something he has brought up more than once. In fact, Noem told South Dakotas Argus Leader, he mentioned it during their first meeting in the Oval Office.

He said, Kristi, come on over here. Shake my hand, she said. I shook his hand, and I said, Mr. President, you should come to South Dakota sometime. We have Mount Rushmore. And he goes, Do you know its my dream to have my face on Mount Rushmore?

Noem said she started laughing.

He wasnt laughing, she said. So, he was totally serious.

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Donald Trumps face on Mount Rushmore? Reports say White House inquired about the possibility - PennLive

Scott Morrison presses Trump for continued detention of ex-Afghan soldier who killed three Australians – The Guardian

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Scott Morrison says he has pressed Donald Trump for help to prevent the release of an Afghan man who was convicted of murdering three Australian soldiers in Afghanistan.

The prime minister said the Australian government would continue to push as hard as we can for the continued detention of the former Afghan soldier known as Hekmatullah, after reports he could be released as a result of peace negotiations between the Afghan government and the Taliban.

Hekmatullah was convicted of murdering three Australian soldiers Corporal Stjepan Milosevic, Private Robert Poate and Sapper James Martin as they played cards at a patrol base north of Tarin Kowt in August 2012.

Australian defence officials contacted the families of the three Australians late last week to inform them Hekmatullah was likely to be one the 5,000 prisoners set to be released after prisoner swap negotiations, the ABC reported.

Morrison told reporters in Canberra on Monday that he had raised the issue directly with the US president. He said the defence minister, Linda Reynolds, and the foreign affairs minister, Marise Payne, had also raised the issue with their American counterparts at the Ausmin talks in Washington late last month.

This has been a matter of very regular and persistent petitioning on our behalf, the prime minister said.

It is a matter that Ive written to the president about. It is a matter of keen interest to Australia and weve reminded them of that.

Morrison said Hekmatullah was responsible for murdering three Australians and our position is that he should never be released. Morrison argued such a release would not contribute to regional peace.

That is the position that we will continue to maintain and well maintain it strongly, he said.

I cant promise you the outcome we all want here, but it is certainly the outcome we will continue to press for as hard as we can.

The families issued a joint statement to say the news came as a crushing blow and that they believed Hekmatullah should have been executed in line with the sentence issued by the court in Afghanistan, the Australian newspaper reported.

Poates father, Hugh, told the newspaper the news of the likely release was like deflating a balloon.

Hekmatullahs potential release stems from a peace agreement between the US and the Taliban that was reached in February this year.

The US secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, said last week that the release of prisoners was unpopular but it would lead to a reduction of violence and direct talks resulting in a peace agreement and an end to the war in Afghanistan.

Under the February agreement, the US committed to work with all relevant sides on a plan to expeditiously release combat and political prisoners as a confidence-building measure with the coordination and approval of all relevant sides.

It flagged the release of up to 5,000 Taliban fighters in return for the release of up to 1,000 government security forces. According to the text of the agreement, the Taliban committed that its released prisoners will be committed to the responsibilities mentioned in this agreement so that they will not pose a threat to the security of the United States and its allies.

The deal also included a commitment to withdraw from Afghanistan all military forces of the US, its allies, and coalition partners. There have been some difficulties and delays in implementing the prisoner release aspect of the deal.

Hekmatullah went on the run after the fatal attack on the Australian soldiers but was captured in Pakistan in February 2013 about six months later and then brought to trial in Afghanistan.

In 2013, an Australian Defence Force inquiry found there was a failure to provide appropriate force protection at the Wahab base where the soldiers were killed despite sufficient resources being available.

A Queensland coroner who also investigated the deaths found that an order from headquarters to increase security at patrol bases had not been passed down to troops on the ground.

The opposition leader, Anthony Albanese, said news of the potential release would be a source of great distress for the families of the victims.

This is a critical issue for the families but also for justice, Albanese said.

This man should not be released, and Australia needs to make the strongest possible representations to both the Afghan government and to the United States to ensure that this doesnt happen.

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Scott Morrison presses Trump for continued detention of ex-Afghan soldier who killed three Australians - The Guardian

Trump Takes Executive Action on Economic Relief Package – Voice of America

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BEDMINSTER, NEW JERSEY - President Donald Trump acted Saturday to extend an expired jobless benefit to tens of millions of Americans who have lost their jobs during the coronavirus pandemic and defer payroll taxes after negotiations with Congress on a new package of economic aid collapsed.

