How to be physically and legally safe when protesting – The Alestle

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For the past two months, the U.S. has seen an uptick in protests, which have spanned across the globe. People are fighting in a time many consider to be a revolution. Protesting is a way for people to speak on what they believe. Some are protesting for the first time, with little knowledge on how to stay legally and physically safe.

The First Amendment protects U.S. citizens rights to peacefully assemble wherever they would like. The First Amendment also gives us the freedoms of speech, religion, and petition. This means protests are constitutionally protected.

Videotaping is also allowed during a public protest, but keep in mind that state law varies when it comes to audio. The National Association of Realtors lists video and audio surveillance laws for all 50 states on their website.

According to the ACLU, pictures and videos taken during a protest are all protected under the First Amendment.

If stopped by law enforcement at a protest, the ACLU, a reliable civil rights website, recommends calmly asking am I free to go, and if the police says yes just calmly walk away, dont walk away fast or the police can actually have a reason to arrest you. When stopped, law enforcement cant take or confiscate any video or photos without a warrant.

The first thing U.S. citizens need to do when getting arrested is stay silent. Dont say a word, even if you dont understand why you are getting arrested, the ACLU recommends.

Upon arriving at the police station, ask for a lawyer immediately. The Sixth Amendment protects the right to have a lawyer present during questioning. The Fifth Amendment protects U.S citizens from self-incrimination in the event a lawyer isnt present.

Citizens also have the right to a phone call to get legal advice without law enforcement listening in.

While knowing your rights is important, it is equally important to know how to protest safely and what to bring with you to make that possible.

The most important thing to bring when protesting is any type of small bag or backpack to keep essentials in. These essentials could include things like water and snacks, and by having the backpack or bag, the struggle of carrying an excess amount of items is eliminated.

Since we are in the midst of a pandemic, you will need some type of mask or bandana to protect you from the virus. It will also shield your identity from cameras and police surveillance just in case there are illegal activities happening during the protest.

Once you get to the protest, there are lots of things to consider when trying to stay safe. Make sure you study your surroundings and have an idea of what is happening around you. Be friendly with other protesters and respect those not participating in the protest.

While protesting, make sure to wear suitable clothes and shoes to allow one to move easily in case of emergency.

It is best to wear black attire, because it will allow one to blend in with the crowd easily. Also, cover any tattoos or hair if it is dyed a distinctive color. Wear closed-toe shoes that are broken in and good for long distances.

It is recommended to not go to a protest by yourself. Go with a group. Once you have a group, make a plan in case the protest gets out of hand, like where to meet if the situation turns dangerous.

There are also some risks involved which can be minimized by avoiding certain reactions. It is not advisable to run from police or in general; it might be a human instinct to run when you see others running, but it can lead to you or others getting hurt.

Dont direct others behavior while they protest. If it makes you uncomfortable, leave and find a safe area rather than vocalizing your discomfort.

Protesting has always been a way for people to speak their mind and stand up for things they believe in. First-time protestors can easily make mistakes if they havent educated themselves on how to be safe. Knowing your rights and ways to stay safe wont only help you, but it will allow you to help others.

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23 attorneys general sue Trump administration to stop "mean and unconstitutional" rule revoking transgender protections – CBS News

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A coalition of Democratic state attorneys general sued the Trump administration on Monday, seeking to block next month's implementation of a rule overturning Obama-era protections for transgender people against sex discrimination in health care.

New York Attorney General Letitia James, leading the group of 23 states, said the change affecting the Affordable Care Act's anti-discrimination section would give health care providers and insurance companies carte blanche to refuse treatment based on factors such as gender identity.

James also raised concerns that women could be denied access to abortion under the revision, which takes effect Aug. 18, and that non-English speakers will be deprived of information through a change to requirements that insurers print materials in a variety of languages.

"This is just the latest attempt by President Trump and his administration to unlawfully chip away at health care for Americans after failing to repeal the ACA time after time," James told reporters in a conference call announcing the lawsuit.

The lawsuit, filed in Manhattan federal court against the Department of Health and Human Services, secretary Alex Azar and civil rights chief Roger Severino, seeks an injunction to stop the rule from taking effect. The attorneys general argue it violates the Fifth Amendment's equal protection clause.

A message seeking comment was left with a spokesperson for the department.

The Trump Administration pushed ahead with the rule change even after a Supreme Court ruling last month barring workplace sex discrimination against LGBT people, moving to show Trump's religious and socially conservative supporters that he remains committed to their causes ahead of the November election.

Under the change, Health and Human Services said it will enforce sex discrimination protections "according to the plain meaning of the word 'sex' as male or female and as determined by biology." That rewrites an Obama-era regulation that sought a broader understanding shaped by a person's internal sense of being male, female, neither or a combination.

The lawsuit brought by the attorneys general is part of an expected flurry of lawsuits challenging the lawsuit, including one filed last month by the LGBT civil rights organization Lambda Legal. Such groups say explicit protections are needed for people seeking sex-reassignment treatment, and even for transgender people who need care for common illnesses such as diabetes or heart problems.

California Attorney General Xavier Becerra and Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey, both frequent Trump foes, assisted James in crafting the lawsuit. Becerra said implementing the rule while coronavirus continues to rage across the country is especially cruel.

"This is a mean and unconstitutional rule in any context," Becerra said. "But authorizing discrimination in our health care system at this time, when our nation is suffering through a pandemic, is unbelievably immoral."

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Democratic AGs sue Trump administration over LGBTQ health protections rollback | TheHill – The Hill

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A coalition of 23 Democratic state attorneys general are suing the Trump administration over a rule that scraps ObamaCare's nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQ patients.

Led by Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey, New York Attorney Letitia James and California Attorney General Xavier BecerraXavier BecerraOVERNIGHT ENERGY: 20 states sue over Trump rule limiting states from blocking pipeline projects | House Democrats add 'forever chemicals' provisions to defense bill after spiking big amendment |Lawmakers seek extension for tribes to spend stimulus money Newsom rips Trump order targeting undocumented immigrants in census: 'Rooted in racism' 20 states sue over Trump rule limiting states from blocking pipeline projects MORE, the lawsuit alleges that the new rule allows providers and insurers to discriminate against certain vulnerable and protected populations.

The administration's rule, released in June, will roll back implementation of the Affordable Care Act's Section 1557, which prohibits federally funded health programs and facilities from discriminating against patients based on race, color, national origin, sex, disability or age.

Advocates and health groups said the policy will make it easier for doctors, hospitals and insurance companies to deny care or coverage to transgender and nonbinary patients, as well as women who have had abortions.

The lawsuit alleges that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has unlawfully ignored the harms that the rule will impose on vulnerable populations.

The lawsuit claims that the rule is arbitrary, capricious and contrary to law under the Administrative Procedure Act, and that it violates the equal protection guarantee of the Fifth Amendment.

The attorneys general also argue that HHS failed to justify why it abandoned its prior policy, which, among other things, explicitly prohibited discrimination in health care and required health care entities to provide meaningful language assistance services to individuals with limited English proficiency.

The lawsuit also argues thatsince the rule was released in the middle of a pandemic, it will impose "unjustifiable barriers to health care on vulnerable populations at a time when access to care is as crucial as ever."

"The COVID-19 pandemic is disproportionately impacting some of our most vulnerable residents, yet this White House is moving forward with a rule that puts these communities at even further risk," Healey said in a statement.

The lawsuit was filed in federal court in the Southern District of New York. It comes after the Supreme Court on June 15 ruled that employment discrimination on the basis of transgender status or sexual orientation is unlawful.

The attorneys general of Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Wisconsin and the District of Columbia also joined the lawsuit.

Washington state announced a separate lawsuit over the rule on Friday. Advocacy groups sued to block the rulein June.

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Everything we know about Roy Den Hollander and the fatal shooting at federal judges house in N.J. – NJ.com

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Hours after shots rang out in a quiet Middlesex County neighborhood on Sunday, leaving the son of U.S. District Judge Esther Salas dead and her husband critically injured, the FBI in Newark circled its nets around a killer.

Were looking for one subject and ask that anyone who thinks they may have relevant information (to) call us, the agency tweeted at 10:51 p.m. On Monday, the FBI identified New York attorney Roy Den Hollander as the gunman and said the suspect is now deceased.

In the two days since the slaying of Daniel Anderl and the shooting of his father, criminal defense attorney Mark Anderl, law enforcement has provided few details about how the shooting occurred and almost nothing as to motive.

Instead, the media has been left on its own to paint a picture of the alleged shooter as a disgruntled attorney and activist who may have been motivated by the misguided notion he was furthering the cause of mens rights.

Here is what we know:

The killing was calculated and occurred in the late afternoon over the weekend

The suspect, dressed as a FedEx delivery driver, arrived at Salas home on Point of Woods Drive about 5 p.m. on Sunday.

Her son, Daniel Anderl, 20, is believed to have answered the door with his father, Mark Anderl, 63, nearby.

When the door opened, the gunman fired multiple shots, striking both Daniel Anderl and his father. Daniel Anderl died at the scene. Mark Anderl is hospitalized in critical but stable condition.

Salas, 51, was in the basement at the time of the shooting and was not injured.

After the shooting, the bogus delivery driver fled in an unknown direction.

Daniel Anderl, 20. (Photo courtesy of Catholic University)

The suspect was identified as Den Hollander, an anti-feminist lawyer who had a case before Salas

A self-described anti-feminist lawyer, Den Hollander was best known for unsuccessful lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of ladies night promotions at bars and nightclubs.

Den Hollander was part of a pending case before Salas regarding the U.S. Militarys male-only draft registration system, court records show.

The lawsuit argues, in part, that requiring only men to register in the draft discriminates against both sexes in violation of Equal Protection as incorporated into the Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

In an interview with NJ Advance Media, attorney Nick Gravante said his firm took over the case last year after Den Hollander called him saying he had terminal cancer, and could not continue pursuing it.

Among the other suits Den Hollander filed was a case alleging night clubs in New York City discriminate against men by offering ladies nights discounts.

Now is the time for all good men to fight for their rights before they have no rights left, a passage on his website read. His site also refers to a Lady Judge who decided one of his cases.

In 2017, Den Hollander wrote a letter to then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions in which he complained of living under "Feminazi" rule. His litigation, and willingness to appear on television, earned him spots on ABC News, The Colbert Report and MSNBC.

Another lawsuit argued night clubs were violating human rights by charging men hundreds of dollars for bottle service. In 2008, he unsuccessfully sued Columbia University for providing women's studies classes, saying they were "a bastion of bigotry against men."

The suspected gunman researched Salas and wrote that he did not like Hispanic women judges

Den Hollander wrote in an online essay in 2019 about a planned hearing apparently before Salas, the first Hispanic woman to be appointed to the U.S. District Court in New Jersey. He referred to the jurist as a lazy and incompetent Latina judge appointed by (President Barack) Obama.

In other online ramblings, Den Hollander said he researched Salas background and made racist comments about Hispanic judges. The document was posted on a website with its domain name registered to Den Hollander.

Den Hollander bashed Salas earlier legal career, describing her as working for an ambulance chasing firm and representing neer-do-wells as a federal public defender.

He also criticized Salas for joining politically correct organizations trying to convince America that whites, especially white males, were barbarians, and all those of a darker skin complexion were victims.

Den Hollander claimed his bitter divorce helped fuel his anti-feminist stance

According to his online resume, Den Hollander focused much of his practice on representing men in civil cases, which he referred to as antifeminist cases or guys'-rights cases.

In 2008, he told the New York Times that his bitter divorce years earlier from a woman he married in Russia helped fuel his anger toward feminists. He also said he wanted to fight laws that he believed unfairly favored women.

The same gunman may have been involved in a California shooting with eerie similarities

The New York Times, citing two law enforcement officials, reported the FBI is investigating whether Den Hollander was involved in the July 11 killing of mens rights lawyer Marc Angelucci in San Bernardino, California.

Angelucci was shot at his front door by a gunman wearing a FedEx uniform, according to published reports.

According to the National Coalition For Men, Angelucci took on high profile cases involving paternity fraud and advocated for male victims of domestic violence in California.

Marc AngelucciFacebook

Another prominent judge, a woman serving in New York State, may also have been targeted

The FBI warned court officials in New York that Den Hollander had a photo of that states Chief Judge Janet DiFiore in his car. The photo was found along with Den Hollanders body on Monday in Rockland, New York.

Thats what I understand to be true. At this point, thats all I have, said Lucian Chalfen, director of communications for New York State Courts.

From left, U.S. District Court Judge Esther Salas, Roy Den Hollander and New York State Chief Judge Janet DiFiore.File

Salas was the presiding judge in high-profile cases, including one involving Jeffrey Epstein

Salas has handled cases involving members of the Grape Street Crips, in connection with a long-running drug-trafficking network that was taken down by the FBI in 2015. She was also the judge who sent Real Housewives stars Joe and Teresa Giudice to prison.

In 2017, she barred federal prosecutors from seeking the death penalty against an alleged gang leader charged in several Newark slayings, ruling the mans intellectual disability made him ineligible for capital punishment. Salas later sentenced the man to 45 years in prison.

More recently, Salas has presided over an ongoing lawsuit brought by Deutsche Bank investors who claim the company made false and misleading statements about its anti-money laundering policies and failed to monitor high-risk customers, including Jeffrey Epstein.

FILE - In this Oct. 15, 2014 file photo, Giuseppe "Joe" Giudice, from the television show "Real Housewives of New Jersey," appears in a New Jersey courtroom. (William Perlman/NJ Advance Media via AP, Pool)AP

Den Hollander claimed he had terminal cancer and wrote about revenge

Roy Den Hollander wrote in an online essay last year that he was dying of cancer. A GoFundMe page titled Cancer knocks you down & doctors finish you off has been deactivated.

The New York Post reported that Hollander wrote about revenge fantasies and his cancer diagnosis in an online screed.

Deaths hand is on my left shoulder...nothing in this life matters anymore, he wrote in the manifesto. The only problem with a life lived too long under Feminazi rule is that a man ends up with so many enemies he cant even the score with all of them.

Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com.

Anthony G. Attrino may be reached at tattrino@njadvancemedia.com.

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Attorney arrested by feds among Portland Wall of Moms protesters says she was not read rights – OregonLive

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A Beaverton lawyer arrested early Tuesday by federal officers at Portland protests said officers never informed her of her rights or identified where they worked.

Jennifer Kristiansen, 37, said she was standing arm-in-arm other women as part of the Wall of Moms near the front line of protesters converged outside the federal courthouse.

She now faces criminal charges and is not allowed to go back on the federal property to protest.

The mothers group has drawn hundreds of people downtown to join nightly protests against systemic racism.

Federal officers released tear gas on the crowd outside the courthouse just before 12:30 a.m.

As the moms backed away with the rest of the crowd, Kristiansen said she found herself near the edge of the group. She heard a woman nearby say she had been hit by an officers baton. Kristiansen said she put her arm in between the officer and people retreating.

Another officer, wearing a black uniform, arrived and pointed at Kristiansen.

He said to the billy club guy, Thats the one who hit me, Kristiansen told the Oregonian/OregonLive hours after her arrest Tuesday.

Neither the Department of Homeland Security nor the Department of Justice immediately responded to requests for comments about Kristiansens arrest.

The officers separated Kristiansen from the line in a series of actions she described as a blur. She said she had seen a video clip of her arrest that showed an officer restraining her with an arm across her chest.

That must be why my sternum hurts today, she said.

One of the arresting officers turned her around and pushed her against the wall of the federal courthouse, she said, then touched her breast and butt. Its unclear if it was intentional or not. She was terrified for a moment.

Officers handcuffed her and took her into the federal courthouse. One handcuff was so loose it slipped off, allowing her to quickly send a text from her Apple Watch to her husband: Angry cursing face emoji. Sorry cant talk right now. Police officer face emoji.

She said she was put in an elevator in the building with four officers. They took her to a holding cell on the fourth floor, where she stayed by herself. No one ever read her rights to her, she said.

She tried to sleep, but barely did since the only place in the cell to sleep was a small metal bench.

When officers tried to ask her questions about what happened, she said she chose not to speak, citing her Fifth Amendment rights.

A few times, people came in and checked on her. She asked for a blanket or if the officer could bring her flannel from her bag they did not. The person said he was sorry he couldnt bring it to her Kristiansen said.

Dont tell me youre sorry when youre not, she said she thought to herself. People who are sorry do not do what they did.

She said she is not dangerous, but was being treated like she was dangerous.

Around 7:15 a.m., she was driven to the Multnomah County Detention Center, where she waited again in a cell until 1:25 p.m.

County jail records confirm she was booked into jail at 7:20 a.m. at the request of U.S. Marshals.

She said didnt know what agency arrested her until she asked how she could get her phone and other personal items back later. Sheriffs deputies said they didnt have it but that Federal Protective Service did.

No officers identified themselves to her throughout the night, she said.

She also didnt know until later what she had been arrested for, and found out from a member of the sheriffs department, not a federal officer. She was charged with misdemeanor assault of a federal officer and for refusing to leave federal property.

She said she was trying to leave federal property when she was detained and arrested. She said she would never hit an officer because she is a lawyer and would not want to jeopardize her job.

At 1:25 p.m., Kristiansen had her arraignment. When she was preparing to go, she was asked if she had her charging documents. She said she had never been given any. She also never got to call an attorney.

She was released a little after 4 p.m., along with four other protesters arrested Monday. She didnt get her phone, identification or shoe laces back. She did leave with sore muscles from sitting in the cell and bruises from her arrest.

She will not be going back to the protest soon, she said, because part of the terms of her release are a curfew and staying away from that area downtown.

She said she feels an obligation to share her story, following the controversy surrounding federal officers in Portland.

She said her experience being arrested by federal officers was bad, but said immigrants and Black people have faced the same abuses for much longer.

Not enough people paid attention, she said about the Department of Homeland Securitys treatment of immigrants. If it takes a tiny little rainbow-wearing white lady to bring attention to this problem that has been a problem for the immigrant community for a while, so be it.

--Alex Hardgrave | ahardgrave@oregonian.com | @a_hardgrave

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China’s Tianwen-1 Mars rover mission gets a boost from international partners – Space.com

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Following the completion of multiple integrated rehearsals, China is ready for the launch of its first fully homegrown Mars mission.

Tianwen-1, which consists of an orbiter, lander and rover, is scheduled to lift off in late July or early August, according to the China National Space Administration (CNSA). Speculation is that the launch is targeted for July 23, the opening of the window.

Last Friday (July 17), the fourth Long March-5 rocket coded as Long March-5 Y4 was vertically transported to the launching area at the Wenchang Space Launch Center in south China's Hainan Province.

China's bid to explore Mars involves several other nations for tracking, orbital relay of data and science instrument support.

Related: China's Tianwen-1 Mars rover launches this week. Here's what it'll do.

In a recent interview with China Central Television (CCTV), Tianwen-1 deputy director Zhang Yu said that scientists have conducted joint tests on multiple systems of the Mars mission at all levels and are ready for the launch.

"We have carried out multiple coordinated maneuvers over flight and control together with launching site system, the rocket system and the probe system, which have verified the validity of interfaces between different systems and the flight program, and also indicated that we are capable of conducting the first Mars probe of our country," said Zhang.

"We formatted an orbit kinetic model that has [the] same orbit with the rover, as well as the corresponding measurement model," Zhang added. "Then we established the corresponding control algorithm to ensure that the probe lands on the designated location of Mars at the designated time, and can automatically capture information, to ensure it can conduct flight and control [its] mission across Mars."

Related: This is the 1st photo of China's Mars explorer launching in 2020

To cope with the challenges ahead, the Beijing Aerospace Control Center set up a Mars exploration flight control team at the start of 2018.

CCTV reported that, despite the coronavirus pandemic this year, the team has been actively adjusting personnel allocation, coordinating the test and control network and mapping out switching schemes for different sites, in order to meet the needs of the Mars probe.

The center will also adopt the new software and hardware of the flight and control system to assure the correct performance of China's domestically manufactured hardware system.

China's Mars mission is ambitious, aiming to pull off orbiting, landing and roving a historic all-in-one mission.

To do so, the country has beefed up its deep-space monitoring network capability to support the Tianwen-1 mission. Once the probe has entered Earth-Mars transfer orbit, the control center's two monitoring stations, in Kashgar of northwestern Xinjiang's Uygur Autonomous Region, and Jiamusi, in northeastern Heilongjiang Province, will swing into action.