As the United States neared 5 million cases of the coronavirus and 162,000 deaths Saturday, Trump called for up to $400 extra in weekly unemployment payments, one-third less than the $600 people had been receiving. Congress allowed those payments to end August 1, and talks to extend them fell apart Friday, with the White House and Democrats far apart on relief aid.

"This is the money they need, this is the money they want, this gives them an incentive to go back to work," Trump said of the smaller jobless benefits during a news conference at his private country club in Bedminster, New Jersey.

He said 25 percent of it would be paid by states, whose budgets have been hard hit by the crisis. The president wants to set aside $44 billion in previously approved aid to help states pay the larger jobless benefits, but it would be up to states to decide how much, if any, to use, so the benefits could be smaller still. The previous unemployment benefit was fully funded by Washington.

"Donald Trump is trying to distract from his failure to extend the $600 federal boost for 30 million unemployed workers by issuing illegal executive orders," Oregons Sen. Ron Wyden, the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, said. "This scheme is a classic Donald Trump con: playacting at leadership while robbing people of the support they desperately need."

Payroll taxes

The president is also suspending payroll taxes for workers who make less than $100,000 through the end of the year. Unemployed workers, who do not pay the tax because they arent collecting a paycheck, wont benefit. The taxes, 7 percent for employees, pay for Medicare and Social Security and will need to be paid eventually unless Congress acts, but there is bipartisan opposition to this on Capitol Hill.

"This fake tax cut would also be a big shock to workers who thought they were getting a tax cut when it was only a delay," Wyden said. "These workers would be hit with much bigger payments down the road."

Finally, the president said he was extending protections for tenants threatened with eviction and further delaying student loans payments and zero percent interest on federally financed loans.

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden called the orders a "series of half-baked measures" and accused Trump of putting Social Security "at grave risk" by delaying the collection of payroll taxes that pay for the program.

However, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said in a statement Saturday, Struggling Americans need action now. Since Democrats have sabotaged backroom talks with absurd demands that would not help working people, I support President Trump exploring his options to get unemployment benefits and other relief to the people who need them the most.

At an impasse

Negotiations between top congressional Democrats and the White House reached an impasse after nearly two weeks with the two sides about $2 trillion apart.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer had offered to cut their $3.4 trillion aid package by almost one-third if the Republicans would double their $1 trillion counteroffer. That $1 trillion package faces opposition by about 20 of the Senates 54 Republicans.

Todays meager announcements by the President show President Trump still does not comprehend the seriousness or the urgency of the health and economic crises facing working families, Pelosi and Schumer said in a statement Saturday.

These policy announcements provide little real help to families. Furthermore, these announcements do nothing to increase testing, nothing to reopen schools, nothing to put food on the table for hungry families, nothing to prevent heroes being laid off across state and local government, nothing to protect the Postal Service or the integrity of our elections, nothing on many critical needs of the American people.

The breakdown in the negotiations between the White House and congressional Democrats is particularly distressing for schools, which have been counting on billions of dollars from Washington to help with the costs of reopening. But other priorities, not addressed in Trumps actions Saturday, are also languishing, including a fresh round of $1,200 direct payments to most people, a cash infusion for the struggling Postal Service and money to help states hold elections in November.

Four coronavirus rescue bills amounting to nearly $3 trillion all won bipartisan approval, but conservatives have recoiled at the prospect of another agreement with a whopping deficit-financed cost.

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Trump Takes Executive Action on Economic Relief Package - Voice of America

Trump to Long Branch fundraiser crowd: ‘Deal with Iran within four weeks’ if-relected – Asbury Park Press

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Supporters and protesters lined the streets to greet President Trump during his visit to Long Branch for a fundrasier on Aug. 9, 2020. Asbury Park Press

LONG BRANCH President Donald Trump arrived here shortly before 5 p.m. for a private fundraising event on Ocean Avenue.

Marine One, the helicopter that transports the president, touched down at Elberon Park at 4:47 p.m. A motorcade then escorted Trump to a private home on Ocean Avenue in the city's Elberon section. The home belonged to the lateStanley Chera, a friend of Trump's who died in April due to complications of COVID-19.

Admission to the fundraiser cost supporters between $5,600 and $250,000, with perks including photo opportunities and a seat at a roundtable discussion with the president.Trump departed the event shortly after 7 p.m.

In a video tweeted out by Jewish Insider, Trump promises the sitting crowd of supporters some of whom rise to their feet that the White House will reach some sort of agreement with Iran within a month of Election Day if he wins re-election.

"If we win, we will have a deal with Iran within four weeks," he says in the video.

Tensions between the U.S. and Iran have gradually increased since Trump withdrew the United States from a 2015 nuclear deal and reimposed sanctions that restricted Iranian oil exports and brought the Iranian economy to a halt. In January, a U.S. drone strike killed Iranian general Qasem Soleimani in Baghdad.

Iran responded by firing ballistic missiles at U.S. forces in Iraq.

On Friday, National Counterintelligence and Security Center director William Evanina said Iran "seeks to undermine U.S. democratic institutions, President Trump, and to divide the country in advance of the 2020 elections.

Other videos from the fundraiser show Trump and the crowd being blessed by a group of rabbis, as well as his introduction by Haim Chera son of Stanley Chera.

In one video tweeted by Jewish news website Belaaz, Haim Chera refers to Trump as "the greatest president in our country's history" and thanks him for his friendship after his father's death.

In the video, Haim Chera also propulgates a popular conspiracy theory that the COVID-19 may have been "maliciously released" by the Chinese government.

None of the fundraiser guests, who appear to be packed in under an outdoor tent, appear to be wearing face coverings in the video.

"You are fighting a war against an invisible enemy, recklessly or maliciously released onto our shores from China, and you still made time to offer your assistance to us," Haim Chera said in the video.

Opponents and supporters of Trump gathered on Ocean Avenue, about one block south of the Chera compound, where a pair of heavy-duty green and gray public works trucks served as a barricade.

At 2 p.m., hours before Trump's anticipated arrival, protesters for and against his administration squared offoneither side of South Lincoln Avenue, trading chants "Dump Trump!" and "Four more years!"

Supporters and protesters gathered in Elberon on Sunday, Aug. 9, and begun marching to Ocean Avenue where, sometime before 5 p.m., President Donald Trump is expected to arrivefor a fundraiser with New Jersey supporters.(Photo: Mike Davis/Asbury Park Press)

"They have their own fundraiserdown the road. What do they need us for," said Summitresident Jill LaZare, aDeal native and former Assembly candidate who organized the anti-Trump protest.

WHAT WE KNOW: President Trump schedules fundraiser in Elberon

"A lot of these people have been yelling 'we don't want you here,' and I want to make sure it's clear that there are a lot of people in this area who do not support Trump, and are outraged by his presidency on so many different levels," LaZare said.

LaZare and about 50 other protesters were gathered on a small field on one side of the street, flanked by the infamous "Baby Trump" balloon, a caricature of the president that has made appearances at various protests and events over the last few years.

Jack Gavin drove to the protest from his home in West Caldwell to help set up the Baby Trump balloon and pass out pocked-sized copies of the Constitution, a practice he said was inspired by Gold Star father Khizr Khan, who offered to lend Trump a copy at the 2016 Democratic National Convention.

Its an important thing to educate everyone I can about what the Constitution says and does not say and the importance of it especially when it comes to checks and balances, Gavin said. Donald Trump is walking all over checks and balances and the Republican Senate is doing nothing to stop it.

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At 4 p.m., police told protest organizers to take the balloon down at the order of the U.S. Secret Service, LaZare said.

On the other side of the street were about 25 counter-protesters, stacked two or three deep and waving an American flag, a "blue line" flag and a Trump 2020 campaign flag.

Rafi King, a police chaplain, spent the first half-hour chanting "Trump 2020" and "blue lives matter" into a megaphone before police instructed him to put it away. LaZare said her group wasn't allowed to use one, and asked police to enforce that rule on the counter-protesters.

Supporters and protesters gathered in Elberon on Sunday, Aug. 9, and begun marching to Ocean Avenue where, sometime before 5 p.m., President Donald Trump is expected to arrive for a fundraiser with New Jersey supporters.(Photo: Mike Davis/Asbury Park Press)

There were hints of outrage, but never violence. Anti-Trump protesters swarmed a luxury car, with New York plates, exchanging obscene hand gestures after unknown words were exchanged.

Vic Hara, 61, of Oakhurst said he voted for Trump in the last election and would do so again. Hara, who is Jewish, also supports the presidents pro-Israel actions.