At the Long March-5 rollout, the booster's protective payload fairing was seen to be adorned with European (ESA), French (CNES), Argentine (CONAE) and Austrian (FFG) space agency logos, in addition to that of the CNSA.

Tianwen-1 will use ESA's Estrack communications network, and in several ways.

Estrack's Kourou ground station, in French Guiana, South America, will follow the mission on departure from China. Extremely precise navigation/trajectory determination, via ESA's stations in Australia and Spain, will also be provided as Tianwen-1 makes its way to Mars.

"Successful space travel often means pooling resources, and at ESA we are happy to support the new Martian mission with our Estrack network of antennas as well as with our Mars Express spacecraft, currently in orbit at the Red Planet," ESA's Beatriz Arias told Space.com.

ESA's Kourou ground station will catch signals from the spacecraft as it separates from the launcher after liftoff, providing information on the probe's distance and movements and enabling communications.

After liftoff and until Tianwen-1 enters Martian orbit, ESA's New Norcia (Australia) and Cebreros (Spain) stations will make a total of eight communication linkups with the spacecraft to support a highly precise navigation/trajectory determination technique known as Delta-DOR (short for "Delta-Differential One-way Range").

Once at the Red Planet, the Mars Express orbiter will provide data relay support, acting as a go-between, alongside the Chinese orbiter, for the data gathered by China's rover on the Martian surface and ground stations on Earth, ESA officials have said. However, this is backup only, as China's own orbiter will provide the prime relay service.

Argentina's Comisin Nacional de Actividades Espaciales (CONAE) is thought to be tied to Tianwen-1 by way of a Chinese-run tracking station installed in Las Lajas, Argentina. The facility played a role in China's landing of the Chang'e-4 spacecraft on the far side of the moon in January 2019.

The Institute for Research in Astrophysics and Planetology (IRAP) in Toulouse, France is collaborating with China on the Tianwen-1 rover.

CNES is the program manager of this collaboration, Sylvestre Maurice of IRAP told Space.com.

"For their Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) instrument, we have delivered a calibration target that is a French duplicate of a target which is on [NASA's] Curiosity [Mars rover]. The idea is to see how the two datasets compare," Maurice said.

Meanwhile, the Austrian space sector, under the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG), has been reported to aid in the development of a magnetometer installed on the Chinese Mars orbiter.

The Space Research Institute (Institut fr Weltraumforschung, IWF) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Graz has confirmed the group's contribution to the Tianwen-1 magnetometer and helped with the calibration of the flight instrument, explained Andreas Geisler, head of the FFG Aeronautics and Space Agency.

"The Aeronautics and Space Agency of the Austrian Research Promotion Agency has framed the cooperation on the basis of an agency to agency memorandum of understanding (MoU) with CNSA," Geisler toldSpace.com.

Leonard David is author of "Moon Rush: The New Space Race" (National Geographic, 2019). A longtime writer for Space.com, David has been reporting on the space industry for more than five decades. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook or Google+. This version of the story published on Space.com.

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How to survive the apocalypse: A practical guide to the end of days – CNET

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Getty Images This story is part of Road Trip 2020, CNET's series on how we're preparing now for what could come next.

Frankly, 2020 feels pretty apocalyptic.

If you had global pandemic, catastrophic bushfires, trans-atlantic dust storm, murder hornets, plagues of locusts, zombie cicadas and monkeys stealing vials of COVID blood on your bingo card, then you win.

But if the world was really reaching the end of days, is there anything we could do to stop the carnage? Can we really prepare for doomsday?

It's a question we've been asking ourselves for a long time. In the 1950s, Bert the Turtle coached schoolchildren across the United States to Duck and Cover to avoid "the atomic bomb." In more recent years, Bear Grylls taught ordinary suburbanites how to stay alive if they, too, should find themselves in the wild, by fossicking for edible bugs.

But with so many potential disasters facing us and so many ways to prepare for each one, where can the average person start? What choices can we make now that could really make a difference later?

Thankfully, before the murder hornets started rearing their heads and the global outbreak hit, I spent a good deal of time trying to answer that very question. For CNET's recent documentary series Hacking the Apocalypse I travelled around the United States speaking to leading experts about how to escape the end of days. Just how real is the threat of Nuclear Winter? Will the world run out of water? Is the entire Pacific Northwest going to be carved off by a giant earthquake and tsunami?

In the spirit of "forewarned is forearmed," let's walk through the apocalyptic situations you could face -- and how you can survive.

From the lab to your inbox. Get the latest science stories from CNET every week.

First up, there's not much use in preparing for the kind of cataclysmic, world-ending scenarios you've seen in your standard Roland Emmerich film -- you can't duck and cover from a giant asteroid impact or alien invasion.

But on the plus side, the odds of an event that catastrophic happening in our lifetimes is pretty slim. NASA's Planetary Defense Coordination Office keeps track of "Near Earth Objects" and even those giant space rocks defined as "Potentially Hazardous Objects" are still only within 4.7 million miles of our planet. As for aliens, the best advice is make yourself valuable to the invading race so they don't force you toil in their underground sugar caves.

Now playing: Watch this: Surviving a nuclear apocalypse in a luxury doomsday bunker

15:12

There are roughly 14,000 nuclear weapons in the world and 90% of them are in the hands of Russia and the US, according to atmospheric scientist and nuclear expert Professor Brian Toon. And even the smallest weapon in the US arsenal (100 kilotons) would cause catastrophic devastation if it was detonated over a major city. Everything in a six-mile diameter would catch on fire and be destroyed.

"If you get within a mile or so [of the blast], the pressure wave is so intense, it will blow down concrete buildings," Toon told me. "And somewhere in that zone, there's a blast of radiation from the bomb basically half of the people exposed to that would die over a week or two from radiation burns on their skin and radiation poisoning."

If you survive the initial impact, your troubles are far from over. These kinds of nuclear blasts generate city-wide fires that would push smoke into the stratosphere, blocking out the sun for 10 years and sending temperatures back to what Earth experienced during the last ice age.

A nuclear blast would lead to fires that could block out the sun and bring about a nuclear winter.

The only way you survive in the immediate vicinity is to head underground. If you're used to the finer things in life, you might head to a place like the Survival Condo in rural Kansas, which offers luxury apartments and features like a cinema, swimming pool and climbing wall, all 15 storeys underground -- for $1 million a pop.

If that's not your vibe and you're further away from the impact zone, you could wait out Nuclear Winter in a prepping community, like Fortitude Ranch in West Virginia. It won't protect you from a direct blast, but it's ideal if you're looking for strength in numbers to survive the long, cold years of a post-apocalyptic winter with no food. And its rural location places it far away from city-dwelling marauding hordes.

There's also another solution -- work to stop the bombs from dropping in the first place. Considering donating to organizations like the Nuclear Threat Initiative or the Ploughshares Fund that work towards global nuclear disarmament.

For the better part of a century, the threat of a devastating pandemic has been the stuff of history books or Hollywood science fiction. Until 2020 rolled around.

Now, we've all had a crash course in pandemic survival -- from washing our hands thoroughly and wearing a mask, to social distancing and putting up with long lines at supermarkets. Oh, and did I mention the mask?

The fact is, most of us haven't had time to rush out and get an epidemiology degree since the coronavirus began sweeping around the world, so we have to put our trust in experts trained in pandemic response. They're the public health policymakers who have been walking through pandemic simulations for decades. They're the front-line health care workers putting their lives on the line to look after us in our time of need. And they're the scientists working overtime on developing a vaccine and new treatments that could help us develop immunity before we get sick.

As we've all learned, surviving a pandemic is a waiting game. But while you wait, we'll say it again -- wear that mask!

Some catastrophic events -- pandemic, nuclear posturing -- build slowly. Others come with zero warning, giving you minutes to make a life or death decision.

An earthquake or tornado could come in the middle of the night. You may have 10 minutes to escape a tsunami. And the difference between being in the direct path of a hurricane and missing it altogether can be a matter of tragic luck.

This tsunami survival capsule is designed to protect people living in tsunami-prone areas from deadly waves and debris.

Thankfully technology is being used in the fight against natural disasters. Firefighters are using big data to predict the path of wildfires in the US and Australia. Researchers are developing ways to use nuclear weapons tracking technology to detect infrasonic signals from tornados and predicting volcano eruptions with drones and lasers. And even when disasters can't be stopped, humans are getting resourceful. Facing a tsunami? You can always jump in your own personal escape pod.

Regardless of the disaster situation, there are things you can do to protect yourself. Be ready to evacuate. Store your important documents (passports, birth certificates) in one place. And pack a go-bag. What you pack will depend on the biggest threats in your area -- a go-bag looks different if you're packing it in earthquake-prone San Francisco or for a bushfire-prone house in Australian bush. But having everything in one spot will be a lifesaver if you're trying to get out quickly in the middle of the night.

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Let's get this out of the way. We're beyond the debate about whether climate change is real -- it's a global emergency. And it's being spurred on by human actions. But despite the constant signs of climate change -- devastating fires in Australia, snow turning green in Antarctica, rising seas threatening Venice, the hottest five year stretch on Earth, ever -- humanity is well and truly dragging its feet on doing anything about the problem. This is the slow burn of apocalypses -- the threat feels distant, but we'll all feel the flames eventually.

You can prepare for the effects of climate change (see natural disasters above) but there are also steps you can take to make a difference when it comes to the cause.

Cut your power use. Drive less. Shop ethically (by choosing sustainable brands, working out where and how your clothes are made or even choosing vintage fashion). Reduce your reliance on plastics. And try cutting down on red meat (did you know beef production requires 28 times more land and 11 times more water than pork or chicken?)

And while you're making changes at home, lobby for change at the higher level. Call or write to your local politician (a social media like or retweet might feel like easy activism, but it's much easier for policymakers to dismiss). And make sure your views on climate change are felt at the ballot box. Enrol to vote.

If the apocalypse is coming and there's no way out, there may be one last way you can escape certain death. But you'll need to be dead first.

Welcome to the strange world of cryonics -- the experimental procedure that allows you to put your body in sub-zero "suspended animation," after you've been pronounced clinically dead.

It's unproven and, according to experts, not possible under the laws of neuroscience and biology as we know them. But proponents say it could be a way to gain a second life. By reducing your body temperature post-mortem and pumping your body full of medical-grade antifreeze, cryonicists say it's possible to vitrify a person's brain and organs so they can be preserved for decades in liquid nitrogen, sitting inside a stainless steel tank at -196 degrees Celsius. From there, it may be possible for future generations to restore you to full life (though the details on that side of the equation are sketchy at best).

It's not for everybody (not least because the procedure will set you back $220,000). But if you want to go all-in on a speculative second chance at life, it could be more of a sure thing compared to having your body incinerated and your ashes scattered to the winds.

The final way to escape the end of the world? Leave the world altogether. In the 2020s, humanity is once again turning its eyes skyward and planning ways to get off the planet -- sending the first woman and the next man to the moon and then sending humans on to Mars.

There's no doubt this is a long play. We won't be getting back to the moon until at least 2024. And while billionaires like Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos want to turn humans into a multiplanetary species and have us living in floating space colonies, that won't happen any time soon.

But if you're a long-term prepper, there's no harm in getting your ducks in a row. Throw your hat in the ring for NASA's astronaut training program, start thinking about where you'll live on Marsand get ready for a very long commute (with a lot of naps). Just think of it like 2020 on steroids -- social distancing and isolation, taken to the extreme.

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How to survive the apocalypse: A practical guide to the end of days - CNET

Bitcoin Cash and Litecoin Cryptocurrencies To Trade At The Stock Market As Grayscale Wins FINRA Approval – Yahoo Finance

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Grayscale Investments, a company that manages cryptocurrency funds, announced Monday that shares of its Bitcoin Cash trust and Litecoin Trust have been approved for public listing by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA).

What Happened

The listings will representthe two cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin Cash (BCH)and Litecoin (LTC),which have market capitalizations of $4.2 billion and $2.8 billion, respectively.

Bitcoin Cash or BCash was created as a hard fork to the world's apex cryptocurrency in 2017.

Former Alphabet Inc.(NASDAQ: GOOGL) (NASDAQ: GOOG) employee Charlie Leecreated Litecoin as a Bitcoin-spinoff in October 2011, with theintention to make cryptocurrency transactions faster.

This would be the first time ever that publicly listed securities have ever derived their value from these cryptocurrencies.

The Bitcoin Cash trust will trade under the symbol BCHG and the Litcoin Trust under LTCN on the otc markets.

Grayscales offerings will allow institutional investors access to these cryptocurrencies, who have concerns about purchasing such assets directly, Fortunenoted. The shares will reportedly trade at a premium to the price of their underlying crypto assets.

Why It Matters

GreyscaleBitcoin Trust (OTC: GBTC)shares are said to be one of the top five equities held by millennials even ahead of shares of Netflix Inc, (NASDAQ: NFLX) according to Fortune.

The company has six such offerings, includingGreyscale Ethereum Trust (OTC: ETHE) and Greyscale Ethereum Classic Trust (OTC: ETCG).

Greyscales shares trade on the OTCQX, which is overseen by FINRA and does not require registration with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission.

Price Action

Bitcoin Cash traded nearly 0.2% lower at $169.67 at press time on Tuesday, according to CoinMarketCap data. Litecoin traded about 0.4% lower at $42.35.

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2020 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

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Bitcoin Cash and Litecoin Cryptocurrencies To Trade At The Stock Market As Grayscale Wins FINRA Approval - Yahoo Finance

The Crypto Daily Movers and Shakers July 22nd, 2020 – FX Empire

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It was a bullish start to the day. Bitcoin rallied from an early morning intraday low $9,174.4 to an early afternoon intraday high $9,457.2.

Bitcoin broke through the major resistance levels before falling back to $9,340 levels.

The pullback saw Bitcoin fall through the third major resistance level at $9,358.03 before returning to $9,400 levels.

Resistance at $9,400 capped the upside late in the day.

The near-term bullish trend remained intact in spite of the early July pullback to sub-$9,000 levels. For the bears, Bitcoin would need to slide through the 62% FIB of $6,400 to form a near-term bearish trend.

Across the rest of the majors, it was a bullish day on Tuesday.

Tezos led the way, rallying by 9.29%.

Bitcoin Cash SV (+5.60%), Cardanos ADA (+4.66%), Ethereum (+4.13%), Litecoin (+4.53%), also found strong support.

Binance Coin (+1.43%), Bitcoin Cash ABC (+2.60%), EOS (+2.32%), Moneros XMR (+0.68%), Ripples XRP (+2.53%), Stellars Lumen (+2.59%), and Trons TRX (+2.42%) trailed the front runners.

At the start of the week, the crypto total market cap fell to a Monday low $262.70bn before striking a Tuesday high $274.62bn. At the time of writing, the total market cap stood at $270.71bn.

Bitcoins dominance fell to a Monday low 63.20% before rising to a Tuesday high 64.08%. At the time of writing, Bitcoins dominance stood at 63.76%.

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The Crypto Daily Movers and Shakers July 22nd, 2020 - FX Empire

What was statue’s true meaning? (letter) | Letters To The Editor – LancasterOnline

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How do we determine the meaning of the Native American and African figures included on the equestrian statue of Theodore Roosevelt at the American Museum of Natural History in New York? Why were these figures included? Why were they not Caucasian men? The statues sculptor is long gone, but I believe he had a reason for the inclusion of these two specific men. Some believe their inclusion is demeaning and called for the statue to be removed, because the figures are depicted as being in servitude to Roosevelt.

However, it could also be interpreted that the sculptor of the statue knew President Roosevelt valued the lives of all people and by including these figures, he honored men of Native American and African descent by placing them in a prominent position next to Roosevelt. How will we ever know the sculptors intent? We cant.

But I choose to believe these figures were included with much thought in mind and had meaning. The meaning was to honor the men of these nationalities, not to demean them, as they are shown walking with Roosevelt as he sat astride his horse. The statue should not be removed because of some peoples prejudices or feelings of political correctness unless their view is backed up by specifics, not only interpretation. Wouldnt it be nice if a plaque describing the statue and its meaning had been included?

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Judge Orders Cohen Released, Citing Retaliation Over Tell-All Book – The New York Times

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When Michael D. Cohen, President Trumps one-time lawyer and fixer, met with probation officers this month to complete paperwork that would have let him serve the balance of his prison term at home, he found a catch.

Mr. Cohen was already out on furlough because of the coronavirus. But to remain at home, he was asked to sign a document that would have barred him from publishing a book during the rest of his sentence. Mr. Cohen balked because he was, in fact, writing a book a tell-all memoir about his former boss, the president.

The officers sent him back to prison.

On Thursday, a federal judge ruled that the decision to return Mr. Cohen to custody amounted to retaliation by the government and ordered him to be released again into home confinement. Mr. Cohen is expected back in his Manhattan apartment on Friday.

I make the finding that the purpose of transferring Mr. Cohen from furlough and home confinement to jail is retaliatory, the judge, Alvin K. Hellerstein of Federal District Court in Manhattan, said in court. And its retaliatory because of his desire to exercise his First Amendment rights to publish a book and to discuss anything about the book or anything else he wants on social media and with others.

Judge Hellersteins decision was a remarkable rebuke of prison and probation officials and, by extension, the Trump administration. It raised concerns that the authorities had used the penal system to squelch the free speech rights of one of Mr. Trumps enemies in an effort to protect the president.

Justin Long, a spokesman for the Bureau of Prisons, said that it was not uncommon for prison officials to restrict inmates contact with the media. But he said that Mr. Cohens refusal to agree to the media ban played no role whatsoever in the decision to remand him to secure custody, nor did his intent to publish a book.

Any assertion that the decision to remand Michael Cohen to prison was a retaliatory action is patently false, Mr. Long said.

The question of Mr. Cohens release came before Judge Hellerstein after Mr. Cohen sued U.S. officials on Monday night, claiming that the Trump administration had sent him back to custody to prevent him from completing the book, violating his freedom of speech.

In court papers, Mr. Cohen said the book would paint Mr. Trump as a racist and offer revealing details about the presidents behavior behind closed doors.

Mr. Cohen also pointed out that Mr. Trump and his supporters had sought to derail the publication of books written by John R. Bolton, the former national security adviser, and Mr. Trumps niece, Mary L. Trump, whose best-selling memoir laid bare a history of dysfunction in her family.

E. Danya Perry, one of Mr. Cohens lawyers, called the judges order a victory for the First Amendment.

The court hearing on Thursday was the latest chapter in a long-running saga. Mr. Cohen, a legal bulldog who once bragged he would take a bullet for Mr. Trump, pleaded guilty in 2018 to campaign finance violations and other crimes and was sentenced to three years in prison.

As he entered his plea, Mr. Cohen pointed the finger at the president, telling the court that Mr. Trump had directed him during the 2016 election to arrange hush money payments to two women who claimed they had had affairs with Mr. Trump. The president has denied those allegations.

The provision that Mr. Cohen, 53, objected to would have barred him from engagement of any kind with the media, including print, TV, film, books. It also sought to keep him from posting on social media, according to a copy of the agreement attached to his lawsuit.

Judge Hellerstein, who was appointed to the bench in 1998 by President Clinton, said these measures seemed to him to be highly unusual and appeared to be directly related to Mr. Cohens forthcoming book.

In 21 years of being a judge and sentencing people and looking at the terms and conditions of supervised release, he said, I have never seen such a clause.

Both in court papers and during a hearing on Thursday, the government insisted that the probation officer in Mr. Cohens case, Adam Pakula, did not know about the book when he drafted the provisions. The government has denied the document was a gag order or that it was custom-made for Mr. Cohen by high levels of the executive branch.

Mr. Pakula, in court papers, said he drafted the agreement without input from the B.O.P. or anyone in the executive branch.

In court, Judge Hellerstein seemed skeptical.

Why would Pakula ask for something like this unless there was a purpose to it, unless there was a retaliatory purpose saying, You toe the line about giving up your First Amendment rights or we will send you to jail, the judge asked.

Judge Hellerstein also suggested that Mr. Pakula may have gotten some instruction about including the media ban in the agreement.