He shows respect for the country, he said. We were losing ourrespect as a country.

My man Donald Trump, I supported him in the last election. Im supporting him in this election," said another Trump supporter, Ray Antoky, 73, of Long Branchs West End section. "He made America great again, and hes going to do it again.

Trump supporters Vic Hara, of the Oakhurst section of Ocean Township (left) with Ray Antoky , of Long Branchs West End, on Ocean Avenue in Long Branch ahead of the president's visit on Aug. 9, 2020.(Photo: Amanda Oglesby)

Antoky said he likes Trumps fight against the Deep State and fake press. The president cares about employment and people, he said. Antoky, who is Jewish, said he likes Trump for being pro-Israel.

And one anti-Trump protester made the mistake of arriving at the protest on the wrong side of the street. The crowd of pro-Trump protesters swarmed her, at one point ripping one of her homemade posters in half.

They ripped it up, said the woman, a local resident who declined to give her name. That was uncalled for. There was no reason for him to do that.

The anti-Trump protesters displayed hand-written signs while the pro-Trump group waved the American flag, along with a blue lives matter and Trump 2020 campaign flag.

Chera, 77, had relocated to his Elberon home in late March but was admitted to New York Presbyterian Hospital with the novel coronavirus a short while later. He died on April 11.

When you send a friend to the hospital, and you call up to find out how is he doing it happened to me, where he goes to the hospital, he says goodbye, Trump said during a March press briefing, referring to Chera. "And you call up the next day: 'How's he doing? And hes in a coma? This is not the flu.

In Elberon, barely any of the pro-Trump protesters was wearing a face mask, despite both doctors encouragingand state law requiring people to doo so in order to curb the spread of COVID-19.

Their unencumbered chants ofget a job and four more years" occasionally drowned out the "dump Trump" and "show me what democracy looks like" chants of the masked anti-Trump protesters, who instead displayed their hand-made posters.

"162,000+ dead," one sign read. "Are we winning?"

Mike Davis has spent the last decade covering New Jersey local news, marijuana legalization, transportation and basically whatever else is going on at any given moment. Contact him atmdavis@gannettnj.comor@byMikeDavison Twitter.

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Trump to Long Branch fundraiser crowd: 'Deal with Iran within four weeks' if-relected - Asbury Park Press

Here are 160000 reasons why nobody likes Donald Trump – Lewiston Morning Tribune

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Nobody likes me.

Truth or Consequences is the name of a town in New Mexico, and of a game show dating from the 1940s. But its also one of the primal laws of existence. Where an important truth is denied, consequences follow.

So none of us can be surprised at the state of the union after seven months of Donald Trumps lies, alibis and magical thinking in the face of one of the worst public health crises in history. Almost 160,000 of us are dead, the U.S. economy just endured its worst quarter on record and there is no sign the disaster is going to abate any time soon. To the contrary, the federal government is adding to the list of red zone states i.e., states where the COVID-19 infection rate continues to climb. Twenty-one states nearly half the country now make the list, including Florida, Tennessee, Texas and Mississippi.

And it should be lost on none of us that the red zone states are also mostly red states. Nineteen of the 21 California and Nevada are the outliers went for Trump in 2016. Red states, not to put too fine a point on it, are those wed expect to be most susceptible to his lies, alibis and magical thinking and most resistant to masks and social distancing.

Again, this is no surprise. As has been noted repeatedly in this space, truth doesnt care about your feelings. Unfortunately, Trump doesnt care about truth, so on behalf of 330 million of us, he chose consequences instead. And this country will be years in recovering, if it ever does.

All of which lends to a sense of astonishment at the morose monologue quoted above. It came during a news conference, called ostensibly to provide an update on the nations fight against the coronavirus pandemic. But the briefing also offered a squirm-inducing glimpse into Trumps fragile psyche as he ruminated over the fact that Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, the face of his coronavirus task force, is more popular than he is.

It sort of is curious, Trump said. A man works for us and yet theyre highly thought of and nobody likes me. It can only be my personality. And Lord, what to say about that?

It was pathetic, the miserableness of an unloved boy poking through the braggadocio of a 74-year-old man.

It was amazing, this most reality-resistant of men publicly conceding this most humiliating of facts.

It was sickening, almost 160,000 people dead, the nation in chaos, and yet, he cant see beyond his own envy.

And it was revealing, testament to a failure of self-awareness more epic than Greek tragedy.

Consider that shortly before the briefing, Trump retweeted the crackpot theories of some woman who claims, despite expert consensus to the contrary, that hydroxychloroquine can cure COVID-19. Mind you, she also believes doctors use alien DNA to treat patients, and researchers are creating a vaccine to stop people from being religious.

Called on his decision to amplify this woman, Trump insisted she is very respected. And also that I know nothing about her. Yet he muses that nobody likes him and it must be his personality?

Well, yeah. That, his imbecility and his utter inability to feel or even fake compassion for other human beings.

Nobody likes me. Boo hoo.

He denied the truth, and thats one of the consequences. Here are some of the others: People are sick, people are dying, people are losing their homes, people are losing their businesses, the country is unraveling. So Trumps operatic self-pity is a bridge way too far.

If anyone has compassion to spend, there are 330 million people who deserve it more.

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Here are 160000 reasons why nobody likes Donald Trump - Lewiston Morning Tribune

Trump may finally realize he’s suppressing his own vote – CNN

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This is the kind of stuff that confuses people.

What won't help is the major delay in results for some primary races in New York, people not receiving ballots for Tuesday's primary in Michigan and other snarls and hiccups we've seen through the primary season.

Colorado, Washington and Oregon have conducted vote-by-mail elections in the past. Hawaii and Utah had planned to hold a vote-by-mail election before the pandemic struck.

I talked to Elaine Kamarck, a senior fellow at Brookings and the founder of their Center on Effective Public Management.

Our conversation, conducted by phone and slightly edited for flow, is below.

Suppressing his own vote!

WHAT MATTERS: What's the first thing people need to know about the current debate over mail-in voting?

KAMARCK: People including the President until recently conflate what are called universal mail-in ballot states with absentee ballot systems.

There are only seven states in the United States that are going to use universal mail-in ballots for the November election.

They are Washington, Oregon, Utah, Colorado, California, Hawaii and the District of Columbia. All the ones we give As to.

First of all, the President has gotten into his head that somehow these states are corrupt and this system is corrupt. Not one of these states has had an allegation of corruption. Not one. Oregon has used this for 20 years and hasn't had a contested election, so I don't know where the hell he's getting that from.

The rest of the states in the union have absentee ballot provisions. Every state has absolutely valid provisions And as you saw from our map some are easier to access than others. That's why we graded them from A to F.

What he's doing is he's suppressing his own goddamn vote! It's just the stupidest thing I have ever seen in my life.

Be ready for election night to last a month

WHAT MATTERS: What's one thing everyone needs to be ready for as a result of all the mail-in voting?

KAMARCK: It sets us up for a very long election night or election week.

Because what's going to happen is the vote on election night may or may not -- probably will not -- be reflective of the total vote ...

Twenty states are now accepting absentee ballots that arrive as late as 10 days after Election Day.

So in other words, they have to be postmarked on Election Day. But if they arrive five days, six days, seven days later, they're going to be counted.

And this, this is a new wrinkle. Usually you have 1 to 5% of ballots are absentee ballots. Usually it doesn't make a difference in the outcome of the race. ... My guess is we're going to have 50% absentee ballots. That's my estimate from what happened in the primaries, is we're going to 50/50.

Can the states handle this?

WHAT MATTERS: Is the US able to handle a massive uptick in vote by mail?

KAMARCK: Yes it is. And the reason it is is that every state has had a practice run in the primary.

So they are working hard on this. Now, handling it now it may take longer to count these things, but they are able to handle it.

KAMARCK: We looked at a series of variables that all related to ease of voting absentee. And, for instance, there were some states that require you to have a notary notarize your absentee ballot. Well if there's no need to do that -- and obviously as you can imagine tracking down the notary is a big pain in the neck whenever you have to do it and that's very bad -- that definitely cuts down on absolutely valid use. Many states are moving away from that. There's only a handful of states that do that. But we took points off.

We had a point system, we took points off if you had to have a notary. And we gave points if all you needed was the signature of a registered voter.

Is the system safe?

WHAT MATTERS: How is the system secure if it simply requires a signature?

KAMARCK: States match signatures. They've got a signature on your voter registration, which they keep on file. Some states actually have technology that matches signatures ...