The government said in court papers earlier this week that the decision to send Mr. Cohen back to prison had nothing to do with his book, but had been made after he became combative while discussing the agreement, behavior the officers found unacceptable.

Judge Hellerstein said that such behavior seemed to him to be an attorneys effort to negotiate an agreement, which is very common.

In May, Mr. Cohen had been allowed to leave a minimum-security prison camp in Otisville, N.Y., and go home as part of an effort by the Bureau of Prisons to curb the spread of coronavirus in the federal prison system.

Mr. Cohens lawyers had argued that his health conditions, including severe hypertension and a history of respiratory problems, put him at risk if he remained in prison.

But on July 9, prison officials abruptly returned Mr. Cohen to Otisville.

In his suit, Mr. Cohen claimed that he never hid the fact that he was writing a book about Mr. Trump. He noted that he spent his mornings working on the manuscript in plain sight in the prisons law library, and said he also discussed the project openly with prison officials, staff members and even other inmates.

According to the suit, the book will give a glimpse into Mr. Cohens firsthand experiences with Mr. Trump and offer graphic details about the presidents behavior behind closed doors.

The narrative, the lawsuit says, describes pointedly certain anti-Semitic remarks against prominent Jewish people and virulently racist remarks against such Black leaders as President Barack Obama and Nelson Mandela.

The manuscript tentatively titled Disloyal: The True Story of Michael Cohen, Former Personal Attorney to President Donald J. Trump is only the latest book to have emerged in recent weeks containing detailed and critical revelations about the presidents personal and professional life.

Mr. Cohens suit contends that Mr. Trump and his supporters have sought to derail the publication of his book like the others.

In June, the Justice Department asked a judge to delay the release of The Room Where It Happened, a memoir by Mr. Bolton, the former national security adviser who, among other things, confirmed accusations at the heart of the Democratic impeachment case over the presidents dealings with Ukraine. The judge ultimately denied the request.

On the same day that Mr. Boltons book was published, Mr. Trumps younger brother, Robert S. Trump, filed a suit seeking to stop the publication of a family tell-all written by their niece, Mary Trump.

After a few weeks of whirlwind litigation, the judge in that case sided with Ms. Trump, allowing her to publish her memoir, which accused Mr. Trump of embracing cheating as a way of life and of paying someone to take his college entrance exams.

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Judge Orders Cohen Released, Citing Retaliation Over Tell-All Book - The New York Times

Five things John Lewis taught us about getting in good trouble – Brookings Institution

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Get in good trouble, necessary trouble, and redeem the soul of America. John Lewis made this statement on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama on March 1, 2020 commemorating the tragic events of Bloody Sunday. Bloody Sunday occurred on March 7, 1965 as peaceful protesters were beaten by law enforcement officers for crossing the bridge. Lewis and others like Amelia Boynton Robinson were beaten so badly they were hospitalized.

The context behind the march is significant. The 600-person civil rights march was actually about police brutality. Jimmie Lee Jackson, a 26-year-old church deacon, was killed by James Bonard Fowler, a state trooper in Alabama. This march also occurred a year and a half after the infamous March on Washington highlighting that little had changed in the lives of Black people in America. Bloody Sunday was highlighted in Ava Duvernays Oscar-nominated best picture film Selma. Musicians John Legend and Common won an Oscar for the song Glory.

Bloody Sunday is often noted as a pinnacle of Lewis life. This defining moment encapsulates five things he taught us about getting in good trouble.

Vote, always

Your vote matters. If it didnt, why would some people keep trying to take it away? #goodtrouble Lewis sent this tweet on July 3, 2018. It highlights his lifes workequitable voting. One major part of the Civil Rights Movement was Black people gaining the right to vote. This finally occurred with the Voting Rights Act of 1965. But the Shelby v Holder Supreme Court decision in 2013 essentially gutted the Voting Rights Act and paved the way for widespread voter suppression and gerrymandering.

This is why it is imperative for Congress to act swiftly to pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act to ensure equitable access to the polls. Lewis was an original Freedom Rider, participated in many sit-ins, and was arrested dozens of times for people to have the right to vote. Some of us gave a little blood for the right to participate in the democratic process, said Lewis. Now, Congress must honor Lewis legacy and ensure an equitable participation in the democratic process.As Lewis noted, The vote is precious. It is almost sacred. It is the most powerful non-violent tool we have in a democracy.

Never too young to make a difference

As a founder and leader of the Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), Lewis was the youngest person to speak at the March on Washington. Elder civil rights leaders aimed to taper his words. Lewis was critical of the Kennedy administration and the slowness by which broad scale legislation change was occurring at the federal level. Lewis also critiqued civil rights legislation for not addressing police brutality against Black people. Imagine how this moment in the Movement for Black Lives may be different had elder Civil Rights leaders listened to Lewis. Lewis youth gave him a vision for a more transformative society that was mostly socialized out and, in some cases beaten out, of older leaders. Lewis teaches us that age is nothing but a number and young people have to be the change they want to see by pushing and forcing older people for equitable change. Older people are often socialized in the current arrangement of society and cannot fully envision a radically different world. Lewis stated, I want to see young people in America feel the spirit of the 1960s and find a way to get in the way. To find a way to get in trouble. Good trouble, necessary trouble. Young people can and should push for transformative change and hold us accountable to it.

Speak truth to power

Speak up, speak out, get in the way, said Lewis. He taught us the importance of speaking up and speaking out. We have to be willing to speak up about injustice, always, no matter the costs. My grandfather who served in two wars earning a Purple Heart and Bronze Star taught me from birth that my silence is my acceptance. Lewis stated, When you see something that is not right, not fair, not just, you have to speak up. You have to say something; you have to do something. This motto should apply in all aspects of our lives. Lewis epitomizes it and encourages us to not be silent. He was adamant about supporting free speech, but he was also adamant about condemning hate speech.I believe in freedom of speech, but I also believe that we have an obligation to condemn speech that is racist, bigoted, anti-Semitic, or hateful.

Become a racial equity broker

Lewis is the personification of transitioning from a political activist to a politician. I frame it as transitioning from a racial equity advocate to a racial equity broker. A racial equity advocate speaks up and speaks out, stands in the gap, and sits at the table to advocate for people who cannot advocate for themselves. There is a saying If you are not at the table, you are on the menu and someone is eating you for lunch. Shirley Chisholm said, If they dont give you a seat at the table, bring a folding chair. Lewis realized that to make transformative change, he had to be at the table and often bring his own chair. Once at the table, he realized that he needed to help draft the documents that got discussed at the table. This led him to becoming an elected official and a racial equity broker to alter, deconstruct, and restructure the laws, policies, procedures, and rules that inhibit racial equity.

Never give up

When Lewis was elected to Congress in 1986, one of his first bills was the creation of a national museum to chronicle the history, culture, and successes of Black Americans. The culmination of this bill was passed in 2003 and opened in 2016 as the National Museum of African American History and Culture. Lewis taught us persistence. He taught us that when a person has transformative ideas, they should not taper those ideas. Instead, they should push those ideas until others get on board. Simply because change is slow does not mean change agents have to move slowly towards it. Lewis was a lightning bolt for equity, social change, and social justice. We must continue his legacy, never forget history, pursue equity, and get in good trouble.

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Five things John Lewis taught us about getting in good trouble - Brookings Institution

You are not allowed to speak – TheArticle

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Freedom of belief and thought is of paramount importance in a liberal democracy. Ideologies provide meaning and belonging and are often described as vital for wellbeing however they can also be extreme. A key counter to extremism is the freedom to challenge all forms of thinking and to put alternative ideas. This allows us to exchange ideas freely. It allows revolutionary ideas to emerge and gain popularity and allows bad ideas to be scrutinised in debate. As the LGBT activist and dogged defender of freedom of speech Peter Tatchell puts it:

Free speech does not mean giving bigots a free pass. It includes the right and moral imperative to challenge, oppose and protest bigoted views. Bad ideas are most effectively defeated by good ideas backed up by ethics, reason rather than by bans and censorship.

But when groupthink creeps into society, freedom of speech and a willingness to debate ideas can be social, or career suicide. You run the risk of being cancelled.

Take JK Rowlings cancelling as a recent example. JK Rowling tweeted a question in response to an online article, which was headlined, Creating a more equal post Covid-19 world for people who menstruate. Why, she asked, did the article chose to use the phrase people who menstruate instead of women? For this she came under aggressive attack and threats of boycott. The transgender model and activist Munroe Bergdorf slammed Rowling as dangerous and a threat to LGBT people.

In response Rowling pleaded with those trying to silence her: All Im asking all I want is for similar empathy, similar understanding, to be extended to the many millions of women whose sole crime is wanting their concerns to be heard without receiving threats and abuse.

JK Rowling is far from the only victim of cancel culture, we relentlessly witness the far left aggressively shouting down ideas with which they disagree. This reflects an increased tendency for the progressive left to attack freedom of speech. But she shows that even the most successful and respected people can become victims of the societal attack on freedom of speech. This attack goes beyond cancel culture.

Last year the All Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims proposed a definition of Islamophobia saying that it is rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness.The definition was deeply problematic, as it failed to distinguish between moderate and extreme forms of religious expression. Religious ideology must never be above critique, whilst negative behaviour towards someone for believing a particular religion must not be tolerated the difference between the two is of crucial importance.

As Stephen Evans, chief executive of the National Secular Society, put it,Those who raise concerns about religious privileges which undermine womens rights, animal welfare, LGBT rights and the principle of one law for all are routinely shouted down as Islamophobes and marginalised from public conversation.

The adoption of the APPGs vague definition, which protects ill-defined expressions of Muslimness, would hasten this process, while undermining efforts to tackle bigotry against Muslims.

Despite this criticism, local authorities and political parties have adopted the definition. People who have argued against it have been branded islamophobic. These include the former UK equality watchdog chief and staunch defender of both minorities and freedom of speech, Trevor Phillips.

Ironically it is the institutions synonymous with debate and learning that have been hardest hit by the attack on freedom of speech. No-platforming at universities has seen right wing Tommy Robinson no-platformed twice. His opinions may be racist and offensive, but he is not a danger to the audience and it is better for people like him to be heard and debated, rather than marginalised. But ban him and it only reinforces his image as the put-up outsider. Less controversial characters like Maryam Namazie and feminist Germaine Greer were also no-platformed. Their crime was to hold opinions on gender and sex that run counter to far left groupthink.Tatchell has called the current no-platforming policy of the NUS a dangerous threat to free speech.