And this is another place where Trump is out of his mind. The ballots are usually printed county by county. They're on specific kinds of paper. They're in a specific format. Sometimes they've got barcodes on them. In other words, the notion that somebody could go out and massively create a bunch of fake ballots and send them to fake voters who weren't real people who didn't have signatures that matched their voter registration. That's really hard ...

So this whole notion that this is vulnerable to fraud just doesn't hold water.

Prior to the pandemic the biggest worry about our election apparatus was that Russians or other foreigners would hack into the election systems and alter the vote.

Ironically, before the election, 22 states had moved to adopt paper ballots so that there could be a verifiable paper trail in the case of a recount.

As we move now to all absentee ballots, essentially we have a really, really good paper trail because it's an absentee ballot with a signature, etcetera etcetera.

It's hard to hack into that. Absentee ballots are counted in large rooms, which are secured by guards in the state capital or the state election board headquarters. So Boris may find it easy to hack into the transmission of results. He's not going to find it very easy to get in the damn room where they're counting the ballots.

Who is allowed in that room? Election officials and a representative of each political party.

It's not like, you know, they're going to let the Republican in the room and keep the Democrat out, right?

Those representatives of political parties are usually lawyers and they are armed to the gills to run right to court. And they're gonna run right to court the minute anything funny shows up.

This will not be flawless

WHAT MATTERS: In Michigan, in New York, in Connecticut and elsewhere, vote by mail has not been flawless in the primary process. Should people be worried about those problems that we've seen with ballots not arriving on time, or should they just accept that as a part of the new system?

KAMARCK: Well I think the answer is yes and no. The bad news is that every state is going to be going through a volume of ballots that they've never had before. So for many, many states this is going to be all brand new and stuff is gonna happen, right? There will be ballots that are arriving late, etcetera ...

The good news is that the the primaries were a dry run. And states learned things in the primaries. One of the most important things they learned is that ... you have to have some sort of backup system.

Provisional ballots. In some states, the people realize you need to have more in-person voting places than they thought they needed. So say you apply for your absentee ballot and you don't get it by Election Day.

You need to be able to go to a polling place and vote, and one of the things that happened in so many states in the primaries was that they didn't have enough polling places because they saw the volume of absentee ballot requests and then they thought, 'Oh we don't need a lot of voting places.'

Well it turns out they maybe didn't need as many as they usually do. But they needed a heck of a lot more than they had because people ... who didn't get their ballots wanted to go vote in person.

Let's say Covid had just hit in August. Then we really wouldn't be very prepared for this. At least we're a little bit better prepared.

Can the US Postal Service handle this?

WHAT MATTERS: What's your assessment of whether the Postal Service can deal with this deluge of ballots?

KAMARCK: I think it will be slow. I think there will be -- it'll take time to get ballots in.

I think a lot of people who know who they're going to vote for are going to vote early to make sure that their ballot gets in.

The second thing we see states doing -- and we're up 20 states now -- they are accepting valid ballots after Election Day. And that is specifically to account for this problem. ... And we gave them good grades obviously for doing that.

So that's one adjustment. My expectation is that more states are gonna adopt that so that if the mail is slow, they'll still get their ballots counted.

Election Day starts in one month

KAMARCK: Well it's too late for North Carolina. But no, it's not too late for states to make changes. And one of the reasons we're updating our score card every Friday is because states are in fact making changes, you know, as we speak. I'd say there's probably another month or so for states to make changes and then it's pretty locked in.

The other thing that's going on by the way is there are a lot of court cases. So the Republican National Committee has been fighting this, trying to follow in Trump's footsteps, although they've not been very successful. ... I think the courts need to act expeditiously and make decisions here so that come around Labor Day everybody knows how to vote in their given state.

The media's special responsibility

WHAT MATTERS: Is there anything else you think people need to know?

KAMARCK: I'll tell you this one last thing.

I think it is very important that the media not set expectations that we're gonna have everything decided on election night.

Because frankly, if they try to call this too fast and then the absentee ballots change and the outcome changes in some state or the election is close, then it plays right into the hands of the conspiracy theorists, including the President, who is trying to argue that the election is going to be wrecked and incorrect.

And so the media plays a big role here ... the worst thing the media can do is jump to conclusions. If it's really clear, if it's a landslide, then they probably can call it on election night. But short of that, they've got to be really careful about calling the election.

Originally posted here:

Trump may finally realize he's suppressing his own vote - CNN