The erosion of free speech recently went a step further. Earlier in the summer, in the space of 24 hours, 14.6 million instagram users shared a blacked-out image with the hashtag #blackouttuessday but unease crept in with the worry that if you did not continue to participate you were complicit in the problem. Social media filled with a strict to do list on how to understand, speak about and take action over white privilege. Rather than looking for ways to bring about racial equality, the movement focused on dictating to white people how they must behave lest they be branded a racist. A shift had occurred. The attack on freedom of speech had changed to become an insistence on positive action to conform to the groups thinking.

In the last of a series of events surrounding the struggling survival of our right to freedom of speech a public letter was published onHarpers Magazine. Signed by 150 people, it recognised that the needed reckoning of racial and social justice had also intensified a new set of moral attitudes and political commitments that tend to weaken our norms of open debate and toleration of differences in favour of ideological conformity. Signaturies ranged fromJK Rowling and Noam Chomsky.

Ironically however, within days the signatories turned on each other and threatened to remove their signature because they did not agree with the other signatories.

Sadly it has come to a point where each of us must check ourselves if we want to continue to live in a free and safe liberal democracy and ensure we are not working against freedom of speech. Its time to remind ourselves of the words Evelyn Beatrice Hall attributed to Voltaire I disapprove of what you say,but I will defend to the death your right to say it.

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You are not allowed to speak - TheArticle

Cancelling The Opinions Of Those You Dont Agree With Is A Slippery SlopeHeres A Better Option – Forbes

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It's easy to reflexively cancel the opinions of people we disagree with. Here's why we shouldn't.

Last week I shared a post in my weekly newsletter about freedom of speech. The central point I made was that freedom of speech protects people from being legally prosecuted or sanctioned for their words. It does not, however, mean that a person can say whatever they want, without any consequences.

For example: if the CEO of a business states an opinion that is controversial or offensive to some, people are well within their right to refuse to buy from that business, or work at that company. But should they start shaming others to make that same decision?

When I published the post, I received several replies that pointed to the same question: just because people are allowed to ignore, silence or even attempt to antagonize people who disagree with them, does that mean they should? And what kind of culture does that behavior create?

Each of us has core valuesnon-negotiable principles that consciously or unconsciously guide our most important decisions. When somebody shares an opinion that sharply violates our core valueswhether its a political opinion, a lifestyle attitude, or otherwiseit can be natural to be upset, or even angry. We may even feel compelled to defensively turn to people who share our anger to vent as a group.

This type of reaction can be harmless. However, social media has exacerbated things by frequently showing us content that either confirms our beliefs, or is designed to anger us. Cordial debate is decidedly not part of the algorithm.

In this setting, difference of opinionand, to an extent, aspects of free speechare being weaponized to extremes. Youve probably seen somebody attack people they disagree with on social media or, elsewhere, cut off friendships and professional partnerships over political differences. In extreme cases, they might even threaten the person or attempt to get the person punished personally or professionally for their opinions and beliefs.

As a legal protection, freedom of speech doesnt stop this type of uncivil discourse. Whats missing from our marketplace of ideas todayespecially our online forumsare basic rules of engagement. Next time you encounter an opinion you fiercely disagree withespecially at workconsider these three strategies.

Invite dissent

While some truths are universal, we need to accept most issues dont have an objectively correct opinion. In order to grow, we need to be open to dissenting viewpoints, even if they make us uncomfortable.

We also need to acknowledge that while some of our opinions are guided by our non-negotiable principles, all of us have beliefs that we could be persuaded to change, assuming we are open to having our views challenged. Remember that, at one point, the prevailing worldview was that the Earth was flat.

Its important to surround yourself with people who will challenge you, rather than reflexively validate your opinions and actions. This is especially true in businessa CEO who is always certain they are correct, and hates having their beliefs challenged, will inevitably damage their organization by either stubbornly following the wrong course, or alienating talented people who refuse to be cheerleaders.

Next time you encounter a viewpoint you disagree witheven on a topic youre passionate aboutdo yourself a favor and at least listen and try to learn or understand. You may have your perspective changed for the better.

Embrace dissonance

In 1985, United States President Ronald Reagan made a controversial decision to lay a wreath at a cemetery in Bitburg, Germany, where former soldiers whod fought for Nazi Germany during World War II were buried. This action upset his friend and ally, Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres, who was very critical of Regans action.

However, Peres did not make the mistake of throwing out the baby with the bathwater and instead offered this offered sage wisdom: When a friend makes a mistake, he remains a friend, but the mistake remains a mistake.

Its not a great idea to associate closely with people who consistently violate or dont align with your core values. However, many of us have found ourselves in a situation where a person we like and respecta friend, co-worker, family member or colleaguesays or does something we disagree with. When this occurs, we encounter powerful force called cognitive dissonance, or the discomfort associated with holding two contradictory beliefs or behaviors in our minds at once.

In short, when someone close to us says something we consider wrong, we struggle to reconcile our feelings about them as a person with our disagreement with their belief. Today, too many people handle this dissonance by simply cutting the person out of their lives completely.

Instead, consider the value of Peres approach and challenge yourself to hold space for duality. Genuinely try to maintain your relationship with the other person, while acknowledging that you disagree, or wont always approve of that persons actions. This practice may salvage vital personal and professional connections. Its also an essential practice in the workplace.

Dont waste your energy

While many online disagreements simply fade, in some cases these conflicts can spill over into the offline world, with damaging results. Today, we see people respond to opinions they find offensive by harassing others online, contacting their employers, or even publishing their personal information online, a practice known as doxing. This behavior is dangerous and may have grave consequences. It can also threaten free speech.

If a person is sharing hate speech online or inciting violence with their words, its understandable to want to silence or shame them. But in cases the disagreement is simply over politics, or religion, or lifestyle practices that ultimately dont directly cause harm, its damaging for everybody involved to harass or attack others online. Its also inexcusable to threaten physical harm or encourage others to do the same.

People who share inflammatory opinions online are often seeking attention or engagement. Consider these types of posts to be landmines; they can either lay dormant, or explode on impact. Rather than taking the bait, its often more productive to attempt to bridge the divide, understand the persons point of view, and respectfully attempt to persuade them. Getting into fights online almost never leads to any improvement and certainly doesnt add value to your own life.

Instead of spending time with loved ones, or taking a nice walk outdoors, you are using your energy and limited hours in a day for what is almost always a zero-sum game. Not only can attacking others online cause lasting harm, it is a genuine waste of time and energy. Focusing on a solution is far more productive.

We ultimately dictate the terms of the marketplace of ideas we operate in, and its up to us to set rules of engagement that lead to a better conversation. Next time you see or hear something that conflicts with your views, it may be helpful to consider these tacticsdoing so may create a better outcome for all.

Robert is the founder and CEO ofAcceleration Partners. Join 200,000+ global leaders who follow his inspirational weekly newsletterFriday Forwardorinvite him to speak. Robert is also a Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestselling author. His new book,Friday Forward: Inspiration and Motivation to End Your Week Stronger Than It Started,releases September 1, 2020.

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Cancelling The Opinions Of Those You Dont Agree With Is A Slippery SlopeHeres A Better Option - Forbes

Hill Republicans begin jockeying for power in a possible post-Trump world – NBC News

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WASHINGTON Amid a stalled fight in Congress over the future of a $1 trillion coronavirus aid package, a parallel battle has been coming into focus: a struggle for the future of the Republican Party.

Behind closed doors in both the House and Senate this week, Republican lawmakers saw their ire focused not on Democrats, but instead at each other, a product lawmakers and strategists say of President Donald Trumps sinking poll numbers.

Theyre dealing with a grim reality, Doug Heye, a Republican strategist and former senior House aide, said of the outlook in congressional campaign committees.

The disagreements that broke out last week appeared to be over fiscal issues like continuing the $600 a week unemployment payments and just how much money the federal government should continue to pump into the struggling economy.

But every fight revealed a party that appears to be looking past the dire outlook of November and on to the possibility of a leadership reshuffle in the winter.

If Trump loses re-election, Republicans in Congress will be left to grapple with how to respond to a President Joe Biden and which of their members is best suited to counter him. The risk remains that if Democrats secure a landslide, Republicans could lose control of the Senate.

If Trump is able to reverse his fortunes and secure re-election, there will be Republicans who hope to convert their loyalty to the president into a move up in the ranks.

The Republicans have figured out that Trump is not going to bulls--- his way out of this crisis and hes not going to be able to change the subject, Rick Tyler, a Republican strategist, said, explaining the recent intra-party fights. Not only is he going to lose by hundreds of electoral votes, theyre going to lose, they will lose seats in the House, they could possibly lose the Senate.

In the House, details leaked after a group of six conservative lawmakers at a closed-door meeting confronted Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., over her support of Dr. Anthony Fauci, who has pushed for public health considerations over Trumps desire to reopen the U.S. economy.

It wasnt about a particular issue, it was about the president, period, Heye said. And that tells me that its all about what comes after Trump, if the elections go the way they look today.

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It was about jockeying for the post-Trump world, he said.

Cheney, the daughter of a former vice president, has quickly risen through the ranks of her party after being elected to Congress in 2016. The highest-ranking Republican woman, she is considered to be on a shortlist to lead her caucus in the future.

She was confronted by a group of men, led by Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, who were once the most conservative voices in the caucus but since Trumps election have taken up the banner of presidential loyalty. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., piled on, joining the call that she should be removed from her leadership role.

Cheney has at times been both supportive and critical of Trump, a tack Heye argues will help her distance herself from him once he leaves office.

She is able to say, I stood with this administration 98 percent of the time, but when I had a problem with it, I stood up and said so, I didnt attack the president, I stood up and told truths, Heye said.

Cheneys quick rise in the party is seen as evidence that Republicans realize they need to do better appealing to women, a demographic that has been hemorrhaging support while Trump has been in office, in the future.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., who would face challenges to his control of Republicans in the chamber if Trump were to lose, admitted that the episode with men his party attacking Cheney exposed their problems with women.

I think we're improving. Do we have room for improvement? 100 percent yes, McCarthy said on Thursday.

In the Senate, the fight has fallen along more electoral lines, often pitting members up for re-election this fall against those who arent.

At a lunch meeting to discuss coronavirus aid on Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., heard an uprising of conservative members who dont want to renew a $600 weekly unemployment payment that was created at the beginning of the pandemic.

What in the hell are we doing? Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, declared in the meeting.

McConnell, who would likely face a challenge to his role as leader if Republicans lose the Senate, is also trying to ensure senators facing re-election dont have to return to their districts empty-handed.

There's a lot of disagreement amongst the members, said Mitt Romney, R-Utah, who has appeared to position himself as a leading voice in a post-Trump world.

Ideology is running square into the reality of the political crisis, said Tyler, the Republican strategist. Were stuck in a deep recession thats not coming back before November. The virus is not going away by November. The economy is not coming back by November.

Republicans have long argued about how to get their base excited ahead of an election, and conservatives are again making their case to Congress that fiscal austerity is the way to go.

The best strategy for Republicans right now, for Donald Trump, to put out a bill, not the proposal, a bill that contains all of the highest priorities of the Republican Party and the conservative movement, said Stephen Moore, a conservative economist who has supported Trump.

He said McConnells current trajectory authoring a bill that is the product of compromise in order to begin negotiations with Democrats will make the base unhappy.

Youre going to see a very divided Republican Party and a lot of conservative opposition to that bill, and thats not a good look going into the November elections, Moore said.

"Pandemic politics is at a fever pitch in both parties, said a conservative Republican strategist who spoke on background to speak frankly about internal political dynamics, adding that the party is "between a rock and a hard place.

Right now and we are still, politically speaking, light-years from the election the GOP is off-kilter."

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Hill Republicans begin jockeying for power in a possible post-Trump world - NBC News

Donald Trump knows how to put on a show – theday.com

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We are watching a show. It's important to keep that in mind.

It has its villains Mayor Lori Lightfoot of Chicago, Mayor Ted Wheeler of Portland and other supporters of the "liberal, radical left" idea that people have the right peaceably to assemble and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

It has its victims, people in towns where they don't have or need symphony orchestras and art museums and the very idea of street protests fills them with existential horror.

And the show has its hero, too, President Donald John Trump, getting tough with those lawless cities, standing between the victims and their fears and not bothering overmuch about constitutional niceties while he does.

That's how you end up with the recent spectacle of at least one person reportedly snatched off the streets of Portland by federal agents bearing no badges or identifying insignia and stuffed into an unmarked van on no probable cause, or even an allegation of crime. At this writing, Trump is sending federal agents using, presumably, the same tactics to Chicago, which, in his telling, teeters on the edge of criminal anarchy, and he, alone, can save it.

If it smacks of despotism, this idea of government seizing those who it bears repeating are accused of no crime, well, Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf tells Fox "News" that sometimes you have to "proactively arrest" people. It's a nicely dystopian term that might have come out of "The Minority Report," the 1956 novella by Philip K. Dick (also a 2002 film starring Tom Cruise), which posits a world where "precogs" divine the future, enabling police to prevent crime instead of just solving it. Dick provides other terms Wolf might find useful: "precrime," "potential criminals," "prophylactic pre-detection."

If it occurs to you there's no such thing as "precogs," if this all seems to you like a civil liberties nightmare, well, you're missing the point. Again, this is a show.

And give him his due. Trump may have failed as a businessman, an educator, an airline mogul, a casino operator, a steak salesman and a human being, but he knows how to put on a show. He knows every moment we spend talking about American fascism is a moment not spent talking about Russia putting a price on American heads, which in turn keeps us from talking about the 143,000 who've died of a virus Trump said would magically disappear.

Even his distractions have distractions.

In fairness, this march toward fascist dystopia didn't begin in Portland. For years, we saw black and Hispanic men stopped and frisked in New York City without probable cause. We've seen cops empowered to take your money and border agents empowered to seize and search your laptops and smartphones, also without probable cause. In 2015, we saw a woman named Charnesia Corley subjected to a police search of her vagina on the pavement at a gas station.

What we haven't seen so much is public outrage.

So Trump's innovation is not stomping the Constitution, but making the stomping a show. If it doesn't seem like much of one to you, well, you're not the intended audience. For them, this is Dirty Harry and Rambo all rolled into one. For the rest of us, this show isn't about a tough guy. Rather, it's about a second-rate magician whose act has seen better days, whose top hat is worn, whose cards are frayed, whose every move reeks of flop-sweat desperation, the terror that he might be seen as, he really is.

Which makes this magician dangerous in the same way a cornered animal is. And if we aren't careful, he may pull off one last trick.

He may make freedom disappear.

Leonard Pitts is a columnist for The Miami Herald. His columns are distributed by Tribune Content Agency.

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Donald Trump knows how to put on a show - theday.com

Mark Zuckerberg says theres no deal of any kind with Donald Trump – The Verge

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Has Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg cut a secret deal with President Donald Trump, turning a blind eye to his lies and incendiary posts in the hope that the social media giant wont become the presidents next target? Rumors of this sort have been swirling for months, but Zuckerberg himself has now denied it, telling Axios that no such deal exists.

Ive heard this speculation, too, so let me be clear: Theres no deal of any kind, said Zuckerberg. Actually, the whole idea of a deal is pretty ridiculous.

The comments come in response to mounting concern over Zuckerbergs relationship with the president, which has remained cordial despite worries about the presidents use of social media. NBC News reported last year that Trump hosted Zuckerberg for a secret dinner at the White House. The dinner came just a week after Zuckerberg made a speech confirming that Facebook would not fact-check political ads, giving Trump license to share misleading videos, ads, and posts on the worlds biggest social network.

Since then, the president and his supporters have pushed the limits of Facebooks largesse, sharing doctored campaign videos and lies about mail-in ballots. There have also been incidents in which Facebook seems to have gone out of its way not to remove misinformation beloved by the political right.

Just this week, an investigation by HEATED and Popular Information found that Facebook removed the fact-check of a partly false article about climate change published by right-wing news site The Daily Wire. The company did so after the author complained he was being censored and a Republican congressman took up the cause. According to the investigation, the decision to remove the fact-check went right to the top of the company, involving Facebooks VP of global affairs and communications, the former British politician Nick Clegg.

Facebooks refusal to remove certain posts, like Trumps response to protests in Minneapolis against racist police violence (when the looting starts, the shooting starts) has certainly cost the company. Its faced employee walkouts and advertiser boycotts because of them. But Trump, who otherwise delights in picking fights with tech giants like Amazon and Twitter, has increasingly left Facebook alone. Its a state of affairs that hasnt gone unnoticed.

Roger McNamee, a venture capitalist who was an early investor in Facebook and now a noted critic of the company, told The New York Times last month that he believed the two had a deal of some sort. McNamee said the arrangement was probably implied rather than explicit and highly utilitarian, but mutually beneficent all the same.

Its basically about getting [Facebook] free rein and protection from regulation, said McNamee. Trump needs Facebooks thumb on the scale to win this election.

To support McNamees claim, the Times reported that the antitrust investigations being led by the Justice Department into US tech giants look like they will be kind to Zuckerbergs company. A source familiar with the investigations told the Times that while Google and Amazon were up against mature investigations, the probe into Facebook is not real at all.

The response from Zuckerberg and Facebook to accusations of a deal has been to point out the various disagreements theyve had with the White House over things like immigration policy and climate change. Speaking to Axios about the dinner with Trump last year, the Facebook CEO also noted that its hardly unusual for him to meet heads of state.

I accepted the invite for dinner because I was in town and he is the president of the United States, Zuckerberg told Axios. For what its worth, I also had multiple meals and meetings with President Obama ... both at the White House and outside, including hosting an event for him at Facebook HQ.

But just because no formal (or even implicit) deal exists, it doesnt mean that Zuckerberg and Trumps interests arent aligned right now. Zuckerberg wants to avoid accusations of anti-conservative bias and exhaustive antitrust investigations, while Trump wants to continue being able to say whatever he likes to the American public without fear of censorship.

As a recent report by The Washington Post noted, though, Zuckerberg has been shaping Facebooks rules to fit Trumps speech for a while now. In 2015, as Trump began to attract supporters as a candidate, he posted a video on Facebook in which he said he wanted to ban Muslims from entering the United States. As the Post reports, the video outraged many Facebook employees who said it violated the companys policies for hate speech, but Zuckerberg ultimately let the video stand because of its newsworthiness a standard which would become policy in 2016.

In other words, if Zuckerberg made a deal with Trump, he did so long ago.

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Mark Zuckerberg says theres no deal of any kind with Donald Trump - The Verge

Letters to editor: Sundial Bridge gathering, Donald Trump and COVID-19 – Record Searchlight

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Worshippers came to Redding's Sundial Bridge on July 22, 2020. The crowd put the community 'at risk' for COVID-19, Shasta County health officials say. Redding Record Searchlight

I am appalled and dismayed at thegathering at the Sundial Bridge earlier this week. First, it's unconscionable to gather hundreds of people during a pandemic, no masks or distancing in place.Second, no permit was issued for this gathering, nor was one applied for. The lack of responsibility for this event is amazing.Did no one know about it?Well, all those attendees certainly did, so it seems unlikely that the higher-ups at Bethel didn't, and apparently they made no effort to stop this travesty.Sean Feucht, the alleged organizer, has had events like this recently in other counties in California completely disregarding the health of the communities he gathers in.Christian?I think not.The disregard for local citizens and our community is quite apparent. We live in a rural area.It's helped us stay off the State Watch List, so more businesses can stay open.There are so many small businesses struggling to keep afloat and then a stunt like this is pulled that jeopardized everyone's health.Where were the police?Did no one in city government know about this? When the spike in COVID-19cases comes, it will be because of this unlawful, unnecessary gathering.

Hazel Hughes,Redding

The GOP has long sustained a frontal attack on the ultimate value of science to society. In 2016, national alarms sounded as science marches rang bells with gangs of teachers, liberal arts sympathizers, and mobs of parents, kids, scientists, librarians, researchers, and servers marching to protest. Fiftyyears ago Richard Nixon established the EPA. He put weight behind the GOPs previous value of an old Greek proverbs essence - A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in. And then the Republican party changed. Again and again. From creationism, opposition to embryonic stem cells, attempting to link abortion with breast cancer and mental illness, rejecting contraception while absolving itself of millions of unplanned pregnancies for society to absorb, to global warming, the GOP became something new. Today it is the spectacle, foolishness, and mockery displayed almost daily. Science isnt infallible. But it always gives the best odds towards truth in all it seeks in earnest. It is always playing the best odds. Carl Sagan called science a candle in the dark." Dont let the light go out. Restore scientific integrity to the federal government. Insist upon representatives who richly value science.

Max Walter, Redding

Regarding the recent Back the Blue rally: I think it was a great idea. I think most of us have great respect for the police, just not those few who make them look bad. I support Black Lives Matter and peaceful protests.I am against using riot police, mace, clubs, and shields against peaceful protesters. I am against police brutality and brutality inflicted by citizens against each other and the police. I am against police disguised in camo hauling people into unmarked vans like is happening, as I speak, in Portland, Oregon. I am against rioting and property damage by individuals who scream their support for a cause but are using it to engage in disruptive and damaging behavior and are behaving in a way that justifies police action. I believe that the use of deadly force should be exceedingly rare. I believe police unions are allowing bad police to stay on the job.All of these beliefs are not mutually exclusive nor should they be politicized into for or against police or protesters.

Joyce Lively, Redding

The key to stopping the COVID-19economy from turning into a major depression is what President Trump has already started: reducing government regulatory control of the economy and letting thefree market self-correct. This is what President Harding did during thedepression of 1920-21. The economy roared back.Contrarily, President Roosevelt instituted every Marxist and unconstitutional control on the economy as possible during the depression that started in 1929 and the downturn lasted 13 years.If it were not for the huge increase in output for World War II, who knows how long it would have lasted. Secondly, I see nothing but COVID-19ignorance caused by pronouncements from our politically corrupthealth agencies. First, masks worn by everyone will not keep anyone from contracting COVID-19 only properly fitted respirators will. And that is the problem with dictating mask use. It makes the few who are vulnerable to death from COVID-19 come out from self-quarantine where they should stay.

Carl Reed, Igo

Have we become a nation of anger? Reminds me of a 2-year-old throwing a tantrum, and then the parents give in to the child's demands. What happened to counting from one to 10 to calm down? If you feel you've suffered an injustice, does that give you the right to burn, loot, and injure anyone and anything? And who pays for the destroyed police cars and burned buildings? The hard-working taxpayers in this country. Take positive action. If you feel the police are not doing a good job, why don't you become a policeman and show everyone how to perform fairly. President Kennedy said, "Ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country." Martin Luther King Jr.'swords were "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. How is your character?

Miriam Johnson, Redding

We have a national pandemic that has killed 140,000-pluspeople nationwide and 7,697-plusin California and all State Sen. Brian Dahle is concerned about is the governor re-shutting down small businesses in the state because the coronavirus infection and death rates exploded. The governor had to do this because people did not practice the recommended safety measures that minimize spreading the coronavirus and businesses did not enforce them.Dahle tells us that people should be able to decide for themselves what is best to prevent catching the coronavirus and that wearing breathing masks should be left up to personal choice according to a July 14 Record Searchlight story.If everyone had practiced the recommended safety measures the impact on business would have been significantly lower. Dahle doesnt understand this simple concept. Dahles ideas are making matters worse. This November we need to get rid of Dahle and replace him with Pamela Swartz who has the ability to find solutions to important issues.

Tom Laurent,Yreka

On July 17, I loaded my car with items bought from Walmart and left my purse in the cart, realized about 10 minutes later after driving off, what I had done, returned to Walmart and checked with customer service and they had my purse. I want to thank the good person that did this kindness and turned it in.

Polly Thomson, Redding

There's this constant push from President Trump along withSecretary of Education, Betsy DeVos,to fully reopen our schools just as they were before the pandemic. If my biology teacher were still alive, I can hear her exclaiming, "You'll not put my studentsin a petri dish!"Before this latest push, our president had led the way to demand that businesses return to normal so we got the wild and crowded beach parties along with bars fully open and serving up drinks, etc.As predicted by the experts,these moves were followedshortly by a stunning increase in the spread of the virus. If we follow Trump, we will literally be drinking away our kid's futures. If we all succumb to the Trump-DeVosSyndrome,it's very likely that our country will be hit with permanent damage

Parker Pollock, Redding

The Roman Empire survived for 2,500 years, plus or minus, America has lasted 250, plus or minus, and are there any comparisons to be drawn? The madness on our streets and those who are the perpetrators have the same M.O. as those of Rome. There are also the rioters that led to the Russian Revolution, The Red Army revolt, and most hostile takeovers throughout history. Stir up the youth with propaganda and false promises and let their Utopian lusts do the rest. What is taking place in America today had warning signs for the last 100 years as our government started dismantling our Constitution and Bill of Rights. Using the same "Cosmic Morality" that is being used today we were slowly led down the "entitlement" passageway until it firmly coupled with the Marxist promise of "Equality for all through communism." If you don't like America now folks you will hate what is waiting in the wings. Why are they destroying your past, your language, your ethics, your faith, your future? Because people without a past cannot learn from or dictate their future without a past.

Vernon Packer, Redding

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Letters to editor: Sundial Bridge gathering, Donald Trump and COVID-19 - Record Searchlight

Trump tweets that he won’t throw first pitch at Stadium – Newsday

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WASHINGTON Giancarlo Stanton apparently knew something already.

Stanton, who kneeled along with teammate Aaron Hicks during Saturday nights national anthem in support ofBlack Lives Matter and to protest racial injustice, was asked after the game about his feelings relating to President Donald Trumps announcement Thursday that he would be throwing out the ceremonial first pitch before an Aug. 15 against the Red Sox at the Stadium.

Im not positive thats a sure thing thats going to happen, Stanton said. Well get there when we get there. Thats in August. Its not something I have to worry about now.

And perhaps not on Aug. 15, either.

Because of my strong focus on the China Virus, including scheduled meetings on Vaccines, our economy and much else, I wont be able to be in New York to throw out the opening pitch for the @Yankees on August 15th, President Trump tweeted Sunday afternoon. We will make it later in the season!

The truth, however, might be a bit more complex than that.

Stanton and Hicks choosing to take a knee Saturday night something the pair informed their teammates and manager of beforehand was notable for more than a few reasons. The most significant was the seething anger felt by many in the organization a group that includes staff, players and executives regarding the invite, which President Trump said was extended by Yankees team president Randy Levine. The sentiment most often heard was the seeming incongruity between the lengthy statement released by the club June 8 about Black Lives Matter and racial inequities and reaching out to the President.

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Masahiro Tanaka, delayed slightly after taking a Stanton liner off his head in a July sim game, threw a two-inning simulated game at the alternate training campin Scranton early Sunday afternoon, striking out three.

One observer said Tanaka, who suffered a concussion when hit, seemed confident and unphased from the injury on the mound and looked very much like himself.

Tanaka could slot back into the rotation in five days.

Erik Boland started in Newsday's sports department in 2002. He covered high school and college sports, then shifted to the Jets beat. He has covered the Yankees since 2009.

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Trump tweets that he won't throw first pitch at Stadium - Newsday

Column: Donald Trump knows how to put on a show – The Oakland Press

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We are watching a show. Its important to keep that in mind.

It has its villains -- Mayor Lori Lightfoot of Chicago, Mayor Ted Wheeler of Portland and other supporters of the liberal, radical left idea that people have the right peaceably to assemble and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

It has its victims, people in towns where they dont have or need symphony orchestras and art museums and the very idea of street protests fills them with existential horror.

And the show has its hero, too, Donald John Trump, getting tough with those lawless cities, standing between the victims and their fears and not bothering overmuch about constitutional niceties while he does.

Thats how you end up with the recent spectacle of at least one person reportedly snatched off the streets of Portland by federal agents bearing no badges or identifying insignia and stuffed into an unmarked van on no probable cause, or even an allegation of crime. At this writing, Trump is sending federal agents -- using, presumably, the same tactics -- to Chicago, which, in his telling, teeters on the edge of criminal anarchy, and he, alone, can save it.

If it smacks of despotism, this idea of government seizing those who -- it bears repeating -- are accused of no crime, well, Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf tells Fox News that sometimes you have to proactively arrest people. Its a nicely dystopian term that might have come out of The Minority Report, the 1956 novella by Philip K. Dick (also a 2002 film starring Tom Cruise), which posits a world where precogs divine the future, enabling police to prevent crime instead of just solving it. Dick provides other terms Wolf might find useful: precrime, potential criminals, prophylactic pre-detection.

If it occurs to you theres no such thing as precogs, if this all seems to you like a civil liberties nightmare, well, youre missing the point. Again, this is a show.

And give him his due. Trump may have failed as a businessman, an educator, an airline mogul, a casino operator, a steak salesman and a human being, but he knows how to put on a show. He also knows every moment we spend talking about American fascism is a moment not spent talking about Russia putting a price on American heads, which in turn keeps us from talking about the 143,000 whove died of a virus Trump said would magically disappear.

Even his distractions have distractions.

In fairness, this march toward fascist dystopia didnt begin in Portland. For years, we saw black and Hispanic men stopped and frisked in New York City without probable cause. Weve seen cops empowered to take your money and border agents empowered to seize and search your laptops and smartphones, also without probable cause. In 2015, we saw a woman named Charnesia Corley subjected to a police search of her vagina on the pavement at a gas station.

What we havent seen so much is public outrage.

So Trumps innovation is not stomping the Constitution, but making the stomping a show. If it doesnt seem like much of one to you, well, youre not the intended audience. For them, this is Dirty Harry and Rambo all rolled into one. For the rest of us, this show isnt about a tough guy. Rather, its about a second-rate magician whose act has seen better days, whose top hat is worn, whose cards are frayed, whose every move reeks of flop-sweat desperation, the terror that he might be seen as he really is.

Which makes this magician dangerous in the same way a cornered animal is. And if we arent careful, he may pull off one last trick.

He may make freedom disappear.

Leonard Pitts Jr. is a columnist for the Miami Herald, 3511 NW 91st Ave., Miami, Fla., 33172. Readers may contact him via e-mail at lpitts@miamiherald.com.

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Column: Donald Trump knows how to put on a show - The Oakland Press